SGC organizes lecture on ‘Thoughts of Allama Iqbal’: Speakers say Iqbal’s philosophy emphasizes pure spiritualism

ISLAMABAD, May 09: The Society of Global Civilizations (SGC) Pakistan organized a lecture on ‘Thoughts of Allama Iqbal’. The referenced event was held at the Islamabad Club. Eminent educationists and intellectuals were in attendance. Brig. (R) Professor Allah Bakhsh, Head of Department of Education, National University of Modern Languages (NUML) spoke on the subject. Dr. Abdul Basit, Patron SGC and Chancellor Preston University, and Prof. Dr. Inam ul Haq Javeid, President SGC and Managing Director National Book Foundation were conspicuous by their presence on the occasion.
In his enlightening and thought provoking presentation on the subject, Brig (R) Professor Allah Bakhsh, Head of Department of Education, National University of Modern Languages (NUML), Islamabad said that the essence of poetry and philosophy of Allama Dr. Muhammad Iqbal gives complete understanding about the relationship between the Creator and creation and helps to develop spiritualism. Professor Allah Bakhsh said that it was a strong belief of Allama Iqbal that an individual could never aim for higher dimensions unless he learnt the nature of spirituality. He said that Iqbal’s poetry was the true reflection of love and affection towards entire humanity and a guiding star for the Muslim Ummah. Prof. Allah Bakhsh said Iqbal stressed upon combination of spiritual and individual development to become a true individual. He said, the right approach as per Iqbal’s thought is to understand the real objective behind creation of mankind. Prof. Allah Bakhsh also urged people to understand the relationship between the Creator and creation. Without identifying the Creator, a man cannot identify himself, he said quoting to poetry of Allama Muhammad Iqbal, he emphasized. He said that Allama Iqbal visualized the suffering of Ummah and masses that led to their downfall and also proposed recipe for their revival and regaining the lost glory. He said that the Muslim Ummah was today confronting tremendous problems and challenges. These problems could be overcome through the remedies proposed by Hakeem-ul-Ummah, Allama Muhammad Iqbal.
Earlier, in his welcome address Dr. Abdul Basit, Patron SGC and Chancellor Preston University warmly welcomed the distinguished guest speaker Brig. (R) Professor Allah Bakhsh and the worthy guests to the seminar. He briefly spoke about SGC and highlighted its mission and objectives. Talking about Iqbal’s concept of ‘Khudi’ Dr. Basit said that Allam Iqbal put forward his theory of ‘khudi’ after considering all the pros and cons of life . He said, the underlying idea was to bring home to the Muslims the dignity of their being which had been jeopardized by the forces of imperialism, etc. Iqbal, he said, had to struggle with the forces of materialistic thought. He had to bring about a happy marriage between the obscure and the exotic knowledge to drive home his point of purification of the self before a beginning could be made. By self Iqbal always means the ‘Conscious Self’ or ‘Nafas’, he explained. -PR