By NNN-APP,
Islamabad : President Asif Ali Zardari has said that the nation owed freedom and independence to the vision of the great visionary Allama Muhammad Iqbal and the best way to pay tributes to Iqbal was to understand his message and imbibe his teachings.
The President said this in his message on the 132nd birth anniversary of Allama Iqbal on November 9, 2009.
The need for understanding Iqbal’s concept of the message of Islam and the need for forward movement in human thought was never as great as it is today, he said.
The President said that it was unfortunate that in the country envisioned by Iqbal, Islam has been ruthlessly exploited by extremists and militants to foist their narrow agendas on the people in the name of religion.
“The extremists and militants have rejected the Constitution, the Federation and institutions of democracy only to capture power in the name of religion. This cannot be allowed; it will not be”, the President said.
The President urged the people to resolve on this birth anniversary of the poet philosopher to rebuild Pakistan by drawing inspiration from his vision.
“Allama Iqbal believed that nothing remained static and stationary. He believed in and advocated forward movement in human thought”, he said and added, “We need to encourage forward movement in philosophical thought instead of abandoning the interpretation of Islamic teachings to any individual or group”.
The President said forward movement in human thought and interpretation is most relevant in the present day as extremists and militants selectively quoted scriptures and verses to advance their own political agenda behind the cloak of religion.
One of the most important intellectual challenges faced by us was to move forward according to the changing requirements of the time while retaining the fundamentals of our great religion, he said.
“We must meet this great intellectual challenge of our time for confronting the militants and militancy. For this we need to imbibe the teachings of Allama Iqbal”, the President said, adding, “This indeed is the best tribute we can pay to Allama Iqbal today”.