Muhammad Iqbal (9 November 1877 – 21 April 1938) was a Pakistani poet and revolutionary who is regarded as the "Spiritual Father of Pakistan" for supporting the Pakistani independence movement.
Biography[]
Muhammad Iqbal was born in Sialkot, Punjab, British India on 9 November 1877 to a family of Muslim Kashmiris. He attended the Government College University and the University of the Punjab, and he became an academic, lawyer, and Islamic scholar. While studying in England, Iqbal became a member of the All-India Muslim League. His first poetry book, The Secrets of the Shelf, was published in 1915. Iqbal became a noted poet during the 1910s, and King George V of Britain had Iqbal knighted in 1922. In December 1930, he delivered the Allahabad Address at the Muslim League session, pushing for the creation of a Muslim state in northwest India. Iqbal was key in convincing Muhammad Ali Jinnah to return to Pakistan and lead the Muslim League during its fight for Pakistani independence, and he was posthumously named the "National Poet of Pakistan" after independence was achieved in 1947.