Muhammad Iqbal was an Indian Muslim poet, philosopher and politician,
whose poetry in Persian and Urdu is regarded as among the greatest in
modern times. Also famous for his work on religious and political
philosophy in Islam, he is credited with first proposing the idea of
an independent state for Indian Muslims, which would inspire the
creation of Pakistan. He is best known for his poetic works, which
include the Tarana-e-Hind, Asrar-e-Khudi, Rumuz-i-Bekhudi, and the
Bang-i-Dara. He is officially recognised as the "national poet" in
Pakistan. The anniversary of his birth on November 9 is a holiday in
Pakistan. Iqbal was a strong proponent of the political and spiritual
revival of Islamic civilisation across the world, but specifically in
India; a series of famous lectures he delivered to this effect were
published as The Reconstruction of Religious Thought in Islam. One of
the most prominent leaders of the All India Muslim League, Iqbal would
encourage the creation of a "state in northwestern India for Indian
Muslims" in his 1930 presidential address.
Read the rest of this article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muhammad_Iqbal
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Today's selected anniversaries:
1916:
World War I: The Battle of Verdun on the Western Front ended as the
French drove the Germans back to their starting positions.
(
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Verdun)
1972:
Eugene Cernan, Ronald Evans, and Harrison Schmitt aboard Apollo 17
returned to Earth. No human has visited the Moon since.
(
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apollo_17)
1974:
An early personal computer, the Altair 8800, went on sale.
(
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Altair_8800)
1984:
The People's Republic of China and the United Kingdom signed the
Sino-British Joint Declaration, agreeing the transfer of sovereignty
of Hong Kong to China on July 1, 1997.
(
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sino-British_Joint_Declaration)
1998:
The U.S. House of Representatives passed articles of impeachment
against President Bill Clinton over the Lewinsky scandal.
(
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lewinsky_scandal)
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Wikiquote of the day:
It is wrong to expect a reward for your struggles. The reward is the
act of struggle itself, not what you win. Even though you can't expect
to defeat the absurdity of the world, you must make that attempt.
That's morality, that's religion. That's art. That's life. -- Phil
Ochs
(
http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Phil_Ochs)