What Iqbal’s son left behind
It was the final journey of his life. A park not far from his 61-Main Gulberg residence was packed with dignitaries from all walks of life. There were announcements from the loudspeaker that the funeral prayer of the “son of Allama Iqbal” would be offered in a while. And soon after that, the funeral prayer of Justice retired Dr Javed Iqbal was offered, who took his last breath in the wee hours of October 3 this month, just two days before turning 91. Javed Iqbal enjoyed only 14 years of his father’s association but the international and worldwide recognition of his father haunted him throughout his life.
Dr Javed Iqbal obtained his PhD in philosophy from the University of Cambridge and Bar-at-law from Lincoln’s Inn before starting legal practice in the Lahore High Court (LHC). He served as Chief Justice of LHC and also as a senior Judge in the Supreme Court of Pakistan. He was made a senator by PML-N on a technocrat seat after his retirement from the judiciary. The government of Pakistan awarded him Hilal-i-Imtiaz in 2004 in recognition of his services in the field of law, philosophy, literature and Iqbaliyat. It was very difficult for Javed Iqbal to make his own identity keeping in view the international fame of his father and he tried his best throughout his life to break the shackles of his father’s fame. He wrote in his autobiography “Apna Gireban Chaak” that the followers of his father had not let him to grow and admitted by saying that it was impossible for tiny branches to make their own place in front of an enormous banyan tree.
Dr Javed Iqbal also tried to take part in active politics in 1970 by contesting an election from Lahore; the city from where his father got elected in the mid 1920s
Dr Javed Iqbal also tried to take part in active politics in 1970 by contesting an election from Lahore; the city from where his father got elected in the mid 1920s. Unfortunately, Javed Iqbal was defeated by the founder of Pakistan People’s Party, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, who was once his close friend, with a huge margin and left politics. After some time, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto asked him to join his party but he refused to do so because he felt that he was not suitable for politics. Dr Javed Iqbal, who enjoyed good relations with Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, wrote in his memoir that once he was sleeping in his bedroom and Mr Bhutto came there. He writes that Mr Bhutto woke him up with a jerk and said, “Look! Javed, what they have done to me”. According to Javed Iqbal, he noted down the actual time and the news came in next morning that Bhutto was hanged last night. The time of Bhutto’s hanging matched with the time that Javed Iqbal noted down the previous night.
Dr Javed Iqbal, a keen observer of Pakistani politics, once said that had Ayub Khan not defeated Fatima Jinnah through rigging the debacle of East Pakistan would not have been possible. He regarded military dictatorship detrimental to the progress of Pakistan because he thought democracy was the only solution for this country. Unlike his father, he opted to choose the medium of prose to express his thoughts and authored several books on Pakistan’s ideology, Islam, philosophy and Iqbaliyat. The publications of Javed Iqbal are: Ideology of Pakistan, Stray Reflections: A note book of Iqbal, Pakistan and the Islamic liberal movement, Islam and Pakistan’s identity, Apna Gireban Chaak (Autobiography), Khutbat-e-iqbal, Legacy of Quaid-e-azam, Zinda Rood (biography of Iqbal), Jahan-e-Javed, The concept of state in Islam, Afkar-e-iqbal (the interpretation of iqbal’s thoughts) and Mai Lala Faam. Despite the fact that Dr Javed Iqbal was a very well read person and a noted intellectual, it is an accepted truth that the books he had written on his father got much acclaim in comparison to his works on other subjects. One can see that he listed a number of events that were directly or indirectly linked with his father in his own autobiography and subsequent editions of “Apna Gireban Chaak”. His book “Zinda Rood (biography of Allama Iqbal)” is regarded as most read and most authentic work on the life of Allama Iqbal. Once Javed Iqbal said that he had written Zinda Rood after receiving an order from Allama Iqbal that he received in a dream.
It is also an interesting fact that favourite poet of Javed Iqbal was Mirza Ghalib and it was his poetry that forced him to study philosophy. Dr Javed Iqbal has written several plays and most of his plays were banned because of being against the teachings of Islam. He frequently scripted in his plays that only those persons will be awarded life after death who achieved some creative work during their life.
He was still energetic, lively and up to date with the current political scenario at the ripe age of 90
Dr Javed Iqbal held Ch Muhammad Hussain Bajwa in high esteem, who was nominated his official guardian by Allama Iqbal himself during his life and he nourished him efficiently after the death of Allama Iqbal. It was Bajwa who developed the taste of philosophy in Javed during his college life by teaching him the verses of Mirza Ghalib. It was the utmost desire of Allama Iqbal to be appointed a judge of the Lahore High Court, but his wish could not be fulfilled due to his anti British stance but his son got the status of Chief Justice LHC after 44 years of his father’s death.
Dr Javed Iqbal also participated in many conferences in Iran, Afghanistan, Egypt and Turkey that were organised to discuss the philosophy of his father. Javed Iqbal was an ardent believer of ijtihaad just like his father and always advocated his philosophy to make Pakistan a liberal, moderate, Islamic and welfare state.
He was still energetic, lively and up to date with the current political scenario at the ripe age of 90. His face glittered with the reddishness of a typical Kashmiri guy and I can still feel the firmness of his hand when I met him in Alhamra Arts Council three years back. Despite spending an eventful life with zeal it was not Dr Javed Iqbal who died on October 3, it was the death of Allama Iqbal’s son if we follow the print and electronic media of that day.