Pakistan Navy personnel will assume guard duties at the Mazar in a graceful ceremony. People hailing from different walks of life will visit the Mazar of great philosopher to pay homage to him. Various educational‚ political‚ social and cultural organisations have planned special programmes to portray Iqbal's philosophy‚ life and his contribution to create awareness among the Muslims of South Asia. Iqbal's poetic verse has provided a base for the reawakening of Muslims while his writings demonstrate a way to uplift the spirit and provide strength in its struggle.
Radio and TV channels will telecast special programmes while newspapers will bring out supplements. In Lahore, different organisations will hold Iqbal Day functions. He was born on November 9 1877 in Sialkot was the eldest of five siblings. The illustrious father of Allama Iqbal, Shaikh Nur Muhammad was a prosperous tailor, well-known for his devotion to Islam and the family raised their children with deep religious grounding. Allama Iqbal went to Government College Lahore and later received advanced degrees at Cambridge University, the University of London, and the University of Munich. While in London, he also studied law.
Allama Iqbal was educated initially by tutors in languages and writing, history, poetry and religion. His potential as a poet and writer was recognised by one of his tutors, Sayyad Mir Hassan and Iqbal continued to study under him at the Scotch Mission College in Sialkot. While studying for his master's degree, Iqbal came under the wing of Sir Thomas Arnold, a scholar of Islam and modern philosophy at the college. Arnold exposed the young man to Western culture and ideas, and served as a bridge for Iqbal between the ideas of East and West.
Iqbal was appointed to a readership in Arabic at the Oriental College in Lahore, and he published his first book in Urdu, The Science of Economics in 1903. In 1905 Iqbal published the patriotic song, Tarana-e-Hind (Song of India). At Sir Thomas encouragement, Iqbal travelled to and spent many years studying in Europe. He obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree from Trinity College at Cambridge in 1907, while simultaneously studying law at Lincolns Inn, from where he qualified as a barrister in 1908. Iqbal also met a Muslim student, Atiyah Faizi in 1907, and had a close relationship with her.
In Europe, Iqbal started writing his poetry in Persian as well. Throughout his life, Iqbal would prefer writing in Persian as he believed it allowed him to fully express philosophical concepts, and it gave him a wider audience. It was while in England that he first participated in politics. Following the formation of the All-India Muslim League in 1906, Iqbal was elected to the executive committee of its British chapter in 1908. Together with two other politicians, Syed Hassan Bilgrami and Syed Ameer Ali, Iqbal sat on the subcommittee which drafted the constitution of the League.