Allama Iqbal as student and teacher

Allama Iqbal studied up to FA in Sialkot but there was no arrangement for BA education in Sialkot, so he decided to go to Lahore for further education. Government College Lahore was considered to be the highest and standard educational institution of the subcontinent, so he got admission in the Government College.

He did not get admission in the hostel in the first year, in 1896, when he was in the second year of BA, he was allotted a room to stay in the Quadrangle Hostel. Later this hostel was named after him in view of his high position and status. The room in Iqbal Hostel (where Allama Iqbal was staying) has been reserved for the Chief Prefect of the hostel.

His subjects in BA were English, Philosophy and Arabic Language and Literature. Since there was no separate arrangement for teaching Arabic in the Government College, he used to attend the Arabic classes of the Oriental College. At that time Oriental College was running in the same building as Government College. In 1897, he passed the B.A. He also got a gold medal for coming first in Arabic.

For MA, he chose philosophy as a relatively difficult subject. Probably because he had a physical inclination towards philosophy. During his BA and MA studentship, he got the opportunity to acquire knowledge from many eminent and competent teachers. In the Government College, Iqbal got the opportunity to learn from very competent and noble teachers, for example, Lala Jayaram, whom Iqbal has mentioned in one place with great devotion as “Ustadi Mr. Qibla Lala Jayaram Sahib”. Similarly, Maulana Muhammad Deen Fawqi Kashmiri was a scholar who was the author of many books on sciences like Seerat-ul-Nabi, Fiqh, Arabic literature and logic and philosophy.

Similarly, Maulana Abu Saeed Muhammad Shoaib who according to Dr. Stratton (Principal Oriental College) was A Splendid Fellow. But Iqbal acquired the most knowledge from the great teacher named: Professor Thomas Walker Arnold, although Iqbal had the opportunity to be his student only for a few months in his final year of MA (1898-99). However, even this short period of Kasb-e-Faiz from “Shafiq and character-making teacher” like Arnold proved to be a memorable capital of honor for Iqbal.

On February 11, 1898, Professor Arnold was appointed as a teacher of philosophy in Government College, Lahore. Before that he was a teacher at Aligarh College, where he was known as a Muslim-friendly scholar and a fair-minded Orientalist. On the other hand, he had an unparalleled academic dedication. His orientalism, simplicity and simplicity earned him great respect in the academic and scholarly circles of Aligarh and made him respected and popular among students and teachers.

Professor Arnold was a man of pure academic temperament. His behavior towards Iqbal was that of a teacher as well as a friend. According to Sheikh Abdul Qadir, he was well aware of the modern methods of scientific research and research. He wanted to make his students participate with his jokes and mannerisms and he succeeded a lot in this intention.

He shone the essence of a genius like Iqbal in such a way that Arnold himself had to say that such a student makes a teacher a researcher and a researcher a researcher. In the Oriental College, he was able to have Arnold’s academic company, and then during the time of England’s establishment, his contact with Arnold was maintained equally, and as Sheikh Abdul Qadir wrote in the preface of Bang-e-Dara, Iqbal decided to give up poetry at that time. He had made up his mind, but at the suggestion of his teacher, Professor Arnold, he gave up his intention to write poetry. In the last year of the stay in Europe, Iqbal also had the opportunity to teach Arabic as a professor in place of Arnold for six months at the University of London.

On 13 May 1899, three weeks after the result of MA, Macleod Arabik was appointed as Reid in Allama Iqbal Oriental College. The salary was fixed at Rs.72, 14 annas. It was a reasonable amount in those days. It was not primarily a teaching post, but the reader had to do research, writing, compiling and translating as well as teaching. Coincidentally, at that time Professor Arnold was the Acting Principal of the Oriental College. This appointment was a source of joy and satisfaction for both the student and the teacher.

As McLeod Arabic Reader, Iqbal was associated with the College for about four years. During this time, he took leave many times and worked on the temporary posts of Additional Professor and Assistant Professor in Government College Lahore. His tenure was continuously extended. His salary in the government college was Rs.200 first, then Rs.250. At the Oriental College, he taught philosophy, logic, economics and history.

He taught English subjects in Government College. Teaching English was easy for him, but Iqbal had to prepare well to give lectures on economics and history every day. He was fully aware of the sacred mission of teaching and prepared and compiled lecture notes like the most diligent and successful teachers.

A student of Allama Iqbal at GC and a well-known novelist, M. Aslam (1883-1885) writes, “His teaching style was so engaging that he probably had more attendance in his period than any other teacher, which is a testament to his popularity and merit. There was evidence. He was fully aware of the weaknesses of the Punjabi students, so he took great care in paying attention to English words so that each word could be easily understood. His method of teaching would be so effective that the lesson would be remembered in the class itself. Khalifa Shujauddin 1887-1955 was a student of Iqbal in Islamia College Lahore. It is his statement that “the professorship of Islamia College for a few days only gave rise to his academic progress”.

On November 12, 1899, Allama Iqbal was elected as a member of the governing body of the Anjuman-e-Say-e-e-Islam. On the request of the long-time elders of the Anjuman, Iqbal presented a long poem “Nala Yatyem” for the first time from the platform of the Anjuman Support-e-Islam on February 24, 1900. “I also heard the obituaries of Anis and Dabeer from these ears, but the poem I heard today and the effect it had on my heart, it had never happened before.”

In the beginning, Iqbal recited these poems verbatim. But when his auspiciousness was discussed, he started chanting. Iqbal’s song was heart-warming, his voice was passionate. Apart from this, he used to choose a theme for the poem every time which was the voice of the heart of the whole nation. Therefore, the crowd of ten thousand people, listening to his poems, would shake their heads. Thus, due to these poems, Iqbal received immense appreciation from the public.

In 1905, Allama Iqbal went to Britain for higher education and enrolled in Cambridge University there. When Iqbal left Lahore, he was very surprised to see Bombay. Now when he reached London, he would have been even more surprised to see his confusion and glare, but due to the presence of the long-time Sheikh Abdul Qadir, he got a lot of help in recovering from this strange environment and the problems faced abroad. It was convenient. As far as educational issues and issues are concerned, Professor Arnold was his advisor and guide, but according to Dr. Iftikhar Ahmad Siddiqui, “Professor Arnold had decided the entire plan of his education before his arrival.”

Iqbal must have consulted Arnold on this occasion. However, after staying in London for two or three days, he went to Cambridge. On October 1, 1905, he entered Trinity College, Cambridge as an advanced student (that is, a student who already has a BA or MA degree from another university), but at that time Iqbal’s trip to England The main goal was to obtain a barrister’s certificate, so the next month, Iqbal came to London and on November 4, he enrolled in Lincoln’s Inn, a well-known law school. (to be continued)

Note: Books by Dr. Rafiuddin Hashmi and Dr. Javed Iqbal have been used for this column.