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Relation
Among Iqbal, Jinnah; Pakistan
By
Najia Azam
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Relation Among Iqbal, Jinnah; Pakistan
In a revolutionary situation, in any given space & time, it is the
productive & positive contribution of creative people--artists, writers,
teachers, leaders which make all the difference. To begin with, the changes are
imperceptible; we call it a revolution the moment the changes become
perceptible. All this entails a great deal of teamwork & mutual rapport
among the creative individuals, even if it may be in twos & threes. The
French Revolution, Italian & German unification, the Russian & Chinese
Revolution, the struggle for the independence in the Third World-- a study of
all these show team work at some level or the other. In our own struggle, the
friendship & teamwork between Iqbal & Jinnah is a classic example. Their
coming together is even more significant because in their case it was the
creation of a new frontier in South Asia on an ideological basis. It was indeed
a new phenomenon in the onrush of ideas & institutions emanating from the
West, which were sweeping the minds of the non-western world & still are
overpowering them.
Muhammad Iqbal was a man who belonged to all races, his concepts had universal appeal. He spoke to the consciences of men of good what ever their tongue, what ever their creed.
This man who was the spiritual godfather of Pakistan filled his poetry
with songs. He sang of many things, from simple daily event to metaphysics &
philosophy. He was passionately religious & devout. The westerner will find
in Iqbal’s philosophy of religion a challenging outlook on life & the
universe, & a universal concept of god. More than this, he will find
concrete proposals for building the future world along new lines.
At the age of 22 Iqbal’s poetic reputation began making its way into a
more public light. In the last decade of the nineteenth century a mushaira was
held in the bazaar- e-hakeema” Bhati
gate “ Lahore. Bhati gate was then the center of Lahore ‘s cultural &
intellectual activities. In the presence of Ghor Ghani Iqbal once recited a
lyric containing famous verse.
Mirza Ghori Ghani exclaimed!
“Iqbal
such a beautiful verse at your tender age”
Few poets of the world have been able to cram so much erudition &
philosophy in verse; & fewer still use words both as colors on an
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Relation Among Iqbal, Jinnah; Pakistan
artist's
palette to paint pictures as well as deploy them as notes of a lute to create
music. He was fired by a creative zeal, which could only be explained as
divinely inspired. Three years in Europe (1905-1908) brought about a complete
reversal in his beliefs. The world became real; life had a purpose to serve;
latent in every man was a superman who could be roused to his full height by
ceaseless striving to create a better world. This post-European phase has been
designed as Iqbal's philosophy of khudi. As used by Iqbal what comes closest to
khudi is assertive will power imbued with moral values. This is apparent from
these oft-quoted lines:
Endow
your will with such power
That
God Himself asks of His slave
'What
is it that pleases thee?'
Iqbal considered the Quran not only as a
book of religion (in the traditional sense) but also a source of foundational
principles upon which the infrastructure of an organization must be built as a
coherent system of life. According to Iqbal, this system of life when
implemented as a living force is ISLAM. Because it is based on permanent
(absolute) values given in the Quran, this system provides perfect harmony,
balance, & stability in the society from within & the source of security
& a shield from without. It also provides freedom of choice & equal
opportunity for the development of personality for everyone within the
guidelines of Quran. Thus, in Iqbal's opinion, Islam is not a religion in which
individuals strive for a private subjective relationship with God in the hope of
personal salvation as it is done in secular systems. Iqbal firmly opposed
theocracy & dictatorship & considered them against the free spirit of
Islam.
Iqbal's "Deeda-war" (visionary), is like Iqbal himself. He
could foresee what others could not. Whereas others only have a short-term view
of things, a visionary sees the problems in a long-term perspective &
develops some sort of cosmic sense. A nation is indeed fortunate if it produces
a few such individuals in centuries. Such individuals, although very rare,
change the course of history forever, as indeed Iqbal did. Pakistan owes its
existence to Allama Iqbal. Thus, the people of Pakistan owe a great deal of
gratitude to this extraordinary visionary.
During his last years, he invariably wept when listening to the
recitation of QURAN Iqbal‘s eyes had become tearful at the meeting of
anjuman-a-himyat-a-islam while reciting the poem “khizr-a-rah”
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Relation Among Iqbal, Jinnah; Pakistan
Similarly, Jinnah quoted the Holy Prophet (S A W) constantly. As a young
man, alone in London, he had decided to join Lincoln’s Inn in preference to
any other law college because it listed the Holy Prophet (S A W) among the
greatest lawgivers. Later the life he quarreled with his only child, pampered
& loved, because she married a Christian & not a Muslim. He died with
the Muslims declaration of faith on his lips.
Dr. Sadia Chisti, member of the council of Islamic ideology of Pakistan
& at one stage a member of parliament, is working on a thesis to establish
that Jinnah was a vali, a saint figure. She has meant Jinnah & remains
spiritually in awe of him. She has recounted stories of people seeing him in
their dreams sitting by the Holy Prophet (S A W) whose hands rests on him. Dr.
Chisti reported that the governor of Baluchistan family told her that there was
propaganda to depict Jinnah as irreligious man yet those who attended him in
last days confirmed that he used to pray by himself at night. In these Urdu
verses, Jinnah is cast as Moses.
‘May
you live until the Day of Judgment
&
may the Day of Judgment never dawn.
There
frequently have been, & there are even now,
Many
Pharaohs lying in ambush for you but don’t you about them,
As
you have in your sleeve that dazzling light that will sear them out
of existence.
There are the stories surreptitiously that Jinnah didn’t &
couldn’t say his Muslim prayers. He was supposed to have said to his secretary
standing to his right, as he bent to prostrate himself in the mosque, ‘ what
next’? This has been disproved by many people including the evidence in court
given by an eminent lawyer, an advocate since 1930 who had practiced in Bombay,
High court until 1940 & testified prayers as an orthodox Sunni.
Z. A. Suleri has described accompanying Jinnah, to Friday prayers in
London in 1946 (greatest of the century, jang, 28
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Relation Among Iqbal, Jinnah; Pakistan
December
1996, for photograph of Jinnah offering prayers in a congregation see Pirzada
1983, Yaya Bakhtiar who saw Jinnah at close quarters, concluded, to sum up Mohd.
Ali Jinnah was a sincere deeply committed & dedicated Musalman).
Similarly, there is a lot of fuss about Jinnah
drinking & ham sandwiches. As we know, that Pakistan ’s creation is
against the British & the Indians. So might be it was their conspiracy to
blame Jinnah for drinking & ate ham sandwiches. The man who joined the
Lincoln Inn only because of the name of his beloved Holy Prophet was listed
there. Then how he can drank & ate ham sandwiches. S.S Pirzada confirms this
it is on record that during his last illness when physician advised him to take
brandy, “as a medicine “, he refused.
“ You want me to take it (alcohol) in the last days of my life. I wouldn’t do that,” he said’ (interview of S.S Pirzada by M.H Faruqi, impact international, august 1995).
Pirzada
also rejects the often-repeated story of Jinnah eating ham sandwiches. As
Jinnah’s honorary secretary between 1941 & 1944, he never saw him eaten
forbidden flesh. However weak the evidence, the most widely read works on
Pakistan –by Christina lamb & Emma Duncan, for example –begin their
accounts with a predictable catalogue of Jinnah ‘s dietary habits Pirzada put
in the perspective: ‘still there is this story about ham sandwiches which is
being given currency in Pakistan now’ (Pirzada interview. ibid.). ‘ The only
source for this appears to be Chagla’s book Roses in December…according to Chagla’s story (quoted in Wolpert
1984: 78-9), Ruttie offered ham sandwiches to Jinnah in the middle of political
campaign. If this were true, it would mean Ruttie was mentally retarded, that
she had no idea about her culture & sensibilities of her society. In fact,
she was an intelligent, supportive wife. Having become a Muslim after her
marriage, she would have appreciated the difference between what was forbidden
& what was not. The last thing she would have done would be to embarrass her
husband & damage his political career. As much for religious as for cultural
reasons. She would certainly not have brought her husband ham sandwiches in the
middle of political campaign, even if she had wanted him to eat them in the
first place. It is a silly story.
When Saladin (writer of book) asked Dina Wadia in the New York whether
Chagla’s story had any factual basis. She recalled that over sixty years ago
they were traveling by train to a hill station when ham sandwiches were brought
with the food as part of the menu. Her father had sent away (she also expressed
irritation about Pakistanis who only seemed to be interested in whether Jinnah
ate ham
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Relation Among Iqbal, Jinnah; Pakistan
sandwiches
& drank whisky.)
Within the few days after Pakistan was created Jinnah’s name was being
read in the khutba at the mosque as the AMIR-UL MILLAT, a traditional title of
Muslim rulers (sayeed 1968:256). This shown he is recognized by the mulvi sahib
of kabbah. Which is the great answer to our mulvis that either he was religious
or irreligious.
Thus by glancing on the lives of both Heros Jinnah & Iqbal. We have
found that their relation is based on just & justice. And for similar
reasons we have created Pakistan. Thus, the common thing in both the Heros &
Pakistan is their relation with Allah almighty. As we know we have created
Pakistan to implement the rule of just & justice, which is, “ Iqbal who
gave the idea of Pakistan was the one of the greatest lover of Allah & his
Holy prophet (S A W). His poetry is the evidence of it. It also shows the
intensity of his love for Allah Almighty & His Holy Prophet (S A W). He was
able to foresee the future. That’s why he had chosen the Jinnah for struggle
of Pakistan. When nobody can realize that Jinnah was able to perform the task of
creating the Pakistan. So, his (Iqbal) this ability also shows that Allah
Almighty was also benefited him because the ability to foresee the future is
only given to the men of Allah.
On the other hand, Jinnah was also the man of Allah because Allah
Almighty never gives the task of the creating the country to those men who are
irreligious or not fair to their peoples. The only man who entered into Lincoln
inns because of the name of Holy Prophet (S A W) was listed there. This shows
his natural love for Allah almighty & his Holy Prophet (S A W). The natural
love means that he was not well guided by any one for Islam. The atmosphere of
his home was not the religious one like Iqbal’s home. He (Jinnah) did not
drink any alcohol & ate ham sandwiches while staying in London. This shows
that Jinnah was also related to Allah Almighty from an early age. That’s why
being living in London he did not do any thing, which was forbidden by Allah
Almighty.
So, Iqbal & Jinnah always followed Allah
Almighty & His Holy Prophet (S A W) in all the aspects of life. Now the
question arises that Iqbal & Jinnah‘s relation is based on just &
justice, which they followed through out their life. But Pakistan, which is also
based on just & justice, would also follow that rule since last fifty years
or not? (If not then the relation among Jinnah, Iqbal & Pakistan wasn’t
just & justice.) Yes, Pakistan also followed that rule since last fifty
years. Its clear examples were the wars of 65 & 71. In 65 war, we Pakistani
fought with our hearts. We have the Nara of Allah-hu-Akbar on our lips & the
name Allah Almighty & His Holy Prophet (S A W) in our hearts. That’s why
we had won that war. While in 71 war we had not followed the rule of just &
justice while we given the priorities to other things like power, man etc. &
resultantly we lost the war. So, in
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Relation Among Iqbal, Jinnah; Pakistan
Pakistan who did not follow the rule of just
& justice, always go through the process of elimination.
So, Iqbal, Jinnah & Pakistan is directly related to Allah Almighty.
And primarily they are related to each other with respect to Allah Almighty
& Holy prophet (S A W).
It is a rare thing to note that both Iqbal & Jinnah have recognized
each other as leaders & guide & oneself as a humble soldier of the
other. I wonder if such teamwork & humility has any other parallel in
history. Jinnah's admiration of Iqbal, as a Poet of Islam, someone who he says
has understood Islam so well. The fact is that the way Iqbal presented Islam
brought them together & cemented their friendship. My challenge is that
Jinnah would never have come back from his self-exile in London, had it not been
for Iqbal. No struggle can be waged without a vision, & Jinnah's previous
vision had failed & died. In its place was born the Quranic dream, for which
we all thank Iqbal, & to which Jinnah was converted. Even a cursory reading
of Jinnah's speeches is a challenging proof of this.
The
passing of the flame: Iqbal & Jinnah:
Dr Z. Zaidi, working on the Jinnah papers, confirms the story of' the
delegation that came to pray for Iqbal when he lay on his deathbed.
Do not pray for me, Iqbal told them. I have done my job; I have
accomplished my mission. Now pray
for Jinnah; he has yet to accomplish his. What
was Jinnah's mission? And what was
the relationship between the two men?
Iqbal
& the challenge of modernity:
Allama Iqbal, like Jinnah, came from a modest social background.
He was the son of a tailor, from the respectable lower middle class in
the Punjab. His Kashmiri ancestors
had recently converted from Hinduism. There
is considerable uncertainty about his year of birth; scholars have placed it
somewhere between 1873 & 1877. As
a mature student, he arrived in Cambridge in 1905, & went on to complete his
PhD at Heidelberg; throughout his life, he retained a penchant for intellectual
synthesis & innovation.
Iqbal
was closely connected with the Anjuman-i-Himayat-I-lslam (Society for the
Support of Islam), which had been created with the direct participation of the
Mohammedan Education Conference headed by Sir Sayyed Ahmad Khan. In 1899, at the annual session of the society, lqbal made his
debut as a poet. Sayyed Ahmad's
philosophy of Muslim nationalism containing an implicit anti-imperial message
sat comfortably together with pro-British ideology in the Punjab; many Muslims
were unaware
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Relation Among Iqbal, Jinnah; Pakistan
of
the inherent contradictions. Punjabis approved of Sayyed Ahmad because they did
not share the bitterness against the British felt by many in & around Delhi
as a result of the uprisings of 1857-8. Indeed,
to
Muslims
in the Punjab, British rule, from 1849 onwards was an act of providence that
liberated them from the Sikhs.
Iqbal applied for & was rather ignominiously rejected by the lower
branches of the Civil Service. This
not only gave him a chip on his shoulder but also kept him in a precarious
financial position for most of his life. Only
after his literary reputation had been established & he became a member of
the Legislative Council in the Punjab in the 1920s did he achieves some economic
stability. But had he succeeded as
a bureaucrat it might have meant the death of Iqbal’s intellect; it certainly
would have muffled his poetic genius. The bureaucracy of the subcontinent is not
a safe place to house literary talent.
As the death of Jinnah's wife in 1929 was a turning point for him, so was
Iqbal's failing the provincial Civil Service examination in 1901.
Each man found he had nowhere to turn to except his community.
Thus, personal tragedies can often inadvertently affect the course of
someone's life. Although both were
drawn by the love of their community, during the 1920s Iqbal was often pitted
against Jinnah, since each took a separate path. Iqbal’s response to what
became known as the Delhi Proposals after the meetings held in Delhi on 20 March
1927, which achieved an agreement for the future constitutional development of
India, is an example (Malik 1971: 88): Jinnah as president of the League was
denounced by Iqbal & his colleagues from the Punjab.
Ralph Russell, the British expert on Urdu, begins a
chapter on lqbal by quoting a Pakistani friend: 'Pakistanis have three articles
of faith ‘Islam, the Quaid-i-Azam & Iqbal' (Russell 1992:176). lqbal
himself developed the teachings of Shah Waliullah, Sir Sayyed & Afghani. Sir
Sayyed's philosophy offered, in his words, 'a new orientation of Islam' (Malik
1971:126). Sir Sayyed, in turn, had
developed Shah Waliullah's ideas.
Iqbal's own position shifted from that of an ambassador of Hindu-Muslim
unity, like Jinnah, to that of championing his own community, the Muslims.
It is significant that one of his most famous poems Tarana-e-Hindi
('Indian Anthem'), which begins, 'Our Hindustan is the best place in the
world', is still a popular song in India although it was written in the early
twentieth century. He later wrote Tarana-e-Milli ('Anthem for the Muslim Community') for the
Muslims.
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Relation Among Iqbal, Jinnah; Pakistan
Iqbal's popularity rests in the fact that he wrote from the heart &
made a direct emotional appeal. For him, the warriors of Afghanistan could still
decisively influence the destiny of India, as had Ahmad Shah Abdali in the
eighteenth century. Although lqbal
did slide into sentimentality & a crude Muslim chauvinism, his work became
the epitome of the Muslim nostalgic sense of history. Ralph Russell comments:
'In short, Iqbal all too often shares, & appeals to, the deplorable
chauvinism that affects the Muslim community no less powerfully than Hindu
chauvinism affects the Hindus & British chauvinism the British’
(1992:187).
Iqbal's well-known demotic poems, the Shikwa
('Complaint' to God) & the Jawabe-Shikwa
('The Reply of God'), capture the essence of the modern Muslim malaise &
mood. Anyone interested in broad
Muslim responses to modernity regardless of nationality needs look no further
than Iqbal’s poems. That is why
when the Sabri Qawal group sang the Shikwa & jawab-e-Shikwa on cassette the
songs became instant bestsellers in South Asia in spite of competing with
Westernized pop songs. The two
poems reflect the best 'of Muslim thinking & the worst of Muslim prejudices,
appealing not so much to the mind as to the heart, for they were written in
anger. It is this radical anger,
which still appeals to Muslims today. Yet,
Iqbal's poems are directly inspired by the Mussaddas of Hali written late in the
last century. In the form of a long
peen!, the Mussaddas is a lament & a charter of action for the Muslims. In
it, the triumphs of the past are glorified, & through this pride, Muslims
call face the adversities of the age in which they live.
Only in discovering their own identity can they survive or they will be
extinguished.
It is a theme that would be picked up &
repeated by later Muslims. There is the loss of power, of glory (Andalusia is
often mentioned), the exposure of the hypocrisy of the, men of religion, the
emphasis on ilm or knowledge & finally the attempt to recreate glory, a call
to arms. These are eternal Muslim themes. Sir Sayyed is supposed to have said
that when he will be asked in heaven about his achievements on earth he would
reply that he had assisted Hali in writing the Mussaddas.
What lqbal did was to inject a new vigour & passion into popular Urdu
poetry. Furthermore, he took the ideals in the Mussaddas, the reading
of which was largely restricted to the middle-class urban intellectuals &
Urdu reading circles of Delhi, & spread them to the widest possible audience
of Muslims throughout India. Because
the colors are so brightly painted & the emotions are so raw, the appeal is
far greater. The Muslim masses
found in them a cultural rallying point.
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Relation Among Iqbal, Jinnah; Pakistan
'For
a thousand years the lily mourns its misfortune.
A
person who appreciates it is born with great difficulty.'
Scholars in Pakistan have agreed that in these verses lqbal was referring
to Jinnah & his relationship with the community.
In the last years of Iqbal's life, just before his death in 1938, there
was a fascinating interaction between him & Jinnah. Iqbal seemed to be drawing Jinnah into his world, &
Jinnah seemed to be moving almost inexorably towards it. 1 am not suggesting
that Iqbal converted Jinnah into a mystic or a Sufi, but that Iqbal gave Jinnah
an entirely new dimension to his understanding of Islam. There seems to have
formed between them a spiritual connection that resulted in the passing of the
flame from one to the other. Henceforth Jinnah would acknowledge lqbal as his
mentor. He went on to use the rhetoric, imagery & language that Iqbal had
perfected over the preceding decades; in doing so, he utilized them correctly,
with a sure instinct. Although he
may not have reached this point entirely through his own intellectual reasoning,
struggle, or anguish, once he eventually arrived he was unerring in grasp of
Iqbal’s position.
Jinnah took up Iqbal’s notions of a separate
Muslim homeland, of the discovery of an Islamic identity, of the construction of
an Islamic destiny & of pride in Muslim tradition & culture.
He thus not only embraced Iqbal’s political philosophy but consciously
absorbed his conceptual framework. Now
he was at one with the poet & through him with the powerful mainstream of
Muslim thought & culture. After
this time Jinnah would not put a foot wrong as far as the Muslim community was
concerned. His speeches, his behavior, his statements, his gestures, & his
clothes-all would be in harmony with his community. He had finally,
unequivocally, arrived home.
The eight letters lqbal wrote to Jinnah between 1936 & 1937 &
Jinnah's foreword to them helps us to understand the relationship (Malik 1971:
383). In his foreword, Jinnah calls
Iqbal
'The
sage, philosopher & national poet of Islam',
acknowledging
his role as a spiritual mentor.
It
is symptomatic of the turbulence of the times & the relative unimportance
given to literature. In modern
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Relation Among Iqbal, Jinnah; Pakistan
Muslim
society that the correspondence between Jinnah & lqbal is incomplete. Jinnah
was a meticulous man who would certainly have filed Iqbal's letters to him, but
Jinnah's letters to Iqbal are lost forever. Iqbal house, a poet's home, was no
doubt somewhat disorganized, so letters even from one of the most important
leaders of India might have been thrown together with piles of unimportant
papers or destroyed. They might
have been dispersed in the chaos that ensues at the death of a Muslim & the
struggle for property, in which families often ignore books & letters.
Jinnah sensed this loss & expressed it as 'much to be regretted' (Malik
1971: 384) He himself had no copies of his own letters.
On 21 June 1937, shortly before he died, Iqbal wrote the famous letter in
which he identified Jinnah as the leader Muslims had been waiting for:
’
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 North-West India,
& perhaps to the whole of India' (Malik 1971: 387i.
Pointing out that there’ is a civil war which as a matter of fact has
been going on for some time in the shape of Hindu-Muslim riots' (ibid. 386),
Iqbal added:
'I
fear that in certain parts of the country, for example North-West India,
Palestine may be repeated.'
Earlier, in 1930, Iqbal had not proposed a separate sovereign state but
expressed the two-nation theory. However,
in these letters to Jinnah he now advocated a sovereign Muslim state. lqbal
asked Jinnah,
'Why
should not the Muslims of North-West India & Bengal be considered as nations
entitled to self-determination just as other nations in India & outside
India are?'(ibid.: 388).
Inner secrets of the self, esoteric mysticism, hidden meanings,
definitions of divinity these were all outside Jinnah's intellectual domain
& held little real interest for him. He
was a pragmatist, the lawyer preparing his brief thoroughly & presenting it
with skill. Yet, Jinnah in his
foreword to the correspondence expressed his unanimity with Iqbal:
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Relation Among Iqbal, Jinnah; Pakistan
'His
views were substantially in consonance with my own & had finally led me to
the same conclusions as a result of careful examination & study of the
constitutional problems facing India’ (Malik 1971:384).
Jinnah
was usually precise in his choice of words. He was after all a top
constitutionalist lawyer &, words were the tools of his trade. Even his
quotations from Shakespeare remembered from his London days & his
infatuation with the theatre were used to reinforce a political point.
But when Jinnah said he was in agreement with lqbal did he mean what he
said? Two words in the sentence
'finally', which acknowledges that at the end he was at one with lqbal, &
’constitutional' give us an important clue to Jinnah's thinking during that
transitional period of his life.
Iqbal’s letters clearly are not concerned simply with 'constitutional'
matters. They discuss culture, society &, of course, politics-in fact the
destiny of his people, the Muslims. Iqbal's
links with Sufism need to be stressed. After the Holy Prophet (S A W), his hero
was Rumi, one of the greatest Sufi masters.
Significantly, before he left to study in the United Kingdom, he went to
Delhi to visit the shrine of Nizamuddin, the celebrated Sufi saint, companion,
& role model for that other noted Sufi figure, Amir Khusro.
So, when Jinnah stated that his own views were in 'consonance' with
Iqbal’s he was referring not only to Iqbal’s constitutional ideas but also
to Iqbal's general convictions. One cannot be accepted without the other, as
indeed Iqbal was at pains to point out in everything he said & wrote. Clearly, Jinnah was conceding far more than perhaps even he
realized.
Iqbal’s ideas on the Islamic nature of the community, the need to,
focus on the poor & the dispossessed (again derived from Islam), the
passionate reverence for the Holy Prophet (S A W), misgivings about the
'atheistic socialism' of Congress leaders like Nehru, the continuing
Hindu-Muslim riots, the emphasis on Muslim identity & destiny-all these
would become essential components of Jinnah's thinking.
Influence on Jinnah is
revealed in Jinnah's speeches from 1937 onwards. It is no coincidence that later in the same year Jinnah
referred to the 'magic power' of the Muslims in his presidential address to the
All-India Muslim League at Lucknow (Kaura 1977:192). The word 'magic' is redolent of mysticism; it is poetic.
It is not a word that we associate with Jinnah, whose speeches were
usually constructed on the basis of rational arguments & legalistic
references. Until now, he had
spoken of separate electorates, minority
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Relation Among Iqbal, Jinnah; Pakistan
representation,
& constitutional safeguards. Now
he would use Islamic symbolism to represent Pakistan. The moon of Pakistan is
rising, he would say. He would choose the crescent for the flag of Pakistan.
Something had clearly changed in the way that Jinnah was looking at the world.
Jinnah's speech contains the essence of Iqbal’s cultural arguments for
a separate state. When Pakistan was created & he delivered his first two
speeches to the Constituent Assembly in 1947, he once again echoed the themes of
a tolerant, compassionate, honest, caring society, one reflecting the time of
the holy Prophet of Islam (see chapter 7, 'Jinnah's Gettysburg address').
In a hard-hitting letter to Jinnah written on 28 May 1937, lqbal pointed
out: 'the problem of bread is becoming more & more acute. The Muslim has
begun to feel that he has been going down & down during the last 200
years.... The question therefore is: how is it possible to solve the problem of
Muslim poverty? And the whole future of the League depends on the League's
activity to solve this question. If the League can give no such promises I am
sure the Muslim masses will remain indifferent to it as before' (Malik 1971:
385). So the issue of bread was another plank of Iqbal’s political platform.
Now listen to Jinnah echo lqbal in his presidential address at the thirtieth
session of the All-India Muslim League at Delhi, on 24 April 1943:
Here I should like to give a warning to the landlords & capitalists
who have flourished at our expense by a system which is so vicious, which is so
wicked & which makes them so selfish, that it is difficult to reason with
them. The exploitation of the
masses has gone into their blood. They
have forgotten the lesson of Islam.... There are millions & millions of our
people who hardly get one meal a day. Is this civilization?
Is this the aim of Pakistan? (Cries of 'No, No')... If that is the idea
of Pakistan, I would not have it.... The minorities are entitled to get a
definite assurance or to ask 'Where do we stand in the Pakistan that you
visualize?' (Merchant 1990: 10-11)
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Relation Among Iqbal, Jinnah; Pakistan
In 1946, he repeated the same theme in Calcutta: 'I am an old man. God
has given me enough to live comfortably at this age. Why would I turn my blood
into water, run? about, & take so much trouble? Not for the capitalists
surely, but for you, the poor people.... I feel it &, in Pakistan, we will
do all in our power to see that everybody can get a decent living'(R.
Ahmed 1993:62).
Jinnah spoke to the underprivileged in society, the young, & the
dispossessed. He talked about the economic needs of the community, he spoke of
their victorious past, & he promised a future for them. For the first time
the Muslims outside the closed circle of the elite were being addressed. He was
probably the first All~lndia Muslim leader who was specifically referring to
economic issues, as Iqbal had advised him. Yet, another plank is what lqbal
called 'the atheistic socialism of jawaharlal' (Malik 1971: 385). lqbal was
clearly suspicious of Hindu socialism. In
1944, Jinnah declared: 'we do not want any flag excepting the League flag of the
Crescent & Star. Islam is our
guide & the complete code of our life. We do not want any red or yellow flag. We do not want any
isms, Socialisms, Communisms or National Socialisms' (R. Ahmed 1993: 153).
lqbal believed that an Islamic renaissance would save Muslims. He said in
his address as president of the 1930 session of the All-India Muslim League:
'one lesson I have learnt from the history of Muslims. At critical moments in
their history it is Islam that has saved Muslims & not vice versa.'
Iqbal proposed the creation of 'an assembly of ulema to protect, expand &, if necessary, to reinterpreted, the
laws of Islam in the light of modern conditions’ (Malik 1971: 94).
In keeping with his thinking in 1938 just before he died Iqbal invited
Maulana Maududi, the founder of the Islamic party, the jamat~i-Islami, to
establish an Islamic Research Institute in the Punjab (ibid. 398).
He was already wishing to give an Islamic character to the Ummah-something
that Jinnah would pick up & express in speeches such as the following:
The injunctions of the Quran are not confined to religious & moral
duties. The Quran is a complete code for the Muslims-a religious, social, civil,
commercial, military, judicial, criminal, & penal code. It regulates
everything, from religious ceremonies to the affairs of daily life; from
salvation of the soul to health of the body; from the rights of all to the
rights of each individual; from morality to crime; from punishment here to that
in the life to come. Our Prophet (S
A W) has enjoined on us that every Musalman should possess a copy of the Quran
& be his own priest. (Merchant 1990: X)
It is significant that in his poetry & in his prose lqbal defended
Turkey & the idea of pan-Islamism, the
83
Relation Among Iqbal, Jinnah; Pakistan
universal
Muslim brotherhood. He regarded it as the duty of Muslims to support the Turks,
whether the Ottoman or the modern Turkish state.
In his book of poetry, Payam-i-Mashriq,
published in Lahore in 1923, Iqbal dedicated one of his poems to Mustapha
Kemal Pasha (Kemal Ataturk). Jinnah
would fervently repeat the refrain of pan-Islamic action. In his presidential
address at Lucknow in 1937, Jinnah stated: 'The Muslims of India will stand
solidly & will help the Arabs in every way they can in their brave &
just struggle that they are carrying on against all odds' (R.
Ahmed 1993:91). Jinnah was predicting - & promoting - an Islamic bloc
years before it became a reality, promising to liberate first the Muslims of
India & then the Muslims of the world.
Notwithstanding the Muslim extremists, Jinnah's statements after his
conversion to the Muslim cause like 'l shall never allow Muslims to be slaves of
Hindus’ (Sayeed 1968: 199) became a battle cry, a philosophical utterance,
& a call for political action. This would find an immediate echo in Muslims
throughout India. It explains why, in spite of all the orthodox Muslim
propaganda against him-that he was not sufficiently a practicing Muslim, that he
could not even say his prayers properly in Arabic, that his actions were
un-Islamic, that he could not speak Urdu, the language he claimed was the
national language of the Muslims - Jinnah came to be acknowledged by his
followers it’s the Quaid-i-Azam. At the height of the Pakistan movement, in
the middle of a hectic schedule, in December 1944 Jinnah paused to pay tribute
to lqbal. His words sum up his deep
feelings & what to him was an intensely close relationship: To the cherished
memory of our National Poet lqbal, I pay my homage on this day, which is being
celebrated in commemoration of that great poet, sage, philosopher & thinker,
& 1 pray to God Almighty that his soul may rest in eternal peace.
Amen!
Though he is not amongst us, his verse, immortal as it is, is always
there to guide us & to inspire us.... He was a true & faithful follower
of the Holy Prophet (S A W) - a Muslim first & a Muslim last. He was the
interpreter & voice of Islam. (j. Ahmad
1976:146) Iqbal the thinker had passed the flame to Jinnah the man of action.
The result was a formidable combination of ideas & action. Nothing would
stop the Muslims now.
Conclusion
By
Muhammad Ali Munir
84
Conclusion
Conclusion:
As we’ve seen that
the theme of our topic has been just & justice. When we look into the
history, we see that just & justice has been the basic element of success.
Historical
Background
Iqbal’s
Contribution:
We see that Iqbal perhaps the best poet &
greatest Sufi & scholar of his time is strictly a man of just & justice.
He goes for many different ways. We see that when he does not have the idea of a
separate homeland for the Muslims, he is a true Hindustani. He writes poems for
the love of Hindustan & rates it very highly. Some
examples are like "The Bang-e-Dara".
But when a time comes that he unveils the truth, his life comes across an
abrupt change. He says that the Muslims of the subcontinent have a right to ask
for separate homeland. He even mentions the areas, which according to him should
be included in the separate homeland for Muslims. After this, he starts writing
poetry with the purpose of independence. We see that, he is a man of rules &
rules come only by just & justice. He wants to encourage the sub-continental
Muslims & wants to keep it assured that the Muslims are aware of all the
happenings around them. He even chooses the man to guide Muslims, i.e. the
Quaid. One can see that in his Allahbad address he didn't mention Bengal in the
areas to be included in Pakistan. Hence, one can easily assume that he's
watching perhaps the coming 100 or more years. This classifies him without a
shadow of the doubt a "Sufi" & a to become a Sufi, just &
justice is the basic requirement.
Jinnah’s
Contribution:
Now coming to Jinnah, none different from Iqbal. From a very tender age,
he proved himself to be a just person. He went to Britain in his teens, but
never touched alcohol or came near to a girl. He is the best barrister of his
time. He is aware of the conditions of Muslims in the sub-continent. Before
Iqbal s Allahbad address, Jinnah doesn’t have any idea about Pakistan. But
still he is looking for a benefit of Muslims. He demands seats for them in the
national provincial assemblies. He is trying his best to unite the Muslims &
Hindus. From this he obviously perceives that by doing this, it will create
peace in the area & Muslims be able to get their citizen rights. But when he
comes across Iqbal's idea, he becomes a different leader altogether. He starts
different movements to awaken the Muslims. He says that Pakistan is not going to
be a piece of land, but here Islam will be implemented. He terms Pakistan as the
legal tight of the Muslims, where they live freely according to their religion
& then comes the Qarardad-e-Pakistan.
85
Conclusion
From
here on the campaign of independence really heats up. All of this carries on
under the magnificent leadership of the Quaid. All of these facts show, what a
great leader he was & to become a good leader just & justice is a key
factor.
And then we see the greatest moments in the story of the sub-continent,
creation of Pakistan. We see that during the creation of Pakistan, at all the
corners just & justice is being applied. We see that Pakistan despite all
the difficulties is being created in the name of Allah. The help of Allah &
Divine powers were with us during creation of Pakistan, only because we were
just & were fighting for justice.
“IMPORTANT
EVENTS AFTER 1947”
The
1965 War:
One of the very important events after creation of Pakistan was the 1965
war. Pakistan's initial problems were very much devastating. Pakistan was
threatened by all the foreign powers. It was the case with India. It created
havoc by stopping the water from the rivers. It all concluded with the beginning
of 1965 war. Under the leadership of General Ayub Khan, all of us were united.
We gave India a real tough fight. They were beaten very badly. Our soldiers
created history. All of this happened because we were just & we were
fighting for justice.
Tragedy
of East Pakistan:
Then
came another very important event, which was the 1971 war. It marked the
separation of East Pakistan. If we recall we would come to know that during
Allahbad's address; Iqbal didn't mention the East Pakistan (Bengal). Same was
the case here. We were not united, even some people said: hum idhar, tum udhar. It all
goes to show that neither were we just nor were we fighting for justice.
We see that in 1954, when the national assembly was dissolved, Khawaja
Nazimuddin, who belonged to East Pakistan, was sent home. Hence, balance of
power shifted to West Pakistan. In the 1956 constitution 50% of the national
assembly, seats were allocated for East Pakistan, although they deserved more
because they were clearly in majority. Also almost 70% of the exports were sent
from Bengal, while only 30% from West Pakistan. But when it came to the share of
exports the Bengalis had just 40% with respect to the West Pakistan’s 60%. Due
to all these reasons hatred really hottened up between the Bengalis & us.
During the first general elections,
86
Conclusion
Najeeb-ur-Rehman
took 160 out of the 162 allotted seats; while Bhutto took 82 out of the allotted
138. Hence, once again, the Bengalis had an upper hand on us. But they were
continuously ignored of their basic rights. All of this led to the 1971 war.
Bengalis had “Mukthi Behani”, which was a militant group. It fought against
the Pakistan Army. General Tikkah Khan ordered the Pak-Army to literally do any
thing to destroy the “Mukthi Behani”. Free hand was given, & a time came
when even our Bengali sisters were dishonored. As a result, we lost our Bengali
Brothers.
Reign
of Bhutto:
Then
came the reign of Mr. Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto. He was considered to be one of the
best leaders of all time. Everything was seemed to be heading in the right way.
At that time, he selected General Zia-ul-Haq as the chief of the army staff. Zia
was sixth in the seniority list. Hence, Bhutto made a blunder by neglecting all
the seniors.
But the worst was still to come as Zia took over the charge with extreme
illegality. Bhutto was sent to the prison. On the worst part, Bhutto was hanged.
Hence, he also faltered & as a result was severely punished in the form of
death. He was thus, eliminated.
Reign
of Zia:
As we see, that Zia took over the government charge from Bhutto in
illegal circumstances. From the very start of his carrier, Zia wanted to remain
in the power. He even hanged the prime minister of his time to fulfill his
dream. Hence, from the very beginning, Zia wasn’t following the path of just
& justice.
Zia promised that elections would be held within 90 days. But that
promise wasn’t fulfilled. He ruled the country for about 10 years. But all of
this had to come to an end. It did come to an end. In 1987/88 Zia had a plane
crash & not a piece of his body was found. Hence, he was yet another victim,
who wasn’t a follower of the just path. Ultimately, he faltered & Allah
the Almighty punished him in the worst possible manner. Zia was thus,
eliminated.
Benazir
& Nawaz Sharif:
Then
we come to the reigns of Benazir Bhutto & Nawaz Sharif. Both faltered. The
National Assembly during Bhutto’s reign was dismissed. All this happened
because she slipped from the path of just & justice.
Nawaz Sharif had all the opportunities to make history. He could have
been the greatest leader of all times. He took every step possible for the
betterment of Pakistan. He
87
Conclusion
won
the hearts of all the Pakistanis by ordering the construction for Motor Highway.
It was the first highway of it’s kind in Asia. It was specially a great
achievement for Pakistan, as it is considered as a third world country. This
highway opened new ways for better future. It also took a giant step towards
eradicating unemployment. Due to this transportation improved vastly. Also new
business routes were introduced. Besides this, the Nawaz Government took steps
for the betterment of health facilities. It also took steps to remove illiteracy
by opening new educational institutes, which introduced IT, courses. But the
history was still to be made. It was the day when Nawaz Sharif ordered for the
nuclear explosion. It without a shadow of the doubt was the greatest moment in
the history of Pakistan. It was an answer to all those foreign powers, which had
questioned whether Pakistan was good enough to defend its boundaries from the
foreign attacks. This question was answered in the best possible way. It also
was a great honor for us. This event made Pakistan very much prominent on the
world globe. Pakistan became only the seventh nuclear power in the world, which
was a great feat for a backward country like Pakistan. Due to this huge decision
by Nawaz Sharif, almost every member of the Pakistani nation was behind him. But
he faltered. He thought that he had all the powers to rule. He should have
remained calm, cool, & collective. A sensible approach was needed at the
time. But it wasn’t to be. He slipped from the right way, which was the path
of just & justice. Hence, Mr. Sharif was yet another victim; who suffered
the consequences, because he was not just. Allah Almighty had given him a great
chance to rule the hearts of his countrymen. But he faltered. The Military took
over the charge & Nawaz Sharif was sent to jail. Later he was accused of
several charges. Some of them have been decided, due to which he has been fined.
He also has a life long imprisonment. Still several cases against Nawaz are in
the court. There is absolutely no way that he can be released in the near
future. Thus, Nawaz Sharif was yet another victim, who didn’t follow the path
of “just & justice”.
The
Final Word:
From all of the
above discussion we see that survival is only for the fittest. There is no room
for faltering personalities. One should be absolutely sure with all the
decisions. Pakistan was made in the name of Islam. But with a heavy heart, all
of us should accept, that Pakistan hasn’t turned out the state that it should
have been. Quaid had great hopes & expectations from this nation. But none
of those have been fulfilled. We are way behind the rest of the world. To be
competitive one needs to give his 100% & his full application. Only then, we
can advance. All of our great leaders had full dedication for any type of
assignment. The qualities of sheer hard work
88
Conclusion
&
100% dedication only come, if we follow the right path, & the right path is
that of “just & justice”.
It just goes to show us that to be successful, one will have to be right &
just. If not, no success is possible. For the better future of Pakistan, all of
us would have to be united. We should work hard for the betterment of our
country. For all this, we should follow our great leaders, Iqbal & Quaid, as
both of them were just. Hence, it's crystal clear that only by being just &
justice, we can develop the future of Pakistan.
References:
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Encyclopedia
of Pakistan
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Encarta
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Yahoo.com
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Notes
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