Contours of an Islamic State

Iqbal Ahmad Khan was born in 1884 in village Badheria, Azamgarh, Uttar Pradesh, and died on 7 November 1955. He was a famous Urdu poet, writing under the takhallus, or pen name "Suhail", Islamic scholar, lawyer, educationist and a politician. He was a member of the executive committee of the Azamgarh Muslim Education Society, which manages Shibli National Post Graduate College and other institutions in Azamgarh, Uttar Pradesh. His poetry has been mentioned in many articles about Azamgarh. His work has been featured in the Encyclopedic Dictionary of Urdu Literature. He was elected to the Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly as a candidate with the Indian National Congress party in 1937. To pursue his education in Arabic and Persian and Islamic studies, he stayed with Maulana Hamiduddin Farahi, who was Arabic professor in MAO College, Aligarh, where he came into contact with Maulana Hasrat Mohani, Maulana Hali and Maulana Wahiduddin Salim Panipati. He Graduated from Queens College, Varanasi in the year 1914. During his stay in Aligarh he became famous for his skill in poetry and speech-writing. Dr. Zakir Hussain and Prof. Rasheed Ahmad Siddiqui became his closest friends. He also wrote many speeches for Dr. Hussain. This was acknowledged by Dr. Hussain in the preface he wrote for Tabish-e-Suhail, a collection of poetry written by Iqbal Suhail. In 1918 Completed M.A. and LL.B. from Aligarh Muslim University. After getting his law degree from Aligarh, Iqbal Sohail returned to Azamgarh to practice. There he became associated with Allama Shibli Nomani, whom he revered very much. He was a regular visitor to Darul Musannifeen (Shibli Academy, the institute founded by Allama Shibli)