Eminent jurist Javed Iqbal dies at 91

LAHORE:

Eminent jurist, intellectual, philosopher, writer and the National Poet Allama Muhammad Iqbal’s son, Justice (retd) Javed Iqbal, passed away on Saturday at the age of 91. Javed Iqbal was suffering from cancer and was under treatment at the Shaukat Khanum Memorial Cancer Hospital.

His funeral prayers, offered near his residence in the Gulberg area of Lahore, were attended by a large number of people from all walks of life. Javed, who is survived by his sons – Waleed Iqbal and Munib Iqbal – and wife Justice (retd) Nasira Javed, was laid to rest at Begum Pura graveyard.

President Mamnoon Hussain, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf chief Imran Khan, Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif, Chief Justice of Pakistan Anwar Zaheer Jamali, Lahore High Court Chief Justice Manzoor Ahmed Malik and many prominent personalities expressed grief over his demise.

Javed Iqbal was born in Sialkot on October 5, 1924 and was just 14 years old when he lost his illustrious father, whose monumental collection of poems, Javed Nama, was named after him.

A brilliant student, Javed Iqbal did his BA (Honours) in 1944 from the Government College Lahore. He later received Master’s degrees in English and Philosophy with distinction before proceeding to Cambridge University, from where he received a PhD in philosophy. In 1956, Javed did his Barrister-at-Law from Lincoln’s Inn in London.

Javed Iqbal started his career as a part-time lecturer at Punjab University Law College, where he taught from 1956 to 1968. He also lectured as a visiting professor at the University of Mexico in 1962. In 1971, he was appointed as an additional judge at the Lahore High Court (LHC), which he later served first as an acting and then as the permanent chief justice from 1982 to 1986. He also served as a judge in the Supreme Court from 1986 to 1989.

Internationally recognised for his work on philosophy of law and modern Islamic philosophy, Javed Iqbal authored a number of books. These books include ‘Ideology of Pakistan’, ‘Stray Reflections – A Note Book of Iqbal’, ‘Mai Lala Faam’, ‘Legacy of Quid-e-Azam’ and ‘Zinda Rud’, Afkare-Iqbal, Pakistan and the Islamic Liberal Movement, Jahan-e-Javed, Islam and Pakistan’s Identity, The Concept of State in Islam: A Reassessment, Apna Greban Chaak, Khutbat-e-Iqbal.

It was in view of these intellectual contributions that he was awarded honourary Doctorate of Humane Letters by USA’s Villanova University and Doctorate of Islamic Science and Literature by Turkey’s Saljuk University. Javed Iqbal also served as a member and vice chairman of the governing council of the Centre for the Preservation of Islamic Cultural Heritage in 1986. He was also a member of the Royal Academy for Islamic Civilisation and Research in Jordan.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 4^th, 2015.