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His grandfather Shaikh Rafiq, was a Kashmiri Pandit named Sahaj Ram Sapru before his conversion to Islam. In Kashmir he was a revenue collector. He had embezzeled state funds, and when his guilt was established, the Afghan governor, Azim Khan, gave him the choice of death or conversion to Islam. Sahaj Ram Sapru chose life, and assuming new names, he and his family moved to Sialkot in the Panjab. Shaikh Rafiq had two sons, Shaikh Ghulam Qadir and Shaikh Nur Muhammad, Iqbal's father.
Shaikh Nur Muhammad was a tailor whose handiwork was quite well known in Sialkot. But it was his devotion to Islam, especially its mystical aspects, that gained him respect among his Sufi peers and other associates. His wife, Imam Bibi, was also a devout Muslim. The couple instilled a deep religious consciousness in all their five children.
Allama Iqbal was born on November 9, 1877 in the city of Sialkot. His initial education was in Sialkot. Iqbal's potential as a poet was first recognized by one of his early tutors, Sayyid Mir Hassan , from whom he learned classical poetry. Mir Hassan never learned English, but his awareness of the merits of Western education and his appreciation of modernity ensured him a position as Professor or Oriental Literature at Scotch Mission. He was Iqbal's tutor until his graduation in 1892.
It was also in 1892 that Iqbal was married off to Karim Bibi, the daughter of an effluent Gujarati physician. They separated in 1916, but Iqbal provided financial support to Karim Bibi until he died. The couple had three children.
In 1885, after completing his studies at Scotch Mission, Iqbal entered the Government College in Lahore, where he studied Philosophy and Arabic and English Literature for his Bachelor of Arts degree. He was an excellent student, graudating cum laude and winning a gold medal for being the only candidate who passed the final comprehensive examination. Meanwhile, he continued writing poetry. When he received his Master's degree in 1899, he had already begun to make his mark among the literary circles of Lahore.
While reading for his Master's degree, Iqbal became acquainted with a figure who was to have a strong influence on his intellectual development. Sir Thomas Arnold , an erudite scholar of Islam and modern philosophy, became for Iqbal a bridge between East and West. It was Arnold who inspired in him the desire to pursue higher studies in Europe
In 1903, he went to EuropeFor the band of the same name, see Europe (band . Europe is a continent forming the westermost part of the Eurasian supercontinent. Europe is bounded to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the west by the Atlantic Ocean, to the south by the Mediterranean Se and began studies at CambridgeThe University of Cambridge is the second-oldest academic institution in the English-speaking world (after Oxford). According to legend, the University was founded in 1209 by scholars escaping Oxford after a fight with locals. Cambridge and the University. While in EnglandEngland is the largest, the most populous, and the most densely populated of the four " Home Nations" which make up the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (UK). Occupying the south-eastern portion of the island of Great Britain, England he also was able to practice law, which he did through Lincoln's InnLincoln's Inn is one of four Inns of Court in London to which barristers of England and Wales belong and where they are called to the Bar. The others are Middle Temple, Inner Temple and Gray's Inn. It is situated in Holborn, in the London Borough of Camde. At Cambridge, he crossed paths with other great scholars who further influenced his scholastic development. Under their guidance, Iqbal refined his already considerable intellect and widened his mental horizon. After staying in the United KingdomThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is a state in Western Europe, usually known simply as the United Kingdom the UK Britain or less accurately as Great Britain . The UK was formed by a series of Acts of Union which united the formerly, he then went on to study at the University of Munich. He earned a PhD with a thesis on the "Development of Metaphysics in Persia", his only other English work being the Reconstruction of Religious Thought in Islam in 1928. While in Europe he also began to write his poetry in Persian, because it was easier to write in than Urdu; but he finally decided on sticking to Urdu since most Indians did not understand Persian.
It was while in Britain that he first went into politics. Following the formation of the All-India Muslim League in 1906, Iqbal was elected to the executive committee of the league's British chapter. Together with two other leaders, Sayyid Hassan Bilgrami and Sayyid Amir Ali , he also sat on the subcommittee which drafted the league's constitution.