The Pakistan Idea:

A Challenge to Geographical,
Racial and Lingual Nationalism
 The Pakistan Idea:
A Challenge to Geographical,
Racial and Lingual Nationalism

Shamim Anwar

Tolu·e·lslam Trust (Regd.) .

25· B, Gulberg·2,
Lahore· 54660 - PAKISTAN
 All Rights Reserved by the Author

The Pakistan Idea

Author M. Shamim Anwar

Printed by: Khalid M. Naseem at

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Published by: 'l'olu-e-Islam Trust

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Edition: 1994

ISBN 969-8164-02-2

Price:

(Total proceeds from Tolu~e-Islam Trust Publications

is spent on dissemination of Quranic Teachings)
 ( iii )

Contents
Preface ....... IV

Introduction ....... VB

Ch. I Definition of some ....... 1

Quranic Concepts

Ch. II Culture and civilisation ....... 9

Ch. III Approach to History ....... 26
Ch. IV Sir Syed Ahmed Khan ....... 35
-- The First Architect
of Pakistan
Ch. V The Two Nation theory ...... .42
Ch. VI Dr. Muhammad Iqbal ....... 49
and the Human Destiny

Ch. VII Iqbal Finds a saviour in Jinnah ....... 61

Ch. VIII The Ideological Battle -- Part I ....... 75
•
.
Ch. IX The Ideological Battle -- PartH ....... 97
Ch.X The Genesis of the ....... 105
Ulema's opposition to
the Pakistan Idea

Ch. XI The Battle is won ....... 112

Ch. XII Conclusion ....... 118
Bibliography ....... 125
-Appendices: A,B,C,D. ....... 129
 UV)

Preface

It has never been easy for anyone, great or small, to

present something new and fresh in the realm of ideas
and concepts. Even if people may no longer be burnt or
skinned alive for their convictions today, the best
thinkers of any country have to wait a long time to make
themselves heard above the noise and din of prevalent
ideas, leave alone reMcreating a new order and a new
man. Each idea seems to go its full circle before their
warnings are heeded, entailing so much suffering and so
much pain. And yet all this need not be necessary.

It has not been easy to present the "Pakistan Idea".

In the uncritical onrush of man's march in a particular
direction, it is terribly out of step. It is all the more
difficult because here, as Dr. Muhammad Iqbal put it,
"Islam is (being presented as) a protest against all
religions in the old sense of the word"M a word that,
significantly has never been used in the Quran. Thus
whenever Iqbal uses the. word "religion" it is used in a
very different context and background.

It has been noted during the writing of this little

book that the Pakistan Idea can best be reconstructed on
the basis of the speeches and writings of the main
characters, with Quranic concepts as the touch·stone.
This method becomes necessary in this case fo~ the
simple reason that the Quran was professedly the basis
of their ideology.

This little book has been no easy venture, but it

became possible because of my great teacher and
 \v)

mentor, Allama Ghulam Ahmad Parwcz. Indeed without

him this book could never have been written.

Allama Parwez's greatest forte was clarity of thought

and his knowledge of semantics. The way he clarified
words and concepts and the "Pakistan Idea" as no one
else did, I developed a keen sensitivity to the fact that I
must write it down. I also felt it so as a duty and a
responsibility, being a student of history, although in no
way do I claim to be a writer or a historian. Also, during
his public lectures and conversations, Allama Parwez
"repeatedly warned that the Pakistan Movement can be
put into perspective only if Jinnah's political career is
studied in two distinct phases--from 1906 to 1930 and
from 1934 onwards. What happened during this period of
time between 1930 and 1934 is what makes all the
difference.

Secondly, Allarna Parwez emphasised that the

"Tolu·e·lslam" magazine issues from 1938 to 1942,
wherein the ideological battle was fought must be
researched, for it lies enshrined in these pages. Without
reference to it, the challenges and responses of the
"Pakistan Idea" will be overshadowed by controversies
and misinterpretations. In fact that is exactly what has
happened in the last four and a half decades, both the
theocratics and secularists trying to pull it in their own
directions. They have a right to project their views but
no one has the right to distort history. I have picked up
the gauntlet and have attempted to write. Some of it was
written during Allama Parwez's lifetime. Readers will
notice that I have given him a pride of place in the
presentation of the "Pakistan Idea." However he had
disapproved of it, for, that was not his purpose in
exhorting us to research, such was his humility. But I
stand by what I have written.
 l VI )

At the end one more point needs to be clarified. The

contents of this book are not in the form of a narration,
for I did not wish to repeat what already has been
copiously undertaken by qualified historians. My
emphasis is on the conceptu(}l and abstract principles.
I hope this small effort will be followed by better
efforts.
S. A.
 ~ Vll J

Introduction

The "Pakistan Idea" is not an original one 1 and yet

in the context of the present it is also very new and
different. To understand this proposition it will be
necessary to briefly review the beginnings of the
prevalent concepts and institutions and the norms that
European experience has set for the rest of the world.
Since the Renaissance, Europe has gone through a
great transformation from the concepts and institutions
of thl Middle Ages. Following a haphazard process of
trial and error, of action and reaction, new concepts and
institutions·have been evolved, and it has not been easy.
About six hundred years of history has seen many
earth-shaking upheavals in Europe, often painful and
prolonged in terms of human suffering and man's span of
life. This is not surprising, for in the trial and error
process, this is but inevitable. The Reformation and
counter-Reformation, Age of Reason, French Revolution,
the Napoleonic Wars, and Industrial and Commercial
Revolutions - each in its tUrn has produced changes in
the thinking of the European Man and his pattern of
life. Rejection of the priestly Church Organisation
developed a scientific attitude of mind and also broke the
focus of a sense of Christian unity, giving rise to
secularism and the rejection of the king's will,
introducing the concept of the "general will" and popular
sovereignty; the rebellion ofthe people against Napoleon's
conquest of Europe created the "nation states;"
and mechanisation of industry gave rise to modern
capitalism bringing with it all too familiar concepts of

lSee Appendix A, and Chapters II and V

 ~ Vlll )

profit-motivation, laissez-faire, and rugged individualism.

The reaction to it swung the pendulum to the theories of
class-war and scientific socialism and communism.
No doubt on the whole the changes have been for
the better, but no human efforts, however much an
improvement on the past, can claim to be an undiluted
blessing.
Freedom of the intellect from the organised
priesthood and medieval scholasticism enabled the
development of the scientific attitude and provided
uninhibited opportunities for the flowering of the latent
human potentials. From the inertia of the -Middle Ages,
the European mind plunged into an adventure of ideas
and a life of action and struggle. But in this rapid
changing scene, he has no foothold to stand on. Dr.
Muhammad Iqbal points out: "It (society) must possess
eternal principles to regulate its collective life; for the
eternal gives us a foothold in the world of perpetual
change."l This eternal principle is missing in the prescnt
modern set-up. Whatever defective value-system
Christianity may have had, it has not so far been
replaced by another. Rene Guenon says: "The intellect
has a sharp eye for methods and tools but is blind to end
and values. 2 The importance of "end and values" has
been clarified by Robert Briffault: "The real standard by
which the worth of the human world is to be computed is
a moral standard. It is in an ethical sense that the word
'good' bears its essential meaning, when applied to
things human; and no process of human evolution can be
counted real which is not above all an evolution in
"goodness."3 It is this ICgoodness" that has been

IMuhammad Iqbal_ "Reconstruction of Religious Thought in Islam." page 141.

2Quoted by G.A Parwez in "Islam - A challenge to Religion." page 315.
3Robert BrilTautl--"Making of Humanity" page 259.
 Ux)

eliminated from the public life of the people.

"Secularism", the pride of modern achievement, is in
essence a divorce from morality. The politicians have
escaped the inhuman and unintellectual domination of
the priest but now cannot but follow Machiavelli for
whom moral values existed only as an expediency. To
Iqbal, life divorced from morality is "Changezism" under
whatever attractive cloak it may be hidden.
Rejection of monarchical despotism and feudalism
has introduced democracy, described often as the best
form of government. But Rousseau's "general will'" still
begs definition. The best that has been discovered so far
by way of practical solution is "indirect representation"
and "majority vote" to decide what is right and wrong.
For example, when by majority vote, the people of the
United States of. America decided to go dry, drinking of
alcohol became "wrong", but when the majority decided
that Uncle Sam's beard should go wet again, it became
"right" to take alcohol. How much can one depend upon
the "majority vote" for "right thinking"? Experience has
shown that public opinion can be swayed one way or
another, or guided and modified by mere suggestions,
psychologically induced. Meneken has well said:
"Knowing very well as a cardinal article of their art, how
little people in general are moved by rational ideas and
how much by mere hullaballoo, they make common
cause with every pressure group that comes along, and
are thus maintained in office by an endless services of
public enemies." 1 Iqbal had therefore warned:
"Keep away from Democracy: Follow The
Perfect Man, For the intellect of two
hundred asses cannot bring forth a single
man's thought."

lQuoted byG.A. Parwez in "Islam·· A Challenge io Religion" paW' 24\l.

 l xI

In any case the majority vote cannot on any account

be a universal or unanimous opinion. The minority is
done great injustice to, particularly when fundamental
issues of right and wrong are to be decided. In this
respect, tyranny of the majority could be worse than
tyranny of one man. Hence Iqbal again warned:

"The Democratic system of the West is the same old

instrument,
Whose chords contain no note other than the voice
of the Kaisar,
The Demon of Despotism is dancing in his
democratic robes,
Yet you consider it to be the Neelam Pari of
Liberty."

The capitalist economy does depend a lot on

initiative, hard work and rugged individualism, qualities
that invite admiration. But the apparent affluence and
prosperity of the industrially advanced countries pretend
to hide the mutual hatred and suspicion that it
engenders. Laissez-faire, material profit motivation,
every man for himself and unlimited ownership has set
man against man. This exploitation of the 'have-nots' by
the 'haves' repelled Iqbal. Thus, though he does not
think that ·"atheistic socialism" can solve the ills of
humanity he hailed the revolution in these words:

"You witnessed that the hungry slave

after all tore into pieces the shirt of the
landlord which was stained with his blood.
The sparks from the fire of the proletariat
burnt the gown of the clergy and the robe
of the king."
 \ Xl )

Psychologically, capitalism is splitting man into

isolated units, unable to communicate and share, lonely
and atrophied within. This lonely crowd must be made
into a "society" again. Once again Iqbal has described
this melody in his very expressive style:
"The most depressing error of Materialism is the
supposition that finite consciousness exhausts itself." I
Then further on he says:
"He finds himself unable to control his ruthless
egoism and his infinite gold·hunger, which is gradually
killing all higher striving in him and bringing him
nothing but life-weariness."z
Like capitalism, terriwrial nationalism also creates
hatred and bitterness. "My country, right or wrong" is a
slogan that can hardly be said to have led to civilising
influence. Aldous Huxley has well said that the
('National Person is super~hulllan in size and energy, but
completely sub~human in morality." It is this duality
that Iqbal rejects. "The Nationalist theory of state,
therefore, is misleading in as much as it suggests a
dualism which does not exist in Islam."3
Thus the European Man has reached a dead end in
his experiment. He has done well to overthrow
priesthood and traditional religion, but has not found a
value~system to be guided by. He has overthrown
despotism, but wonders how to get rid of the tyranny of
the majority vote. He has eradicated poverty, but is
unable . to discover a motivation other than material
self~interest. He has rejected God, but replaced it by the
god of territorial nationalism. Which way does he turn at
these cross~roads?

lMuhammad Iqbal-"Reconstruction of Religious Thnught in Islllm" pag-c 11:1.

2Muhammml Iqbal-"Ra'on~truction of Religious Thought in Islam" I,ag~ 177.
3Muhammad Iqbal_"Reconstruction of Rcli!c,'ious Thoughl in hbm" pag" 118.
 ~ Xlll )

matter of sheer unconscious reaction, both emotionally

and intellectually. that it kills curiosity and the ability to
accept and reject things on merit. This superiority
complex allows only a patronising and condescending
attitude if the erstwhile slave says something clever. But
anything different startles them. There could not be any
other way, but the European way. Thus it is a pity that a
"curtain of ignorance" (as Felix Greene describes it) has
been created over one of the most glorious experiment
on an unprecendetal scale being made in China on
human living. Nobody can of course claim that any
human situation can be perfect, but we are missing a
joyous experience of a quarter of humanity, even though
we may not totally agree with everything they do. In the
same way, the West was "startled" (in Richard Wheeler's
expression~ when Pakistan came into existence on basis
unknown to them.

It was high time that somebody stood up and

sincerely and boldly spoke the truth irrespective of what
the "civilised nations" and "world opinion" thought
about him. And what is more, devised some means to
experiment his concepts and institutions to show to the
world that their can be other ways, other alternatives to
the exclusively western or the communist.

One such man was Dr. Muhammad Iqbal. He gave a

different idea, today know as "Pakistan Idea," an idea
that was to be objectified in a sovereign state carved out
in the fidian sub-continent It is the evolution of this
id~a that forms the subject matter of this paper.
Realising the difficulty in presenting the idea in the
context of the present world attitude, an introduction of
this nature and this length became necessary.
 ~ XIV)

The readings on the Pakistan idea brought to light a

remarkable consistency in the thoughts, attitudes and
practices of certain personalities. They are Syed Ahmed
Khan, Dr. Muhammad Iqbal, Mohammad Ali Jinnah and
Chulam Ahmed Parwez. Other personalities· come and
go, but they lack the above qualities. For example, Abul
Kalam Azad expressed·very similar ideas to Iqbal during
the Balkan Wars but in later life he catapulted into the
camp of the All-India National Congress and opposed
"The Pakistan Idea" till the last moments of his life.
Maulana Muhammad Ali, a very sincere leader, was an
emotional agitator, who before his death in 1930
confessed the mistakes he made, and so on and so forth.
But the four mentioned above are personalities who have
never flinched or wavered from their path once they
were convinced of it. Hence the history of t.heir thoughts
and efforts is the history of the "Pakistan Idea".

At this stage it need hardly be emphasised that it is

not easy to present new and different concepts when the
old ones are so deep rooted and internalised that they
have become second nature. Thel'efore the first chapter
will be devoted to the definition of Quranic concepts
which are in the words of Iqbal "a protest against all
religions ,in the old sense of the term" I and a protest
against so many modern western terms. For the same
reason, even if at the risk of slight repetition, chapter
two "Culture and Civilisation" and chapter three
"Approach to History" have been added. While the
former is a cause of considerable confusion, the latter,
our "history" is retarding our progress which in any case
is an uphill task.

lThoughts and Rcf1ection~ ofIqbal, page 235.

 1

Definition of some
1 Quranic concepts

In the light of what has been said in the introduction

it has become absolutely imperative that this research
paper should begin with the definition of "Islam" and
the various concepts and terms that 8l'e associated with
it. In a world atmosphere charged with fanatical
adherence to certain concepts, so sacred that they
cannot be questioned, those concepts that look in a
different direction to these can on no account be left
undefined and ambiguous. In fact any ambiguity about
concepts that directly and in concrete form affect human
living can be fatal to the human mind and hence fatal to
the very survival of that particular group who claims to
live by those concepts. Professor Whitehead has aptly
stated that defining of a problem is a problem half
solved. Herein lies the significance of this chapter.

ISLAM: The most important term is "Islam" itself.

II' Surah: 3 Verse; 83 the Quran declares that every,
object in the universe bows down before the laws that
have been so de:;;igned for them. The word "Islam" in
this verse means to "bow down". The same -word has
been made more explicit by using the word "sajda" in
the Surah 13, Verse 15. Whatsoever is in the universe
"prostate" (yasjudun) before its Creator' (Allah's) Laws.
Now, this "prostration" and "bowing down" is not based
on freedom of choice of t.he objects and beings
concerned. They have no free will. They are bound to
obey unquestioningly, for that is their inherent nature.
They cannot protest or disobey, be they animate or
inanimate objects, in the heights or the depths of the
 2

universe. (16/49). They follow whatever is assigned for

them. (16/50).

AL-ISLAM: While all the objects are bound to obey

because they have to, a human being has been created
with a free will. It is left to him to obey or disobey the
laws that have been designed for him. These laws are of
two kinds: Those that apply on his physical life in
common with the lower animals. If these laws are obeyed
it simply means that man will be healthy and strong.
However, though physically a pleasant accomplishment,
it has nothing to do with the nobility of humanity. These
laws can be discovered in the same way as other laws of
Nature through what is understood as the scientific
process. Many were discovered through the past
centuries and many more are being discovered all the
time today. The other categOly of laws are concerned
with the development of the human personality and the
rules and regulations of an organised society. These laws,
the Quran claims, are enshrined in it, laws that were
received through "Revelation';' (wahO. When a human
being bows down before these laws it is described as "Al-
Islam". Physical laws governing physical existencc may
be obeyed on the individual basis, and it is so done, but
"AI-Islam" can be obeyed only within an organised
system. The Quranic word for any indefinite system is
"Dccn", but when referred to the Quranic system then it
becomes a definite term and is described as "Ad-Deen".
Hence in Surah 3, Verse 18, The Quran says that the
"ad-Deen" according to Allah is "aI-Islam". This point
has been further clarified by explaining that any systcm
that does not harmonise with it is unacceptable to Allah
for it would be unsuitable and destructive for rnan.

Ad-Decn: It has already been statcd t.hat ai-Islam

cannot be practised individually. It can manifcst itself
 3

only in collective living within u system called ad-Deen.

What in modern terminology is "a system of a state""
the Quran defines it as ad-Deen. This word is also used
as the "laws of the government" in Surah 12, Verse 76 as
follows: "Yusufwished to detain his brother (Bin-Yamin),
but he could not because it was against the laws of the
government." The QUl'an emphasises again and again
that sovereignty lies with Allah alone. He and no other
authority must be obeyed, (12/40). Such a system alone
engenders streub-rth. Now it is obvious that for a system,
the establishment of a state is a pre-requisite. "Those
who are convinced of the truth of the Quranic laws and
of Allah as their source and constructively harmonise
themselves with them, they establish a state and
government just as the people of yore who were
convinced of the laws of Allah.' (24·55). The purpose of it
all is to establish ad-Deen which Allah has preferred for
the human beings. It is obvious from these Quranic
verses that al·Islam cannot be implemented without a
state.

MADRAB: It is very important at this stage to

define the word "mudhab" translated as "religion" in
English, and now traditionally used to describe "a1·
Islam" as well. It is significant to note that Hmazhab"
although an Arabic word, is a word that has not occulTed
in the Quran for there is no such concept visualised by it.
"Madhab" or religion is considered to be a private affair
between Man and God, manifested in wurship, an
emotional devotion to God and some rituals and
ceremonies. Priesthood, invariably the custodian of
religion, presides over these rituals and cerernonies. the
most important fact to be studied here is that such a
concept does not require a state. While "ad-Deen"
cannot be established without a sovereign state,
"madhab" flourishes without it. That is why all states
 4

and governments generally allow the "freedom of

religion". For example the British Empire in India gave
freedom to all religious but it could not have given
freedom to ad-Deen because it demands a state of its own
and that would have been a challenge to its exi~tcnce, In
fact no state can give freedom tu ai-Islam as ad-Deen. To
draw a familiar parallel, in a country where capitalism is
the "deen", the "deen" of communism cannot be
established and vice vel'~a. Hence today, aI-Islam as
ad-Deen does not exist aUjWhere, may it be the so-called
Muslim countries or in countries where the so-called
Muslims are given freedom of religion as a religious
group. If "religious freedom" was all that Muhammad
(P.B.U.H.) demanded, he could have acquired that in the
old Meccan set·up, But he had to go all the wuy 'to
Medina to fulfill the pre-requisites of ad-De en, a
sovereign state,

MUSLIM: A Muslim is one who obeys the Laws of

al-Islam as ad-Deen, Since there is no such state in
existence today, there is no Muslim as such either.

STATE RELIGION: This is rather a vugue term,

While an individual or group of individuals may clmm to
have some sort of personal relationship with God, it is
not clear as to how a state, an abstruction, hat;; tlllS
private religious link with God. A state may be at the
most described as a piece of tenitory wherein a system is
established. How is a system supposed to have a religion?
This point is not clear. In any case, this is a non-Islamic
idea.

EIlVIAN: Acceptance of Quranic concepts and

values, of Quranic laws with complete rational
conviction, with complete understanding and satisfaction
of the mind and hernt, through discussion, logic and
 5

reason, is described as "ElMAN." In Smah 25, Verse 73

the Quran says that "there are those who when Quranic
laws are proclaimed do not acce:pt them with eyes and
ears closed, blindly." It even asks its opponents to
contradict it by reason and argument. (2/111) The Quran
has made it clear that:

(a) No person can become a Momin

through compulsion, no matter
what the nature of the pressure .
. (b) No one can become a Momin by blind
imitation.
(c) No one can be a Momin by hirth.

At the same time "ElMAN" is not an end in itself.

One's life must in practice harmonise with ElMAN. It is
through action that the purpose is served. Hence the
surrender of the Bedouins and the Meccans to the Laws
of the Islamic State after the conquest of Mecca did not
make them Mornins because their submission was more
of convenience than conviction.

UMMAH: It has already been stated that ad-Dean is

a collective system. For such a system a group of people
and •an organisation is needed to practise it and
implement it. In modern parlance this kind of a
collective group is defined as a "nation". In Quranic
terminology it is called "ummah". I The Quran describes
this "ummah" as "one that is established for the welfare
and development of the whole human race." (3/110)
This is the fundamental difference between "madhab"
and "ad-Deen". A "madhab" or religion can be practised
in isolation, individually, in monasteries, in caves, in
IMorc will bc snid about "ummnh" and "natiun" in thc chaptcr un th~
"Tw{}·Naliun ThcOl-y".
 6

jungles. But "ad-Decn" an organised system demands

collective submission to the law. So "anyone who wishes
to submit, must join the group" (2/43). AlHI it is "by
joining this group that one enters the heavenly society"
(89/29-30).

ISLAMIC STATE: The Quran declares in

unambiguous terms that "those who do 110t establish
their government in accordance with the QUl'anic
concepts are kafirs (non-believers)" (5/44). In cunent
politics a sovereign state is that which is absolutely
independent of any kind of limitation. An Islamic state is
frcc only within the limits of the Quranic values. Here
sovereignty lies in the authority of the Quranic values,
not in anyone or mOl:e individuals. This does not mean
that an Islamic state is not sovereign. Every sovel'eign
state, although externally independent, has to accept
internally the limitations of its own constitution. The
difference lies in the fact that the Islamic state, as long
as it aims at being Islamic, cannot violate the Quranic
values; it takes decisions and makes by-laws \vithin the
boundaries of the Quranic values. It is a harmonious
blending of permanence and change. An un-Islamic state
does not accept limits of any such kinds.

SECULAR STATE: It has already been stated that

"those who do not establish their government in
accordance with the Quranic concepts are kafil's (non-
believers)" (5/44). In other words it is a "Secular" State,
that rejects ethical guidance. Lenin has explained the
essence of Secularism in clear words:
We repudiate all morality derived from non-human
and non-class concepts. We say that it is n deception, a
fraud, a befogging of the minds of the workers and
peasants in the interests of the landlords and capitalists.
 7

We say that our morality is entirely subordinate to

the interests of the class struggle of the proletariat. Our
morality is derived from the interests of the class
struggle of the proletariat. 1
"We do not believe in an eternal morality, and we
expose all the fables about morality."2
However this definition of Secularism is not
restricted to Communism alone. Communist or non-
Communist, all states today are secular. Any system of
values is considered to be a matter of private affair of
each individual. But these values have no control over
the policies of the state, internal or externaL This is
what may be described as "dualis:rri" in human
behaviour. Talking about this kind of state politics
C.E.M. Joad says:
"The practical effect of idealist theory in its bearing
upon the relations between states, is, therefore, to create
a double standard of morality. there is one system of
morals for the individuals and another for the state so
that men who, in private life, are humane, honest and
trustworthy, believe that when they have dealings on the
state's behalf with the representatives of other states,
they are justified in behaving in ways of which as private
individuals, they would be heartily ashamed. "~
The same view has been stated by Cavour. He says:
"If we do for ourselves what we do for our country, what
rascals we should be." 4 Iqbal has said in his well-known
couplet:
"May if be the power of the monarch or
the democratic -quibbling, if politics is
IV.!. Lenin _ "Milrx.Engels-Marxism", page 461.
2ibid. page 465
3C.E.M. Joad "Guide to the Philosophy of Murals and Puliti(,.'S" p.p. 72!l·30.
4Quoted by G.A. Parwez in "Islam: A Challenge to Rcligitm" p.2fi-t.
 8

divorced from morality, it is reduced to

Changezism."
Such a state proudly gives the freedom of religion
and even constitutional recognition of the personal laws
of the various religious groups, but in public and state
politics they are Machiavellian lions and foxes. In
unequivocal terms the Quran condemns as very
destructive the attitude of those "who believe in some
parts orthe Book and disbelieve in other palts" (2/85).
DEMOCRACY: It is in this context that the
distinction between modern western democracy and
Islamic democracy can be understood. In the former the
decision of what is right and wrong is made by the
representatives of the people by a majority vote. But in
the latter the limitations of right and wrong are
measured in the Quran. The laws and uy·laws can be
made only within its boundaries through consultation
amongst the people according to the changing times.
Democracy, and other concepts described above, will
become more understandable as the history of the
"Pakistan Idea" unfolds and crystalises itself in the
succeeding pages. 1

IThis chapter is hased on un artide by Ghulam Ahmed Plil'wez

captioned "Rain kawah kuchh, nazar atay hain kuchh", (the !>tar!> are
in reality different to what they appear to the human eye) pre:;cnted to
the delegates of the annual Tolu-c-Io;lam conventiun in November
1975.
 9

2 Culture and Civilisation

Among the great human themes which have invited

profound discourses among philosophers, historians,
anthropoligists, sociologists and psychologists, one
theme that still bugs our minds and perhaps begs more
discourses is "culture and civilisation", Along with
lingual and ethnic identities (more will be said about it
later) culture and ciVilisation, on a universal scale. is
inflicting a deadly divisiveness among human kind, and
all this at a time when we are leaping into the twenty-
rust century. But sadly, ODe has only to utter the word
ftculture" , and it immediately generates centrifugal
tendencies leading to more and more hatred,
misunderstandings and bloodshed. In the nineteenth
and early twentieth centuries Europe split into bits as
the Austrian-Hungarian and Ottoman Empires
disintegrated; today, the socialist collapse is witnessing
another disintegration of Eastern Europe and the Soviet
Union as a whole: one of the worst spots being
Yugoslavia wherein Bosnians, Croats and Serbs are in a
deathly grip.

Similar rumblings are being felt in south Asia, very

close at home, and other parts of the world. At one point
in history, humankind set in motion a prolonged and
tough_struggle to reject religion from public and political
life so as to 'create better understanding and
cohesiveness in inter-human relationship, but then the
vacuum was filled in by "culture" and geographical
nationalism_ which has proved and is currently proving
no less venomous than the old religious divisions.
Accordingly when Iqbal was challenged about his
 10

"religious communalism" he retorted thus: "All nations

accuse us of fanaticism. I admit the chargeM-I go further
and say that we are justified in our fanaticism.
Translated in the language of biology fanaticism is
nothing but the principle of individuation working in the
case of a group. In this sense all forms of life are m,ore or
less fanatical and ought to be so if they care for their
collective life. And as a matter of fact all nations are
fanatical. Criticise an Englishman's religion, he is
immovable; but criticise his civilisation, his country 01'_
the behaviour of his nation in any sphere of activity and
you will bring out his innate fanaticism. The reason is
that his nationality does not depend on religion; it has a
geographical basis _ his country. His fanaticism then is
justly roused when you criticise his country,,,.
Fanaticism is pat'riotism for religion; patriotism,
fanaticism for country,"l We see therefore that
humankind is as fanatical or intolerant as before, only
religious intolerance is replaced by cultural and national
intolerance. The situation is the same, only the subject
and emphasis has changed.

It is also interesting to note that the term

"civilisation" is interchangeably mingled with "culture" in
their usage. Surely, as two distinct terms they must have
distinct definitions and implications, and their
correlation, But this aspect is also ignored and the result
is a complete hotchpotch ending in confusion. Even
writers of calibre and learning interplay on these words
carelessly.

According to A Huxley, words carelessly used can

have a dangerous impact. In his "Words and Meanings"
he points that the word "enemy" does not have the s~e

lMuhammad Iqbal "Stray Reflections" pages 23-25.

 11

sensitivity in its implication as, if we were to use the

words men, women and children instead. Also, a slight
change in the shade of meaning can change the whole
perspective of life,.a whole world-view, Hence semantics
or science of words has gained tremendous significance
in the modern world. The developing countries with
their static societies have not given any attention in this
area of research.

It is now recognised that through evolutionary

process and the dynamics of experience the meaning of
words change. However, there have also been negative
forces at work through the ages in all societies~ The
words are retained, but the meaning and its relatedness
to life is changed. This is a deliberate and concerted
measure on the part of the priestcraft to suit the existing
status quo and the vested interests. This is how great
revolutionary movements are stalled and people start
regressing. For instance "ibadat" (obedience to) of either
Pharaohs Laws or Allah's Laws is now understood as
"worship." Similarly, "Service" (to humanity) has been
narrowed down to "service" in the church. Such examples
could be endless in all languages and rur..ong all pf:!ople of
different regions. After this all that the rulers (kings or
politicians of today) have to do is to pick up words and
phrases out of context from the works of "anbiya" or
great thinkers and scholars and beat them hollow by
repetitive slogan mongering. Great human concepts are
thus lost to humanity and to posterity. It is therefore
pre-requisite to progress to lay emphasis on the
discipline of semantics. For one thing semantics helps in
clarifying our thoughts and dispelling ambiguity; after
all,. definition of words is what philosophy is all about.
Defining a word is half the problem solved; and after all
what is Socratic claim to immortality but the defining of
words?
 12

With reference to what has been said above, it

becomes obvious that while we retain the right to derme
or even invent new words when we are expressing our
own ideas and concepts, our own times and experiences,
the books of by gone days must be understood in the
words and meaniugs of the times in which they were
written, whether they be Greek philosophers,
Shakespeare and other Elizabethan writers, the Bible, or
the Quran. Actually, this is a subject by itself and should
be studied as such. Semantics goes a long way in
revealing and illuminating as to what happene~ in
history and as to why we are still stuck in the quagmire
of confusion in our thought processes.

The subject of culture and civilisation becomes

particularly relevant and deeply linked to the "Pakistan
Idea" because it claims its justification in an attempt to
preserve a "culture", in this case "Islamic" as distinct
from "Hindu" or for that matter any non-Islamic culture.
However, the tragedy is that whenever scholars of no
mean calibre have attempted it, it has been in a way that
is highly unconvincing. It may be an essay· on "The
culture of Pakistan~' by Ahmed Ali in Symond's "Making
of Pakistan", or S.M. Ikram and many other waxing
eloquent on the "cultural heritage of Pakistan", the
various ingredients of Islamic culture in the ultimate
analysis boils down to the domes and minarets, with Taj
Mahal as its masterpiece; the Arabic alphabet
culminating in the Urdu language; heritage of popular
melodies of Hir Ranjah, Sassi Punnu, and its Arabian and
Persian heritage of Laila Majnuu and Shireen Farhad,
Arabian Nights and the Shah Nama. Then there is the
tradition of the "Ghazal",. "Nazam" and the "Qaseeda" and
Amir Khusro's "Qawwali" and the "Sittar",
 13

To this is added a whole array of saints and mystics,

and of course the Mughal miniature paintings and minor
arts and crafts of Multan and Bahawalpur pottery, and
'muslin' of Dacca, wood and lacquer work, carpets and
paper mache of Kashmir, and so on and so forth. This is
not all. While speaking at the Islamic Colloquium in
Lahore in the late fifties as to what Islamic Art is, Dr.
Richard Eithing Hausen, Research Professor of Islamic
Art, University of Michigan, USA spoke thus: "Islamic
Art, he said is charactrised by the "taaq", Candle"
the Arabian alphabet and "illuminations" in
the book". Supposedly then, it was to preserve this
culture that Pakistanis established a sovereign state! In
this context the situation is inherently confusing and
contradictory. It would be worth quoting at length from a
text book of Civics by which the citizens of tomorrow are
educated. Discussing the clash of cultures, the author
says; "Clashes of culture exist wherever two ways of life
within the same area are so opposed that they cannot
live side by side. The very presence of the one means the
suppression of the other. Our own case is a good
example. Muslims and Hindus represented two separate
and distinct cultures in India. They could not live
together or accommodate one another. This clash
aggravated so much that India had to be divided so that
the two cultures can have their own areas." In the VelY
next paragraph, on the same page he talks about the
phenomenon of "cultural ambivalence." He argues that "a
person is caught between two opposing cultures. He does
not know what to do. His whole life is split up." Having
explained this the author gives an excellent illustration"
of this from "urban edutated class of Pakistan". "We are
torn", he says, ''between two opposite patterns, two
distinct ways of life·-the western and eastern". We read
and speak English in offices, colleges and restaurants, we
use Urdu or the regional language at home. We wear our
 14

oriental dress at home but outside we mostly use

western dress. Our values are partly Eastern and partly
Western. Basically our attitude is that of an orthodox
oriental but we are too prone to western polish. The
result is that we have no culture of our own, or at least
none that is worked out, peculiar to our genius and
distinct in shape or form",

Without blinking an eye, the· author has

categorically declared that "we have no culture of our
own" and yet we achieved Pakistan according to him
because we had a separate and distinct "culture" from the
Hindus!

However, the confusion does not end here for many

of us have confused the terms "culture" and "civilisation",
West Pakistan has witnessed a "fusion of cultures" says
one author. These cultures he argues, are Indus Valley
Civilisation, the Persian and Greek occupation of West
Pakistan, the Saka and Kush.an Conquests, and of
course, the Turk, Mghan, and the Mughal rule in India.
Pakistan may be a new country, hut she possesses a
cultural heritage that is 5,000 years old. It can be traced
back to the statuette of an unknown dancing girl in
Moen-jo-Daro and the undeciphered script on the
exquisite seals of the Indus Valley Civilisation, and not
as recent as the Arab Conquest of Sind, which in any
case did not leave hehind any monument worth the
name. It is obvious that there is a great deal of confusion
and it stems from our misconception of the terms
culture and civilisation. Since such confusion has proved
and is proving divisive and rather naive and shallow it is
time to pause for a while and do some re-thinking on the
subject. For a nation of sheep or a caravan that moves on
without a clear destination, even a small pause can be
the beginning of a new life.
 15

Culture is none of the things mentioned above. The

culture of a people is basically on "attitude of mind", Il_
world-view, a way of looking at Nature, at life itself.
Culture is an idea in the mind that inspires people into
action or inaction and mould their lives in a particular
pattern. It is something that happens inside a human
being, It is a human condition, an internal change,
progressive or regressive as the case may be. It is this
internal change that brings a transformation either w~y
in the fundamental constitution of a people's mode of
thought. As-such, culture is abstract and philosophical,
denoting a whole value system enconpassing all aspects
of life. Culture is not the extcrnalia of life, externalia
which point out to the fashions of the day, habits and
customs. Dr.· Syed Abdul Latif has presented a very apt
distinction between the two. He saYl:l "In societies where
this is not understood in its proper perspective, the term
"culture" is at times confused with the term
"refmement". In this indifferent or populor sense, the
term "culture" stands for the fashion of the day,
primarily in the externalia of life, in dress, in drawing
room manners, the matelial amenities of living, the
recreation of diverse forms catering for the senses, and
the similar signs of seeming or outward pulish. But such
a condition or state may not necessarily argue a refined
state of mind, the hall-mark of hue culture. 'One may
smile and smile and be a villain' says Hamlet, and he
draws attention to what should not pass for "culture".

Culture is thus the refmement of the mind and not

the externalia of life. From here we move on to the term
"civilisation" and how it relates to culture. Oswald
Spengler uses the word "soul" to explain culture. He then
further explains that "every culture has its own
civilisation. Civilisations are the most external and
artificial states of which a species of developed humanity
 16

is capable". Such is their relatedness. One is the "soul:

the other "intellect" epitomised by Greece and Rome
respectively. Culture is thus a creative process objccti·
tying itself in the society; it tries to perfect itself in
civilisation, that is, in social, economic and political
institutions, fine arts; scientific discoveries and
inventions.

Due can see now that while culture is abstract,

intangible, invisible and internal, civilisation is concrete,
visible and external. But, and this is a very big but,
during this creative process, the manifestation of culture
in civilisation there is no common denomination. They
are varied, diverse, ever changing. In other words, one
particular culture can manifest itself in different forms
of civilisations, thus making the civilisations historical
and regional as well. It would indeed be a dull and
morbid world if complete uniformity was imposed.
Variety is the spice of life, making life so much more
colourful and rich. Local variation and touch must be
preserved even when the whole of mankind accepts one
culture. Ernest Cassirer in his "Essay on Man" has
rightly said that "here we seek not unity of effects but
unity of action, not unity of products but unity of the
creative process. If the term "humanity" means anything
at all, it means that, in spite of all the differences and
oppositions existing among its various forms, these are,
nevertheless, all working towards a common end."

This is as far as the definition of "culture" and

civilisation" goes. Since the reference to the context of
these terms in this exercise is the "Pakistan Idea" in an
Islamic perspective, the definition of "Islamic culture" as
distinct from "non-Islamic culture" becomes incumbent.
 17

Islamic culture then is a culture that says YES to

life. It is a culture that places Adam (humankind) in a
position where the Malaika (laws and forces of Nature)
prostrate before him; it is a culture that makes
Humankind the co-worker of God. It is the spirit of
adventure and enterprise, the unquenchqable thirst for
learning and research, the prodigious intellectual
curiosity to unravel the Laws of Nature, and the sheer
joy of living in this beautiful, wonderful world which lays
before humankind such immense possibilities. This
motive force leads them on to exploit the unlimited
resources around them, control the forces of Nature and
make for themselves a heaven on earth. There is an
outburst of creative activity and the flowering of talent.
Deeply imbued with this culture, no task is too great for
humankind, no obstacle unsurpssable, no challenge that
cannot be r'esponded to,
The anti-thesis of this culture is the one that says
NO to life. It is a culture that condemns this world as a
stinking carcass fit for the dogs and vultures, The
interest of the people, who are priest ridden, are
diverted from this world to the other world. Instead of
coustructing a heaven on this earth, their attention is
focussed solely on the heaven hereafter. Life on this
earth is not important; it is the life after death that
really matters.
Poverty, disease, natural calamites, all are borne with
a spirit of resignation and fatalism, the creative process
is dead and the faculty of thought is suppressed and lost.
Meaningless and pompous ceremonies control life and
are directed towards the salvation of the individual soul
or its annihilation. In short, this is a dead people. It does
not mean that it is physically eliminated, but its physical
existence is at the mercy of powerful countries to whom
they look upto for every morsel they consume,
 18

Thus basically there are only two cultures in the

world--one that says YES, and the other that says NO to
life. One is Islamic the other non-Islamic. Indeed any
nation at any time or place has an important ingredient
of Islamic culture when she says YES to life. It is this
spirit that made Tariq burn his boats; it was the same
spirit that made Europeans explore the world, across
deserts and the high seas and discover new continents; it
were not the gods but just ordinary human beings who
traversed the deserts and who ventured into dense
forests where wild beasts lurked and where unruly rivers i
unleashed their fury; it is ordinary human beings again
who have conquered geography in places where it was
considered to be inimical to the spirt of activity and
initiative; and today the same spirit is moving into space,
landing on the moon and pushing its way to other stars
and planets. In a sense from ancient to modern times,
emperors and dictators like Alexander the Great, Julius
Ceasar, Changez Khan, Temur Lang and Hitler threw
challenges to others and accepted them from others in
the same spirit. Tyrannical they were but there was life
and vigour. On the other hand, when the spirit dies it
degenerates into the culture of the opium eaters of pre-
revolutionary China' over which the yellow river ruled, or
the Hindu Indian fear, as recent as the nineteenth
century, that sailing on the high seas makes them
impure resulting in the dissolution of theil: marriage!

However, the similarity between Islamic culture and

the examples given above ends here, for the survival of a
culture depends upon how it uses and controls the
political, economic and scientific power that it inevitably
achieves after saying YES to life. Does it arrest and
monopolise wealth, or does it leave it open for
humankind? Do they plunder and loot others or do they
become the nourishers and sustainers of hum:mkind?
 19

Are they guided by purely material values or by

permanent human values? The Quran declares in
unconditional terms that the culture that nourishes and
guards humanity and harnesses its scientific power by
the reins of permanent values, alone con survive. The
duration of culture depends upon the extent of its aiding
value to human life. Dr, Latif points out that "a nation or
a social group may have attained a high standard of
material progress, and the distribution of its benefits
within its own circle may be equitable but it may prove a
danger to humanity at large all the same," To this I
would add that sometimes a wealthy nation might help
other nations for its own self-preservation, but even that
proves futile in the long run. The goal must be
"humanity" and not the interest of ones own group. This
is the test of survival and hence its veracity.

At this point, having defined "Islamic" culture,' the

clarification of "Islamic" civilisatlOn, that is, how the two
terms relate and function together would be in order. As
already stated above, civilisation is the objectifying of
culture in society in variegated and changcable forms. In
this context it would be very erroneous indeed to say, as
it is always being said that the minaret and dome, the
"ghazal" and "qaseeda" are the monopoly of Islam. There
is no reason why it cannot express itself equally well in
the pagoda and the steeple, the sonnet and the ballad.
Again, if one speaks English or Chinese, builds his house
on American style and adopts western or any other dress,
one is certainly not on the "cultural crossroad". If Bulbul
Chandhri's dance is identical to that of Rum Gopal's, and
if the "ragas" that Roshan Ara sang are the same as that
which Hira Bai Barodkar sang, it does not mean that one
ceases to be a Muslim and a Pakistani. Likewise, if one
consumes Italian, French or Chines€> cuisine, one is not
destined to enter hell! Islamic culture is not enshrined in
 20

"pulaaa" and "Sheekh Kabab." Thinking in such terms

makes any group of people a laughing stock and what is
worse, these so-called identifications with Islam or any
other philosophy of life makes it static and petrified.

This issue has become so confusing and

retrogressive that it invites further clarification and
repetition. The QUl'an envisages a culture that is
universal. To begin with, let us take the example of the
South Asian sub-continent. The moment reference is
made to ancient Indian classical music and dance, the
"Muslim" of this region balks at it. He has nothing to do
with it he says for it is dedicated to Hindu gods and
godesses. That is true, but what should matter to him is
not the themes but the form whic:h, no doubt, is a class
by itself with a long and a great tradition. Even in
Bharat, there are groups of people who, though not very
effective yet, are thinking in terms of themes other than
Hindu mythology. While retaining ancient heritage; the
classic form, or for that matter, the folk traditional form
as well can and must be used for modern themcs.
Similarly, in Pakistan, issues that touch our heads and
hearts, issues such as extremes of poverty and wealth,
enslavement and freedom, health and education, war and
peace, status of women and many more can be
choreographed as ballets, becoming a very effective
medium of creative process and change. Such a
breakthrough was fIrst made by the famous Indian
dancer, Uday Shankar. In Pakistan too, second only to
Uday Shankar was Mehr Nigar Masmor, who undcr the
auspices of PIA Arts Academy produced a ballet "Sons of
the River." These experiments are good models tJ
understand how a particular form, may be in a modified
way, can become a vehicle of great, elevating Quranic
concepts.
 21

Talking of sartorial fashions, mny be climate, raw

material available, the convenience and utility of the
form of dress in a given situation, all these play an
important role. Now, to keep on emphasising that
"Shalwar-qamiz" and a sleeveless jacket for men, and a
"doputta" for women is our identity and hence
unchangeable, rejecting thereby trouser-suits, skirts and
"saris" as alien is an unworkable proposition. If "sari" is
South·Asian, "shalwar-qamiz" is the modified form of
pre-Islamic Turkish dress. To wear "shalwar qamiz" as a
convenient regional dress is understandable, though how
cpnvenient it would be for the army and police duties, is
another matter. Many also think that trouser-suit is a
s~ter and more dignified dress, keeping one alert, as
compared to the laziness and shabiness that "shalwaI'·
qamiz" engenders. As for the identity, perhaps our
memories are too short to recall that the sleeveless
jacket is linked with the name of Nehru. Furthermore, if
Hachkan" gains significance because Quaid·e.Azam
Jinnah wore it a few times, then it is a mistaken notion.
- The Quaid would not go in for such triviliaties; he was a
well·dressed person, and he carried whatever dress he
wore v~ry gracefully. That is all there is to it. In the
ultimate analysis what matters is not the outward form
but the: Islamic cultural spirit of dignity and poise and
modesty for both men and women.

Str~tching further the sartorial issue, the form of

head·ge~s and beard all no beard is again fashion of the
dfty and individual taste. If Raz!"at Muhammad (P.B.V.Rl
grew a .'beard and protected his head with a particular
de$igned cloth, tied with a band, so did Abu Jahal. If he
was born today, his outward garb would naturally
harmonite with the present fashions and utility needs of
modern Jife·style. To make a fuss about these details is
both, ch,ldish and an escape from the grave issues
 22

humanity is confronted with, demanding deep research

and hard work.

Another vast field that gets hogged down in so-called

culture is architecture. It seems as if the "dome" and the
"minaret" were part of the blue-prints that dropped from
the heavens! History of architecture informs us these
characteristics were already in existence in the
Byzantine and Sassunian civilisations. The former had its
impact on Russia where a church with onion-shaped
domes still forms a land mark and a symbol of Moscow.
In Paris a beautiful white church with domes is referred
to as "eastern" architecture, meaning Byzantine of
course. Later, the Arabs adopted it, and varied shapes
were evolved in Moorish Spain, Central Asia and Mughal
India. It is not the form, but the creating spirit behind it
that matters, If the building, for example, is spacious,
open, sunny, airy and not closed, dark and dingy, it is
Islamic in spirit, irrespective if the form is classic Gl'er::k,
Byzantine, Gothic and Pagoda style. In fact, the way
walls go higher and higher in Pakistan with an all·round
sense of insecurity is un-Islamic, compared to the houses
in the western countries that have no walls,

Above some areas have been picked up to illustrate

what is cultural and what is civilisational, Many more
areas could he included but this should suffice to project
and clarify the confusion that is dividing humankind.
Having illustrated and correlated the all important
terms of culture and civilisation,' it would now be
relevant and easier to refer to a decisive battle and a land
mark in history, namely the Battle of Badr. This battle
was preceded by Hazrat Muhammad's (P.B.U.H),
departure from Mecca to Medina. Now,. whe.n .. he and his
followers left for Medina, it was not because they spoke
or started speaking a different language or had adopted
 23

different habits and fashions, but because they had

adopted a rlifferent attitude of mind and mode of
thought. They now represented a different culture,
although civilisationally they were still the same. Then
came the confrontation on the plains of Badr. Who
commanded the army? Abu Jahal, Hazarat Omar's
maternal uncle. Also in the opposite camp were Abu
Bakr's son, Hazrat Muhammad's (P,RU.H) so"n_in_Iaw
and Ali's brothers. On the other hand, in Hazrat
Muhammad's (P.B.U.H) camp were people like Bilal, the
Abyssinian, Salman, the Persian and Suhaib, the Greek.
It is totally a new orientation; a new grouping, a new
family, bound by common thought processes rather than
blood kinship, race, colour, language or country. In more
ancient times, as mentioned in the Qurnn, Noah and his
son, and Abrahim and his father belonged to opposite
camps. Thus families and ll'ations are made through
likemin~dness, not biologically. This, we can see, is an
alliance that is as old as humankind, but today it appears
to be an idea that is far ahead of our times. This
situation vindicates that human mind and purely man-
made laws and institutions do not go beyond narrow
limits. A global human panorama is still a far cry in spite
of advanced technology. This is the biggest paradox of
our times.

Before this chapter is wound up, there is one

paiticular area that needs to be referred to. It was on the
basis of being likeminded as a binding factor that Quaid-
e-Azam Jinnah had graphically stated that the first
converted Indian was the first brick laid for Pakistan.
But there is a po~nt of view that our history is five
thousand years old, tracing back to Moen-jo-daro
civilisation, Gandhara and others. I:p. this context Raja
Dahir, Raja Porus and later Indian Kings gain a
significance simply because they are Indian or south
 24

Asian. All this is not only confusing, it once again

naITOWS the vision and curtails the universal dimension
of Islamic culture. History, so-called Muslim or nou-
Muslim, or for that matter, current events, are to be
evaluated on permanent human values. An individual or
a group of people should receive support and applause if
they happen to harmonise with these values. It is parting
of the ways if these values are rejer;ted and deviated
from. Thus widening the canvaS, Islamic culture can be
linked with the universal heritage, leave alone that of
South Asia only, Its spirit of adventure, curiosity
creativity, independence, vigour and hard work along
with partially or mostly in harmony with Permanent
values, certain historical phases can be discribed as
having imbibed certain characteristics of this culture, for
example, ancient Greece, early Roman Republic, ancient
civilisations of the Fertile Crescent, ancient China,
Persia and India, European Rennaissance, and the
present creative processes of North America, Western
Europe, Australia and New Zealand. Through trial and
error or the Directive Power of the Divine (wahi) these
historical phases came or have come quite close to the
spirit of it. Since perfection is impossible in human
conditions, being always in the process of becoming, the
closest to Islamic Culture is the life and work of Hazrat
Muhammad (P.B.D.H) himself and his immediate
successers.
The situation becomes further clarified if examples
of opposite ways of life are enumerated··ways of life and
thought processes that say "NO" to Islamic Culture.
These are the Dark ages of Europe, pre:revo!utionary
China, post Gupta era in India, pre· Islamic Persia and
Byzantine Empire, and the "Muslim" world from the
twelfth century onwards. In fact the furthermost from
 25

its claims and the biggest negation of the Muslim

Culture today is the "Muslim".
In the end it may be pointed out from the Quranic
stance, that the test of survival of any culture is
permament values geared to welfare of "humanity"
rather any just ones own group. Cultures do not rise and
fall in an inevitable cyclic order as the Gl"eeks opined,
nor does one idea or system change for the sake of
change as Hegel and Karl Marx would have us believe
through their "dialectical materialism" and historical
necessity". Neither is "Civilisation" the conclusion of
"culture" as Spengler puts it, or "the thing become of
thing becoming", A culture declines if it is based on man-
made laws of exclus'ive interests and narrow loyalties,
but if founded on permanent human values, its creative
process continues, ever rr~oving onwards and upwards.
Islrunic Culture is unique in this respect. It cuts across
the vicious cyclic ordpr in which humanity has been
entangled since the dawn of history. It has liberated Man
from the web of "recurrence" and given a new hope of a
culture that will enable the full and free, continuous and
consistent development of his potentialities and talents.
It rejects all theories of salvation and annihilation of the
inJividual and emphasises the development of
personality. A nation that adopts this culture is a
cultured nation. A humanised mind is a refined mind,
even though it may be outw.ardly uncouth. And those
who are trying to destroy others are only destroying
themselves. This is the lesson that humankind still has
to learn.
It was this "culture" that formed the basis of the
Pakistan Movement. Its betrayal is of course anotl1Cl'
story which has still to be recounte~, although rich
literature on its post~partition history exists.
 26

3 Approach to History

Old western imperial colonialism with its physical

occupation of colonies and after its withdrawal the neo-
economic imperialism filling in the so-called vacuum, has
confused and disinherited its victims and subjected it to
acute inferiority complex.

Allover Asia and Africa in the widespread

geographical movements launched to oust calonialism
and the formation of nation-states, there is a continuous
harking back to ancient times. This is followed \ly a
desperate search for 'its roots and its revivalism with
indiscriminate vengeance. This revivalism has gained
tremendous fillip by Alex Haley's popular classic "Roots".
Bharat has always looked back to the Vedas, the Epics of
Mahabbarat and Ramayana, the Mauryan Empire and
the Greater India under ,the Guptas; Firdausi's
"Shahnama" and Iran under the Pehalwi Shahs dreamed
of Cyrus and Darius and their Achaeminian Empire;
Israel is bent upon re~establishing its a~cient frontiers
stretching from the Nile to the Tigris; the "Muslim"
world is romant'1cally nostalgic about its fronties of yore
from the Pyrenes to Sinkiang, from the River Indus to
Indonesia. It is interesting to note that even Italy, which
found itself rather late in the race for empire building.
having gone through disintegration before it unified
itself close to the mid-nineteenth century, made' a
desperate bid under Mussolini to revive the grandeur
and might of the Caesars and its awe striking Rome, the
model capital city fol' th-; succeeding irpperial systems.
 27

With this universal imperial background, it is not

easy for humankind to move towards a democratic,
participatory and equal set-up. Merit, and not birth as
the determining factor just does not· click as yet with the
third
, world countries. Like the developed countries they
have to go a long long way to appreciate and experience
the joy and security of these concepts. Monarchical
grandeur with its kings and queens, princes and
princesses, palaces and parks, dynastic snobbi&hness and
its divine right to rule--all this and much more still
haunts the ruling classes of the d~veloping countries.
This attitude of the ruling classes has seeped do~ into
the attitudes of the man on the street, who dreams
similar dreams. In Pakistan, every man is a Jahangir and
•
Shahjahan, every woman a Nurjahan. (its worth giving a
thought to the high sounding titles) And the way the
political leadership followed by the masses -crave to
worship blue blood and revive dynastic loyalties, is
pathetically de hurnanising. The N ehrus and Gandhis of
India are a classic case within what- is described a8 the
biggest democracy in the world. In Sri Lanka, Mrs.
Bandaranaike's claim rested on being the wife of her
husband! Similarly in the Philippines, Mrs. Aqino and
Mrs. Marcos are clawing at each other for the same
reason. Bangladesh is not far behind. Hasina and Khalida
fought the election on the battle field of father and
husband respectively. In Pakistan, there are dynasties
galore. The moment any individual, by hook or by crook,
captures a position of power its family immediately
assumes a royal status, identifying itself with its
psychological obssession with the Mughals. Without the
Mughal identity, Pakistanis are lost. Now we have
several Mughal daynasties to cope with--Ayub, Bhutto,
Zia and Sharif--their wives, sons, daughters, brothers, by
virtue of being as such, lay claim to the one and only
throne available.
 28

It is tremendously amusing to see the royul pose

that our elected rulers, supposedly servants of the
people, strike, Seen in newspaper photographs or on the
mini-screen, there isa striking difference between the
natural, modest pose of foreign delegates and our
ministers with their arms spread out on the arm chairs;
the angle of the head and neck stiff and pompous, and
legs placed in a nondescript fashion. That is how they
fling themselves on their thrones, a crude imitation of
their "glorious yesterday," Yes, that is the tragedy of the
third world, they live in "yesterday", today being non-
existent, and tomorrow unthought of. Facing an
uncertain and a changeable tomorrow demands courage,
strength and self-confidence. And this we do not posses.

Having said all this it cannot be gainsaid that a

people's attitude towards history establishes a base
either for a flight into the the future or a relapse into
the past: Do people worship the past by putting it on a
pedestal or do they critically analyse it, identifying
themselves ,"vith all that is positive in it and rejecting
what is negative and backward looking? It would not be
an exaggeration to -say that Europe's progress over the
last five hundred ;years owe a great deal to the way they
understood and wrote their histroy. This was possible
because every view point, every philiJsojJhy of history,
was given free' rein or else such giants as Gibbon,
Spengler, Karl Marx, H.G. Wells, Toynbee, Will Durant
and many other~ could not have written as they did.
Each has contributed something illuminating in the
understanding or the past of humankind.

Before I say anything else or comment on our past,

let LS face one basic fact:,.."People who lived in the past,
any space and time, were human beings, like us, with all
the failings, limitations and imperfections of a human
 29

being. By making them into idols, by re-garding

everything they said and did as sacred, we are doing no
service to them or to ourselves. Indeed, ancestor
workship is escapist relief in a dead culture.

In our times, Sir Syed Ahmed Khan was the first

person of consequence to have criticised the paat. Before
he emerged as a national leader his main illterest was
history. This stood him in good stead later. His bold
criticism of the past is very refreshing and educative. He
eventually declared that whatever positive and creative
achievement of the past generations be, the present
generation cannot take credit for it. Every individual and
every generation will be judged according to its own
achievements and failings, Another individual, though
lesser known to the common man was a product of the
educational movement launched by Sir Syed,
Muhammad Habib, whose history of Mahmood of Ghazni
mas a landmark and a good angury in history-writing in
Muslim India. Aslam Jairajpur's "Tarik-h-e-Ummat" was
also research with a difference from"'lhe traditional
hpproach. Ironically enough, that glaw of objective
research soon faded away in the post-independence era.
The trend is again towards glorification of the past 1,400
years, uncritical and unresearched. Perhapoi. one shining
exception is a small book "Asbab Zawal-e-Ummat" by
Parwez, dealing with the subject philosophically, pierced
through in the light of Quranic philosophy of his Lory.

It is a pity that things have come to such a pass

today that any unconventional viewpoint (not necessarily
correct or acceptable) is shouted down. The intriguing
thing about it is that this intolerant approach comes
from the self-styted guardians and defenders of the
idealogical frontiers., who in the first place had actually
fought against the achievement of these frontiers. This
 30

catagory or any other have not done their homework to

be able to rationally argue back any forthcoming
criticism. An unthinking nation has nothing to say, and a
weak case or no case always results in suppression and
abuse of dissent. However, the issue is a serious one for
our quality of life tomorrow and I shall attempt to project
a point of view on our past as dispassionately as possible.
It is high time the issue is thrashed out.

Taking the 1400 years in full sweep, the first and

foremost issue is that of original source material. A
scientific and objective researcher is cautious and wary
of using even the contemporary sources, but for the
times of Hazrat Muhammad (P.B. U.HJ and his
immediate successors, even original sources are not
available. The so-called original sources, Al-Tabri's
history and Ibn-Ishaq's biography of Hazrat Muhammad
(P.E. U.H) and the collected traditions were written more
then 200 years after the event, without any previous
written record. Whatever happened to this previous
record is perhaps a story by itself (was it destroyed to
eliminate all evid~ce?) ~p.ich needs to be researched.
The funny thing is that subsequent historians and
biographers continued to refer to these, so-called
"original" sources and till to-date no historian Muslim or
non-Muslim has questioned the autenticity of AI-Tabri
and Ibn Ishaq.

Secondly, it needs to be emphasised that the

Ummayed dynasty, which can be described as "Arab" in
character remained "men of action" in keeping with their
centuries old manner of living. The unleashing of this
quality led to the conquest of vast lands from the
Atlantic and the Pyrenes in the West to the Chinese
frontier in Sinkiang in the East -- the biggest ever
empire in "Muslim" history. Writing was not their main
 31

forte. But when the Abbasids came to power with the

support of the Persians and Khorasanians, the period of
action and conquest ended and of writing began but, and
this is a very big but, the writers were predominantly
Persians, who were hell-bent upon winning the war
against the Arabs by their writings which they had lost
on the battlefield.

The Abbasid period with its capital city of Baghdad

astride the River Tigris bordered on Persia, is already
recognised as one of revivalism of the Sassanian culture
and civilisation, an establishment Hazrat Muhammad
(P.B.U.H) had challenged as an unjust system No
wonder Hazrat Umal' had unhappily described the
overnight conversion of the Perians as a tragedy and
attempted to isolate temporarily the Arabs from them,
(wrongfully described as racialism!) until they were
educated in the Quranic worldview. But Hazrat Umar's
own life was cut short by an assassin's sword. (could
there be any link between his educational programme
and his assasination?). Hence forth, the Turks the
Mughals and Central Asian rulers were steeped in non-
Quranic values and institutions. More will be said about
it later. What needs to be emphasised here is that these
events cast dark and diabolical shadows on the
authenticity of the histories, the biographies and its
traditions, projecting not so unwittingly the Sassanian
cultural attitudes and thereby avenging their defeat.
This is where the historian of today has to be very
cautious.

In this complex situation enters another factor an

ancient one, namely the bitter enmity between the two
branches of the Qureish the- Hashemite and the
Ummayad. This enmity became more intense when the
Ummayads succeeded in establishing their dynasty.
 32

When the Abbasides (who were of the Hashemite stock)

overthrew them, the vendetta was terrible. A general
massacre ensued and even the graves of the dead kings
were dug up and their skeletons gibbeted on the high-'
ways. This is the scenario in which the historians wrote
about the Ummayads as evil Godless people, and Hajjaj
bin Yusaf among others became the devil incarnate,
Talking about Hajjaj bin Yusaf, it would be in order to
mention his South Asian connection, especially when
voices are raised now and then against Arab invasion as
imperialism, thereby making Raja Dahir a hero against
Muhammad bin Qasim. Without intending to defend or
rationalise imperilism, for in any case imperialism is
rejected by the Quranic worldview, I would like to draw
the attention of objective and scientific historians, that
St vere attacks on Hajjaj bin Yusaf were bound to cast
aspersions on Muhammad bin Qasim who was his
nephew and son·in-Iaw. Moreover, "Chachnama" the
source material on this phase of history suffers from two
flaws in the light ofwhaL has already been said above: .Lt
is not an original and contemporary source, because it
was written much later under the Abbaside rule,
secondly it has the background of clannish hatred and
r-evenge. As for those who defend and identify
themselves with Raja Dahir, do so more on the basis of
geographical nationalism. The Quranic approach is to
criticially oValuate everyone justly on the touchstone of
permanent human values. This point has already been
dealt with briefly elsewhere.

This leads us to the polnt which demands tolerance

and understanding on the part of the readers for the
sake of scientific history writing and for the sake of a
better future. Without mincing words I would dedare
that what could be described as "Islamic history", that is,_
what could be humanly rubbed on the Quranic
 33

touchstone alone, ended with Hazl'at Umar's

assasinatiollj at least it was the beginning of the end.
According to Aslam Jairajpuri, HaZrat Muhammad's
(P,B. u'H) life-time and what he accepted as "two and a
half Khilafats" namely, Abu Bakr, Vmar and the first six
years of Usman's administration alone as "Islamic". The
last six years of Usman and five years of Ali's Khilafat
experienced nothing but conspiracies and civil wars.
(Why and how this happened-is another stOlY.) From
~mmayads onwards the Abbasides, the Ottomans, the
Mughals, etc till to date is not Islamic history. These
centuries were characterised by monarchical despotism,
feudalism, class and caste system, disparity of wealth,
women's subjugation, slavery, obscurantism, and above
all, imperialism. Till Usman's first half of Khilafat the
wars were. defensive. Hazrat Umar, who had been forced
to fight back, had cried out in anguish; If only the River
Tigris was a river of flames, the Sassanians would have
been kept at bay, they could not have crossed it. On the
western front he tried hard to contain the boundaries on
this side of the Red Sea, but the Byzantines and the
Sassanians gave him no respite. However laLer history is
a record of imperial exploits pure and simple. It is no use
closing our eyes to this ugly historical reality. Both
domestic and foreign policies of these empires were out
of the pale ofIslamic values, and most of the time these
empires and kingdoms were pitted against each other.
Muhammad Habib has drawn our attention to the
fact that if Mahmud of Ghazni was fighting a "Jehad"
against Hindu kingdoms in India almost every winter
season, in su:mmer he led wars against Muslim kings of
Central Asia in his grand ambition to establish a Turco-
Persian empire. By describing this imperial and feudal
heritage as "Islamic" we end up apologising and
rationalising, which is not scholru·ship. It is all exercise in
waste and futility winding up in inferiority and
 34

fanaticism. Worse still, by identifying this histOlY with

Islam we sanctify it, placing it above criticism.
Furthermore, by identifying ourselves with everything
they said and did we not only perpetuate it, hut become
nervous, emotional and jittery at the mere suggestion of
criticism. We cannot go on like this and yet live. We
must realise we are not responsible for what happened in
the past. Be he Muhammad bin Qasim, Mahmud of
Ghazni, Baher or Aurangzeb, they were all imperialists.
In fact it is incumbent on liS, it is our Quranic duty to
reject anything that is inhuman in our past or the
present anywhere in the world, for that m.atter, "Muslim"
or non-Muslim. It is also our Pakistani duty to criticise it
because according to Dr. Iqbal's 1930 Allahabad Address,
the purpose of the Pakistan Idea was tu build a society
which could wipe out "the stamp of Arab Imverialism"
from Islam. This sentence is enough to remove the fog
that envelops our minds and our critical faculties. It
clarifies our thought processes. I am surprised that
leaders, scholars, and journalists have not given
attention and probed deeper into this chullcnge thrown
by Iqbal. It is not too late even now.
 35

Syed Ahmed Khan -- the first

4 Architect of Palrlstan

We have seen that a "Muslim" is a "nation" (ul11l11ah)

unto himself. As such he stood on his own ground, his
own identity throughout his thousand years of rule in
the Indian sub-continent. Although numerically in a
minority, Muslims never faced a crises of national
identity for the simple reason that they were rulers of
the country, Right upto the year 1857, although the
Mughal Empire had disintegrated, the last Mughal
Emperor, powerless within the four walls or the Red Fort
in Delhi, remained the focus of his identity as a separate
nation. But after the suppression and failure of the first
Wax of Independence (the so-called mutiny) in 1857, the
dethronement and exile of Emperor Bahadur Shah Zafar
and the declarution of Queen Victoria as the Empress of
India, the situation totally changed. The Muslims were
now helpless not only before the new British Rule, but
also the vast majority of Hindus, their erstwhile subject
:mation. The fanner regarded them ns a mere "rebellious
religious group" and the latter as "untouchables". Even as
such they were being crushed out of their identity,
William Hunter in his book "The Indian Mushnans" has
given a graphic description of a people who were once
rulers "superior not only in stoutness of heart and
strength of arm, but in power of political government."
But now" all sorts of employment, great and smull are
being gradually sllatchcd away from the r.,·1uhammdans
.and bestowed on men of other races, pm'licularly the
Hindus." I They were reduced, in his words again, "to
drawers of water and hewers of wood." The Muslim
lWilliam Hunter. "The Indian Mu~lulmans" p. 17'2.
 36

nation thus lay politically and economically prost.rate,

pessimistic and helpless about their future, looking back
at their glorious past as all fallen 11l]lion:5 are wont to,
Out of these ashes emerged, phoenix like, Sycd Al1med'
Khan, uften, and rightly, described as the "first. urchitect
of Pakistan," The story of how he renewed the self·
confidence of his nation, giving them u new hope and
turning their gaze from yesterday to "tumurrow", of
steadily educating them and preparing them fol' the
ultimate struggle that was to come, of attempting to,
extricating them from the centuries old thrulldomofthe~
priesthood (the so-called "Ulemus"), I1mi of' couragcousl~
fighting against the discrimination and cn:clLy of the[
British, is an epic by itself. IIml it noL UCCll for him,~
there would have been no Iqbal, no Jinnah nnti n~
Parwez. However, this paper being concerned lJuo.icall}t
with the "Pakistnn Idea", the ~ubjcd has to bu rcsll'lcte& :
to it.
The real threat to Muslim existence came from th«
western concept of nationalism. The Hindu mind had
eagerly taken to this concept. The idea that "anyolll
living in India is an Indian" irrespective uf allY other
consideration, suited them vcry well. With a l1l<ljOl"ity of,
more than 750/,; and with the "western democratic!
concept of 51% majority to declare that Lhl'Y nre right oJ
any issue, they could submerge the :\l11 ...,lim!, out o.
existence. Where the "Continent o[ Circe" ! had (aile~
"territorial nationalism" and 51 %. majority \\,tJllld triumpll1
It is significant that the Hindu revivalist, Swmllt
Dayanand, who preached return to the ancient Vedic fait4_
and the extirpation of "alien" faiths lilw Islam ana
Christianity, made "India for Indians" his hattle cry. Henc~
the founding of the "Indian National Congress" in 188~
and the introduction of "representation" in rnunicipcl
lSl'c Appendix D.
 37

corporations in 1882 by Lord Ripon, were two practical

instances which could not escape as a threat to the
political acumen of Syed Ahmed Khan. He therefore
immediately warned and dissuaded the Muslims from
joining the Congress. Already in 1867 in answer to a
question put by Mr. Shakespeare, the Commissioner of
Benares, he had declared: "I am convinced that the two
nations can never heartily participate in any kind of
work. This is only the beginning; as time passes
opposition and hostility will manifest itself particularly
on the prut of those who are described us "educated"
Hindus. Those who live till then will be witnes5es to
what I say." This was said in 1867. In the years 1882 and
1885, it was already being manifested. Challenging
territorial nationalism he explained: "Some reflection is
requirea to grasp the nature of Muslim nationality. From
time immemorial, common ties have been held together
by ties of common descent or common homeland .
.Muhammad (P.B.U.H) obliterated all territorial and
ancestral conventions and laid the foundations of a broad
and enduring kinship which comprehends all those who
subs.cribe to the formula of faith ..... This tribe divine
assimilates all human beings regardless of colour or place
ofbirth.H I This is a close rendering of the Quranic verses
quoted in the previous Chapter and exactly what Iqbal,
Jinnah and Panvez will repeatedly proclaim from the
platform and in their writings in the coming years.
Advising the Muslims to keep aloof from the politics of
the Indian National Congress, he gave them a separate
platform in 1886 _ "The Educational Conference," and
held separate meetings. The Aligarh College and the
educational Conference "thus became the nurselY of
ideas that led to Pakistan."

lAbdul lIamid.'·Muslim Separatism" page 39, quoted by him from

"Majl1lJ{a Lecture page 130.
 38

Regarding representation Syed Ahmed reasoned

against wholesale extension of representative
government to India. He pointed out that majority
Government was possible only where voters belonged to
a homogeneous nation. Where they were not, as in the
case of India, which was a continent and 110t a country,
this would spell disaster to the Muslim minority. Once
again it is significant that he was advancing the same
views as Jinnah and others advocated Inter. In this
connection the most notable contribution of his in the
capacity of a member of the Governor General's
Legislative Council from 1878·83 was his successful
insistence that Muslims should receive separate
nomination to the municipalities of the local self-
government institutions introduced by Lord Ripon in
1882. This was the only way to safeguard the interests of
the Muslim nation if the representative system was to be'
adopted at all. Later this, that is, separate electorates
was the main plank of the All India Muslim League,
founded eight years after his death, the main plank from
which the Pakistan Movement took off.
And then, the more we go into the genesis of the
"Pakistan Idea" the more it is realised that it was the
continuation of the Aligarh School of Thought. The
school was founded in 1876 and the College in 1877.
When laying the foundation of the Aligarh
Educational Institution he addressed the students sa
follows:
"Remember! You are the followers of the "Kalima".
It is by virtue of this that we form a separate nation.
No matter what you achieve otherwise, you will nl
longer be a' member o~ nation if you do not remai
convinced of this "Kalirt'\a~ tt
 39

This manifesto was externally manifested by a

distinctive outward mark of the Aligarh man, a modified
form of European dress with a red fez. To make it
different from the Hindu garb was deliberate on the part
of Syed Ahmed. It was symbolic of the concept that
Muslims are a separate nation. The Aligarh University
had,s tremendous impact as such. By adding the affix
Wig" to their names, the students declared their
separateness and their identity with a particular school
of thought. Many Muslim League leaders were the old
students of the Aligarh University. Mr. M.A. Jinnah
mmnly relied on the students of Aligarh during his mass
eampaign in the late thirties and the forties. The Alignrh
movement had a tremendous impact on other parts of
India. In Lahore, "Anjuman-e-Hamayat-e-Islam" was its
direct off-shoot. Many schools and the well-known
ls1amja College of Lahore was founded by it. Iqbal who
gave a definite shape to the movement of Pakistan gave
his patronage and his name to the Anjuman, and the
students played a role that was second only to Aligarh.
While students were being educated in the
institutions, Syed Ahmed Khan did not neglect the
education of people outside those institutions. In 1866
he had already started a paper called "Aligarh Institute
Gazette" and "Tahzib-ul Akhlaq" in 1870. They
stimulated the readers intellectually and morally and
Spread his message far and wide.
This chapter would be incomplete without
mentioning the crisis over the Urdu language. Under the
Mughal Empire the official lang!age had been Persi... n.
But at the disintegration of the Empire, Urdu was
'gradually replacing Persian as the lingua franca of the
. Muslim nation. The Hindus, who had cooperated with
the British in the administration and in commerce 111
alliance against the Muslims, now wenh.further in
 40

successfully agitating against the use of Urdu in Bengal

and then Behar. When the agitation spread in what was
formerly known as Oudh and later United Provinces
(now Uttar Pardesh) Syed Ahmed Khan stood against it
as a rock, and argued that the issue was political, not
educational, and must be decided accordingly. He
triumphed, and the issue was dropped for the time
being. This Hindu move had deep portents against the
interest of the Muslim future, and the controversy was
raised again and again during the independence struggle.
More will be said in the later chapters. What is
important to note here is the political insight of Syed
Ahmed Khan at the vely inception of this anti·Urdu
move and at a time when the Muslims as n whole were
fruo:>l1'alcd and inert. with their eyes still gazing back at
the past that was no more.
Achicvlllg all thi.s was no easy task. He faced all
kinds of problems, but perhaps the worst kind came from
the Vlema who wrote against him, called him "Kafir", an
"atheist", a "Kristan" (Christian), and issued "fatwas" of
"Kufr" against him. But the most impOltant question
that he posed to all the groups conceilued was a question
for which the Vlemns 1 never had an answer. "Now
suppose that all the English ... we're" to: leave India: ... ,'
then who would be rulers of India? Is, it possible that
under these circumstances two nations the Muslim and
Hindu~could sit on the same throne and remain equal in,
power? Most certainly not. It is necessary that one of
them should conquer the other and thrust it down. To
hope that both could remain equal is to desire the
impossible and the inconceivable.ttl This is indeed the
most challenging description and the dem:mds'ofthe two
nations. Who was to rule whom? Why should anyone of

IMore will be said about the Ulemas in later chapters.

2Quoted by Richard Symonds in "Making of Pakistan" page 31.
 41

them rule the other? Could anyone of them allow itself

to be crushed and enslaved? It is important at this stage
. te discuss the "Two-nation Theory" which shall form the
subject-matter of the next chapter, before we proceed to
the next phase of the evolution of the Pakistan Idea. In
the meantil}le we conclude in Percival Spear's admission
when he jftys: "In his (Syed Ahmed) whole attitude was
implicit the concept of Pakistan. It only needed the
prospect of British withdrawal, something which in his
day still seemed remote, to bring it to the surface."l

IPercival Spear, "India, Pakistan and the West" page 191

 42

5 The Two-Nation theory

Geographical nationalism as understood today is
comparatively a recent development in Europe, in fac;t as
recent as the post-Napoleonic era The conquest of
Europe by Napoleon let loose forces against him and
against French domination. The people became
conscious of themselves as Germans. Italians, Spanish
and English as against the French. As a result of this,
movements got afoot for the unification of Italian
speaking and German speaking peoples. So, for the first
time "Nation-states" called "Italy" and "Germany" came
into existence in the latter part uf the nineteenth
century. This pattern became widespread and captured
all Europe, then North-America, and ultimately moved
out to change the outlook of the non-western world and
Latin America.
Actually the roots of a "Nation-state" or
geographical, lingual and racial nationalism go as far,
back as the days of Martin Luther and the state of
Christianity during his times. In the words of Iqbal: '1
Europe Christianity was understood to be a purel
monastic order which gradually developed into a vas
church organisation."l Now this church organisation ha
a tremendous influence and control over the lives of th
people and their thoughts, but there was nu concept of
state, of law, of politics and of economics in the the
Christianity. That is why Iqbal contends: "The protest
Luther was directed against this church organisatio
not against any system of polity of a secular nature, fo
the obvious reason that there waS no such polit
associated with Christianity. And Lut.her was perfectl

lSpccchcs and Statements ofIqbal page 4.

 43

justified in rising in revolt against this organisation ... ."l

So far so good. But protest against the church also meant
the rejection of any value-system that Christianity held.
This value-system was important because it was the
symbol of unity in Christendom. If it was to be l'ejected
for what it was, it should have been replaced by another
set of values. But no such thing happened. In the words
of Iqbal again: "I think, he (Luther) did not realize that
in the peculiar conditions which obtained in Europe, his
revolt would eventually mean the complete dispbcement
of the universal ethics of Jesus by the growth of a
plurality of national and hence narrower systems of
ethics. Thus the upshot of the intellectual movement
initiated by such men as Rousseau and Luther was the
break·up of the one into mutually ill·adjusted many, the
transformation of a human into a national outlook,
requiring a more realistic foundation, such as the nation
or country, and finding expression through varying
systems of polity evolved on national lines i.e. on lines
which recognize territory as the only principle of
political solidarity."2 The epitome of this analysis is that
territorial nationalism has replaced Christianity as a
focus of cohesion. This territorial nationalisrn is the new
god, the new religion, the new symbol for which it is
considered worth living and dying. This new national
outlook is based on the non·human in man; that part of
him which is linked with his attachment to the soil, his
physical features and the colour of his skin, and the
language he first spoke as a child. All these factors, over
which he has no control and happens to belong to them
through sheer accident of birth, makes him a distinct
and separate unit in relation to another such unit. The
. result is that mankind splits into smaller and smaller

ISpeeches and Statements of Iqbal page 4.

2Spccchcs and Statements ofIqbal pag(J 4-5.
 44

units and loyalty gets narrower and narrower, It is not'

understandable 8S to how this narrowness of outlook can
be described as progress and a salutary development
from the previous conditions. It is also not
understandable how inter-national conflicts and bloody
devastating wars are nobler than the wars fought tor.
Christianity. The Christian wars were fought for a
loyalty to an idea, however, defective it may be, but
loyalty to the soil and race is,a retrogression to the tribal
society. Nationalism, at best, is an extension of tribalism.
It is only larger in scale but the quality and nature of the
division is the same, This kind of tribal loyalty is
immediately rejected by the Quran, the book that
inspired Syed Ahmed Khan and later on Iqbal in their
concept of human divisions. In the Sur;ili 11, verses 45
and 46, this point.is brought home profoundly: Allah had
promised Noah that those of his household would be
saved from the flood. So when the floods came, Noah '
cried out "My Rab! La my son is of my household! Surely
Thy promise is the Truth and Thou art the Most Just of
Judges. He said: 0 Noah! La! he is not of thy household,
he acts unrighteously, so ask not of Me that whereof
thou has no knowledge. I admonish thee lest thou be
among the ignorant." Thus Noah's son was not of his
house-hold simply because he was his son. The kinship is
of conduct, not blood. It is "Eiman"l in the conduct, in
value-system, in good against evil that creates two
parties or two nations, or "ummah".2 Surah eleven in the
Quran recapitulates the past histOlY to substantiate the
existence of two nations, those who have "Eiman" and
those who do not. In verses 21 and 23 of Surah 11, it
differentiates the two parties, the "Kalil'S" and" the
"Mornins", the non-believers and the believers. Then in

18ee Chapter 1.
2Sce Chapter 1
 45

verse 24 the Quran says: "The similitude of the two

parties is as the blind and the deaf and the seer and
hearer. Are they equal in similitude? Will ye not then be
edmonished?" After defining the two parties thus the
Quran mentions those who had "Eiman" in Noah's,
Hud's, Saleh's, Shuaib's and Moses message to humanity
~ one nation as against those who did not have "Eiman",l
The situation is further crystalised by addressing the
two nations as ''You'' and "We". It says: "And say unto
those who believe not: Act according to your power. La!
~~ too are acting," Again: "And wait! La! We too are
waiting."2 As is natural in this differentiation of "you" and
"'We", trust and friendship is possible only within each
group. "And the believers, men and women, Bre
protecting friends ODe of another."3 "Your friend can be
onlY' Allah, and His Messenger and those who believe."~
o ye who believe! Take not for intimates others than
your own folk, who would spare no pains to ruin you;
they love to hamper you. Hatred is revealed by the
utterance of their mouths, but that which their breasts
hide is greater. We have made plain fur you our
revelations if ye will understand,"5 "Thou will not find
folk who believe in Allah and Last Day loving those who
oppose Allah and His Messenger even though they be
their fathers or their son& or their brethren or their
clan."6 Just as Noah, Hud, Saleh, Shuaib and Moses
(P;B.U.T) made a flew nation through harmony of ideas,
SO did Muhammad (P.B. D.R). From amongst the Arabs,
incidentally ever so proud of their language and race,
Muhammad (P.B.U.H) created nation or 'ummah' on
adherence to Quranic concepts irrespective of race,
lQuran. Surah: 11, Verses: 25,48,50, 58, 61, 81, 94, 112.
ZQurw··Surah: 11, Vers(,.'5: 121, 122.
3Quran. Surah: 9, Verse 71.
4ibid: Surah: 5, Verse 55.
6ibid: Surah: 3, Verse 118.
6Quran: Surah: 58, Verse 22.
 46

language and geography. There were members of his

own family and his own townsfolk, the Meceans, who
spoke the same language as him, belonged to the same
race as him, and the same land as him, but who lined up
against him in the opposite camp and fought battle after
battle even though Muhammad (P.B.U.H) had left Mecca
peaceful1y for Medina. On the other hand, with
Muhammad (P.B.D,H) the Arab, were lined up Salman
the Persian, Bilal the Abyssinain, and Suhel the Roman.
They together formed one "ummah", This is the two-
nation theory. Even when there is no state' to put this
theory in practice, the theory remains the Truth. Even
when there is only one man to uphold it or none at aU,
the fact remains. For example to tell a lie is bad, and to
speak the truth is good. Even if no one speaks the truth,
the speaking of truth will ever remain the eternal
principle. The two-nation theory is in the same way the
eternal principle.

Iqbal had talked about "freeing the outlook of man

from its geographical limitations,~l and had warned:
"Remember, man can be maintained on this earth only
by honouring mankind, this world will remain a bllttle-
ground of ferocious beasts of prey unless and until the
educational forces of the whole world are directed to
inculcating in man respect for mankind."2 The best
thinkers of the West are coming to the same conclusion.
Frederick Hertz says: "History shows that for the greater
part the quarrels between several nations had scarcely
any other occasion than-- that these nations were
different combinations of people and called by diffel'ent
names. To an Englishmen, the name of a Frenchman,
Spaniard, or an Italian raises, of course, ideas of hatred

lSpeecbcs and Statements ofIqbal page 7.

2SpCt.'Ches and Statements of Iqbal page 222
 47

IJld contempt. Yet the simple name of man, applied

ptoperly, never fails to work a salutary effect,"! Prof.
(x'bban remarks: "Nationalism is a feeling which is born
but of hatred and lives on enmity."2 Aldous Huxley says
that the "National Person" is transformed "into the
li.keness of their stupid, hysterical and insanely touchy
tribal divinity."a These thinkers and others are realising
, this, but the politicians, little men as they generally are,
are·more interested in capturing power, And in any case,
established concepts die hard and it takes time to
dislodge them. The result is that, apart from small wars,
~e have had two major world wars. Disrespect [01' man as
dian has backlashed.

,>. Moreover, the world is full of all kinds of prickly

problems, very much the direct and logical rcsult of
nlodem western nationalism, even in the continent
where it was born. "Irish" hostility to the "English"
4Qmination is now almost a legend in history. The Scotts
a.nd ·the Welsh are by no means amalgamated with the
i4lglish. The feelings of hostility are ever present. As a
matter of fact the division gets as narrow as the city of
London. The Londoners feel that all outsiders must
quit.• Then there is the problem of the French speaking
and the English speaking in Quebec, Canada. Evcn after
generations of common citizenship they have not
developed a feeling of oneness. With so much emphasis
on lingual and racial affiniti~s, the present situation is
but a natural phenomenon. At one time it was argued

lQuoted by G.A Farwez "I1)iam· A Challenge to Religion" page ~fi~ .

.llbid page 252.
3ibid page 253
4The writer of this paper once had a chalice to listen to a sJleHker
outside the Tower of London in 1970. He said that ull outsiders must
quit London; by out1)iders, he said, he meant nut unly Indian~,
Pakistani and West Indies, but the Irish, the Scotts and Welsh as well.
[n fact anyone who lived outside London, evell if Iw wa~ an
Englishman, was not a Londoner.
 48

that the Jews, in whichever country they may live, m;e a

part and parcel of that nation. But the very need felt for
the state of Israel, and its establishment gives a lie to
such a supposition. In fact the Nazi claim to racial
superiority under Hitler, however atrocious and barbaric
in thought and deed, was a very logical climax to the
evolution of racial and territorial nationalism.

The western amazement at language and racial

"riots" or even tribal rebellions in the non·western world
is 8 severe contradiction in their reactions to such
events. These non·human forces have been let loose by
the very concept of western nationalism. According to it,
neither India, nor Nigeria, for example, should be one
state. They aught to split into so many lingual divisions
as Europe has divided itself. Unless there is a supra-
lingual, racial an~ geographical focus of loyalty and
cohesion, we haVe no right to expect anything different
from the prevalent conditions. To expect it is to create a
painful dichotome in the people concerned. The only way
out of this dichotome is to build nationalism on the
concept of man as man. There is no other way.
 49

Dr. Muhammad Iqbal and

the Human Destiny

When Syed Ahmed lG1un died in 1898, Iqbal was 3

young man of about 22 years. With a brilliant academic
farcer and already showing signs of great poetic talent,
he had still to go some distance tu be able to discover his
mission in life. In the meantime important political
cpa!1ges were taking place. We have noted in chapter W,
that Syed Ahmed Khan had spoken against the
representation by election in the Governol'-Gencral;s
Council in 1883. In a country where one group iS'very
~ninll ilUmerically, he said "The larger community would
totally over-ride the interests of the smaller cOl,nmunity."
This issue became an immediate ono and a livjng one
when Lord Morley in his budget speech in the House of
Commons on the 26th of July 1906 foreshadowed a
representative form of government for India. Nawab
Mohsinul Mulk, an old co-worker of Syed Ahmed read
,Morley's speech
, and realised its momentous
consequences. He decided to seck an interview with the
Governor-General Lord Minto in Simla. Thus on the 1st
of October, 1906 a deputation, led by the Agha Khan, and
composed of Syed Ahmed Khan's co-workers of the
Aligal'h School of thought, met tIle, GOVel"nor-General.
This was the historical "Simla Deputation", perhaps the
most important event uf the century until Iqbal's
historical speech in Allahabad in the year 1930. While
addressing the Governor General it wus suggested "that
under any system of representation, extended or limited,
a community in itself more numerous than the entire
population of any first-class European power except
Russia, may justly claim to adequate l"ecognition as an
 50

important factor in the state ... it cunnot be denied that

we Muhammadans are a distinct community with
additional interests of our own which are not shared by
other communities, and these have hitherto suffered
from the fact that they have not been adequately
represented." 1 This move proved to be very successful,
for in 1909, when the Indian Council's At of 1909,
generally known as the Morley·Mintu Reforms, was
passed, the demand for separate electorutes to the
Muslims was conceded, aiLiet, unwillingly and amidst
opposition of several members.

Separate electorates was a major stepping-stone in

the creution of Pakistan and hence jealously guarded by
the Muslims throughout their struggle. Another
development WjlS the necessity that was felt after
meeting the Governor-General in funning a political
association. Thus at the conclusion of the annual session
of the All India Muslim Educational conference at Dacca,
the Muslim leaders held a political meeting under the
prcsidentship of Nawab Viqarul Mulk on the 30th of
December, 1906. Nawab Salimullah of Dacca moved a
resolution which prepared the formation of an all-Inelia
Muslim League. Thus came into existence the All India
Muslim League, which was to playa vital role in the
Muslim struggle for a separate homeland for the !
Muslims of the sub-continent. Whilo all these i
developments were taking place Iqbal was going through
a formative phase that was to prepare him as a worthy
successor of Syed Ahmed Khan. After his education in
Sialkot and Lahore he proceeded to Europe in 1905 at
the advise of his teacher Dr. Arnold. l Until this time he
could easily be described as the product of those western

IStru~~1c for Independence IH57-1!l47. Appendix II.

2The author ofthe notable book, "Preaching in blam".
 51

concepts that have swept the pcopI..: ua ~HL'II- Wl:'~ 111 LllU
East often uncritically and blindly. lie sang songs of
geographical nationalism and worship of the native lund.
He sang:

"In every graven image you fancied Goel: I soc

In each speck afmy country's poor dust, divinity."
In an ode to the Himalayas (Kohi-Ibmalu) he wrote:
"Oh Himalayas! Ye ramparts of the Indian realm,
The Heavens stoop to kiss your forehcm1 bright."
His national anthem (Taran·i~IIind) was:
"Of all countries, my country, India, is the best,
We are all Indians and India is our country."

One would have thought that after three years

(1905-1908) stay in Europe it would make him even
more 'enthusiastic about this kind of EuroJlcanisation.
But there he had a chance to sec and live the concepts
already in practice and their results already manifest and
some foreseeable. He read voraciously in the liLraries of
Cambridge, London and Berlin and di:scusscd \vith
European savants and scholars. His outlook on life and
his world-view undelwent a total transformation. While
he admired the life of action and struggle in the West, he
was disgusted with its obsessive preoccupation with
materialism as the all and be all of existence; with the
ruthless material competition that set man against man;
With the divorce of human values from politics and
public life; with the resultant disintegratcu egoes; and
1I.bove all with the narrow, anti-human territorial
nationalism, with its pride in blood kinship and l'f1ce and
colour, His several volumes ofvel'ses and prose in Urdu,
Persian and English are full of these themes, which
makes one whole integrated philosophy of life. However,
'this paper is basically concerned with the concept of
·nationalism which he regarded as the root cause of most
 52

of the political troubles of Europe. Glurification of

geography, race, colour and blood cut U(;1'088 human
brotherhood, dividing the human race into innumerable
hostile warring groups, the basis of whose division was
the same as the tribal society. Thus by the Lime he left
Europe his songs had an entirely different perspective to
his earlier ones,
He now sang:
"Our reality is not confined to some place;
Its strong wine is not confined to a cup."

Then again:
"As they made 'native land' the candle of
the assembly, qlC human race has been
divided into tribes and teams."

Before he l'eturncd to India he warned Europe m

these words:
"Your civilisation is going to commit
suicide with her own dagger, the nest
which is made on frail bough cannut but
be insecure."
And this was said when the World War I was some
distance away and World War II a lot further.
On return home he realised the short-sightendness
and narrow vision of his compatriots who had been
caught in the web of territOl·ial nationalism just as he
himself had once been. So instead of "Tarana-i-IIind" he'
now sang "Tarana-i-Milli".
"Our is China, Our is Arabia,
Our too is Hindustan;
We are Muslims by faith
Our home is the whole wide world."
 53

According to his own professed verdict, his source of

'inspiration was the Quran. That is why he often claimed
to be a "teacher of the Quran" !'ather than a philosopher
iQ
, the ordinmy sense of the word. It was the value-
system of Islam that welded Muslims into a nution,
ijence territorial nationalism was a threat to this kind to
cohesion:
"The biggest among the new gods is 'native land',
To be sure, its attire is the shroud of 'Deen'."
Then again:
"It divides the people afCod, into nations,
It cuts at the root ofIslamic nation-hood,"
He emphasised this danger again and again:
"Whosoever shall resort to the distinction of colour
and blood &hall perish,
Even though he be a Turk residing in majestic camp,
or a high pedigreed Arab."
And:
"Thy skirt is free fmm the dust of locale,
Thou art a Joseph and every Egypt is thy
Canaan."
Iqbal repeated this message throughout the rest of
~j life. In 1911 he wrote: "It is not the unity of language
or country or the identity of economic interests that
constitutes the basic principles of one nationality. It is
~cause we all believe in a certain view of the universe,
and participate in the same historical tradition that we
are members of the society founded by the Prophet
(P.B.U.H) of Islam. Islam abhors all materinllimitations,
lind basis its nationality on a purely abstract idea
objectified in a potentially expansive group of concrete
~ersonalities. It is not dependent for its life principle on
 54

the character and genius of a particular people. In its

essence, it is non-temporal, non-spatial."l
All his life he was deeply involved in politics. His
world view did not permit division of life into water-tight
compartments _ that of a poet and that of a politician.
While still in London he was elected member of the
committee of the Muslim League branch formed there in
1908. On his return to India he took deep interest in the
Punjab Muslim League. He was f11so the SeCl'etary of the
Anjuman-i-Hamayat-i-Islam and later its President and
did for it what Syed Ahmed Khan had uOlle for Aligarh
Movement. But unlike Jinnah he WW:I not very
comfortable in practical politics. He was basically and
tempramentally a man of the pen. The only time he
perforced entered practical politics was in the years
1923-1935 about which more will be said later. There was
another reason for keeping aloof from it in the years
between 1910 and 1923. "During this pCl'iod Muslim
public opinion wus· ,moving with tremendous force in
directions of which Iqbal did not approve."~ After 1909,
the year of the concrete' achievement uf separate
electorates, even the All India Muslim League did not
play the role it should have. Mohsinul Mulk and Viqarul
Mulk, sincere co-workers of Syed Ahmed Khan, were not
of his intellectual calibre and in fact had not fully
digested all that he had tu say. Apart from these
personalities, the traditionalist 'Ulemas' represented
theologically by the Orthodox Semimuy at Deoband
(founded in 1865) opposed the Aligarh Movement.:! Also,
the new leadership of t.he Aligal'h School of Thought, for
example the Ali Brothers, "were by comparison with

l"Thoughts and Reflections ofI1bal" page 37H":n7.

2Sycd Abdul Vahid- "Studies in qbal' page 29S-2!J!J.
3The genesis of their opposition and opposition o[ other Ulcm<.ls will be
discussed in later chapters.
 55

Syed Ahmed Khan, emotional men ... .lacking his realism

or capacity for taking long views."] Abdul Hamid has
given a detailed analysis of the leadership, which is
worth quoting in full. He says "Politically, Sycd Ahmed
Khnn and his associates stood for constitutionalism and
moderation, while new leaders had markedly extl'emest
leanings. The former were cool and clear-headed
thinkers, the latter were emotional and demonstrative,
the former were definite about their ultirnate objectives,
the latter were not. As a matter of fact, much of their
thinking was clouded by slogans. Syed Ahmed and his
school wrote extensively in prose and have left us
permanent and voluminous writings. The new leadership
expressed itself mainly through journalistic writing most
of which are lo~t for ever.1'he prose of the old school was
business-like, while that of the new school was vague and
highly ornate, the new generation was much more fond
of poetry and oratory and almost disdained simple prose.
Syed Ahmed and his school were liberal and rational in
religion, while the new leadership prided itself on
orthodoxy. The relationship between ends and means
was fully grasped by the old; it was obscure to the new
schooL The Aligarh Movement produced many good
speakers and some orators, but to them the capacity for
effective speech was but a means tu an end; for the new
leadership, one might suspect, it was an end in itself."2
Thus, while there was apparently tremendous activity
visible in the Muslim community fro111 the Balkan wars
to the Khilafat and Non-cooperation Movements, it was
more of an emotional and shortsighted and unreaslistic
activity. One cannot help admiring the sincerity and the
fighting spirit of a leader like Muhammad Ali, but it all
ended in frustration. To encourage Muslims to migrate

IIan Stephen - "The Pakistanis" page 72.

2Abdul Hamid "Mut:ilim Separatism" page lOG.
 56

to Afghanistan, to leave government services, to close

down Aligarh University because the British did not
offer adequate reforms, is a policy that cannot be
commended. It was this, what in essence is agitational
politics that Iqbal disapproved of. He wrote poems in the
defence of the Turks during the Balkan Wars and then
during the World War I and post·War period which was
in accordance with his concept of nationalism, but the
feelings he meant to ill'Olise were unrealistically
exploited by politicians. So he preferred not to attend
political meetings and even resigned from the Punjab
Khilafat Committee to which he had been nominated or
elected. Jinnah was the only Muslim politic:iun who also,
like him, dissented at the agitational methods during the
Khilafat Movement. Hence it is not surprising that they
should work together- in the later years, but that is the
subject matter of the next chapter.
Thus from 1910 to 1923 Iqbal kept aloof from
practical politics and played an educative role. His
purpose was to create political consciousness and
awakening among the people. His philosophy of the
SELF was projected during this phase. The concept of
"Islamic Nationalism", as mentioned earlier, he repeated
and clarified from all possible angles.

After the failure of the non-cooperation and Khilafat

Movements (Iqbal's and Jinnah's fears proved so very
correct in this respect about agitational methods) Iqbal
realised that most of the political leaders of the Muslims
were lacking political acumen and.foresight. It was then
that he plunged into active politics jn order to salvage
whatever he could. from what was left of the ashes after
the above mentioned failure. This was a very frustrating'
period for the Muslims. Wrong leadership and un-
realistic attempts to unite the Muslim and Hindu
 57

nations had brought them to such a pass, Iqbal Was

elected
, to the Punjab Legislative Council in 1926 and in
his capacity as such he tried to give a new lead to the
~uslims, Events were moving fast in the sub-continent.
The Simon Commission had come to study conditions for
t~e next constitutional development. It was boycotted
because it had no Indian as a member, and the
commission challenged the Indians in their tum to
suggest a solution. In answer there were Nehru's Report
~d Jinnah's Fourteen Points. The time had come to
demand what Iqbal had been preparing for all along, for
none of these commissions, I'eports and points
comprehended the issue at stake.

Thus in 1930 at the annual session of the All India

Muslim' League held in Allahabad, Iqbal in his
presidential address, spelled out the goal of the Muslim
nation in the sub-continent. He declared: "I would like to
See the Punjab, North-West Frontier Province, Sind and
Balochistan amalgamated into a single state. Self-
Government within the British 'Empire or without the
British Empire, the formation of a consolidated North-
West Indian Muslim State appears to me to be the final
d'estiny of the Muslims, at least of North-West India."l

Thus was marked the "destiny of Muslims" in India.

The establishment of a sovereign state was the inherent
demand of Islam as "Ad-De en", as it is of any "deen", and
not of religion. In the same 1930 address Iqbal said: "The
truth is that Islam is not a church. It is a state conceived
as a contractual organism long before Rousseau ever
thought of such a thing, and animated by an ethical ideal
which regards man not as an earth-rooted creature,
defined by this or that portion of the earth, but as a

ISpccches and Statements ol'IqbaJ, page 12.

 58

spiritual being understood in terms of social mechanism,

and possessing rights and duties as a living factor in that
mechanism."l Now since that "ethical ideal" has an
Islamic character it cannot be imposed upon those who
do not accept it. That is why Muhammad (P,B.D.H) had
left Mecca for Medina to establish a state there rather
than impose it on the unwilling majority. Iqbal
accordingly marked out a state in India in the Muslim
majority areas. "He demanded the establishment of a
separate sovereign Muslim state in north~west India, not
as an escape from Hindu domination, but in order that
Muslims might be able to live a truly Islamic life and
establish an ideal society."2 The "Pakistan Idea" is a ;
positive, dynamic assertion of the Muslims of this sub-
continent, and not, a negative feeling of fear and
insecurity. Irrespective of Hindu attitude, tolerant or
intolerant, Pakistan had to come into existence for the
simple reason that they are Muslims. "It (Islam) IS
individual experience creative ofa social 01'der."3

In this historical address of 1930, Iqbal's

introduction of himself was: "I lead no pmty. I follow no
leader, I have given the best part of my life to a careful
study of Islam, its laws and polity, its culture, its history
and its literature. This constant contact with the spirit of
Islam, as it unfolds itself in time, has I think, given me a
kind of insight into its significance as a world·fact."" This
"world·fa€t" was to him not only the destiny of the
Muslims of India but a "human destiny." According to his
understanding of the, past and current concepts and
practices, "Neither the technique of medieval mysticism

ISpccchcs and Statements ofIqbal, page 14.

2Preface by "Shamloo" in Speeches and Statements of Iqbal page (vii).
3Spct.'Ches and Statements ofIqbal page. 8
4Spccches and Statements of Iqbal page 3.
 59

'.or nationalism nor atheistic socialism can cure the ills

118 despairing humanity."1 He wanted to offer a solution
.t:Jat. was different, a solution that would not be "a
pparlmental affair" like all these, some offering the
'ulvation of the soul only, while others offered bread
only, and that too incomplete and unsatisfactory. His
studies, observations and experiences convilll.:eu him
that the solution lay in Islam. "It (Islam), he wrote, "is
neither mere thought, nor mere feeling, nor mere
action; it is an expression of the whole man,"2

Now, Iqbal wanted to project this idea through a

pragmatic test, and such a test could only be made in a
sovereign state. This test would bring forth results that
would act as a leaven for other states, breaking down
artificial geographical walls and embracing the whole
human race. The fact that such an experiment would be
made in one part of the Indian Sub-continent was sheer
chance, and it was immaterial. Actually it could be made
anywhere on this vast earth, for Quran knows no
boundaries. In this century when loyalties and identities
are getting narrower and narrower and more and more
,attached to locale, some people somewhere must prove
to the rest that divisions can be vaster and higher on
value-systems rather than on account of birth. He
wanted to free "the outlook of man from its geographical
limitations,"3 So he declared that u..... problem of India is
international and not nationa1."4 All that Iqbal has said
in the context of the Indian problem, is a beautiful
reflection of. the Quranic Plea to humankind: Individual

IMuhammad Iqbal "Rccon::;truction of Religiuus Thuught in India"

poge ''''.
IMUhaillmad Iqbal "Reconstruction of Religious Thought in India"
pogo 2.
SSpcechcs and Statement::; of Iqbal page 7.
fSpooches and Statements of Iqbal page SO.
 60

groups and tribes may function beneficially for

themselves, but there must be one group some-where'
which works for humanity as a whole. This is the
uniqueness of this group and the only justification of its
existence. A Mamin lives and dies for humanity, not just
for himself or his group.!

lAlso read Appendix D

 61

Iqbal finds a saviour in Jinnah

The year 1930 was a great landmark in the history of

l~uslim India. A definite goal _ the establishment of a
'fPVereign state _ had been clearly defined and clarified.
Jt was now possible to chrumelise their energies on
IP.~structive lines. Uptil now their various movements
,ppd been rather wayward or unrealistic ur without a
/;JPar goal. The only exception was Syed Ahmed Khan's
:(\tfgarh Movement and the achievement and retaining of
.~Varate electorates in the teeth of Hindu and British
,f~'pof$ition. This movement was sure and steady, linking
't!ltth Iqbal's 1930 Allahabad address. But in the first
'" , or the nineteenth century the Wahabi stl'uggle, first
,Mrullst the Sikhs and then against the British, was not
,Woperly organised. In principle it was in accordance with
J~e ,Quranic ideology. The Wahabi leaders rightly
helieved that no Muslim can be a Muslim under a
Jlon~Muslim rule, be it Sikhs, Hindus or British. lIe must
have an Islamic state of his own. But not being well
~lanned, the movement suffered defeat at I3alakot in
iS31 at the hands of, the Sikhs, and Sycu Ahmed
$p.aheed of Bareilly and lslarnil Shaheed of the house of
Shah Waliullah were killed. Later the Wahabis were
ruthlessly eliminated by the British. Thus this attempt
at lreedom failed. Then the First War of Independence
In 1857 with Bahadur Shah ZaIar, the last Mughal
Emperor, as the rallying point for the revival of the
Mughal Empire, was again brutally crushed. It was at
thjs stage that Syed Ahmed Khan had realised that
~either could the decrepit and hollow empire be revived
nor was the revival desirable. He also realised that an
armed struggle could not overthrow the British. People
 62

had to be awakened and prepared for a struggle in the

future, armed or othelwise. Next came the Balkan Wars
and the agitational politics of the younger leadership.
This reached its climax in the post-World War I years in
the form of Khilafat Movement. Its aims and objects
were unrealistic and methods doomed to failure. The
result was frustration and hopelessness. However in
1930 the Muslims entered a new phase.

Iqbal had defined the goal, but being essentially a

thinker and a theorist, he felt incapable of playing a
practical role in its achievement. He realised his
potentials and his limitations. Such is the stuff that
great men are made of. So he watched and studied the
personalities around. His man must not only be sincerely
convinced of the "Pakistan Idea", but had to be of high
intellectual and moral courage to face fierce opposition
and to be able to swim against the tide of the popular,
fashionable concepts and institutions of the West. It is
eusy to be popular, it is not easy to be a leader. Iqbal
knew that his objective was an uphill task. There was
going to be a severe battle of ideologies between his
Islamic national group and western national group, be
they Hindus, British and ev~~ Mush.ms. No small man
could cope with what lay ahead. Even to preserve the
separate electorates had been no mean task. It had been
opposed tooth and nail. The issue had been debated
again in the.Round Table Conferences in London after
the virtual failure of the Simon Commission. Iqbal
attended the Second Round Table Conference
(September 1931- December 1931) as a member of the
Minorities Committee. The discussion came to no
conclusion. He faced opposition from Mr. Gandhi and
other Hindu leaders, as well as the British. Iqbal's
comments on it were:"....... the discussion at. the Round
Table Conference of the Communal question has
 63

demonstrated, more clearly than ever, the essential

disparity between the two great cultural units of India.
yet the Prime Minister of England apparently refuses to
see that the problem of India is international and not
national. Obviously he does not see that the model of
British democracy cannot be of any use in a land of many
nations. "1 This failure resulted in the British offer of
what is known as the Communal Award in August 1932.
Even this Communal Award which did not fully concede
all Muslim demands was opposed by the Hindus in the
discussions on it in the Central Legislative Assembly in
India. Later in 1934; 19th of June, COIDmc11ting on the
resolution of Congress Wurkmg Committee on the
Communal Award, he said: "The Congress Working
Committee has tried by the resolution to hide its inner
communalism, but in the vely act of doing so has
unveiled its designs to such an extent that no Muslim
will fail to see through this game. At this critical
juncture I would advise the Muslims of India to stand
boldly by· the Communal Award even though it does not
concede all their demands. This is the only course they
can adopt as a practical people." 2 Thus the struggle for
Muslim representation continued.

It was during this period that Iqbal had his

momentous meetings with Jinnah in England where
both' had gone in connection with the Round Table
Conferences. Iqba~' got Jinnah interested in his
objectives,3 declared by him in 1930 and his world -view
ofhumany destiny, establishment of Pakistan being only
a stepping-stone towards it. And then, a keen observer
that he was, Iqbal discovered in Jinnah the man he was

IQuoted by M.H. Saiyid in "Muhammad Ali Jinn'-lh ('-I political ~tudy)

page 301.
2Thoughts and Reflections ofIqbal page 34(-i.
3Albiruni . "Makers of Paki~tan".
 64

looking for. He expressed this discovery in his letter to

Jinnah on the 21st of June, 1937. "I know you are a busy
man; but I do hope you won't mind my writing to you so
often, as you are the only Muslim in India today to whom
the community has a right to look up for safe guidance
through the storm which is coming to the North-West
India, and perhaps to the whole ofIndia."1 Earlier on the
28th May, 1937, he had said: "Muslim India hopes that at
this critical juncture your genius will discover some way
out of our pr~sent difficulties."2 And how right he was in
his choice. Thus was the great giant among Indian
politicians converted to Islamic nationaiism and Quranic
ideology.

As far as the evolution of the Pakistan Idea is

concerned Jinnah's participation begins only during
these years. Until this time, idcalogically speaking, Iqbal
and Jinnah were in the opposite camps. Jinnah all these
years had been imbued with western concepts like Iqbal
himself in his young days. But the potential barbhrism
and danger of territor'ial nationalism had dawned upon
him early in life. He had, as seen in the previous chapter,
thrown overboard those western gods, and had been
preparing his nation for its rightful role. If Jinnah had
also been convertE}d earlier, the impact of his personality
and leadership would have helped the movement to gain
momentum and given more power and effed for the
ideas to sink in:HClt as Hector Bolitho puts it, he "was
not yet sixteen when he sailed across the Arabian Sea
towards the western. world .... when the (irst generation
of Aligarh students was already helping Muslims towards
a- larger life and freedom of heart, Jinnah was still
tramping between Lincoln's Inn, the British Museum

ILcttcrs of Iqbal to Jinnah pagL'S - 20·2l.

,
2Lcttcrs oflqbal to Jinnah pagllS . 20.
 65

and his lodgings in Russel Road."l Further on he says: "If

Muhammad Ali Jinnah had gone to Aligarh in 1892,
instead' of venturing across the seas to England and
Lincolns Inn, his belief in the parting of the Muslims and
Hindus might have developed much earlier,"2 These
remarks are very apt. It is a pity that the major part of
his political life he wasted in bringing about Hindu-
Muslim unity, so much so, that he was given the title of
'Ambassador of Hindu-Muslim Unity'. Right upto 1930
he continued to make these untiring efforts, putting his
full energies, time and money into it. His membership of
the Muslim League in 1913 was subordinate to the
National Congress in accordance with his belief in
western territorial nationalism; he was the architect of
the Lucknow Pact in 1916 between the League and the'
Congress; his efforts for the revision of Nehru Report in
1928 was yet another attempt. These are the noteworthy
instances, actually every moment of his life was devoted
to this idea. It was during the Round Table conferences
that he received the "shock of his life" on the attitude of
the Hindu leaders. The intensity of the shock was of
such magnitude that in disgust he decided to stay back
in England in a self-imposed exile, very unhappy and
wondering how the tangle of "India for Indians" could be
solved. His political career upto now had set a high
standard in policies, recognised by frieml and foe.
Satojini Naidu says: """"".he commands unanimous
respect and esteem by his personal dignity of character
and his fearless and vigilant championship of Indian
rights and demands."3 Further on she adds:" ..... true
criterion of his greatness"" lies in a lofty singleness and
sincerety of purpose and the lasting charm of a character

IHector Bolitho· "Jinnahtt . pagl' 7.

2ibid pages 43-44
3Sarojini Naidu "Biul,rraphical Sketch" in Muhammad Ali Jinnah . The
Ambassador of Unity Page 15.
 66

animated by a brave conception of duty and an austere

and lovely code of private honour and public integrity...
by the rare significance of his patriotic service, that he
holds today his unique place in the front rank of our
national leaders."l Right from his boyhood his dictum
was "stand up from the dust so that your clothes are
unspoiled and your hands clean for the ta.$ks that fall to
them."z Even an unsympathetic writer Lal ~ahadur gives
glowing account of his "feeling for common welfare" and
"liberalism",3 The "Jinnah Hall in Bombay, built by the
spontaneous response of the citizens of that city, still
stands as a monument of his fearlessness and boldness.
Lord Chelmsford said of him, "Jinnuh is a very clever
man, and it is of course an outrage that such a man
should have no chance of running the affairs of his own
country."4 Y~s. This was the man Iqbal was looking for.
As mentioned earlier Iqbal's meetings with him and
letters to him brought about a complete transformation
in his world-view. Jinnah admits this in his foreword to
"Letters from Iqbal to Jinnah". He says "I think these
letters are of very great historical importance,
particularly those which explain his views in dear and
unambiguous terms on the political future of Muslim
India. His views were SUbstantially in consonance with
my own and had finally led me to the same conclusions
as a result of careful examination and study of the
constitutional problems facing India, and found
expression in due course in the united will of Muslim
India as adumberated in the Lahore resolution of the AlI-
Indian Muslim League, popularly known as the 'Pakistan
Resolution', passed on 23rd March, 1940,"G In the various
lSarojini Naidu "Biographical Sketch" in Muhammad Ali Jinnuh - Th~'
Ambassador of Unity page Hl
2Hedor Bulitho - "Jinnah" page;)_
3LaI Bahudur - "The Muslim Letl).,>ue" page 17!i-17(j.
4Quoted by Albiruni "Makers ofPakisun" page Ul7.
5Lcttcrs ofIqbul toJinnah - pages 6-7.
 67

letters Iqbal repeats the need for what later l111ltcI'iuliseu

in the Lahore Resolution. On the 20th March 1937 he
wrote:" .........you must restate as clearly as possible the
political objective of the Indian Muslims as a distinct
political unit in the country."l On 28th May 1937 he
wrote:" ........ the enforcement and develupment of the
Shariat of Islam is impo~sible in this t:Duntry without a
free Muslim state or stutes."~ In the same letter he
expJained" .... .it is necessary to redistribute the country
and to provide one or more Muslim Sates with aLsolute
majorities. Don't you think the time for such a demand
has already arrived?":; On 21st June 1937 he questioned
"Why should not the Muslims of North-West India and
Bengal be considered as nations entitled to S91f-
determination jut as other nations in India and outside
India are?"4 .
Thus was achieved complete consonance in ideas
and objects between Iqbal and Jinnah. From now
onwards Jinnah worked with the same sincerety,
integrity, boldness and singlemindedness. To disagree
with him is one thing, but no one has been able to deny
these qualities in him, so unusual in the generally
accepted Machiavellian politics.
The decade of the thirties was very important. The
announcement of the 1935 Act brought matters to a
head. It created more problems fur Muslim India by
depriving Punjab and Bengal of their Muslim majorities
and establishing a perpetual Hindu majority in the
Central Federal Scheme. The time \\la::; now to act. Thus
Jinnah returned to India from England, basically on the
pursuasion of Iqbal on October 24, H135.

1Letters ofIqbal to Jinnah - page H.

2ibid page Ill.
3ibid page Hl.
4Letters (JfIqbal to Jinnah -.pages 2·1.
 68

These were very difficult days, Jinnah saw on his

return that even in Muslim majority areas··Bengal,
Punjab, Sind and NWFP _ parties had been formed by
Muslim upper and middle classes that did not cooperate
with the Muslim League. There was Krishak Proja Party
of Fazalul Huq in Bengal, Unionist Party of Fazl-e-
Hussain in the Punjab, Abdullah Huroon in Sind, and the
Congress forces in NWFP under Khan Abdul Ghafful'
Khan and his brother Dr. Khan. "But in the midst of all
this darkness theI'e shone a flickering light in Lahore; he
was the only consolation of Jinnah,"l Of Course this light
was Iqbal.
At tl/is stage it was felt necessary to form the
Central Parliamentary ~oard of the all-India Muslim
League with its provincial branches to rally round the
Muslim opinion to contest the approaching elections
under the India Act of 1935. '!'his was the first step of its
kind.2 The first meeting of the Parliamentary Board was
held in June 1936, Jinnah received the following advise
from Iqbal: Indirect election to the Central Assembly has
made it absolutely essential that Muslim representatives
returned to the Provincial AsscmbliLs should be found
by an all-India 1luslim Policy and programme so that
they should return to the Central assembly only those
Muslims who would be p,edged to support the specific
Muslim questions connected with the central subjects
and arising out of their position as the second great
nation of India.":l. It was on the basis of this policy and
programme that when Jawaharlal Nehru declared in

IM,H. Saiyid "Muhammad Ali Jinnah" page a4n.

2Letters of lqbw to Jinnah page a,
3ibid pages 9-10/
 69

Calcutta that the parties that mattered in India were the

Congress and the British, Jinnah retorted: "There is a
third party, namely, the Muslims."l The battle was now
on. The Congress tried to enlist the Muslim masses, for
it got panicky at the programme and success of the
Muslim League. The All~India Muslim League claimed to
be the representative party of Muslim India not as one
national organisation against another. As such its
thorough reorganisation was also essential. Thus Iqbal
wrote to Jinnah on 20th March, 1937,".......we must not
ignore the fact that the whole future of Islam as a moral
and political force in Asia rests very largely on a
complete organisation of Indian Muslim,"2 Again on 28th
May 1937 he rote: "The league will have to finally decide
whether it will remain a body representing the upper
classes of Indian Muslims or Muslim masses who have so
far, for good reason, taken no interest in it.":! Thus in
October 1937 the League held its session in Lucknow.
This was the "first stage in the reorganisation of the
Muslim League on a popular basis .... "4 Analysing the
political situation he declared with great confidence and
hope that '"The all-India Muslim League has now come to
live and play its just part in the world of Indian politics
and the sooner it is realised and reckoned with the
better it will be for all concerned."5 Iqbal had been
planning all along for this kind of a challenge. His
objective was being realised. Lucknow Sessions initiated
among Muslims a spirit of self-reliance and

1M.H. Saiyid -"Muhammad Ali Jinnah" page 350.

2LcttcI1S oflqbal to Jinnah page 13.
3Letters oflqba\ to Jinnah page 16-17/
4Letters of Iqbal to Jinnah page 3.
5Reccnt Speeches and Writmgs of Mr. Jinnah page 34.
 70

independence. In the words of Jinnah himself: "The

Lucknow Sessions furnished an unmistakable evidence
of the popularity thnt Leagllc comm:mtled among
Muslims of all groups and ranks,"! Thus Jinnah was able
to write in reply to Gandhi's letter on the 31'd March,
1938. ~We have reached a stage when no doubt should be
left that you recognise the All-India Muslim League as
the one authoritative organisation of Muslims of India
and, on the other hand, you represent the Congress and
other Hindus throughout the country,"2

These months and dates are significant because

Iqbal was ill and dying, but he knew that his goal was
safe in the best 'of possible hands. Till the last moments
of his life his gaze was fixed on the human destiny and
the human beings for whom he felt so deeply. In his New
Year message broadcast from the Lahore station of All-
India Radio on the 1st January 1938 he spoke thus:
"Only one unity is dependable and that unity is the
brotherhood of man, which is above race, nationality,
colour or language. So long as this so-called democracy,
this accW'sed nationalism and this degraded imperialism
are not shattered, so long as men do not demonstrate by
their actions that they believe that the whole world is
the family of God, so long as distinctions of race, colour
and geographical nationalisties are not wiped out
completely, they will never be able to lead a happy and
contented life and the beautiful ideals of liberty, equality
and fraternity will never materialise. ";j He took up
cudgels against the statement of Maulana Hussain
lLcttcrs ofIqbaJ to Jinnah page 5.
2Quotcd by M.H. Saiyid- ""Muhammad Ali Jinnph"" - page .'175.
3Spccrhc5 and Statements uflqbal page 222.
 71

Ahmed Madani on '1s1am & Nationalism" published in

"Ehsan" on the 9th of March 1938, about a month before
his death on the 21st April. The Maulana had said that
"nations are formed by lands." III and bed-ridden he gave
a befitting' reply. However the role of the Maulanns will
be treated in a separate chapter.

Iqbal's death Was a great loss. Jinnah's message ran

as follows: "To me he was a friend, guide and philosopher
and during the darkest moments through which the
Muslim League had to go he stood like a rock, and never
flinched one single moment. "1

Iqbal and Jinnah had made la beautiful team

together. Thetr mutual confidence and admiration was a
tremendous source of inspiration to the Muslim masses.
While Iqbal had been lovingly acclaimed as the national
poet of Muslim India, Jinnah was now their beloved
"Qaid-e-Azam". (The Great Leader,) This universal
recognition of Jinnah as the symbol of Muslim
nationalism and the development of the League as an
organisation that could not be exploited by anybody,
successfully led the nation to the historical Lahore
Session of 1940, on the 22nd of March, though the
Unionists under Sikandar Hayat Khan, the Chief
Minister of the Punjab, neated all kinds of obstacles by
disrupting and killing the Khaksars a few days earlier. At
the Session, Jinnah declared. "The problem in India is
not of an inter-communal but manifestly of an
international character and it must be treated as such ...
This misconception of Indian nation has galle far beyond
the limits and is the cause of most of our troubles and
will lead India to destruction if we fail to revise our
notions in time. The Hindus and Muslims belong to .two
lQuotcd by Syed Abdul Vahid - "Studies in Iqbal" page 303
 72

different religious philosophies, social customs,

literature, They neither inter-marry nor inter-dine, and,
indeed, they belong to two different civilisations which
are based on conflicting ideas and conceptions. Theil'
outlook on life and of life are different. It is quite clear
that Hinds and Muslim8 derive their inspiration from
different sources of history. They have different epics
and different episodes. Very often the hero of oue is a foe
of the other, and like-wise, their victories and defeats
overlap. To yoke together two such nations under a
single state, one as a numerical minority and the other
as majority, must lead to growing discontent and final
destruction of any fabric that may be so built up for the
government of such a state."l

On the' next day, 23rd March, the following

resolution was passed:

"Resolved that it is the considered view of this

session of the All-India Muslim League that no
constitutional plan would be ..Vorkable in this country or
acceptable to Muslims unless it is designed on the
following basic principle, namely, that geographically
contiguous units pre demarcated into regions which
should be so constituted, with such territorial
readjustments as may be necessruy that the areas in
which the Muslims are numerically in a majority as in
the North-Western and Eastern zones ofIndia should be
grouped to constitute "Independent States" in which the
constituent units shall be autonomous and sovereign." 2

Iqbal's plans were now given a form and a shape and

became the manifesto of the All-India 11uslim League.
Iqbal knew that only Jinnah could do it, and he had done
lRecent Speeches and Writings of Mr. Jinnah paCli 177-17K
2M.H. Saiyid. "Muhammad Ali Jinnah". page 433.
 73

it. Jinnah himself said to Matlub Hussain Sayyid, "Iqbal

is no more amongst us, but had he been alive he would
have been happy to know that we did exactly what he
wanted us to dO,"l

Following is the complete text of the Lahore

Resolution (late called Pakistan Resolution).

TEXT OF THE PAKISTAN RESOLUTION PASSED

AT THE TWENTY-SEVENTH ANNUAL SESSION
OF THE ALL-INDIA MUSLIM LEAGUE, LAHORE,
24TH MARCH, 1940

(I) While approving and endorsing the action taken

by the Council and the Working Committee of the AlI-
India 'Muslim League, as indicated in their resolutions
dated the 27th of August, 17th and 18th September and
22nd of October, 1939, and 3rd of February, 1940 on the
constitl.i.ional issue, this Session of the All-India Muslim
league' emphatically reiterates that the scheme of
federation embodied in the Government of India Act,
1935, is totally unsuited to, and unworkable in the
peculiar conditions of this country and is altogether
unacceptable to Muslim India.
(2) It further records its emphatic view that while
the declaration dated the 18th of October, 1939 made by
the Viceroy on behalf of His Majesty's Government is
reassuring in so far as it declares that the policy and plan
on which the Government of India Act, 1935, is based
will be reconsidered in consultation with the various
parties, interests and communities in India, Muslim
India will not be satisfied unless the whole constitutional
plan is reconsidered de novo lind that no revised plan

lQuotcd by M.H. Sa'yyid - "Muhammad Ali Jinnah" page 4:W,

 74

would be acceptable to the Muslims unless it is framed

with their approval and consent.
(3) Resolved that it is the considered view of this
Session of the All-India Muslim League that no
constitutional plan would be workable in this country or
acceptable to the Muslims unless it is designed on the
following basic principles, viz.
That geographically contiguous units are
demarcated into regions which should be so constituted,
with such territorial re-adjustments as may be necessary
that the areas in which the Muslims are numerically in
majority as in the North Western and Eastern Zones of
India should be grouped to constitute "Independent
States" in which the constituent units should be
autonomous and sovereign.
That adequate, effective and mandatory safeguards
should be specifically provided in the constitution for
minorities in these units and in the regions for the
protection of their religious, cultural, economic, political,
administrative' and other rights and interests in
consultation with them and in other parts ofIndia where
the Musalmans are in a minority adequate, effective and
mandatory safeguards shall be specifically provided in
the constitution for them and other minorities for the
protection of their religious, cultural, political,
administrative and other rights and interests in
consultation with them,
This Session further authorises the Working
committee to frame a sc:heme of constitution in
accordance with these basic principles, providing for the
assumption finally by the respective regions of all powers
such as defence, external affuir's, communications,
customs and such other matters an may be nece.~sal'y.
 75

3 The Ideological Battle

PART I
"TOLU-E-ISLAM".l
The 1940 Lahore Resolution of the All-India Muslim
League was like disturbing the hornets' nest. Matlubul
Hassan Sayyid describes the reaction of the Hindus as
follows:-
"The Lahore Resolution of thE! League was followed
by an in;unediate and intensified campaign of
misrepresentation of the League demand. Every scrap of
Hindu opinion rose in opposition and some of the Hindu
leaders even went to the length of '.lsing lmdignified
words. Judgments were iJassed the day after the
publication of the League Resolution. Facts and figures
were quoted in utter contradiction of truth. Contorted
narrations of incidents of history were made. Examples
with no bearing were cited. Dissimilar analogies were
employed. Frothy sentiments were surging up. Muslims
Were warned against their own decision and their own
leadership."2
Why the reaction should have been so fierce and so
intense and so hostile is an interesting field of study.
There is still a scholarly vacuum here, although Nirad
Chaudhry's "Continent of Circe" is an excellent and
perhaps the only one of its kind, in attempting an

I"The Islamic Dawn".

2M.H. Saiyid" "Muhammad Ali Jinnah". pages 43H-440
 76

'Illialysis of the Hindu mind. In relationship to the

Muslims what was this Hindu mind? Is it that the
Hindus did not like the Muslims slipping out of their
fingers when at last they had a chance to take their turn
in ruling over them after a thousand years? If so, why
should they feel so revengeful? Is it because they never
had a Syed Ahmed Khan to turn their eyes inwards in
self-criticism? Muslims have never felt the desire to rule
over Britain by way of revenge. At least its best thinkers
have always been self-analytical. Furthermore, the so-
called and much talked of assimilative character of
Hinduism never worked in the case of Islam. Unlike
Budha, (to give one important example) perhaps the
greatest native rebel against the caste-,;;ystem and
Brahmanism, whom the Hindus accepted as one of their
so many gods, the incarnations of Vishnu or Shiva, the
Muslims could not be convinced in a thousand years that
Muhammad (P.RD.H) could also be recognised as such.
This assimilation and amalgamation destroyed Budhism
in the land of its birth, but they could not destroy Islam
like-wise. This frustrated them. Now, at last, the West
had given them anewand an excellent weapon in tlie form
of geographical nationalism, but Jinnah, to their chagrin,
was destroying this weapon also, by the two-nation
theory. How could the Hindus tolerate that? They were
very angry indeed. However, as said earlier, there is
scope for more research in this field. One question
though that springs up at this point is: If Hindus were in
a small minority in India, would they have so
enthusiastically welcomed the concepts of territorial
nationalism and 51% majority vote as "modern" and
 77

"progressive"? It is a hypothetical question, but worth

considering.
Whatever the reason or motivation of Hindu
reaction to 1940 Resolution, Jinnah had to face this
volley of attacks alone, for Iqbal, his guide and
phllosopher, was no more. Fighting a lone battle in the
rmdst of powerful and Machiavellian political tactics, he
C'11t.:ri",h,;d the memory of Iqbal. Hector Bolitho describes
how after some meetmg::; with Ntlhrn, "Jinnah returned
to his desk in the house on Mallnt Pltl8sant Road,
discouraged, but not in despair. He wor~.ed alpne ... but
there was one bundle aflatters, in a drawer, to which he
could turn for , consolation, They had been wl'itten to him
by Sir Muhammad Iqbal, after their meeting in England
in 1932.1 Of cowse Iqbal had left rich literature in poetry
and prose from where guidance could be sought. And he
had done even more than that. In the year 1936 he had
asked an associate of his, Syed Nazir Nia7Ji to start a
magazine for the ideological struggle that lay ahead. It
was started accordingly by the name of "'folue-Islam"2
suggested by Iqbal himself, with Sayyid Nazir Niazi as its
editor, but due to some "administrative and financial
difficulties" the venture had to be terminated ofter a few
sporadic issues. 'Later on, the venture .was started again
in the month of May, 1938, this time the choice being
Ghulam Ahmed Parwez. Parwez was one of those
admirers of Iqbal who flocked to his residence in Lahore.
to drink deep the knowledge that he freely imparted to

IHcctor Bolitho - "Jinnah" pa~e 114.

2"Tolu-e·lslam" was also the title of a poerp compo~ed by lqbal in 1923
when Tur~ was saved by Kamal Ata Turk. It is a dynamic, hopeful.
and a cheerful poem.
 78

those who were willing to learn and work hard. Parwez

proved to be the most willing and the brightest.} He was
destined to walk with the lamp that he had lighted with
Iqbal's flame oflearning, thus illuminating the path that
he tread. In his speech for the Independence Day, 13th
August 1972, Pruwez revealed that "In 1937 when Jinnah
launched his campaign for practical implementation of
the ideology to which he had been converted by Iqbal, he
called me and said: '1 am well aware of your total
adherence to the movement (of Pakistan Idea), This
battle will have to be fought on three fronts _ British,
Hindus, and the nationalist Ulema, who will oppose the
movement under the garb of Islam. I will take on the
first two. My wish.is that you tackle the third one." Thus
the monthly magazine "Tolue-Islam" came into
circulation in the month of May, 1938."2

IGhulam Ahmed Parwe)'; has to a great extc.>nt accomplished the work

that Iqbal had outlined for himself, had he lived longer. A theorist like
Iqbal, he has been introduced in his book "Islam· A Challenge to
Relil:,rion~ where it has been stated that his critical study "of the total
area of human thought and socia-ideological movements throughout
the ages" has resulted in a tremendous re-<-'Valuation of values
forcfib'Ured in the philosophical work of Allama Iqbal, and cspcchuly in
his penetrating insight ~garding:the n~ture of Islam as a 'protest
against all religions in the old scnse of the term'. Iqbal was not
vouchsafed the time to develop this exhilaruting and r<..'Volutionary
thesis in the work which he prcpared to write as an 'Introduction to
the study of Islam ..... Purwci.'s immense philo.':lophical work is a
realisation of Iqbal's desire to study blam not UiS a religion but as a
Dceo-a word which has no parallel in western ianguugt.'5 ... His
revolutionary writings and 'discourses have inspired a widespread
critical movement in Pakistan among the intellingentziu as well as the
common people and is influencing similar thinking in othor countries.
The central organ of this movement - the monthly 'Toluc.>-Islam' (The
Islamic Dawn) - is avidly studied at home and abroad_"
2Parwez's speoch was published in Urdu in the form of a pamphlat
under the caption: "Ah! Whcrc arc you, QUllid-i-Azam"? This cxtract is
taken from it. page 3.
 79

"Talue-Islam", in Urdu, was dedicated to Iqbal's

Thought. In its first issue l this was made clear in its
presentation:

"We present this magazine, "Talue-Islam", to Allama

Iqbal, and hope that just as his light of learning
dispersed the clouds of darkness heralding a new
"Islamic Dawn", so this magazine may also prove to be its
true beneficiary."

This dedication itself explains the role that "Tulue-

Islam" was bound to play in the most decisive phase in
the history of Muslim India and when the ideological
battle was at its highest. It projected the Quranic
concept of "ideological nationalism", discussed and
exposed the machinations of the opponents, reviewed
the current political events, analysing them in the light
of Quranic values. Many of its important articles wei'e
published in the form of pamphlets for mass circulation.
In fact this pamphleteering proved to be a very
successful medium in carrying the message to every
nook and corner of the country. It thus imparted
strength to the All-India Muslim League in meeting the
three-pronged attack of the British, the Hindus, and the
"nationalist" Ulema. Along with Iqbal's works and
Jinnah's speeches and writings, the "Talue-Islam" issues2
of the time are a very important source of the history of
the Pakistan Idea.

lIqbal had the consolation 'of seeing this issue a few days before his
death, knowing that his me~sage was in safe hands.
2Almost all this material is now enshrined in a book titled "Tehl'ik-e-
Pakistan Aur Parwcz", published by the Tolu-e-Islam Trust in AUb'Ust
1989, when Alima Perwez was only conferred Tchrik-c-Pakistun Gold
Medal"_
 80

The "Tolue~Islam" issues were publfshed regularly'

till June 1942, a period of four years from May 1938, at
the end of which it ceased to be published because of the
economic strains of World War n.l

It was brought into circulation again by Parwez in

1948 after the establishment of Pakistan, This magazine,
appearing every month, continues to struggle for the
"Pakistan Idea" and' faces the onslaughts frotn all
directions, from old enemies and new.

By 1942 the ideological battle had been almost won

and the real issue had been brought home to both the
British and the Hindus. Having accomplished this, the
struggle of the Muslim League from now onwards was a
political fight for the establishment of a sovereign state
where this ideology could be objectifie"d in a new order
and a new man. This political fight was taken up by the
English daily, "Dawn",2 edited by AltafHussain.
"COMMUNALISM"

The volley oj attacks came from three fronts, as

specified by Jinnah to Parwez, and it came in varied
garbs. The theme of this chapter is the -evaluation of
these varied garbs, that is, the weapons that were used
to undermine the two-nation theory and the Lahore
Resolution of 1940. The importance of this evaluation is
in the battle of ideologies that fu:rther crystalises the
issue and leaves no doubt regarding what it is all about.3

The earliest weap'on used by the All-India National

ITolue-Islam - June 1942 pages 11-12.

21t is interesting to note that this paper was also calwd "Dawn", the
English translation oftlie world "Tolue".
3Todar the issue is being distorted and misrepresentod, but then the
opposmg parties concerned knew what they were tulking about.
 81

Congress was dubbing of the All-India Muslim League as

~communal", and then defaming the term "Communal" as
"backward", "narrow-minded", "anti-national", "enemy of
freedorn'\ "British agents" and "British toadies", In
contrast to this the Congress was supposed to be
"freedom-fighters", "modern" and "progressive". This was
repeated for decades over the length and breadth of the
country, as well as outside the country, with a powerful
and extensive propaganda machinery. It was repeated
with such vehemence that the very word "Muslim
Leaguer" brought to mind the image of a person who was
backward looking and who worked as an agent of British
imperialism against freedom. It created so much disgust
that nobody was ready to listen to any argument or
reason or see facts as they were. Although historical
literature is replete with the British opposition to the
Lahore Resolution or establishment of Pakistan, yet the
impression lingers on that the All-India Muslim League
and Pakistan were British creations! It is of interest to
note here that Indian National Congress itself was
actually founded by a British civil servant AD. Hume t in
1885 as "Her Majesty's Loyal Opposition." It had several
British presidents and for many years all its presidential
addresses at the annual conventions began with
expresswns of loyalty to the British Queen.
Nevertheless, the All-India Musli;m League was
stigmatised as a "toadie" and the mind was immediately
prejudiced unfavourably. What made it worse WaS th)lt
the League had no press of its own. "Tolue-Islam" and
"Dawn" cuvered the phase from 1938 to 1947 only and
they too did not exist at the same time.2

lA.O. Hume's biography written by Sir William Weddcrbum, Bart,

titlcd "Allaw Odavian HUmc, C.B., father of India National Congrcss.
Republished in Hl92 by thc Historical R<.'SCBl'ch Society, Lahore.
2Toluc-Islam 1938 - 1942; and Dawn 1942·11:147.
 82

It was with reference to this stigma of

"communalism" that Iqbal had said in his 1930
presidential address in Allahabad: "I have no hesitation
in declaring that if the principle that the Indian Muslim
is entitled to full and free development on the lines of
his own culture and tradition in his own Indian home-
lands is recognised as the basis of a pe~manent
communal settlement, he will be ready to stake his all
for the freedom ofIndia. The principle that each group is
entitled to free development on its own lines is not
inspired by any feeling of narrow communalism. There
are conununalisms and communalisms. A community
which is inspired by any feeling of ill-will towards other
communities is low and ignoble. I entertain the highest
respect for the customs, laws, religious and social
institutions of other communities. Nay, it is my duty
according to the teaching of the Quran, even to defend
their places of worship, if need be. Yet I love the
communal group which is the source of my life and
behaviour and which has formed me what I am, by giving
me its religion, its literature, its thought, its culture and
thereby recreating its whole past as a living operative
factor in my present consciousness,"l Having explained
this he instilled confidence amongst the Muslim leadel's
in these words: "No Muslim politician should be sensitive
to the taunt embodied in that propaganda word-
communalism-expr~ssly devised to exploit what the
Prime Minister calls British democratic sentiments and
to mislead England into assuming a state of things which
does not exist in India."2 Thus was the Muslim League
given confidence in facing the Congress onslaught. They
were no longer ashamed of being "communal" for after
all, it is the way words are defined and experienced that

lSpccches and Statements of Iqbal. page 11.

2ibid. page 31.
 83

ultimately matter. To belong to a pmticulur community

is no sin, and the desire to live within the communal
group that on~ nourishes, not only physically, but
mentally and emotionally too, is no sih either: And then
to give the other community a similar right to live--that
is the essence of toleration. But as Iqbal said, there are
intentions that "inwardly aim at dominating each other"
and "conceal our egoism under the cloak of a
nationalism, outwardly stimulating a large-hearted
patriotism, but inwardly as narrow-minded as a caste or a
tribe."1 Perhaps that is the worst kind of intolerance. It is
noteworthy to see how the Hindu approach waS always
described as "nationalist" and Muslim approach as
"communalist", Whatever the Hindu leaders might say or
do Were eD$ily hidden under the cloak of the "National"
Congress, while Muslim utterances were given the
ugliest twist. But Jinnah, undeterred by all this, stated:
"Do not be distw'bed by the slogans and the taunts such
as are used against the Musulmans, - "Communalists",
"toadies", and "reactionaries". The worst "today" on earth,
the most wicked "communalist" today amongst Muslims
when he surrenders unconditionally to the Congress and
abuses his own community becomes the nationalist of
tomorrew! These terms and words and abuses are
intended to create an inferiority complex amongst the
Musulmans and to demoralise them; and are intended to
sow discord in their midst and give us a bad name in the
world abroad. This is the standard of propaganda which
can only be treated with c-ontempt."z

Although this propaganda of describing Muslim

Leaguers as British toadies and enemies of freedom
never really abated, still Congress opiniun had to admit

ISpeec.::hes and Statements oflqbal- page 10.

2Recent Speeches lind Writing~ ofM'r. Jinnah Volume I page :'1;).
 84

that the League stood for freedom. After a meeting with

Jinnah in Allahabad, Pandit Juwahar Lal Nehru
admitted: "We had a frank talk. Although our views
differed, there was no difference in the objectives. Both
the League's and the Congress's objective is freedom."l
The "Hindustan Times" of 31'd November 1939 wrote:
"The aim of the League, like the Congress, is freedom."2

"SUFISM", "UNIVERSAL ETHICS" AND

"RELIGIOUS FREEDOM"

Another move was to undermine and shatter the

confidence of the Muslims. The Muslim belief that Islam
was the Truth made them feel superior. It is this feeling
that must be attacked, and it was attacke9 in several
ways. To begin with, such a feeling was described as
"narrow-minded" 'and "prejudiced." A Muslim was thus
labelled and made to dislike himself and his identity. He
was considered an obstacle in the way of unity. So a
solution was found for him in ftSufism". The "Sufi Saints",
past and present, were glorified, and it was pointed out
that both Muslims and Hindus visited and venerated
their tombs. There is no need for outward rituals even,
for what matters is personal, emotional devotion to God.
This "Sacred and innocent" mould was being used to cast
Hindu and Muslim communities into one nation in the
geographical sense.3 Thus an Al'ya Samaj debate in Simla
stated: "Sufism is the only basis for Hindu·Muslim
unity."4 Dewan LaI Chand Nadil Rai said: "A true Sufi. is
neither a Hindu nor a Muslim.... Sufism is the only way
by which all inhabitants of India can be fonned into a

lQuotcd by Tolu·e·l:;lam of December 1!J39 un page (i~J fro lIl Stak.~mun

of3.11.1939.
2Tolu-e·Islam page 69.
3Tolu-c-Islam, October HJ38 pae~ 38·3!).
4ibid. pUbtCS 38-39.
 85

common nation; and sufism alone can be a correct

guidance to solve political, economic and social
problems."1 No wonder that lives of Sufi Saints were
especially included in the Wardha Scheme ofEducation,2
which was sponsored by Mahatama Gandhi. As such
Sufism had the support of Pandit Nehru as well.

In fact, it was through the Wardha Scheme of

Education that Mahatama Gandhi set the ball rolling in
the political arena against the superiority of Islam, to be
picked up by others and pushed towards its goaL The
atmosphere was consequently full of voices from all
sides _ "all religions are the same", they said. Akbar's
Deen-e-Ilahi and Dara Shikoh's eclective views on
religion were much talked about. The authority for such
views was always Maulana Abdul Kalum Azad's
commentary on the Quran. Every Hindu speaker quoted
him, It was also translated in Hindi and brought to the
fore in this stormy political period in the political life of
India.

In the year 1941 in early June an "All Religions

Conference" was held in Sholapur, presided by Pandit
Sunder Lalji. In his presidential address he said that
Islam itself preaches that all religions are the same. No
one religion is superior to another. Th.1t is what Maulana
Azad says. It is true that external rituals are different,
but they are inconsequential. What matters is "devotion
to God" and "pious deeds", Dr. Bhagwan Dass wrote an
article on 22nd February 1939 in the "Hindustan Times",
He stated that all great religions are the same at least in
their essentials. Differences are only in minor details.

IQuoted by Tolu-c-hlam, May, 1939, pages 20-21-

2Morc will be said about Wardha Scheme of Education holter in this
chapter.
 86

Thus these "essentials" or "universal ethics" should. be

taught in text books in schools where the future
generations are growing up.

Tolue-Islam'took up cudgels against this threat to

the Muslims and declared that Islam in any case is not a
religion,l and hence this comparison is irrelevant,
whether it is in the form of "Sufism" or "universal ethics".
AI!. Ad-Deen the Quran is beyond them, and as Ad- Deen
it triumphs over all others. "He it is who sent His
Messenger with guidance and the Ad-Deen ofTrnth. It is
this Ad-Deen that will triumph over all others, though
the opponents may not like it."z

Then again: "The true believers are those only who

believe in Aliah and His Messenger and afterwards doubt
not, but strive with their lives for the cause of Allah.
such are the sincere."3 It further explained that
obedience to God is possible only by implementing
Quranic Laws by the Nabi as the head of the State. "But
nay, by thy Rab! they will not believe in truth until they
nlake thee judge of what is in dispute between them and
find within themselves no dislike of that which thou
decides and submit with full submission. "4. These who do
not submit to the law are not Muslims. "Who judgeth not
by that which Allah hath revealeth: such are the Kafirs. "5
Thus the issue is not of "personal devotion to God" but
God's Laws objectified in the social order. Tolu-e-Islam
then tackled the issue of "pious deeds". It said "Pious
deeds is an individual act of ministering unto the poor
and the weak. But in collective life the standards of

lScc Chapter I and Appendix B.

2Quran: Surah: 9 verse: 33
3ibid Surah 49 verses: 15.
4.ibid Surah 4 verse 65.
5ibid Surah 5 verses 44 and 45.
 87

judging good and bad is higher. Is the culture and

civilisation just or unjust? If it strangulates
humanity then individual acts of goodness are
useless. To suck blood out of man like leeches and
then, when he is about to faint, to pour water into
his mouth is no piety. "Indeed, the just and the
unjust are not equal. (9/19)."1

However, the Congress in their "generosity"

continued to make offers to the Muslim League. It said
that after achieving "Sawraj" (independence) the
"religious freedom" of the Muslims will be in tact,
meaning thereby that Muslims will be allowed to pray,
fast, read the Quran and go for Hajs just as they are
allowed to do so under the British Raj. The Queen's
Proclamation of 1858 had given "religious freedom" to all.
The question that arises is that if _that is what Islam
means then what is the difference between British Raj
and Hindu Raj? What is all this pother about throwing
the British out of India? Under the caption "Sawraji
Islam", Tolu-e-Islam stated that after the achievement of
Sawraj western democratic system will be installed, and
the majority vote will decide the law~ of the land. The
Muslims may be allowed to read the Quran, but what if a
Quranic principle clashes with the law of the land?
Where would ~he "freedom" vanish then?2

Thus the battle raged, Sufism, universal ethics and

religious freedom, none could stand the Quranic shafts.
The issue was not of some "private affair" of
,the individual, but between man-made laws and Quranic
laws. Once this is understood the picture falls into
shape.

ITolu-e-lslam August 1941 pages 9-48.

2'I'olu-e-Islam June 1938 page 27-51
 88

LANGUAGE AND SCRIPT

As early as 1869 the anti-Urdu iSflue had shown its

tentacles. Syed Ahmed Khan, with his usual political
acumen had realised that it was not mere academic
controversy. In later years not much was done by Muslim
leadenl in the defence of their language. They realised it
only when anti-Urdu campaign was in full swing, and as
the Pakistan Movement gained in tempo Jinnah
declared it to be the lingua franca of the Muslim nation
just as Hindi Wa3 of the Hindu nation.

Of course, language as a language is not an end in

itself, neither is its importance such as it has gained in
territorial nationalism. But languages and their scripts
are deeply linked with cultures1 and historical processes,
and with the rise and fall of civilisations. It would be
interesting here to quote Pandit Nehru himself. In his
Autobiography, he says: "A change of script is a very vital
change for any language with a rich past, for a script is a
most intimate part of its literature. Change the script
and different word pictures arise, different sounds,
different ideas. An almost insurmountable barrier is put
up between the old literature and the new, and the
former becomes almost a foreign language that is dead.
When there is no literature worth preserving this risk
should be taken. In India I can hardly conceive of the
change, for our literature is not only rich and valuable
but is bound up with our history and our thought, and is
intimately connected with the lives of our masses. It
would be cruel vivisection to force such a change, and it
would retard our progress in popular education."~ If this
can happen by change of script alone, what could happen
,
lCulture, not in the sense of table manners and drawing room
etiquette, but basic human attitudes.
2.lawaharlal Nehru - An Autobio~.'raphy - page 45~.
 89

with the change of the language? By making English the

official language in India, the British engineered a
master-stroke. "The Indians now used their eyes but saw
with somebody else's sight, their own ears but heard
with somebody else's hearing power, their own heart, but
somebody else's comprehension." Hindus were using the
same methods with the Muslims. The British at least
were constrained to maintain the distinction between
the ruler and the ruled. But Hindus talked about the
"collective good and raised slogans of 'Joint electorate,"
"one flag", "one language" and "one nation", drowning the
Muslims in a sea of sheer numbers, that is, the Hindus.
When the Muslims protested they were described as
backward, agents of imperialism and toadies. Nehru,
whose thoughts on language and script have just been
quoted, remarked irritatingly, "These quarrels over
Persian and Devanagiri are stupid.(!)"l

Congress leaders used Sanskritised Hindi in their

speeches before mixed audience; wI'ote their
correspondence and reports in the Devanagiri script. Yet
th~y claimed to represent both the Hindus and the
Muslim. "Gandhi believed that Hindi in the Devangiri
script is the only language of India. "2 This was to be
made possible in three stages. First, Hindi was to be
defined in such a way that it took Urdu in its sweep.
(When Jinnah protested against all this, Maulana Azad
explained that Hindi is really Urdu!!) The second stage
was to slowly introduce Sanskrit words into it. And lastly,
to introduce the Devanagiri script. Gandhi tried to
hoodwink the Muslims by saying that the language for
all India would be called not Hindi, but "Hindustani". The.
Congress Ministeries formed under the Act of 1935 made

lQuoted in Tolu-e-Islam- O(.1.obcr 1938 page 52. \

2Quoted in Tolu-e-Islam -October 1938 page 47, quutcd ii'om "Tribunc",
8,19,19,1037 which quoted "Harijan".
 90

Hindi in the Devanagiri script complJ.Isory for school

children. 1 In 1939 a Wardha sponsored book "Sab ki Boli"
(Everybody's language) was published. It was in a purely
Sanskritised Hindi,2 In the language column of the
census form, people were advised to write "Hindustani".
No mention should be made of Hin"di or Urdu. 3 It was
also made the integral part of Wardha scheme of
education, about which more will be said later.

Muslims survived this annihilation, but one wonders

about the Greeks, the Parthians, the Bactrians and the
Huns who came with their languages arid cultures.
Where are they?

AHIMSA4
•
Allover the world Mahatama Gandhi is remembered
as a messiah of ahimsa. However, Muslims in India had a
very different experience. One or two practical instances
"Would suffice. In august 1938 an army bill was presented
in the central assembly. The congress opposed it. The
reason was not that they were against violence. The
reason was that the army was recruited mostly from the
Punjab and that too mostly from "one particular group",
that is 70% of the Muslims. If the British recruited it,
equally from all provinces and equally from amongst the
Hindus they'had no objection. The government must
give up the partiality towards the "martial races" and
against the "non-martial" races. 5.

IThe writer of this paper had to study Hindi Wi such for two years in o.n
othorwise English medium School
2T6Iu-e-Islam October 1940 pages 78-83
3Tolu-e-lslam December 1940 - page 64
olNon-violence.
6Tolu-e-Islam December 1938 page 49 and 50.
 91

Sardar Mangal Singh said in the Assembly that if

the government wished to increase recruitment it must
seek Gandhi's help and negotiate with the Congress.l

Then Gandhi advised the Pathans that they should

discard even their pen-knives. But he ~ad nothing to say
against Dr. Moonije's Militm'y College in Poona. 2
Another interesting paradox was when Gandhi advised
the British to use non-violence in case the Germans
attacked Britain. But very soon he blamed the British for
not arming the Indians and leaving them defenceless
against the 'goondas'. (rowdy elements) This statement
was made after the Hindu-Muslim riots in Dacca and
Ahmedabad.' In a letter to the Gujrat provincial
committee pC the Congress he advised that Hindus
should not run way from the Muslim 'goondas'. They
should receive training and. use violent or non-violent
methods to suppress goondaism. The committee he
appointed for this purpose did not include a single
Muslim.'

Ahimsa was a slogan used only to undermine the

Muslim defences. He had used it earlier when he
launched ''non-violent non-cooperation" against the 1919
Act. He made Muhammad Ali a party to his plan, who
was too sincere himself to doubt anyone. "I have agreed
to work with Mahatama Gandhi, and our compact is that
as long as I am associated with him, I shall not resort to
the use of force for purpose of self-defence .... victory
achieved with violence must not be the victory of all
sections of nation, but mainly of the fighting classes
which are more sharply divided in India from the rest of

lTolu-e-lslam December 1938 page 60

2Tolu-e-lslam - November 1939 page 75
3Ibid June 1941 page 72
'ibid July 1941 pages 54-59.
 92

the nation than perhaps anywhere else in the world."1

Thus "Teeth were pulled out of the lion's jaws,"2 says
A.B. Rajput, and Muhammad Ali realised it when it was
too late for him. By then however, the destiny of the
Muslims was in safe hands, for Jinnah neither deceived
nor was deceived.

WARDIM SCHEME OF EDUCATION

All the methods, "Sufism"", "universal ethics:,
language and script and Ahimsa, used to undermine the
two- nation theory, were summed up in an educational
scheme. Education is a powerful medium for this
purpose. The British had used education (Macaulay's
Minutes) to create a nation, Indian in colour and race,
but English in mind and culture. Now Mahatama Gandhi
was trying to create a nation with Muslim names but
Hindu in mind and culture. When Muslims cease to be
Muslims, the way will be paved for "one Indian nation".
In the past people had used barbaric means to destroy
others. The bloody tales of Changez Khan and Halaku
Khan, of Pharoah and Nimrod makes one shudder. But
they were of the age of ignorance. The modern man.
looks at that age with horror and contempt..... but to
those with insight it is revealed that the methods used
today are subtle and destruction of others is hidden
under pleasant garbs. The idea is to suck blood without
shedding a single drop. Such,'was the" Wardha Scheme
of Education" for "free India" sponsored by Mahatama
Gandhi, and published in January 1938.

The significance of the scheme according to its

sponsors and authors was that it was "non-religious".

lQuotcd by A.B. Ra.jput "Muslim League Yesterday & Today" page 35.
2Quoted by A.B. RSJput "Muslim League Yesterday & Today" page 37.
 93

Religion that caused a warring atmosphere in the

country would have no place in the syllabus. So in order
to made it acceptable to Muslims, Dr. Zakir Hussain,
Principal of Jamia Millia Islamia, Delhi, was made tfle
president of the committee that drafted the report. This
scheme was to be compulsory for all boys and girls from
the age of seven to fourteen years, The time was of five
and a half hours duration and included handicraft,
music, drawing, mathematics, mother~tongue, social and
general sciences and exercise. Apparently all these seem
so very innocent and harmless. However the danger
lurked underneath in the details of the syllabus.

Once again Tolu-e-Islam took up the cudgels and

dissected the scheme threadbear revealing all its ugly
intentions. 1 In the knowledge of social sciences the
clause laid down was: "Principles of world religions will
be taught to point out that in their essentials all the
religions are the same." It was the same trick, the
"Deen-i-Illahi's" and "Sufism's". The visible externalia of
religion were ignored as of secondary importance for
they were so obviously different. By emphasising that all
religious principals are the same, open confrontation was
avoided. And of course Muslim children would then find
no particular attraction for Islam. From Ad-Deen it
would be reduced to the level of a religion.2

Another clause in the Syllabus stated, "Our children

should be taught tliat the way of Ahimsa is better than
Rimsa." Now, Ahimsa is a part and parcel of Hindu
philosophy, evolved at a period in history when people
were helpless and exhausted. It is the creed of the weak
and defeated. Islam on the other hand believes in peace
with justice. Justice needs power and force to vindicate
ITolu·e-Islam· August 1938 pages 41-80.
2Scc Appendix B.
 94

itself. When exploitation raises its ugly head, somebody

somewhere must squash it in the defence and protection
of the exploited, "They Bhall fight in the way of Allah and
slay and be slain," says the Quran is Surah 9, verse 111I.
And of course no robber loves a guard at the gate.

Furtheron the Wardha Scheme enjoined that

"children must be instilled with the love of their
motherland and respect for the history of India." Now,
after being taught that Ahimsa is superior to Himsa,
Muslim children will hardly be expected to respect their
own history.

This is how by Hinduising Muslim children a basis

,would be created for "one Indian nation." And yet the
claim of the scheme was that "all religions are the same,"
and that its intentions are "non-religious". Actually, as it
caJl be seen, it was to be taught that Hinduism is
superior to Islam.

As for the language, it was to be "Hindustani" and

compulsory for all. Its evaluation has already been made
above.

All these revelations qf the ullderJying intentions of

the "Wardha Scheme of Education"- awakened the
Muslims to its inherent potential danger. The demand of
the article published in Tolu-e·Islam was so great that it
was published in several editions in the form of a
pamphlet, widely distributed and avidly read. Muslim
public opinion was so angry that the scheme had to be
shelved. Tolu-e-Islam has always been proud of this
feather in its cap.

Speaking at the All-India Muslim League annual

session at Patna on 26th December, 1938 Jinnah asked
 95

'Were the Muslims taken into confidence when the

scheme was under preparation? The whole scheme was
conceived and its details worked out behind the back of
the Muslims... The reaction of the Muslims to such a
scheme of education could not but be what it has been all
over the country."l

Such was the nature of this ideological battle:

. Universal Islamic nationalism versus geographical
nationalism.

Throughout this struggle it has been noted that

some Muslims, called "nationalist" Muslims or "Ulemas"2
have cooperated with the All-India National Congress
and talked as one who no longer belonged to the Muslim
nation. To begin with, the term "nationalist Muslim" is a
contradiction in itself. A Muslim is not bound to the soil,
he belongs to the whole world.

F'or him soil is only something that is used, not

worshipped. Geographical, racial and lingual limitations
prevent hi:n;;l from becoming a human being. However,
the Congress always associated a ~'nationalist" Muslim
with its schemes to create a "national image". Maulana
Abul Kalam Azad and Dr. Zakir Hussain are note-worthy
names. Why did some Muslims adopt this way of life? It
may be a genuine conviction, a genuine choice. It could
~so be, in some cases, a question of the Ego. Some aspire
to be the sale leaders of their people. If they cannot be,
they go to the opposite camp and gain importance
thereby. Whatever the reason, they created a crucial
problem in the attainment of Pakistan. Had it not been

ISpeecbes and Writings of Mr. Jinnah Volume I page Hl.

20riginally it meant a "Scholar" and a "Scienti~t" but in commun
parlance today it has come to mean a priest. Other word!; traditionally
used are "Maulana" and "Maulvi.
 96

for them the history of Pakistan would have' been

different.

In this battle. the most difficult elements were the

"Ulemas", who posed as religious leaders and condemned
Syed Ahmed Khan, Iqbal, Jinnah and Parwez as "Kafir".
The major battle of Tolu·e-Islam was to eKpose them -
their defence of geographical nationalism, their support
of the Wardha Scheme of Education, their support of
tlHindust8ni" language etc. This role uf the Ulema can be
puzzling to many. In realisation of this, a separate
chapter is devoted to the subject. It will be discussed in
Chapter X.
 97

9 The Ideological Battle

PART II
"AKllAND HINDUSTAN"
In the previous chapter an attempt was made to
present the story of how the "two-nution" theory was
attacked by "Indian natiunalism". In this chapter Lhe
story will be continued to prove, thruugh the direct
quotations of people concerned, that this wa::; an
ideological battle and nut merely a political tangle.
Whatever else the all-Indian National Cong}'e::;s may
claim, it was in essence an organisatiun that represented
a particular philosophy and a particular culture. The
truth cannot be hidden permanently and it sprung to the
lips of many who otherwise presented a different face.

Now it . .vas oftcn proudly stated that th.e Congress

would not interfere in tho religion, culture, customs and
cerem.onies of any individual. But Swami Sam{Jurnnnnnd,
Minister of Education in the fOl"mer United Provinces
declared: "Unless Indo-Muslim Culture is not destroyed
and foundation of Hindu Culture is not Imd, it is difficult
to establish one nation."1 Thus for the Congress one
nation meant a I Iindu nation.

Achal'ia Kripabni, general secretary to the All-India

Congret>s Committee, gave a lenglhy statement ill which
he explained the objectives of the Cungress. "G:ll1llhiji",
he said, "has not given a complete philosophy of life, yet
the socio-political outline that he has given, has all its
IQuoti!U Ly Tulu-e-blum - Si!ptembcr l!l:-lH page 0.
 98

various aspects fully integrated ..... thcir mutual

relationship cannot be rent asunder. If this is done, the
whole system will disintegrate. If we do not believe in
Gandhiji's fundamental principles, our whole
programme will loose its spirit.. .. At onc stage Congl"ess
leaders believed that its role was limited to politics .... as if
their lives were split into two parts, political and social.
But Gandhiji broke this concept. He rejected this
analysis and explained that our political enslavement
cannot be separated from moral, spiritual and economic
life. So it is very important that our political struggle
goes side by side with moral, spiritual ~nd economic
struggle... when the British leave ..... our; political life
should be subordinate to it, This is the new era that
Gandhiji wants. to introduce in India through the
Congress inspite of manifold difficulties,

"Ahimsa" and "Satiya" (Truth) are religious terms

and they have to be applied on every aspect of nation '8
life"" Hindu-Muslim unity will also be based on
it .... " This new society is to be established by conditioning
children's minds and this is possible only through an
educational scheme,"l It was also made clear that Gandhi
has readily accepted the provincial ministerships for the
congress to implement this programme, Judging from
this context, the Hindu nature of the Congress
Ministries in the years 1937 to 1939 is understandable. It
is in this context again that Jinnah's celebration of
"Deliverance Day" for the Muslims, when these
ministries resigned, can be appreciated. Acharia
Kripalani's statement was an open ultimatum to
Muslims, He held a responsible position in the Congress
and no other congressman contl'adicted his statement.

lQuotcd by Tolu-c-hlum September HJa~) pages 5()·lYi.

 99

Gandhi once remarked: "My patriotic sentiments are

subordinated to my religion". Then again: "My. life is
dedicated to this fact that through the religious principle
of Ahimsa I should serve India. From my view point, this
is the very essence ofHinduism."l

As early as 1921 he wrote in his paper "Young India",

on October 12: "I am a Sanatani Hindu, because I believe
in all the sacred books of the Hindus-Vedas, Upnishad
and Puranas. I believe in the "autars"2 and have faith in
the transmigration of the soul. The sacl'ed cow is the
very essence of my religion and I do not deny idol
worship, Every fibre of my being is Hindu."~

At one stage an organisation came into existence

that called itself the "Hindu League". Its mnnifesto was
that a Hindu must oppose Pakistan because he is a
Hindu. Pakistan means Islamic culture, so it is
dangerous to Hindu culture.4

Mr. Munshi, the ex-minister of Bombay said: "My

purpose is to draw the attention of the natives of India to
concentrate on the opposition to the country's division,
because I think this scheme is as bad as to reduce Hindu
majority to a minority."r)

An "Akhand Hindustan" confenmce was held in

Ludhiana, Punjab, presided by Mr. Munshi. In his
presidential address, he questioned, what is "Pakistan",
and answered it himself as follows:

lQuotcd in Tolu-c-Islam - JanualY 1940 page 7(l.

2Incarnatiun orGod on earth.
3Quoted in Tolu-e-hlam Janumy 1872 page m.
4Tolu-e-Isj,lln - September H140 page 2fJ-:n.
5Quoted by Tulu-e-lslam - Septt-mber 1!J41 pages 7[,-7(-',.
 100

(1) "All Muslim India is ouc nation and separate fi'om

the Hindus.
(2) Indian Muslims have the right to rnake one or
more than one homelands where they can establish their
governments on Quranic values anu where Urdu will be
their national language.
In short, Pakistan will be a piece of land where
Islamic government will be established,"
Then he went on to define "Akhand Hindustan" and
its objectives: "It is a great culture known as Inuian
Culture, a culture that is pre-historic. In six thuusands
years it has developed and blossomed out, muving ahead
and conquering Time like the river Ganges in flood."
(Tribune, 2.11.41)1 Here was a struggle between two
indeologies, between Islam and Kufr.
On January 1, 1940, Mr. Jinnuh wrote to Mr.
Gandhi. "Today you deny that religion can be a main
factor in determining a nation, but you yourself, when
asked what your motive in life was, the thing that leads
us to do what we do, whether it W,IS religious, social or
political, said: "Purely religious". This was the question
asked me by the later Mr. Montagu when I accompanied
a deputation which was purely politicaL 'lIow you, a
social reformer', he exclaimod, 'have found your way mLo
this crowd?' My reply was that it was only an extension
of my social activity. I could not be leading a religious life
unless I identified myself with the whole of mankind,
and that I could not do unless I took part in politics. The
gamut of man's activities today constitutes an indivisible
whole".2
This was "Akhand Hindustan". Since Gandhi was a
Hindu, its motivation had to be Hinduism.

IQuotcd in Tolu"c_Islam Dccember W41 p;JVCS n!l-60.

2Rcccnt Spccches and Writinb'll ufMr. Jinnah Volumo I pages I:-1f)-!40.
 101

"PAKISTAN"
The greatest spokesman of .the "Pakistan Idea" in
these years was Jinnah. There was absolutely no
ambiguity of any kind in his mind and he knew exactly
what he was struggling for. For ten years, 1937-47, he
repeatedly clarified his stand and the Muslim India
demand for the establishment of Pakistan.

Speaking at the Muslim University Aligarh on

March 8, 1944, he said: "Pakistan was not the product of
the conduct or misconduct of Hindus. It had always been
there ..... Pakistan started the moment the first non-
Muslim was converted to Islam in India long before the
Muslims establisped their rule."l

Addressing the students uf Edwards College,

Peshawar, on November 27,1945, he explained, "We, the
two major nations, not only differ in religion but have
two totally different cultures. Our religion contains a
code of life ,in the conduct of every department and we
want to live in accordance with the same ideals .... "2 In
the historic session of the All-India Muslim League,
1940, Jinnah spoke thus: "It is .extremely difficult to
appreciate why our Hindu friend~fail to understand the
real nature of Islam and HiniIuism. They are not
religions in the strict sense of the word, but are, in fact,
different and distinct social orders, and it is a dream that
the Hindus and Muslims can ever evolve a common
nationality, and this misconception of one Indian nation
has gone far beyond the limits and is the cause of most of
your troubles and vvilllead India to destruction if we fail
to revise our notions in time. The Hindus and Muslims
belong to two different religious philosophies, social
lRccent Speeches & Writings uf Mr. Jinnah VOhUlH.! II jJagc~ li3·G4.
2ibi.d page 346.
 102

customs, literature. They neither intermarry nor

interdine together and, indeed, they belong to two
different civilisations which are based mainly on
conflicting ideas and conceptions. Their aspects on life
and of life are different. It is quite clear that Hindus and
Muslims derive their inspiration from different sources
of history. They have different epics, different heroes,
and different episodes. Very often the hero of one is a foe
of the other and, likewise, their victories and defeats
overlap. To yoke together two such nations under a .
single state, one as a numerical minority and the other .j
as a majority, must lead to growing discontent and final
destruction of any fabric that may be so built up for the
government of such a state."l Jinnah repeated this at the
Madras session of-the All-India Muslim League, on April,
1941. "The Ideology of the League is based on the
fundamental principle that Muslim India is an
independent nationality. Any attempt to get them to
merge their nationality or political identity or entity will
not only be resisted but, in my opinion, it will be futile
for anyone to attempt it. We are determined, and let
there be no mistake about it, to established the status of
an independent nation and an independent state in this
sub~continent. "z

In a letter to Gandhi, September 16, 1944 Jinnah

wrote: "We maintain and hold that Muslims and Hindus
are two major nations by any definition or test of a
nation. We are a nation ofa hundred million people, and
what is more, we are a nation with our distinctive culture
and civilisation, language and literature, art and
architecture, names and nomenclature, sense of value
and proportion, legal laws and moral codes, customs and

lRccent Speeches & Writings of Mr. Jinnah Volume I pages 177-178-

Zibid page 280.
 103

calender, -history and traditions, aptitudes and ambitions,

in short we have our own distinctive outlook on life and
of life. By all canons of International Law we are a
nation,"l

Just as for Gandhi the motive force was Hinduism,

Jinnah made it clear that for Muslims it is Islam. In an Id
Day broadcast, November 13, 1939, he said: "All social
regeneration and political freedom must finally depend
on something that has a deeper meaning in life. And
that, if you allow me to say so, is Islam and Islamic
spirit. "2 Talking to the Muslim Students' Federation
Conference, Lahore March 19, 1944, Jinnah criticised
caste and sectarian differences and declared: "Our
bedrock and sheet~anchor is Islam,"3

The question is, what is the motivating force behind

the "Pakistani Idea"? Addressing the Frontier Muslim
League Conference, November 24, Hl45, he explained:
"Our religion, our culture and our Islamic Ideals are
driving force to' achieve independence."d In an Eid
Message, 1945, he said: "Islam is not merely confinetl to
the spiritual tenets and doctrines or rituais and
ceremonies. It is' a complete code regulating the whole
Muslim society, every departrnent of life, collective and
individually."5 In a speech ~t the Frontier Muslirn
League Conf-erence, Novernb~ 21, 1945, he repeated:
"The Muslirns demand Pakistan, where they could rule
according to their own code of life and according to their
own cultural growth, traditions and Islamic Laws."6
Again, addressing the students of Islamia College,

IJinnah-Gandhi Talks pase 22.

2Rccent Speeches and Writings of Mr. Jinnah Volume I page 1~8.
3Rqcent Speeches & Writings of Mr. Jinnah lolumc II page 89.
4Rccent Speeches & Writings of Mr. Jinnah Volume II page 338.
5Rccent Speeches & Writings of Mr. Jinnah Volume.> II pab'C ;~Ol.
6Reccnt Speeches & Writings of Mr. Jinnah Volume II page 33::1.
 104

Peshawar, in November he said: "The League stood for

carving out states in India where Muslims were in
numerical majority to rule there under Islamic LaW,"l To
the students of Edwards College, Peshawar November
27, 1945, he said: "We the two major nations, not only
differ in religion but have two totally d~fferent cultures.
OUf religion contains a code of life in the conduct of life
of every department and we want to live in accordance
with the same ideals but the Hindu leadership is bent
upon establishing "Ram Raj" and treat Muslims as a
minority."2 But the All-India Muslim League was
determined to establish an Islamic State as Iqbal had
visualised. Speaking on Iqbal day, December 9, 1944, he
said: "Although a great poet, and philosopher, he was no
less a practical politician. With his firm conviction of and
faith in the ideals of Islam, he was one of the few who
originally thought over the feasibility of carving out of
India such an Islamic state .... "3
Thus, these speeches and many more, leave no
doubt about the nature of the struggle between Hindus
and Muslims, Agreement or disagreement with it is a
different matter, But the fact is that it was an ideological
battle.

lRecent Speeches & Writinb'S arMr. Jinnah Vulume II pag'e ;{Gl.

2Recent Speeches & WritingJoi uf Mr. Jinnuh Vulume II jWg'l' ;~..j{i.
3Rl'Cent Speeches & Writings of Mr. Jinllah Volume II Vagc:; 1::l1·2;i2.
 105

Genesis of the UIema's

10 opposition to the Pakistan Idea

The history of the Pakistan Movement brings out

one fact very conspicuously and, that is, that the Ulema
as a class have opposed Syed Ahmed Khan, Dr.
Muhammad Iqbal, Muhammad Ali Jinnah and Chulum
Ahmad Parwez - all great stalwarts of the Pakistan Idea.
They have charged these thinkers and leaders with
"Kufr" and called them "Kafirs", that is, "non-believers",
From the pulpits of the mosques and in prolific
journalistic writings they have left no stone unturned to
adversely attack every move that was taken towards the
establishment of Pakistan. They even joined hands with
the opponents of the All-India Muslim League, i.e. the
All-India National Congress, and tooth and nail opposed
the Two-Nation theory, The role of the Ulemas has been
a series of "fatwas"- a sort of papal decree- against the
leaders of Pakistan Movement. Some suggestion to the
contrary in the post-independence phase in India was
immediately contradicted in the paper "Madina"
(Bijnaur, India) on the 17th Apl'il1963 by Asrar Ahmed
Azad in his article captioned: "To say that Indian Ulemas
ever struggled for an Islamic state is a false charge".

On the surface this seems very strange to any

observer. It seems absolutely contradictory that
"religious leaders and guardians" of Islam should oppose
the establishment of an Islamic State! Ram Gopal, an
Indian historian, actually admitted his uewilderment in
his book "Indian Muslims" at the religious leaders'
opposition to the attainment of Islamic State of Pakistan,
and at Jinnah's, a western educated man, single-minded
 106

struggle against heavy odds, to attain Pakistan.

Apparently, the bewilderment is valid.

The question that arises iSj why did the Ulema play
such a role? This is a very relevant question, and
demands clarification at this stage.

In chapter one it has been explained that a Muslim

is one who accepts "AI-Deen" as his "Ad-Islam", This Ad-
Deen, like any other deen can be practised only in a
sovereign independent state, The laws of ad-Deen
become the laws of the land, implemented through any
democratic mahinery that the people may evolve to suit
their particular conditions and environment. This
involves direct participation of the people in the law. In
such an Islamic polity the institution of priesthood is
irrelevant .... .lt is impossible to visualise a class of people,
exclusive from the rest of the Muslim society .in their'
dress and head gear, style of hair and beard, in the
Islamic polity of the Republic of Medina under
Muhammad (P.B.U.H). It sounds degrading and almost
amusing that the prefix "Maulana" be addeq to
Muhammad's (P.B.U.Hl name or Abu Bakr's or Ornar's
or for that matter any Muslim of the time. But in the
course of history, however, when Quranic laws were no
longer the constitution of the country, a priestly class
emerged and monopolised the Quran. In esseF.ce this
could have. been the fate of all the other divinely
inspired laws as well. Even then, as Freeland Abbot
remarks: "The Muslim experience has not echoed that of
Christians. No great organised church, in the western
sense developed. The Quran opposes prlesthood, and
. "

insists that no man needs an intermediary with God. "1

The tremendous significance of this was explained by

IFrccland Abbot" ~Pakistan and the Secular Statu" page 858.

 107

Iqbal in his historical address of 1930. "A L,uther in the

world of Islam, however, is an impossible phenomenon;
for here there is no church-organisation similar to that
of Christianity in the Middle Ages, inviting a destroyer",l
Thus in 1941 when Jinnah went to Hyderabad and some
young men asked him as to what constituted an Islamic
state, he knew exactly what to say. He said: "When I hear
the word religion my mind thinks at once, according to
the English language and usage, of the mutual
relationship between man and God. But I know fully well
to
that according Islam and the Muslims the word is not
restricted to the English connotation. I am neither a
Maulvi not a Mullah, nor do I claim knowledge of
theology, But I have studied in my own way the Holy
Quran and Islamic jurisprudence. This magniflcent Book
is full of guidance respecting all aspects of human life,
whether 'spiritual or economic, political or social, leaving
no aspect untouched. There is a special feature of the
Islamic State which must not be overlooked. Their
obedience is due to God, which takes practical stage in
the observance of the Quranic principles and commands.
In Islam obedience is due neither to a king, nor to a
parliament nor to any individual organisation. It is the
Quranic provisions which determine the principles of
freedom and discipline in political and social sphere. In
other words, Islamic State is an agency for enforcing
Quranic principles and injunctions." Then again, soon
after the creation of Pakistan (this is anticipating but the
statement is very relevant to this discussion) he stated:
The constitution of Pakistan has yet to be framed by the
Pakistan Constituent Assembly. I do not know what the
ultimate shape of this constitution is going to be, but I
am sure that it will be of a democratic type embodying
the essential principles of Islam. In any case, Pakistan is

lSpceches & Statements ofIqbal. page 6.

 108

not going to be a theocratic state _ to be ruled by priests

with a divine mission.1

In the context of what has been said so far the

genesis of the Ulemas' opposition to this kind of
Pakistan becomes clear. Priests or Ulemas can survive
. and thrive either in a theocratic state where a priest-
king rules, or in a secular state, ancient, medieval or
modern, where duality of law, public and private, is
recognised. The public law is under secular control and
private law is left in the hands of priests. Thus in
absence of a theocratic state, the next best choice is
secularism. For centuries now, as a class, the Ulemas
have allocated to themselves the exclusive right and
monopoly of what they describe as the "interpretation of
Islam", This right not only gives a traditional justification
to their existence but also gives them social and
economic security, In other words "Islam'! for them is a
vocation, and hence a vested interest. 2 Just as a landlord
will not give up their land, the industrialist his factmy
and the businessman his business, the Ulema will not
give up his right to issue 'fatwas', Just as the landlord,
the industrialist and the business is un-concerned as to
what happens to the other dispossessed classes in the
society, so is the Ulema unconcerned about the rest of
the society. Their concern is not the welfare of the
people, but preservation of their class; not the mOl'als
and values of the society but their daily bread. The
moment any government encroaches upon the exclusive
preserves of their "personal laws" they raise a hue and

lSpccches 'of Jinnah as Governor-General page 65.

2M.AH. lspahani in his "Quaid-e-Azum Jinnah a I knew him"
expresses his bitter shock when Mufti Kifayatullah and Maulana
Husain Ahmed Madni drifted towards the Hindu Congrel:ill and
conducted propaganda fur them because the Muslim LeabJ"Ue could not
dole out Rs. 50,000 to begin with, Fur details read pllgCl:i 20-21.
 109

cry and declare that "Islam is in dangel'''. Actually, it is

the Ulema who are in danger, 1 In the ultimate analysis it
makes no difference to them as to who rules the country
_ the British, the Hindus, the Americans or the
Russians. If the ruling class, no matter who it is, is
willing to allow them to control the pel:sonallives of the
community, they in turn are willing to sanction their
public laws, irrespective of values and morality. Islam
then is never in danger. But in a state where mass
participation and direct access to the Quran is a pre-
requisite to the implementation of the Quranic values,
there is no place for the Ulema. Establishment of such a
state is their death-knell. Thus their participation in the
Pakistan Movement could never be expected. They could
be safe in a Hindu dominated secular government that
dealt only with the public law, and allowed the Ulema to
'-administer unto their "Muslim Community" in their
personal laws. So they joined hands with the All-India
National Congress and declared Iqbal and Jinnah and
Parwez as 'Kafil's', just as they had issued 'futwas'
against SYl!d Ahmed Khan. These thinkers and leaders,
in the Dlema's eY!Js, had committed blasphemy by
having direct acces" to the QUl'an without being
'Maulanas' and 'Maulvi::;' themselves. One way of
defeating them was to enlotionally arouse the people
against them by that age old but effective weapons,
namely, that they are "taking them away l'lUUl the path
of their forefathersj"2 in politics they, i.e. JamaiH-
Ulema, Ahrar, Momins, and Jamaiti-Islami, all worked
under the flag of the Congress, defending geographic.al
nationalism and opposing the Two-Nation theory. This
W8~ so dangerous 8 move that when Maulana, Hussain
Ahmed wrote that nations are formed by geographical
IThe history of Pakistan from 1947 onward!; proves this contentiun.
See Appendix E,
o %8ee Appendix E,
 110

territories, Iqbal issued a statement from his death-bed.

He said: "Why did the Prophet not regard Islam as an all
embracing 'millat' and from the view-point of nation or
nationalism continue to own and encourage Abu Jabal
and Abu Labab? Indeed, why did he not keep the bond Qf
national affinity with them in the political affairs of
Arabia? If Islam stood for complete independence, the
Quraish of Mecca had the same ideal before them. It is
unfortunate that the Maulana does not consider the fact
that the Messenger (P.B. U.H) of God was concerned with
the freedom of the upright faith ofIslam and the Muslim
conununity. To ignore the Muslims or to make them
subservient to some other social order and then to seek
some other kind of freedom was simply meaningless.
The Prophet had,to wage defensive war against Abu Jab}
and Abu Lahab because they could not tolerate Islam
flourishing in freedom"."Those who accepted
Muhammad's (P.B.U.H) leadership, became part and
parcel of the Muslim or Muhammadan community
irrespective of the fact whether they belonged to his own
nation or other nations. Formerly they had been slaves
of land and race: Land and race now became their
slaves."l

The fact is that even geographical nationalism was

only a weapon in the hands of the Ulema in the given
circumstances. Actually, Queen Victoria had, in her 1858
Proclamation, given "religious freedom" to all, even
though the Muslim community was .j "Subservient to
some other social order", as Iqbal puts it. Now that the
British were withdriiwing, -they were seeking a similar
"duality" (religious freedom, though subservient to some
other social order) from the future Hindu rulers. This
they could not be guaranteed in the Islamic state Jinnah

ISpccches & Statements ofIqbal pages 235, 236.

 111

was struggling for. This is the crux of the problem.

Maulana Abul Ala Maudoodi, head of the Jamiat-i-Islami
in speech shortly before Partition minced no words
about it: "Why should we foolishly waste our time in
expending the so-called Muslim national state and fritter
away our energies in setting it up, when we know that it
will not only be useless for our purpose but will rather
prove an obstacle in our path. "2 This statement leaves no
doubt about their role.3 In Jinnah's Pakistan there was
no place for their own vested interests. Their total world
view is an antithesis of each other. There was no
meeting point between Iqbal's conceptual understanding
of the Quran and that of the Mullah. That is why, before
and after the establishment of Pakistan, Parwez always
descri1;led the struggle for Pakistan (apart from
differences with the Hindus and the British) as "Islam
Versus Islam," There could not be a move apt analysis of
this titanic confrontation at any point in human history,

2Quotcd by Keith Callard - "Pakllitan _ a Political Study" pag:e~ Hl!J-200,

3A document, endorsed by ex-President Ayub's Cabinet un 17th April,
1967, was published in "The Pakllitn Timeli" on 21st FehnlUlY 1H7:1. It
says: "The Jamat-i-Islami was started in 1942 mainly as 11 rdi!;ious
organisation. Its activities, howL'Ver, soon sprclld into the domalll of
politics, wherc it showed opcn hostility to the concept of Pakistan, a
movement thcn rapidly gaining ground among: the Muslim ma~ses
throughout undivided India..... Thc hostility of the Jamaat, particularly
of its leader, Maulana Mllududi, to Pakistan has perlii~ted till today ll11d
no opportunity is lost by its followers to fument trouble and create
agitatlOn against the Government llnd the State," Abo Hec Appendix E.
 112

11 The Battle is Won

In Chapter IX the aims and objects of the All-India

National Congress and the All-India Muslim League
have been projected through their own spokesmen. The
difficulty was that although representing Hindu culture,
the Congress claimed to represent all Indians and
thereby wanted to rule over a United India. The Muslim
League claimed to be the sale representative of Muslim
India and believed that it was only fair that Muslims
should have the right to live as they wish, and Hindus
the way they wish. This was possible only if both had
independent sovereign states of their own. When Jinnah
made these statements, a hue and cry was raised· in the
Congress circles, 1J,Rd every possible method was used to
undermine the Two-Nation theory. That story has
already been told. Jinnah continued to preservere and to
repeatedly clarify the Muslim League stand, and to bring
home to the opponents that Hindus and Muslims are two
nations. Soon voices were heard in acceptance of this
view. Mr. N.C. Dutt, an important member of the all-
India Congress Committee, wrote an open letter to his
nation in the paper 'Medina' of Bijnaur on the 1st of
February 1940. He wrote: "In the circumstances I think
that the only solution of the Hindu-Muslim tangle is to
accept them as two nations and to reject, for ever, the
idea that they are one nation. Mr. Jinnah has very
recently written in answer to Gandhi that 'one nation'
concept is a mirage. If not today, tomorrow it will become
a fact. I think we should no longer be frightened of the
Pakistan Idea."l The basis of the nation was recognised

IQuotcd in Tolu-L'-Islam - Fcbru~uy HJ71 pagL'S 62-0:i.

 113

to be Islam. Satya Murti an important Congressman gave

a statement that was published in "I-Iindustan Times" on
l1th June 1940. He said that the formation of a mixed
government (Hindus and Muslim) is impossible because
how can the Congress form a government with the
Muslim League, since the aim of the League "is to
establish an Islamic government."?} As such the Muslim
League alone could be the representative purty of
Muslim India. Earlier, Nehru had declared that there
were "two parties" in India, the British CovCl'ument and
the Congress. - Jinnah had immediately challenged this
statement and stated that their was a "third party", the
Muslim League. The struggle fronl this point onwards
had been to convince and to pruve that this was so. Till
the last the Congress and the British tried to bypass this
claim, but facts were otherwise and people were realising
it. In "Independent India" of 11th Muy, 1941, M.N. Roy
wrote: "Ai; far as the Muslims are concerned the fact is
beyond doubt thut Muslim League is their
representative. Muslim League is the representative of a
quarter of the Indian population."l "Nationalist Muslims"
who were mure vocal than the non-Muslims also
admitted t.his. Khan Buhadul' Allah Bakhsh of Sind,
addressing the Sindh Medical Union said, "Muslim
League is now so organised that it can negotiate with
other political parties." (Statesman 21.3.41:1) It was also
being realised that there cannot be one contre for any
federal scheme as visualised in the 1935 Act which would
inevitably have a Hindu majority. M.N. Roy stated that
from the point of view of majority vote, and one man one
vote, "if Mus'lims refuse to be the mCll1bel' of your
fedemtion which has Hindu mnjority, they nre justified."

lTolu-c-I!Slum - July 1940 page a:.!.

2Quoted in Tolu-e-Islam -June H1411lab'C {i:.!.
3Quoted in Tolu-e-I!Slam - May l!l41 page ::IH-:ifl,
 114

(Independent India _ 27.4.41).1 Thus Jinnnh's stand was

being vindicated and the influence of the Muslim League
continued, to grow over Muslim India. Ambedkar
criticised Gandhi for avoiding fu{.:ing the issue and taking
refuge in "by pI'otesting that the Muslim Leugue did not
represent the Muslims and that Pakistan was only a
fancy of Mr. Jinnah. It is difficult to understand how Mr.
Gandhi could be so blind us not to see how Mr. Jinnah's
influence over the Muslim masses has been growing day
by day and how he has engaged himself in mobalising all
his forces for battle,"2 One concrete manifestation of this
influence was witnessed in the municipal elections in
Ahmedabad, the strong entrenchment of the Congress.
Here not a single seat was captured by a Congress
Muslim. This was so tremendous a success that
"Independent India" (15.12.1940) asked: "Docs this not
prove that Muslim League is increasing its influence duy
by duy? Yet, in spite of this bitter expericlH:e of reality
Congress is not ready to recognise Muslim League as the
only representative of Muslims. This is sheer
stubborness. This attitude is responsible fur the political
stalemate. It is high time thut the Congrcss faccd facts
after the lesson learnt from the Municipal elections and
solved the issue accordingly."j
But the Congress was not yet ready to face fuels. In
sheer desperation, however, at the League's success,
Rajgopal Acharia flung u "sporting offer" to the Secretary
of State for India, that Hindus would not mind
Muhammad Ali Jinnah becoming the Prime Minister of
India, provided he was made responsible to the
legislature in 8 "national government."'1 A small man
could have been bought like this, but Jinnah could not
lQuotcd in Tolu·c-blum - JUnl' H)·l1 ]Ja~:c [i:{.
2B.R. AmbclIkar -"Pakistan 01' Partitiull of Indi;\" - pag'l' ·lUG.
3Quot.cd in Tuju-c-hlaJll - JanuHlY lU-Il pugt'~ 70-71.
4M.H. Saiyid -MuhmmnaJ Ali Jillllah - jJagl'~ -1m --I;,H_
 115

allow his nation to be destroyed thus. "The Musulmans

have grown Up"l remarked Jinnah proudly, to believe in
such offers.
Another tactic used was to manipulate the
withdrawal of the British in such a way that they would
transfer power to the congress and leave the Leugue
high and dry at their mercy. Ghandhi launched a civil
disobedience movement or "sntyagrah", npparently
against the British, but Jinnah could not be hoodwinked.
He said "satyagrah" is "to coerce the British Government
to recognise the Congress as the only authoritative and
representative organisation of the people of India .... (It
implies) 'come to terms with us and ignore the Muslims
and other minorities".2 He described such an attitude as
"a process of blackmail. The.Government knows it and
we know."3 Gandhi himself hud writtcn in the "Hurijan"
that "so long as there is no workable arrnngement with
the Muslim League, civil resistance must involve
resistance against the League."1 With the same objective
was launched the "Quit India" campaign in 1942. Jinnah
declared that it was "a challenge to Muslim India, as Mr.
Gandhi (has launched) a movemcnt whose one and only
object is by hook or by crook to bring about a situation
which will destroy the Pakistan Scheme. "r, AmLcdkur has
condemned it on similul' grounds. He says that it was "an
attempt to do away with the intervention of the British
Government in the discussion of the Minority Question
and thereby securing for the Congress a free hand to
settle it on its terms and according to its uwn lights. It
was in effect, if not in intentiun, an attempt to win
independence by by-passing the Muslims and othel'

lRcent Spe{.'Che~ & WritillW' uf!IIr. Jinllah Vol tlllle I p"lg"e :LO:L.
2Recent Spct'Clll's & Writings uf tlTI'. Jilliwh Vulume r page ~Ol.
3ibid pU!-ic 20:i.
4Quted by I. H. QureHhi in the "Strug};k' fur PakiHtan" J!;(g~' 11;7.
IiRe(.:(.:nt Speechcs und Writings of Mr. Jinnuh - Vul. II'HgL' 4:W.
 116

minorities. The Quit India Campaign tUl'ued out to be a

complete failure."l On another occasion, when the 80-
called National Defence Council was being formed, the
British, on a wcll-thought-out plan attempted to disrupt
the Muslim League Organisation, by inviting some
highly placed Muslim Leaguers like Sikandur IIayat
Khan and Fazlul Haq, to join it. This was done without
any refel'cnce to Jinnah. Boldly Jinnnh told thul1l to
retrace their steps and resign, which they did. This was a
great triumph for llw :0.Iu...,:iw League as the only
representative orgalutiallUll uf J..IL1o::>lim India.
In the consullltionul sense, the triumph of the
League IS I'eilected in the clauses of Cripp's proposal in
the year 1942, within two years of the Lahore
Resolution. The relevant clause was as follows:
"With such non-acceding provinces, should they su
desire, His Majesty's Government will be lll'Cpurcd to
agree upon a status as the Indian Union and urrivcd at
by a procedure analogous to that here bid down."
Then during the Jinnah-Gandhi talks in 1944,
although Gandhi refused to recugnise Muslim League as
representative of Muslim India nnd himself disclaim_cd
any representation of the Congress, the very fact that he
agreed to talk on the bnsis of C.R. FOl'luub that accepted
the PakistUl1 Idea in principle, is signiiictll1t. lIence
Jinnah also said that at bst Gandhi "has at any rute in
his 'personal capacity' accepted thu Jlrinciple of
Pakistan".2
The issue of Muslim representation cuntinued to be
wrangled upon in the Simla Conference but the General
Elections of 1946 clinched the matter. Fighting un the
basis of Pakistan Demand, on the whole on an All-India
IB.R. Ambl'dkar - "Pakhit;;n or PartitilJn ofIudi;.! - ph;':l' 407
2Specches & Wl"itinb~ of Mr. Jilln;.!h -VlJlulUe II i';.!g"e HG.
 117

basis, the Muslim League had cnptured 440 out of a total

of 495 seats, giving it a victory in approximately 90 per
cent of Muslim Constituencies. Thus "The general
elections had proved that Muslims of India were
overwhelmingly pro-League, in other words they backed
the demand for Pakistan."l
This backing for Pakistan was recognised by the
Cabinet Mission Plan in May 1946 as "strong and
widespread amongst the Muslims", In its "Grouping"
clause, India was divided into Sections A, Band C, the B
and C including Punjab, North West Frontier Province,
Sind, Bengal and Assam. They were to detemllne
whether the provinces concerned would take any
provincial subjects in common as a Group. The
Constitutions both of tHe Indian Union and of the
Groups were to allow any province "to cull for a
reconsideration of the terms of the COJ;lstitution" after
ten years. The Muslim League accepted the Plan. The
comment of C.S. Venkatachar, a retired Indian Civil
Servant, on the Cabinet Mission Plan and its acceptance
by Muslim League is noteworthy. He says "Cripps had
hidden inside the (Cabinet Mission) Plan, the outline of
Jinnah's Pakistan _ not the truncated one which was
finally accepted in 1947. Jinnah was certain that the
Congress would fight for a strong centre. He would start
from compulsory grouping and fight for a centre almost
• unrecognizable as a common centre. He was not giving
away anything which mattered. "2
Ultimately, on June 3rd 1947 the British
Government accepted' Pakistan and the establishment of
two Dominions in the Indian Sub-continent. Accordingly,
Pakistan came into existence on August 14th 1947, and
Bharat on August 15th.

IG. AJlana - Qaid-i-Azam Jinnuh - page :-m2.

2C.H. Philips and Mary D. Wl.lill\l'dght ED. 'The Partition IIflntii,," puge IS7.
 118

12 Conclusion

The challenge which Jinnah took up was

stupendous. When he decided to launch the Two-Nation
theory, he knew that he was going against not only the
political trend in India but against the flood that was
engulfing the whole world. And he had to face it alone.
for Iqbal, who had trusted bis mission of hurrum destiny
in his hands, died. Alone he had to face the machinations
of the Hindus, the subtlety and hypocrisy of which we
have had a mere glimpse only, in the chapters on the
"Ideological Battle", Alone he had to face the might and
hostility of the British government, who, looking ahead
in their own interests. wanted to keep India un.ited.
"This desire for unity became almost an obssession with
all vocal British commentators towards the end of
British rule. ,When the creation of Pakistan was assured
the decision was regretted by all: The Right, the Centre,
and the Left. Myths die hard and for many yeal'S to come
the Englishmen will look to the division of India as signal
proof of the failure of his mission in the East. "1 And
Jinnnh had done it alone. Alone he had to face the
Ulema who came in their sacred gal'ments, their sacred
head-gears and their sacred bew'ds, claiming to be the
"successors" of Muhatnrnad (P.B.U,H), urging the
Muslims to join hands with the Congress so that t!tey
could preserve their own pl'iestly class with all its vested
interests.

Indeed today one wonders as to where nre all those

"Maulanaa" and "Maulvis" who issued 'fatwas' of "Kufr"
lK.K. Aziz: "Britain and Muslim India." - }?a.go HI Also R. Symonds
Corrobr.t.cI! this statement in hi:s book "MakIng of Pukistun".
 119

against these freedom fighters - Syed Ahmed Khan,

Iqbal and Jinnah. How many today know the names of
those who rushed to Mecca to procure a 'f:ltwa' against
Syed Ahmed Khan from the guurdians of the 'Ka'aba.!?
Where are they who day in and duy out screamed out
that Iqbal and Jinnah were "Kafil'''? They have sunk into
the oblivion of the past, unknown amI unsung. History
has its own laws in selecting its immortals.

It is to the credit of these leaders of the Pakistan

Movement that as long as they lived they pulled the
Quran out of the clutches of the Ulema and gave it to
the people where it belonged. And they did this without
the prefix of 'Maulana' to their names, without donning
the priestly robes and without gl'owing a beard. The
charge against Jinnab was that he had no beard and
hence he could not quote the Quml1. It was the
knowledge of this charge that made him all the more
determined not to grow one. Same was the case with
other priestly gimmicks. Iqbal also, although rather lazy
and indifferent about bem'ds or no beards, never let it
grow. Parwez was also beardless. All this may sound
naive, but in a fanatical priest-ridden society, to be
accepted by it in their scholarship of the Quran is a rare
achievement over since the days of the early history of
Islam. Jinnab rightly claimed this victory when
addressing the Muslim University Union on the 5th
February, 1938: "What the League has done is to set you
free from the reactionary elements of Muslims and to
create the opinion that those who play their selfish game
are traitors. It has certainly freed you from that
tmdesirable element of Maulvis and Maulanas."1 All
these defeated parties involved, expressed their
frustration in misconstruing Jinnah's personality, his

ISpccchca &. Wlitings ufMr. Jinnub _Volume I }lUl,'l.' 41->

 120

objectives and his statements. He was abused and

condemned, but he was beyond it all. In a letter to
Gandhi during the 1944 talks, Jinnah l'efcl'1'cd to this
with dignity. "If a break comes it will be most
unfortunate. If Olie does not agree with you or differs
from you, you are always right and the other party is
always wrong, and the next thing is that many arc
waiting prepared, in your circle, to pillory me when the
word goes, but I must face all threats and consequences,
and I can only act according to my judgement and
conscience. "\

In the midst of this kind of oPPosItion Jinnah,

accomplished the seemingly impossible within seven
years of laying down the ol;Ucctives. Jamiluddin Ahmed
has well said that "Like economy of words in speech, he
also practised economy of effort in practical IJolitics."~ He
did not let the energies of his people go waste in
agitational politics which ends in frustration and
inactivity. Such emotional bouts Teduce a natio,n to
ashes, and nothing constructive is achieved. Shouts of
"Jai" and "Zindabad': (long live) momentarily gives cheap
popularity and is theref~re, misleading. In fact this
"economy of effort" was ingrained in the politics of Syed
Ahmed Khan and Iqbal as well. They all appealed to the
reason of the people and took them to their goal stage by
stage . .Even when Jinnah became the beloved Quaid-i-
Azam and drew large crowds where ever he went or
spoke, he remairled detached, which w8SJoften mistaken
for aloofness and coldness. He kept his balance where
many lesser people lost theirs, people who bad not
achieved even half of his success and popullWity. He
,'
lJinnah - Gandhi Talb· page 51.
2Jamiluddin Ahmed':; intl'udUl.;tion tu Spl'echelS & Writings of MI'.
Jinnah,. Volume I page viii.
 121

operated at a high level and cheap popularity never

intoxicated him.

Greatness of Jinnah WaS his character. Political

insight and brilliance alone cannot give this stature. The
two, character and insight, must go together. Jinnah was
"incorruptible" according to AI-ther Muir, Editor of
"StateSM.an."I No body could buy him. He could not be
reduced to 8 "show-boy" or "his master's voice" by the
lustre of gold or the pomp and show of high offices. He
rejected the Prime Ministel'ship of United India offered
as a bait to give up the Pakistan Idea. Many, in fuct
hardly anyone else, was able to resist such baits. This is
what the Hindus and the British could not bear. If only
they could buy him! But as Dr. Ambedkul' put it 80
beautifully: "Mr, Jinnah."".can never be suspected of
being a tool in the hands of the British even by the worst
of his enemies... "At the same time, it is doubtful if there
is any politici,an in India to whom the adjective
incorruptible can be more fittingly applied. Anyone, who
knows what his relations with the British Government
have been, will admit that he hus always been their
critic, if indeed, he hill; not been their adversary. No one
can buy him. For it must be said to his credit that he has
never been a soldier of fortune."t The Agha Khan has
this to say: "Of all the statesmen that I have known in
my life -Clemencean, Lloyd George, Churchill, Curzon,
Mussolini, Mahatama Gandhi _ Jinnah is the most
remarkable. None of those men in my view outshone
him in -strength of character, and that almost uncanny
combination of pre-science and resolution which is
statecraft."3 Even those who disagree with him felt the
impact of his high intellectual and moral cabbl·e. To

lQuotcd by Tolu-e-Islam Janualy 1942 page 4.

2B.R Ambedkur - "Pakist<lll ur Pal1itiull of India" page :~:la.
3Agha Khan - "The Mcmoil"~ uf Agha Khan" Page 2U2.
 122

those "nationalist" Muslims who felt jealous of Jinnah's

closeness to his people, Tolue·Islam told them: "The
secret of Jinnah's greatness is his character. He operates
on a level where he can never be bought. No attraction,
however, tantalising it may be, can shake his faith in his
principles. Those who are jealous of his status can also
capture the same status if they cultivute within
themselves similar characteristics. Anyone who is as
sincere and as sacrificing, or more, will itnmediately
capture the hearts of the Muslims. So why this heart
burning?"1
The Pakistan Idea emerged as n challenge to
geographical nationalism, It was an attempt to solve the
human tangle by experimenting an altel'l1ative to the
prevalent systems. As such it was neither anti·British
nor anti-Hindu. None of its exponents, Syed Ahmed
Khan, Iqbal and Jinnah can be charged with the fanatical
hatred that geographical nationalism engenders amongst
its adherents. It believed in letting Hindus go their way,
and it wanted a similar freedom to go its own way. "And
say unto those who believe not: "Says the Quran. "Act
according to your power. Lei! We too are acting."z Anyone,
be he British or Hindu, if he accepts the Quranic world-
view, could be a part of this new state.
Thus Pakistan was not the result of negative forces
of fear and insecurity as it is made out to be. Many
historians, Pakistanis or non-Pakistanis, have given lists
of reasons for the transformation of Jinnah. These
negative and apologetic writings are the result of
misunderstanding or non-understanding of Islam as
"Ad-Deen." Once this approach is comprehended there
can be no confusion about it. It is for this reason that,

ITolu-e-lslam - January 1942 pab'C 5.

2.Quran: SU18b: 11 Verse: 121.
 123

although there were more than one schemes for

separation of Hindus and Muslims,l only Iqbal's plan has
been discussed in this paper. Other schemes had a
negative approach - fear of Hindu domination and Hindu
intolerance. But Iqbal's and Jinnnh's struggle was for an
Islamic polity and that alone. It was this scheme that had
universal appeal in Muslim India. A Muslim is free only
in an Islamic polity. Mere withdrawal of the British from
India was not enough. If it was a question of "religious
freedom" they already had that under the British Raj.
Why should "religious freedom" under the Hindu Raj be
better than British Raj? This is an important question to
be pondered over. Islamic polity also cannot be equated
with "state religion" or a "Muslim head of the State."
Islamic polity is the making of by-laws within a system of
"permanent values"2 which is possible only in a sovereign
state.
In the last analysis let us evaluate the essence of the
achievement of Pakistan. Wherein lies the significance
of its creation and the greatness of its creatol's? How is
achievement to be evaluated? Supposing it is laid down
that the value of achievement lies in finding out first as
to in what situation a person was born? What were the
concepts and trends prevalent at the time? What were
the difficulties and obstacles in his way? Then when he
left this situation behind what did he leave it like? Had
he submitted to it uncritically and become its victim? Or
had he challenged it 'and attempted to strike a new Path
in spite of the heavy odds against him? Keeping this
criterion in view, Iqbal and Jinnah and before them Syed
Ahmed Khan, were great people. It is so easy to swim
with ·the tide. It would have been easy to say and do What
lCbaudhry Rcbmat Al~ "A Punjabi", "The Aligarh PrufL">.'iOrS' Scheme"
(Sy(.'<1 Zafrul Ah::san & Afzal Hussain Qader) and Dr. Llltif were the
sponsors of vrious schemcs.
2Scc Appcndix A.
 124

everyone else in the world was saying and doing. But

Iqbal raised his voice against geographical nationalism
after he visited Europe and saw its impending inhuman
and destructive results. And what is more, he made
himself heard, He urged humanity (in complete
harmony with the dictates of the holy Quran 34:46) to
stop for a moment and ponder over as to where they are
heading towards. He repudiated nationalism when t~e
two world wars had not yet been fought. He paved the
way for Jinnah who jumped into the [my, made his way
against it and turned the tide in the direction he
understood it should turn. "He refused to be the
plaything of circumstances or political expediency. Like
the master-mind that he was, over rode events and
created his own circumstances. The whole fnce of Indian
politics was changed by his over-mastering intellect and
charncter. Round him revolved the entire gnmut of
Indian politics, as he held the key to the Indian
situation."l In fact whenever he spoke there was a flutter
in every camp. This was his achievement. Those who
rode on the crest of prevalent public opinion are lost to
history, Ultimately those survive who have given a new
direction, sometime somewhere, even though it is not
realised at the time. The creation of Pakistan has caused
a crack in the edifice of nutionalism and no matter what
vicissitudes Pakistan may undergo it will one day be
remembered by world posterity as one of the earliest
concrete challenges to geographical, racial and lingual
nationalism, and the ,first step in this century, however
small, towards a global home for the human family.

IJamiluddin Ahmed in his)ntl'odul"tion to SpcL'chcl) & Writings uf MI',

Jinnah Vulumc I page x.xvi.
 125

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Speed'll\!! and Writingll, HH2·HH7"
_ A Pen Portrait by Sarojini
Naidu.
(23) Moon, Penderal. "Divide and Quit'· Chuttc und
Windu::; Londoll, l\}{j4.
(24) Malik, Hafeez Ed. "Iqbui - Pud - Philosopher of
Pakistan".
Columbia University Press New
Yorit, Londun, 1\)71.
 127

(25) Nehru· Jswaharlal. "An Autobiugraphy"

John Lane, the Bodll.'y Heud
London, 193ft
(26) Nicholas. Beverly. 'Verdict on Indiu",
New York, 1944.
(27) Psrwez, G.A. "Iqbul uur (und) Qurun" (in Urdu)
Idaru·i-Ttllu·{.'-bluln· HJ[j[j,
(28) Psrwez, G.A. "Islam - A Chul\.cnge to Religion",
Iduru-i-Ttllu-e-bll.llU - 19(iH, Lahore,
(29) Psrwez, G.A. "Ah' Qaid·i-Ar.am aup kuLan huin'!"
{Ah! Where ure YUll, Quaid-i-Ar.am
(in Urdu)
Idura-e-Tolu-e·Il;luln, Lahore, H)72.
(30) Philips, C.H. and "The Partition of India",
Wainwright, GeOl'ge Al\eml and Unwin Limited,
Mary D. Ul70,

(31) Pirzada, Syed Shari/uddin. "Evolution o['Pakbt,lIl",

The All Pakistan Legal Decbions -
um::I,
(32) Quran (On the whole, M. PicktlHlll's
translation has been used).
(33) Qureishi, Ishtisq Hussuin, "The Struggle fur Pakbtan",
University of Kurachi Publications,
Karm:hi, 1I-)li5.
(34) Rajput, A.B. "Muslim Lcabrtle - Ye~terday and
Today",
Sh, Muhammad Ashl'Ul', LahOl'e
IH4H.

(35) Symonds, Richard. "Making ofPakistau",

Allies Bouk Corpuratioll, Karachi,
19(j().

(36) Salccmi, Safdar. "Paki~tau Ka Muilllar-e-A wwaJ" (in

urdu) (Pakistan':; I.'irst Architect),
Idara-i-Tolu·c-l~lmll - U)G7,
 128

(37) Spear, PercivaL "India, Pakistan and the We.~t"

Oxfurd University .Prc.'ls, London
IH58.
(38) Bayyid, Matlubal Hassan. "Muhammad Ali Jinnah A
Political Study" Sh. MuhlHIlmad
A.'lhraf 195:-1.
(39) "Bhamloo" Ed. "Spcechcs and Statemcnts of Iqbal"'
Al-Manzar Academy Lahore Hl48.
(40) Bitaramayya, B.P. "A Hi.'ltury oftlll' Cungress" - Hlii!j,
(41) Tolu-c-Islam Munthly magazine (in Urdu) is.')ues
from May nm:l - JUlie 1\)42.
(42) Vahid, Byed Abdul Ed. "Thoughts and Rdlections uf Iqbal"
Sh. Muhamm<Jd A.~hl"<Jf Lahore,
W()4.

(43) Vahid, Byed Abdul. "Iqbal - His Art !inti Thought".

Juhn MurrilY PulJlishers Ltd. W!j!}.
(44) Vahid, Sycd Abdul. "Studies in Iqbal"
Sh. Muhammad Ashraf, Lahurc
HJG7.
 129

APPENDIX A
ISLAM
As described by the Qtiran, Noah, Had, Saleh,
Ibrahim, Musa, Isa and Muhammad (P.B.U.H) enjoined
upon Man to' say YES to the challenges of life and
conquer the universe by harnessing the laws of Nature.
The power acquired thereby ought to be used for the
benefit of the human Tace by harmonising with the
Permanent Values. This harmony with the Permanent
Values develops the SELF of Man which he possesses in
latent form, and is the ultimate objective of human
living.

Below are given some Permanent Values of the

Quran from Ghulam Ahmed Parwez's book, "Islam - A
Challenge to Religion," pages 359-366.

PERMANENT VALUES

1. Respect for humanity in general. The very

fact that every human child at his birth is equally
endowed with a Self or Personality, entitles every
individual as a human entity to equal esteem and
respect; and no distinction whatsoever should, therefore,
be allowed to the incidence of birth, family, tribe, race or
community, nationality religion or sex, for, says the
Quran:

Verily We have honoured all children of

Adam (equally) (17:70).
 130

2. The criterion of a high position in society.

The intrinsic value of every individual human being is
uniformly equal, but the criterion for determining the
relative position and status of every individual rests on
his own personal merits and character:

And for all there are ranks according to what

they do (46:19).

And the principle underlying is this:

The noblest ofyau in thE! sight of Allah is the

best in conduct (49:13),

3. Unity in humanity. All human beings, according

to the Quran, are the members of one brotherhood and
branches of the same tree:
Mankind is one community (2:213).

Racial distinction or dividing mankind into different

compartments of communities and nations by drawing
lines on the globe is antagonistic to the very idea of
humanity as a single entity, and is against the intents
and purposes of nature. There is only one criterion for a
division and no other - that those who believe in the
Permanent Values are members of one community, and
those who care not for them and lead their lives against
them, go to the other division of a different community,
as is said in the Quran:

He it is who created you (as human beings)

but one of you rejects (the Permanent
Values) and another believes (in them, so this
is the only line of demarcation) (64:2).
 131

4. Human Personality implies responsibility. It

means to say that every human being will be held
responsible for his own actions, rewards as well as
retribution, which none else will share. Says the Quran:
Whoever commits a crime commits it against
his own self(4:111).
And no other will be held responsible for it:
No bearer ofa burden bears another's burden
(54:38).

This makes it quite clear that the notions of

"original sin," or "intercession," or "penance" have no
room whatsoever in Islam. That one should be made
responsible for one's own deeds is, therefore, a
Permanent Value according to the Qurau.
5. Freedom. According to the Quran. Every
human being is born free, and, therefore, should ever
remain free; and freedom means that none, whosoever
he may be, can extort obedience from another human
being. In the Islamic Society, only the Quranic laws shall
be obeyed. This is synonymous with the obedience of
God, for very plainly asserts the Quran:
It is not right of any man that God should
give him the Book and authority and (even)
Nubuwwah and he should say to men "obey
me instead of Allah"·(3:78).
In fact, the Islamic Society is the agency for the
execution of the Quranic laws; and this constitutes the
main criterion to distinguish between the Muslim and
non-Muslim creed:
And whoever judges not by what Allah has
revealed, those are the unbelievers (5:44).
 132

These provisions apply equally to all, no matter what

his position, Not to speak of others, even the Rasul of
God was directed to proclaim:

I follow not but what is revealed to me.

Indeed I fear, if I disobeyed my Rubb, the
chastisement of a grievous day (10:15).

It may be mentioned that what is worship In

religion, is obedience to the laws of God in Deen.

6. Freedom of will _ no compulsion. The

responsibility for the act ofa human being is determined
by his own volition and intent, so much so, that if one is
forced to believe something or is prevailed upon with
force and compulsion against his will to act in a
particular manner; he would not be held responsible<:for
such belief or action, for Eiman is the other name for full
conviction. Says the Quran:,

There is no compulsion in Deen (2:256)

And in another place:

And say: The truth is from your Rabb, so let

him who pleases believe, and let him who,
pleases reject (18:29).

Physical compulsion and mental coercion apart,

anything agreed to or followed traditionally or
conventionally and not after due exercise of reason and
intellect cannot be termed as Eiman. Accepting anything
traditionally is, according to Quran, the way of un·
believers:

And when it is_said to them (the un·

believers), "Follow what Allah has revealed,"
 133

they say: "Nay, we follow that wherein we

found our fathers. What! Even though their
fathers had no sense at all, nor did they
follow the right path (2:170),

The believers, on the other hand, are those:

Who, when (even) the messages of their Rabh

are presented to them, they fall not there-at
deaf and blind (25:73),

7. Tolerance. Islam not only tolerates followers of

other religions hut also bestows upon them all the rights
of humanity, and solemnly undertakes to protect and
guard their places ofwol'ship. Says the Quran:

And if Allah did not repel some people by

others, cloisters and churches and
synagogues and mosques, in which Allah's
name is oft remembered, would have been
pulled down; and surely Allah will help him
who helps Him (in this regru'd)(22:40),

8. Justice. Justice is one of the fundamental

Permanent Values (16:9), and no distinction is allowed in
this respect between friend and foe, for, says the Quran:

And let not the hatred of a people incite you

not to act equitably. Be just: that is nearer to
observance of duty (5:8).

As regards the courts of justice, we have been very

clearly guided by the Quran:

(1) Confound not truth with falsehood (2:42).

(2) Nor knowingly conceal the truth (2:42).

 134

(3) Hide not testimony (2:283).

(4) Evidence must be given truthfully (4:135).

(5) And be ye not an advocate for the fraudulent (4:lO5)

(6) And never be supporter of the guilty (28:17).

(7) Be ye staunch in justice, witnesses for Allah, even

though it h.e against yourselves or (your) parents or
(your) kindred, whether (the case be aD a rich man
or a poor man for, Allah is nearer unto both (than
you are). So follow not passions lest ye lapse (from
truth) and if ye lapse or fall away, then 101 Allah is
ever informed ofwhatye do (4:135).

Crimes, according to the Quran, are not only those

that are actually and physically committed; it considers
even the mere thought of a breach of the Permanent
Values as an offence. No doubt, such offences do not fall
within the jurisdiction of a court of law, nevertheless
they are offences in the eye of the Divine Law of
Retribution, and adversely affect the personality of the
perpetrators, as has been said in the Quran:

He knoweth the traitors of the eyes and that

which the bosoms hide (40:19).

9. Subsistence. According to the Quran, it is

incumbent upon the Islamic society to provide for the
basic necessities of each and all the members comprising
it, and make suitable provisions for the development of
their human potentialities. Thereafter, it should extend
the same facilities to other human beings, and thus
make the Order of Rububiyyah universal. A society that
fails in this responsibility does not deserve to be called
 135

Islamic, for, the Islamic society that is established in the

name of Allah is bound to proclaim: .

We will provide for you and your children

. (6: 152).

It is paramountly clear that no society could

fully discharge this responsibility unless and
until it has all the means of production under
its control and the necessary resources at its
,::dt~osal. It is solely for this reason that
m~~s of production cannot be owned
pritately in Islam, nor could the produce of
such means, or wealth, C/lIuld form a private
hoard (9:34-35).

For the same reason the principle underlying the

growth and development of human personality is
expressed thus: that an individual should work hard and
earn and produce as much as possible, keep that is
basically and essentially necessary for his own upkeep
and of those for whom he is personally responsible, and
give away the rest for meeting out the necessities of
others in need, as is ordained in the Quran:

And they ask thee as to what 'should they

give (for the benefit of others), Say:
"Whatever is surplus to your own
requirements" (2:219),

And in this their attitud~ should be such as to

declare:

We desire from you neither reward nor

thanks (76:9).
 136

10. Se~. Chastity, according to Quran, is one of the

Permanent Values and its breach a grave offenc-e (24:3).
It demands its observance from men and women equally
(24:30·31), and deems marriage as a frce contract for
leading a life of companionship and mutual co-operation
in which both the parties stand on the same level and
should be treated uniformly, for the QUl'an makes not
distinction between man and. woman on the ground of
sex. Both, as human beings, are like each other and
equal in all respects:

He it is Who has brought you (mankind) into

being from one single-life.cell (6:99).

11. Aesthetic taste. There is a basic difference

between an 'animal and a human being, and that is that
while the needs of an animal are confined to the mere
satisfaction of physical wants, the requirements of man
go beyond that. He is also endowed witll the aesthetic
sense, a liking, a taste for the appreciation of beauty.
The Quran respects this leaning and tendency towards
fine arts in the human species and considers it as a
necessary element in the growth and development of his
personality. It says:

Say:

"Who hath forbidden the adornment of Allah,

which he hath brought forth for His devotees and
the good things of His providing"? (7:32),

Thus it gives full encouragement to the appreciation

ot' beauty in its various phases of arts as well as objects,
with the only proviso that the limits laid down in the
Quran are not transgressed.
 137

12. Forces of Nature. You come across at several

places in the Qu~an with verses like this:

And He has made subservient to you

whatsoever is in the heavens and whatsoever
is in the earth, all from Himself(45:13).

That is why Islam demands from us to subdue and

harness the forces of nature with the sale object of
utilising them in consonance with the Permanent Values
for'the benefit of the entire humanity, and 'never 'for
destructive purposes, for, the basic principle underlying
this is:

Only that survives in the earth WhlCil IS

beneficial for entire mankind -(13:17).

We have narrated above some of the basic values

conveying the fundamental importance in human
activity which have not onJy to be meticulously observed
but to be carefully. safeguarded by the Islamic society
against their breach and violation. .

The Quran does not ignore or neglect, rather it lays

a great empphasis on meting out the demands of man's
physical existence and the satisfaction of his
requirements for his case and comforts, of course, in
close observance of the Permanent Values. If the needs
of his physical life and other requirements are both
satisfied in har~ony and accord with the Permanent
Values, no difficulty or a problem as such arises. When
there is a tie .or an apprehension of a clash between the
two, the Islamic 'l;iew of life will then, as a matter of
course, give preference to the maintenance of and
compliance with the Permanent Values, for therein lies
the loftiness of the human character. This way of life
 138

greatly contributes to the development and well-being of

the human self. In the Material concept of life, on the
other hand, the be all and end all of the entire human
effort and activity is merely the satisfaction of the
physical wants in luxury and plentitude without the least.
idea of the Permanent Values playing any role at all.
This attitude is abhorent to Islam. Far from agreeing to
accept it, Islam will, in no circumstances, even
compromise with the Material concept. Further, the
otherworldly view of religion, preaching contempt of the
worldly life and its enjoyment and ignnring the physical
wants, is equally unacceptable and hateful in its eyes.

(From: "Islam - A Challenge to Religion" by

Ci,hulam Ahmed Parwez - pages 359-366)
 139

APPENDIX B
Comparison between Madhab and Deen
A comparative study of religion ormadhhab, ahd
deen, should help us understand the vital and
fundamental characteristics of each and the differences
between the two:

1. Madhhab is merely some sort of subjective

experience and is ~oncerned only with the so·called
private relationship between God and man.

Deen is an objective reality and a system of

collective life.

2. Every follower of a madhhab is satisfied that he

has established a communion with the Almighty, and the
objective of each individual is his own salvation.

The aim of deen, on the other hand, is the welfare

and progress of all mankind, and the character and
constitution of a society indicates whether or not it is
founded upon the Divine Law.

3. Madhhab does not afford us any objective

criterion by which we could determine whether or not
our actions are producing the desired results.

In a social order governed by deen, the development

of a collective and harmonious life correctly indicates
·whether or not the people are pursuing the right course.
 140

4. Madhhab is hostile to scientific investigation

and is an adversary of reason, so that it could flourish
unhampered with the aid of a blind faith.

Deen helps in the d'evelopment of human reason and

knowledge, allows full freedom to accept or reject on the
basis of reason and arguments, and encourages
investigation and discovery of all the natural phenomen~
to illumine the path of human life and its advancement
in the light orthe Permanent Values.

5. Madhhab follows the susceptibilities and

prejudice of men and pampers them.

Deen seeks.to lead men to a path of life that is in

harmony with the realities oflife.

6. In every age, therefore, madhhab sets up new

idols and mumbo-jumbos in order to keep the people's
attention away from the real problems of life.

But deen is rational and radical: it breaks all idols,

old and new, and is never variable in its principles.

7. Madhhab induces a perpetual sense of fear in

the minds of men and seeks to frighten them into
conformity; while deen treats fear as a form of
polytheism and seeks to make men courageous, daring
and self~reliant. .

8. Madhhab prompts men to bow before every seat

of authority and prestige, religious as well as, temporal.

Deen encourages man to walk about with his head

erect, and attain self~confidence.
 141

9. Madhhab induces man to flee from struggle of

life.

But deen calls upon him to face the realities of life

squarely, whatever the hazards.

10. Madhhab treats the world of matter with

contempt and calls upon man to renounce it It promises
paradise only in the Hereafter as a reward for the
renuciation of the material world.

Deen, on the other hand, enjoins the conquest of

matter and leads man to immeasurable heights of
attainment. It exhorts him to seek well~being and
happiness in this world as well as felicity in the life
Hereafter.

11. Madhhab encourages belief in fatalism (pre-

destination), and this tends to dissuade man from active
life and self-development.

Deen gives man power to challenge fate, and

provides energy for a life of activity and self-
development.

12. Madhhab seeks to comfort the weak, the

helpless and the oppressed with the belief that the
affairs of this world are governed by the will of God and
that its acceptance and resignation helps to endear them
to God. This sort of teaching naturally tends to
morbidity, and emboldens their religious leaders who
profess to interpret the Will of God, so that they indulge
in their misdeeds with perfect impunity and persuade
the adherents to a complete and quiet submission.
 142

Deen, on the other hand, raises the banner of revolt

against all forms of tyranny and exploitation. It calls
upon the weak and the oppressed to follow the Divine
Laws and thereby seek to establish a social order in
which all tyrants and oppressors will be forced to accept
the dictates of right and justice. In this social order,
there is no place for dictators, capitalists or priests. They
are all enemies of deen.
13. Madhhab enjoins religious meditation in the
name of worship and thus induces self-deception.
Deen exhorts men to assert themselves and struggle
perpetually for the establishment of the Divine Social
Order, and its betterment when attained. Worship in
deen really means obedience to the Laws of Allah.
14. Madhhab frowns and sneers at all things of art
and beauty.
Deen defies those who forbid the enjoyment of the
good and beautiful things of life which God has created
for the enjoyment of man.
15. Madhhab denounces evelything new and
declares all innovation as sin.
Deen holds that the needs and demands of human
life keep changing with Uie change in the conditions of
life; change and innovation are, therefore, demanded by
life itself. Only the Divine Laws are immutable.
It should now be easy for us to see the fundamental
difference between deen and madhhab. Islam means
saying ''Yes'' to life; while the response of religion is "No"!
Thus Islam is an open challenge to religion as
such.
(From "Islam - A Challenge to Religion" by
Ghulam Ahmed Parwez Pages 366-369),
 143

APPENDIX C
Circe's triumph
"They stood at the gate of the goddess with flowing
tresses, and heard her, Circe, sweetly singing before her
loom, as she walked to and fro weaving an imperishable
web, gorgeous Rlld dazzling, such as only goddesses can
make.

So she lived on the isLmd of Aecrea, and so she has

in India. Men have stood at her gate, and called to be
admitted and to all she has opened her shining gate. She
has taken them sweats, and served food. But with the
food she has also mixed the drug which make them
forget their country: Then she turned them into brute
beasts.

No invader that come into her great continent has

been able to resist her spell, and the British who broke it
untimely and went home without first hearing the
spirits of their dead heroes are still longing after her
with the docility of cattle. The Americans are now crying
out like Polites. 'Friends there is somebody within
singing sweetly, and the hall is echoing to her song.
Come quickly, and cry aloud to her'." (from "Continent of
C;,rce" Epilogue by Nirad Chaudhry page 306) (Muslims
alone were not affected by her sweet songs or the drug
that she has put in their food· the writers comment.)

"...... Successful as the caste system was in

assimilating the barbarian invaders, it failed totally to
cope with the next series of ethnic incursions' from
outside which were set in train by the expansion of
 144

Islam. This historical movement threatened to bring the

Hindus under. subjection to the newly risen empire of
Caliphate, and annex India to the Islamic world. As a
result the Muslims were established as a society parallel
to that of the Hindus.

No adjustment between the two societies took place

except in minor matters, and therefore with the Muslim
conquest the country also saw the emergence of the
second basic cleavage in its population .... "(from
"Continent of Circe" by Nirad Chaudhry pages 59-62),
 145

APPENDIX D
Iqbal as a statesman
Ms ShamimAnwar
In his book, 'Iqbal ke Aakhri do suaI', Ashiq Hussain
Batalvi concludes that it has to be admitted that Dr.
Iqbal was not statcsrnan ..... at least not in the sense as
Mr. Jinnah, Sir Fazle Hussain and Maulana Mohammad
Ali were ... He was essentially an idealist. A.H. Batalvi
goes on to say that 'His two experiences in practical
politics were his selection to the Punjab provincial
assembly in 1927 and his attenuance of the round Table
Conference in 1931. He found both these experiences
terribly uncomfortable, what with their conspiratorial,
deceitful, sychophantic and hypocritical atmosphere,
particularly of the Round Table conference which he
quit', H.T. Sorely has added another dimension to this
aspect ofIqbal's life. In his essay 'Iqbal' he says: "The life
of Mohammad Iqbal was completely uneventful...he lived
a placid, sheltered existence for 65 years ... He was a man
who sat in a study polishing words. He did not live
events .... He did not live dangerously ... " Apparently,
these quotes deny Iqbal the noise and deen of agitationa}
politics, or the spectatular glamour of a military victory
on the battlefield, but such was the statesmanship of
Iqbal that sitting in a corner of a dilapidated room on
McLeod Road or from a bouse on Mayo Ruad, he was able
to throw a challenge to the World political trends and
concepts in the teeth of Hindu, British and even Muslim
opposition, not only philosophically and theoretically,
but in actual fact, in practical concrete form that is
Pakistan today. The greatness and uniqueness of Iqbal's
 146

statesmanship lies in the very fact that in spite of

withholding himself from practical politics, he was able
to motivate people, fire their imagination and help
launch a countrywide movement in carving out a new
state with new geographical and ide~ogical frontiers.
This is an achievement that is unprecedental, for it was
not an ordinary national liberation movement against
colonialism, but a harbinger of a vision, the universality
and profundity of which elude the practical politicians
both inside and outside Pakistan.

It is a truism to say that Iqbal was inspired by the

Quranic text which he had retrieved from under the
debris of Sassanin, Byzantine, Judea-Christian and
Indian civilisations which had collapsed on it. The vision
he discovered was stated thus: In this cruel and unjust
system, where a few capture power and monopolise the
resources of the earth, where a few enjoy the bounties of
nature through exploitation and enslavement of the
many, there should be a group of people somewhere who
could stay the hand of the tyrannical exploiter. Indeed
there should be some people somewhere who could
assure the homeless and the insecure, irrespective of nny
consideration of race, colour, country or creed, that they
will be given protection. Eventually, he dl'came:d the
Quranic dream of making the planet earth a homeland
for the whole human·kind as one human family.

It was this dream that made him reject racial,

lingual and geographical barriers as f:.uicidal for
humanity. Even before his return from Elll'ope in 190$,
he warned:

"Your civilisation is going to commit suicide with her

own dagger. The nest which is made on a frail bough
 147

cannot but be insecure', He repeated this all his life, and

a few months before his death in 1938, in a New Year
message broadcast from the Lahore Radio on the 1st of
January he expressed his anguish thus! ... so long as men
do not demonstrate by their actions that they believe
that the whole world is the family of God, so long as
distinctions of race, colour and geo-graphical
nationalities are not wiped out completely, they will
never be able to lead a happy and contented life and the
beautiful ideas of liberty, equality, and fraternity will
never materiulise'.

Iqbal also learnt that no matter how beautiful an

ideal, no matter how deep his anguish, the Quran does
not allow even a shadow of force to be used 01' the
undermining of the free will of a human being in any
way. So his statesmanship envisioned a group of people
establishing a society as a p1'3gmatic test fol' the rest of
humankind. For this, a piece of land was prerequisite.
Now, when Iqbal in his 1930 presidential address
referred to the North~West of India as a possibility, there
were powerful factors involved in his choice. For one
thing, for a radical conceptual change and its
institutionalisation, minimum vested interests in a given
region would hasten the movement towards his ideal. It
so happened that the British Imperialism in India
decided not to indutrialise the North~Westel'n parts of
India, so that this area could be reserved for recl'uiting
soldiers .fbr the British Indian Army. Naturally, this
preve~d the development of Big Business and
Industrial Magnates who could be a hurdle in the way of
building a new society. The only vested interests were
the landlords whorp Iqbal (and later Jinnah) attacked
ferociously in his poetry. The second factor was the
eventual withdrawal of the British from the
 148

subcontinent. This would Cl'oate a vacuum for the

establishment of a new government and n now society,
while in the rest of the 'Muslim' world there were
already well-entrenched local governments and vested
interests.

It was as early as 1910 whl;:n Iqbal talked t" out a

separate state to the students of Alirrarh. But he had
realised as Syed Abdul Vahid has put it, that 'During this
period Muslim public opmlOn was moving with
tremendous force in directions towards which Iqbal did
not approve'. The reason lay in the new leadership in
persons like the Ali Brothers, Maulana Zafar Ali and
Maulana Abdul Kalam Azad, leaders, who in comparison
with Sir Syed Ahmad Khan were emotional and in Ian
Stephen's words 'lacking his realism or capacity for
taking long views'. Thus while there was apparently
tremendous activity visible in the Muslim Community
from the Balkan Wars to the Khilafat Movement, it was
more of an emotional and shortsighted and unrealistic
activity. It all ended in frustration and destructiveness.
Iqbal had written poems in the defence of the Turks but
the feelings he meant to arouse were unrealistically
exploited by politicians. So he preferred not to attend
political meetings and even resigned from the Punjab
Khilafat Committee to which he had been nominated or
elected. In any case to beg of the British or agitate for
the restoration of the Khilafat which the British were
bent 'upon destroying was not Iqbal's way of doing things.
He believed in self-help, and it was Kumat Atu Turk's
struggle on self-reliant basis thut inspired him to write
his happy poem on him captioned 'Tolu-e-Islam'.

It was because of the misled political activity that

Iqbal kept aloof from practical politics and decided to
 119

play an edllcative role. Through his poetry, lectul'es and

statements he, attempted to change peoples attitudes,
projecting the universalism and humanity of Islam. The
response was more than encouraging. The recitation of
his latest poems at the annual convention of the
'Anjuman-e-Hamayat-i-Islam' in Lahore were eagerly
awaited and people came from all corners of India to
listen to him.

By 1930 both at the mass and leadership level, the

Muslims stood frustrated and confused. Whatever their
objectives and methodolugy they had failed, left standing
on the cross-roads. This is the moment Iqbal was waiting
for and thus he formally put forward the 'Pakistan Idea'
in a speech in Allahabad which summarised and
crystalised his thought, that is, all that he had been
saying ever since 1908.

The final stage of his statemanship is the selection

of Jinnah to lead the struggle. Fo)' him the years 1930·35
were very crucial, because Jinnah had first to be
converted to the 'Pakistan Idea', froIn an 'Indian
nationalist' he had to be' tmnsformed into a 'universal
being'. This great fcat, of convincing Jinnah, was
accomplished by Iqbal thwugh this period in personal
meetings, beginning from the second Round Table
Conference, and through correspondence. Time has
proved that Iqbal's choice was correct. The struggle that
lay ahead was going to be a severe one. His leader had to
be man of high intellectual and moml courage, to be able
to swim against the tide of the prevalent fashionable
ideas. It is very easy to seek cheap popularity but it is no't
easy to be a leader. Thus in 1937, 21st, of June he wrote
to Jinnah: 'I know you are a busy man: but I do hope you
won't mind my writing to you so uften, as you are the
 150

only Muslim in India today to whom the community has

a right to look up to for 8ilfeguidance through the storm
which is coming to the NOl'th·West India, and perhaps to
the whole of India'. Iqbal's own role in the last years of
his life, 1936-1938, was a constant source of inspiration
and guidance to Jinnah in spite of his ill heulth. On his
death, Jinnah's message speaks for itself "To me he was
a friend, guide and philosopher and during the darkest
moments through which the Muslim League had to go
he stood like rock and never flinched one single
movement". These moments were so dark and difficult,
that it motivated Ashiq Hussain Batalvi to write a whole
volume on it.. .. 'Iqbal ke aakhari do 8al' ..... a good source
material for [uturt!" historians.
,
\
There was another area in which Iqbal had to make
a choice of a man, a man who could help Jinnah to fight
the battle on the philosophical and ideological front. He
had inaugurated a magazine 'Talu-e-Islam fu!' this
purpose. The man of his choice was Ghulum Ahmad
Parwez as its editor who was destined to walk with the
lamp he had lighted with Iqbal's flame of learning, thus'
illuminating the path that he tread. Needless to say
Parwez was the most brilliant amongst those who flocked
to Iqbal to drink from this fountain of wisdom. It is
interesting to note that the first issue of "Tolu-e-Islam',
April 1938 lay beside him while he lay on his death bed.
Thus before his death, Iqbal had seen to it that the
•
destiny of Muslim India (with all its future portends for
humanity, now lost.... but that is anothel' story) was in
very safe hands, politically and philosophically.

H.T. Borley has said that Iqbal 'did not live

dangerously'. I wou.1d say living and thinking are one and
the same thing. No one can deny Iqbal thought too
 151

dangerously f('lf the liking of many a vested interests. In

another clime and place he would have been put to
deat.h, Socrates-like. As for practical statesmanship,
while he changed the whole political future of India
which shook South Asia, sending reverberation all over
the world, the practical politicians of today, or for that
matter, thinkers and poets; could not even save Pakistan
from splitting into two.

COUl'tsey "The Nation".

 152

APPENDIX E
Role of the Ulema in Pakistan
after Independence
Jamaat~i-Islami under Maulana Abulala Maududi
was one of the many religious organisations, others being
Jamiat-i-Ulema, Ahrar, Momins etc., who entered
Pakistan after independence. Their entry has been
tragic, and is continuing to be so, for the establishment
of Iqbal's and Jinnah's Pakistan. Having failed to destroy
the movement, they decided to destroy it from within or
control it theocratically. In the post-independence period
they made at "least two attempts to disrupt Pakistan.
First by trying to create disaffection in the army by
issuing a 'fatwa' on the Kashmir War of 1947-48. C.J.
Adams describes it merely as "careless l'emarks"ll
Secondly, by creating law and order situation in the anti-
Ahmadiyah riots in 1935. Keith Callal'd confirms that
"the agitation against the Ahmadis was led Ly religious
leaders, many of whom had previously engaged in
politics on the side ,of the opponents of Pakistan,"2
However, before the inquiry commission none of these
Ulemas could even define a "Muslim".i
As early as 1951, the ulema started their struggle to
preserve themselves as a class, almost 0]1 the style of a
Trade Union. Thirty-one Ulema met in Karachi and
announced their "Fundamental Principles of an Islamic
State". Article Nine reads as followers: "'fhe recognised
Muslim Schools of thought shall have within the limits

lCharles J. Adams, "The Ideology of Maul ana Maududi", p. il75·::I7(i.

2Kcith Callard, "Pakistan - A Pitil:al Study", page 'l04.
3Munir RepuJ't.
 153

of the law complete religious freedom and the right to

impart religious instruction "to their fuliows, and shall
have the freedom to propagate their views. matters
relating to their personal status shall be administered in
accordance with their respective codes of jurisprudence.
It will be desirable to make provision for the
administration of such matters by their respective
'qadis'."l
This constitutional recognition of various schools of
though or sects was their persistent demand in the light
of Jinnah's categorical declaration: "In any case Pakistan
is not going to be a theocratic state ... to be ruled by
priests with a divine mission."2 Knowing this then
opposition became all the more vehement and organised,
and at one stage they almost succeeded in influencing
the first Constituent Assembly in recommending a
"Board of Ulema" in legislative matters. This would
virtually have amounted to a theocratic state. But by
dramatic and what has· come down in Pakistani history as
an undemocratic action and thus an unhealthy
precendent, the then Governor-General, Ghulam
Muhammad, dismissed the . first Constituent Assembly,
and with it went the Board of Ulema. Seeing from this
angle, Pakistan escaped suppression and dumination of
the worst form. When the second Constituent Assembly
announced the 1956 Constitution, it had no Board of
Ulema. Instead there was a provision for a Law
Commission composed of members from all walks of
life.3
However, the story does not end here. 'rhough they
failed in this, they succeeded in procuring constitutional

I"Fundamental Principles of an J:;Jamil: State" ~ignl'd by 31 Ulema~.

puge 6.
l!Speechc~ and Writings of Jinl1ah.
31956 Constitution.
 154

recognition of various religious sects,l gIvmg them

complete control over the personal life and thought of
the people according to their 1951 Karachi Demands.
They jubilantly welcomed the Constitution as "Islamic"
for this very :ceason. Charles J. Adams completely failed
to understand this point. He regards the approval of
1956 Constitution" by the Jamaat~i-Islami as "an
o~standing example of flexible adaption to the changi,ng
political situation"2 although it was' parliamentary form
of kovernment. The question is not of pal'liam~ntal'Y or
presidential form, the question is the recognition of the
Ulema's power over the pers/mal law. This point is
further clarified when we see that the ulema never
approved of the 1962 Constitution because it· gave 'no
such recognition. The Ulema carried on agitation against
it until they did succeed in getting this clause
incorporated in it. Having. succeeded, they insisted that
the constitution be declared "Islamic" and then they
rejoiced over it again. When Pakistan was ag~in faced
with drafting yet another constitution in 1973, the
• •
demand of the Ulema, along with all those classes whose
vested interests are allied with them, is to revive all the
"Islamic" provisions of the 1956 Constitution.
The much needed Muslim Family Laws is a classical
example of the Ulema's role .fiS obstructiunists in the
dynamics of political ohange. In spite of the strong
demand for it, it could not be brought into force without
the Martial Law Regime. What the Muslim Family Laws
did (they were only the first step towards reform) was to
maKe marriage and divorce and polygamy a
governmental concern through the Chairman of the
Basic Democracies. In other words, it was no longer in
the Ulema's sphere of influence. It is a miI'acle that the

11956 Constitution.
2Charles J. Adams, "TheIdwiolO' of the Maulana Maududi", pugc :·HJ3.
 155

Family Laws still survive in spite of the vehement

opposition of the Ulemns. Similarly they oppose all
official agencies that interfere in their traditional
jurisdiction. For example, Roet·e-Hilal Committee for
the sighting or the moon"the Islamic Research Centre in
Karachi and the like. They raise the issue of "Sarkari"
and "Sharai" decisions and confuse the people by raising
the slogan of "Islam in danger".
This struggle to preserve themselves as a class
naturally makes them the spokesmen of the vested
interests and the traditional society. They oppose land
reforms (The Land Reforms introduced ultimately were
again very mild like the Muslim Family Laws), Scientific
and creative activity in any form (they once issued
"fatwas" against the loud-speaker, and now command the
common man not to believe that men have landed on the
moon, etc.) women emancipation, birth control and so on
and so forth.
And of course the diabolicall'ole that they played in
an unholy alliance with General Ziani Haq in
promulgating Hadood Ordinance and the Law of
Evidence at variance with the Quran is recent history.
Their influence over the educational policy and the re-
writing of history is another setback in the same pel ;od.
As a long term policy, the Ulema, particularly of the
Jamaat-i-IslaIPi brand) played a very clever game. AB
early as the mid-fifties, they captured the universities
and colleges, till a time has come when they virtually
rule these institutions. This has not only destroyed the
system, but also subotaged the psyche and culture of the
students. Consequently, it is this psyche and culture that
dominates the civil and military officialdom. Pakistan,-
thus no longer belongs to Iqbal and Jinnah. It is today
another country.
 156

The nature of the priestly opposition. to the

messengers of God us described by the Quran

Throughout God challenges those who come in

between God and Man. The histories of Noah, Hud,
Saleh, Ibrahiill, Musa, Isa and Muhammad (P.B.U.H) as
narrated in the Quran, begin with this challenge. "Serve
Allah, ye have no sovereign authority save Him" (Surah
23jVerse 23: 7/65; 11/61; 21/52; 11/84). The answer to
this challenge has always been at the emotional level.
"We heard not of this in the case of our fathers of old"
(23/24; 7/70; 11/62 21/53; 11/87; 20/51; 38/8).

Ancestor .worship , the basic sanction of all

traditional societies is thus exposed. And then, in order
that people may not know the truth and reason for
themselves, a curtain of ignorance is created by an
emotional propaganda, for instead of arguments, the
leaders who wish to bring about change are abused as
"insane (23/25) "madman" (54/9; 68/51) "bewitched"
(17/47; 26/153) "magician" (34/43) "poet" (21/5) wizard
and charlatan (38/5). So much hue and cry is raised that
people are not allowed to have direct access to the
'concepts and values proclaimed by the new leaders. This
is an ingenious way to preserve their existence as a class,
and all in the name of that very Allah from whom they
are keeping the people away.