Dr. Javid Iqbal – The CAP Podcast #110

Dr. Javid Iqbal (late) was born in 1924 and is the son of Allama Muhammad Iqbal as well as a former senior justice of the Supreme Court of Pakistan. In his conversation with the Lahore OHP team, Dr. Iqbal recalls being a student when the Lahore Resolution was signed in 1940 and speaks of his home in Lahore, the Javid Manzil. He also sheds light on his upbringing by his German governess, Aunty Dorris.

Senior Justice Javed Iqbal (Urdu: جاوید اقبال‎; 5 October 1924 – 3 October 2015) Hilal-i-Imtiaz Award recipient in 2004-(Crescent of Excellence) Award, was a Pakistani philosopher and senior justice of the Supreme Court of Pakistan. He was internationally known for his acclaimed publications on philosophy of law and modern Islamic philosophy in reputed international and national journals.

He was the son of the poet-philosopher Dr. Muhammad Iqbal and authored various books on Pakistan's nationalismmovement and political ideology. Apart from philosophy, Javed had a prolific career in the Judiciary of Pakistan and was a former Chief Justice of the Lahore High Court before being elevated to the Supreme Court.

Early life

Javed Iqbal was born in Sialkot on 5 October 1924 to Allama Muhammad Iqbal and his second wife, Sardar Begum. His mother died when he was 11, and his father died in 1938 when he was 14.

Javed Iqbal received the following educational degrees and distinctions: BA (Honors) degree in 1944 from theGovernment College, Lahore, MA degree in English, and MA degree in Philosophy (Gold Medallist) in 1948, Doctor of Philosophy degree in Philosophy in 1954 from the University of Cambridge, UK, Barrister-at-Law, Lincoln's Inn, London, in 1956. He has received honorary doctorates degrees from Villanova University, USA, and Seljuk University in Jordan.

Career

Javed began as an advocate in Lahore High Court, and later became a judge in 1971 and then Chief Justice of this court. He was also a judge of Supreme Court of Pakistan, and Elected member, Senate of Pakistan (Upper House of Parliament).

He has published papers on Islamic political thought, political ideology in Pakistan and the philosophy of his father, Muhammad Iqbal, which were published in national and international journals. During the years 1960–62 and in 1977, he was the delegate of Pakistan to the United Nations General Assembly.

He has argued in favour of reforms in the Hudud laws of Pakistan.

He was married to Nasira Iqbal, a retired Lahore High Court Judge.

Death

Javed Iqbal died on 3 October 2015. He was under treatment for cancer at the Shaukat Khanum Memorial Cancer Hospital in Lahore.

Allama Iqbal on his son

Javed's father, Allama Iqbal, named his book, Javid Nama, after his son. He also wrote many poems to Javed Iqbal, indirectly addressing the Muslim youth in British India.

Here is an excerpt from the translation of Bal-i-Jibril (Gabriel's Wing)

TO JAVED
(On Receiving His First Letter From London)

Create a place for thyself in the world of love;
Create a new age, new days, and new nights.

If God grant thee an eye for nature's beauty,
Converse with the silence of flowers; respond to their love.

Do not be beholden to the West's artisans,
Seek thy sustenance in what thy land affords.

My ghazal is the essence of my life-blood,
Create thy elixir of life out 'of this essence.

My way of life is poverty, not the pursuit of wealth;
Barter not thy Selfhood; win a name in adversity.

Works

Javed's publications include the following:

• Ideology of Pakistan (1959)


• Stray Reflections: A Note-Book of Iqbal (1961)


• Legacy of Quaid-e-Azam (1968, published in English and Urdu)


• Mai Lala Faam (1968, collection of papers on Iqbal, in Urdu)


• Zinda Rood (1984, biography of Iqbal in three volumes, in Urdu)


• Afkare-Iqbal (1994, interpretation of Iqbal's thought)


• Pakistan and the Islamic Liberal Movement (1994).


• Jahan-I Javed : darame, Afsane, Maqale


• Islam and Pakistan's Identity


• The Concept of State in Islam : A Reassessment


• Apna Greban Chaak, (autobiography)


• Khutbat e Iqbal

Books on Dr Javid Iqbal

• Life After Iqbal (2016, Fastprint Publishing, UK by Sabeena Khan) ISBN 978-1784563325.