PESHAWAR, Nov 12: Speakers at a seminar threw light on various aspects of Allama Iqbal’s philosophical thoughts and poetic vision and termed him a true pioneer of the Muslim renaissance in the East.

They observed that Dr Iqbal was the first Muslim visionary who had infused a sense of self-realization in the Muslim community of subcontinent of India. He awakened them from the deep slumber of the British slavery, they said.

The seminar was organized by the Khana Farhang-i-Iran here at Imam Khominei Hall on Monday evening.

The NWFP Public Service Commission chairman, Abdullah, Muqtadirra Qaumi Zuban president, Fateh Mohammad Malik, Allama Iqbal Open University teacher Saddique Shibli, Dr Ayub Sabir, Dr Sabir Kalorvi and Khana Farhang-i-Iran director Raeesus Sadaat, spoke on the Iqbal’s person, thought and poetry.

Mr Abdullah said Iqbal was a true intellectual and he gave a new turn to the philosophy, which he learnt from various sources during his stay in Europe. Dr Iqbal was convinced about the two separate but interlinked realms of religion and reasoning, he added.

He said Iqbal went hand in hand with different philosophical doctrines, but he never took them as an absolute truth as he put his trust in the truthfulness of divinity and teaching of Islam. One must not mix up Dr Iqbal’s creeds with his mundane philosophy, he added.

Mr Abdullah was of the view that the West had recognized Iqbal as a trendsetter, but the western intellectuals were afraid of his new poetic allusions wherein he put pigeons against falcons.

Dr Iqbal, he said, interpreted the sense of freedom in unique and new terms and urged the Muslim to reinvent their self, which had been destroyed under the long alien rule.

Fateh Mohammad Malik was to speak on the rule of people, but he preferred to confine himself to the issues pointed out by some of the speakers in connection with Iqbal’s philosophical acumen.

He said Iqbal picked pearl of wisdom from different lands and elevated his image to the level of a cosmopolitan thinker. He was a universal figure and he learnt from various philosophers, Malik said.

Dr Iqbal gave a modern touch to the poetic style and utilized teachings of Prophet (PBUH) as content for the catharsis of souls awaiting for a divine act for their activism, he observed.

He said Dr Iqbal was neither a conservative like bigots nor he was shy of newness, which he acquired from the changing political and social world around him. He was heard as a new voice in his turbulent age, when nations were aspiring for freedom, he said.

Dr Shibli said Dr Iqbal gave them a sense of beingness, nation and a state in an environment which was hostile for Muslim. Iqbal also explained the concept of Umma to end the isolation of Muslim of India.

Dr Ayub Sabir spoke on Iqbal’s thought and gave a background of his wisdom. He said Iqbal was yet to be explored in his true religious perspective.