Dr. Annemarie Schimmel on Allama Muhammad Iqbal

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• published: 21 Apr 2011
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A sharing on Allama Iqbal's 73rd death anniversary of Dr Allama Muhammad Iqbal.. Annemarie Schimmel(April 7, 1922 -- January 26, 2003) was a well known and very influential German Orientalist and scholar, who wrote extensively on Islam and Sufism. Early life Schimmel was born to Protestant and highly cultured middle-class parents in Erfurt, Germany. Her father, Paul, was a postal worker and her mother, Anna belonged to a family with connections to seafaring and international trade. Schimmel remembered her father as "a wonderful playmate full of fun", her mother made her feel she was the child of her dreams and her home as full of poetry and literature, though her family was not an academic one.[1] She began studying at the University of Berlin in 1939 at the age of 17, during the period of Nazi Germany. She received a doctorate in Islamic languages and civilization at the age of 19. Following this, she was drafted by the German Foreign Office while continuing with her scholarly work in her free time. At the age of 23, she became a professor of Arabic and Islamic studies at the University of Marburg, Germany in 1946, where she earned a second doctorate in the history of religions in 1954. Work A turning point in her life came in 1954 when she was appointed Professor of the History of Religion at the University of Ankara (Turkey). There she spent five years teaching in Turkish and immersing herself in the culture and mystical tradition of the country. She was a faculty member at Harvard University from 1967 to 1992 and became Professor Emerita of Indo-Muslim Culture upon her retirement. She was also an honorary professor at the University of Bonn. She published more than 50 books on Islamic literature, mysticism and culture, and translated Persian, Urdu, Arabic, Sindhi and Turkish poetry and literature into English and German. For her work on Islam, Sufism or mysticism and Muhammad Iqbal, the government of Pakistan honored her with its highest civil awards known as Sitara-e-Imtiaz or 'Star of Excellence', and Hilal-e-Imtiaz or 'Crescent of Excellence'. She was conferred with many other awards from many countries of the world, including the Leopold Lucas Prize of the Evangelisch-Theologische Faculty of the University of Tübingen and the 1995 prestigious Peace Prize of the German Book Trade. This award caused a controversy in Germany, as she had defended the outrage of the Islamic world against Salman Rushdie in a television interview. Schimmel's award speech is available here in translation entitled, A Good Word is like a Good Tree. Works by Annemarie Schimmel As Through A Veil And Muhammad Is His Messenger: The Veneration of the Prophet in Islamic Piety A Dance of Sparks: Imagery of Fire in Ghalib's Poetry A Two-Colored Brocade: The Imagery of Persian Poetry Deciphering the Signs of God: A Phenomenological Approach to Islam (1991-1992 Gifford Lectures, online) Gabriel's Wing: Study into the Religious Ideas of Sir Muhammad Iqbal Mystical Dimensions of Islam Rumi's World : The Life and Works of the Greatest Sufi Poet Look! This Is Love The Triumphal Sun: A Study of the Works of Jalaloddinn Rumi Islam: An Introduction Islamic Calligraphy Make A Shield From Wisdom : Selected Verses from Nasir-i Khusraw's Divan Ernst Trumpp;: A brief account of his life and work The Mystery of Numbers Islam and the Wonders of Creation: The Animal Kingdom (2003)