PRC members with the guests after Allama Iqbal Day function at Kababish Restaurant in Jeddah, Friday. — SG photo Syed Mussarat Khalil Saudi Gazette JEDDAH — The Pakistan Repatriation Council (PRC) held program in Kababish restaurant in Jeddah Friday evening to celebrate the 135th birth anniversary of Pakistani thinker, philosopher and poet Allama Mohammad Iqbal. Francis Lamand, President of Islam and the West, was chief guest while Dr. Tahir Hameed Tanoli, Assistant Director of the Iqbal Academy in Lahore, was the guest of honor. Other guests and speakers included Dr. Irfan Hashmi; Majlise Iqbal, Chairman of Urdu Markaz; Riaz Ghumman, Chairman of the Pak- Saudi Friendship Society; and renowned poet and scholar Dr. Athar Naqvi, among others. The function was conducted by PRC's secretary-general Abdul Qayyum Waseq. A recitation from the Holy Qur'an was carried out by Qari Abdul Majeed. Lamand said he has been studying Allama Iqbal from his university days 50 years ago. He said Europe is thankful to Iqbal for conveying the message of renowned philosopher Fredrick Nietzsche and poet William Goethe. He said Iqbal was the bridge between the West and the East and the West and Islam. He said he had the honor of organizing a symposium on Iqbal attended by the world's renowned dignitaries and admirers of Iqbal. Tanoli said Pakistan had two undisputed personalities in Quaide Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah who established Pakistan and Allama Iqbal whose message was extremely important. He said Iqbal's main role can be classified in three ways: as a poet, as a philosopher and as a national leader. Iqbal's popular collection “Jawednama" incorporates the core of religion in his poems. He even came up with some of the Qur'anic terminology in Urdu that no language other than Arabic could achieve. He is the only Islamic scholar after Shah Waliullah who advocated Islam in the subcontinent through his poetry, Tanoli added. He said Pakistan could overcome its troubles if it adhered to Iqbal's teachings.
