JEDDAH, 16 January 2004 — Baitul Hikmat, Lahore, has published the books of 10 eminent writers in three months. Its recent publication Allama Iqbal Ki Shakhsiyat Par Aitrazat Ka Jaezah by Dr. Ayyub Sabir is a review of the criticisms of Iqbal’s personality by famous critics. The book has been well received.
The writer has successfully answered Iqbal’s critics. Baitul Hikmat’s another prominent publication is Jahane Hairat, the autobiography of retired Punjab Inspector General of Police Chaudhry Sardar Muhammad.
The biography, spread over 726 pages, contains minute details of important events in Pakistan’s history. The writer appears to be a keen observer of the power politics in the country’s checkered history. The book lifts the curtain on events that shaped the country’s politics. The books are available at Kitab Sarai in Lahore.
Baitul Hikmat director Prof. Abdul Jabbar Shakir who is in the Kingdom for performing Haj said his center has 50,000 books, 5,000 manuscripts and 30,000 magazines. Of those 3,500 books in 18 languages are on the life of the Prophet (pbuh). According to him it’s the biggest such collection in the world.
Baitul Hikmat plans to publish an encyclopedia on the Prophet’s life with research articles on some 3,000 topics. It will be published in 50 volumes. Baitul Hikmat has the biggest collection of books in 35 languages on Iqbal. It plans to publish Iqbal’s literary works (not poetry) in 12 volumes, he said.