DefinePK

Abstract

Quaid-i-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah a seasoned politician was western educated lawyer who sought to have learned a lot from the British during his stay in England. He started his political career as a young nationalist and believed that religious issue should not be mixed with national affairs. He wanted equal rights to all communities, including the Muslim community. He chose to call himself a nationalist. He initially wanted the subcontinent to have a united state, providing equal facilities for all communities; but this proved impossible in a country which was predominantly religious. The secularists also claimed that Jinnah differentiated between the Muslim State and the Islamic State. Jinnah probably avoided using the phrase ‘Islamic state’. Instead, he described Pakistan in more innocuous and acceptable phrases like ‘Muslim State’ and ‘National State’, although he was never tired of telling that Islam was the basis of Pakistan, that ‘every Musalman’ was its author, and so on and so forth. Islam and Muslims were synonymous and interchangeable terms to him. With a deep understanding of the political situation of British India, Quaid-i-Azam transformed the Muslims of India into a nation. He is remembered as a leader of admiration who left a deep impression in the history. In the Quaid’s leadership, Muslims of subcontinent not only achieved freedom but also won an independent state for themselves, where they could lead their lives according to the teachings of Islam and could protect their Culture and civilization.