Dhivahi Bahuge Academy (DBA)’s president Dr. Ashraf Abdul Raheem has participated and delivered remarks at the ‘International Iqbal Conference 2025’ held in Pakistan’s Baluchistan capital, Quetta.
Iqbal Conference is an annual conference held by Iqbal Academy Pakistan to promote Dr. Allama Muhammad Iqbal’s poetry and philosophy.
This year, the conference was held from November 18th to November 20th at Tameer-i-Nau Trust College in Quetta.
Dr. Ashraf delivered remarks at the conference on Wednesday, during which he underscored that Maldivian poetry has been influenced by Dr. Iqbal’s poetry and philosophy: something which he said was evident from Ibrahim Shibab’s poetry.
Dhivahi Bahuge Academy (DBA)’s president Dr. Ashraf Abdul Raheem participates and delivers remarks at the ‘International Iqbal Conference 2025’. (Photo/DBA)
He also referred to the book he wrote, seeking to identify the level of connection between Maldivian poetry and Dr. Iqbal’s poetry that has been translated by him.
Notably, Dr. Ashraf delivered his speech at the conference in Urdu language, garnering significant attention as an individual from a small nation such as the Maldives who spoke about Dr. Iqbal in Urdu.
Dr. Ashraf, who completed his higher education in Pakistan, is fluent in Urdu.
Participants in the conference included representatives from Iran, Egypt and Bangladesh. Over 20 people delivered speeches during the conference including Pakistanis who had traveled to Quetta from across the nation and a Pakistani national with UK citizenship. Students from Tameer-i-Nau Trust College also attended the conference.
The closing ceremony of the conference saw renowned Qaris from Morocco, Iraq, Egypt and Pakistan recite the Quran.
Dhivahi Bahuge Academy (DBA)’s president Dr. Ashraf Abdul Raheem participates and delivers remarks at the ‘International Iqbal Conference 2025’. (Photo/DBA)
Dr. Allama Muhammad Iqbal, an Islamic poet and philosopher, received the title of ‘Shair-e-Mashriq’, meaning poet of the east, is known as the greatest poet of the East. In 2015, Dr. Ashraf released a book comprising of the Dhivehi translation Dr. Iqbal’s ‘Shua-e-Umeed’, meaning Ray of Hope, alongside an interpretation of the poem. The bool highlights similarities between Ibrahim Shihab’s ‘Ummeedhuge Sirru’ and Dr. Iqbal’s ‘Shua-e-Umeed’.