Muhammad Iqbal (1877-1938) was a writer, philosopher, and politician who is widely revered in the Asian subcontinent. He was also a scholar, lawyer, and well-known poet whose Urdu poetry is world-renowned. Muhammad Iqbal is commonly referred to as the honorific Allama, meaning “very knowing and most learned.” He was born in Punjab on November 9, 1877, which was under the jurisdiction of the British Raj (1858-1947) at the time.

Before Muhammad Ali Jinnah, Pakistan's founding father, established the new state in 1947, Allama Iqbal envisioned its creation. He had a vision of a culturally and politically independent Muslim state that promoted Islamic ideals and combatted the oppression and discrimination Muslims experienced living in India.

Influenced by the democratic principles held in the United States Constitution, Allama Iqbal advocated for a Muslim state that promoted the ideals of “life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness.” As such, Allama Iqbal revived the two-nation theory, which inspired Muhammad Ali Jinnah to create an exclusively Muslim state. The American Pakistani Advocacy Group (APAG), the organization responsible for initiating this street co-naming in honor of Allama Iqbal, chose this location in the South Richmond Hill area to mark it as the epicenter of APAG’s community service work for the Pakistani diasporic communities residing in Queens and beyond.