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BOOKREVIEW [247]

this book was written by a learned scholarwho was able to digest andtranscendhis masteropened he door for new horizons.

It seems that (Chapter 7, which was devoted to Responses oIslamization of Contemporary Knowledge, is quite controversial.

Although it is well documented, yet it has became ittle more thanpetty polemics. Obviously, al-Attas embodied in his writings both asystematic inguistic analysis of major concepts n Islam and somewhatrough-edgedways of thinking. This last elementwas reflected in this

chapter.Finally, it should be noted that Wan Daud has the necessaryand

sufficient knowledge to undertake not only the task of giving anexposition of al-Attas' philosophyof education, but also to articulate a

genuine concept of Islamic philosophy of education. These make thiswork a welcome undertaking. Though this book suffers from both therepetitiveness n the narrative and occasional apse of style, it exhibitsa rich scholarship. Most importantly, it introducesus to the author, an

upcoming philosopherof Islamic education.

Jinnah: The Quest for Pakistan's Identity

Quaid-i-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah: His Personality and His

Politics by S.M. Burke and Salim AL-Din Quraishi, Karachi: Oxford

University Press, 1997. pp. 412. ISBN 0 195777832.Jinnah, Pakistan and Islamic Identity: The Search or Saladin byAkbar S. Ahmed, London: Routledgeand Kegan Paul, 1997. pp. 274.

ISBN 0415 14966-5.

Reviewer: Zafar Afaq Ansari, Departmentof Psychology, nternational

Islamic University Malaysia.

Mohammad Ali Jinnah--usually called Quaid-i-Azam [the greatleader] in Pakistan-is one of the most enigmatic and controversialfigures of current south-Asian history. He has been portrayed as anagent of British imperialism, as well as a rabid British-hater; anambassadorof Hindu-Muslim unity, as well as a fanatic Muslimleader; a statesmanwho raised the slogan of an Islamic state beforepartition, and then turned his back on the idea on the eve of

independenceby declaring that the state has nothing to do withreligion. Jinnab.was an anglophile o the core, but became he targetofscorn and contempt of the British establishment. He was the last

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personwho could be consideredas a leader of Muslims--he belongedto Isma'ili sect, married a Parseewoman (who converted to Islam),

and spoke no Urdu, which was the lingua franca of Muslims in pre-partition India, and yet he became heir most powerful voice.

Jinnah did not live long after the creation of Pakistan, and the newPakistan that he created quickly moved away from the vision of

Jinnah. The country gradually came nto the grip of an undemocraticmilitary-feudal 'establishmentbent upon retaining power at all costs.The ideals of selflessservice, integrity and incorruptibility, establishedby Jinnah were forgotten. And for all practical purposes he world,including Pakistan, appeared eady o forget Jinnah.

However 1997 saw a suddenburst of interest in Jinnah in P~stan

as well as abroad. At least four books appearedon his life, missionand vision. Apart from Rabbani's I Was Jinnah's ADC, and AkbarAhmad's illustrated novel The Quaid: Jinnah and the Story ofPakistan, two major works dealing with Jinnah as a person and

politician appeared. They are: Quaid-i-Azam MohammadAli Jinnah:His Personality and His Politics by S.M. Burke and Salim aI-DinQuraishi, and, Jinnah, Pakistan and Islamic Identity: The Search orSaladin by Akbar S. Ahmed. A full-length feature film on Jinnah

(made by Akbar S. Ahmad), and a documentary ilm, Mr. Jinnah: TheMaking of Pakistanby Christopher Mitchell have also appeared.

This suddenburst of interest in Jinnah is probably not so much anattempt o understand innah, as to understandPakistan, ts genesisandits present predicament. Both the books are well researched andthoroughly documented,and bring out new information and analyses,

thus adding o the literature on Jinnahand Pakistan.

Burke and Quraishi's book is more on the politics of Mr. Jinnah

than on his personality, although t does give some nteresting nsightson the public personality of Mr. Jinnah. The basic question hat Burkeand Quraishi have tried to address is how Jinnah, who was anadvocate of unity between people beJonging o various religions,particularly Hindus and Muslims, reached he conclusion hat it was animpossibledream. The answer of the authors' is that the emergenceofM. K. Gandhi on the Indian scene and his complete domination ofCongresswere the major reasons or the split. Jinnahwas able to workwith politicians like Gokhle, whom he greatly admired, and even with

Tilak with whom he came to an understanding,which led to the finalacceptance f what was later termed as Luckhnow Pact n 1916. B. G.Tilak, Mr. Jinnah recalled later, was a practical person; he could do

businesswith a practical person.

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In a very interesting section Burke and Quraishi deal with thecharacterand political style of Jinnah. They list among others Jinnah'sintegrity, his constitutionalism, his secular politics, his reserved butcorrect behaviour. They do not mentionhis practical, realistic mode ofthinking. This was a very important part of personality. He did wantIndia to remain united, and pursued this policy with a great deal ofzeal. However, by 1920's he began to suspect hat this was not apractical solution. This was the period when Mr. Gandhi became adominant figure in Congress. Mr. Gandhi's advocacy of non-

cooperation with government, boycotting courts, government-runeducational institutions, and giving up government jobs, wassomething hat Jinnah found unrealistic. However, when the Nagpursession December 1920)adopteda resolutionenvisaging swaraj self-

rule) within a year, Jinnah could not bear with it any further. Burkeand Quraishi say, Of the thousandswho attended he Nagpur session,Jinnah alone had the courage to walk to the rostrum and oppose heresolution (p.131). History proved that Gandhi was wrong, and twoyears later he called off the movement. But the most difficult problemwas the non-rational and impractical attitude of Gandhi, and that of theIndian National Congress, regarding he Muslims. They could not (orwould not) accept he fact that there were problems betweenHindusand Muslims that needed o be sorted out.

Jinnah however did not give up the idea of some sort of politicalsettlement, which would enable Hindus and Muslims (and otherreligious groups) o live together n a united and free India. In the mid-thirties, when he returned to active politics again after self-imposedexile in England, he was still hopeful of a settlement, which wouldgive Indian Muslims a modicum of security. Gandhi, and Congressunder him, on the other hand, continued o insist that Muslims have no

separateexistence, and so the questionof security did not arise--and

that Congress epresentedall Indian communities including Muslims.Their inability to see the problem was what led to the partition ofIndia.

Burke and Quraishi point out that it was Gandhi and not Jinnah whobrought religion into politics. Gandhi's explanation was that bybringing out religious issues in politics he was bringing the massescloser to the Congress.However, focus on religious issuesalso led toa widening of the gulf between he Hindus and Muslims, becausewhatGandhi was trying to do was to revive Hinduism in the name of Indian

nationalism.

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Akbar S. Ahmad raisesan interestingquestion: why were the IndianMuslims so much enamoured of Jinnah? Remember, this was theperiod when many famous and capable Muslim leaders were around-Maulana

Abul Kalam Azad, Maulana Hussain Ahmad Madani,

Allama Mashriqi, Abdul Ghaffar Khan, Abdus Samad KhanAchakzai---all of them were immenselypopular eaders, who opposedJinnah and were rejected by the Muslim masses or this reason. Someothers, who were initially opposed o his politics, like Mohammad Aliand ShaukatAli, later becameconvinced of his standand oined him.Akbar finds the answer o this in a particular phenomenonof Muslimpsyche. Muslims, according to Akbar, are always looking for a leaderin the image of SalahuddinAyyubi. Someonewho is distinguished n

terms of personal courage, integrity and wisdom, and thesecharacteristicscome of good use to Muslims in their fight againstverypowerful adversaries, in the present case, Congress and the British,whose collusion against he Muslim interest has been highlighted by

Akbar Ahmad.

Akbar S. Ahmad's book brings out a lot of fresh information and

new insights aboutJinnah, particularly regardinghis personallife--hisrelationship with his wife and daughter. While Jinnah did haveproblems in his marital life, the couple maintained affection andrespect for each other. When Jinnah came to know of his wife'sillness, he left everything and rushed to Paris, and stayed by herbedside for a month till she improved. On hearing of her death heimmediately returned to Bombay, and while she was being buried he broke down completely and cried like a child (p.15). The same strue for his relationship with his daughter. When his daughterdecidedto marry contrary to his wishes here was a period of great strain, butultimately he reconciled himself to the marriage. Correspondence

betweenJinnah and Dina, which has beenunearthed ecently, indicatesthe warmth of their relationship. Contrary to what is generallythought, they continued to meet and correspond, and when Jinnahdied, Dina flew into Karachi to attend his last rites. Jinnah was nodoubt an intensely private person, and would not allow anyone o bepart of his inner life. Hence a lot of misunderstandings n this account.

Jinnah was also a very proud man, with a great deal of self-respect.In the early part of this century, when most Indians would have

considered it to bean honour even to shake the hand of anEnglishman, he kept himself aloof from the crowd of sycophants.Hisdealings with Mountbatten, who tried to browbeat him into acceptingaunited India, are now legend. His snub to Mountbatten by not

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BOOK REVIEW [251 ]

accepting him as Governor General of Pakistanas well as of India,created a bitterness hat could never be repaired. Mountbatten houghtthat Jinnah was cold, obstinate, humourless and a psychopath.Akbar shows how the media (including Attenborough's film, Gandhi)acceptedand promoted this distorted version of Jinnah's personality,

and even scholarshave taken t as gospel ruth.

What was Jinnah's vision of Pakistan?A secularstate ike India, assome would have us believe? Much has been made of his 11 Augustspeech n the National Assembly of Pakistan. Wolpert in Jinnah ofPakistanbelieves that the remarks that he made on that occasionwerenot really any prepared ext, which was the habit of Jinnah. They weremore rambling, largely inspired by the carnage that was gQing on in

the sub-continent. Akbar says that rather than asking the question

whether Jinnah was a secularist or a fundamentalist, the moreinteresting question, perhaps, s what kind of Islam Jinnah would havewanted to be practised in his state. Did he advocate what could bedescribedas a more compassionate nd tolerant form of Islam, one inaccordancewith the most scholarly thinking within the religion and yetembracing all humanity, or a more literalist, rigid Islam in

confrontation with other religions? (p.194)

It must be noted that Jinnah's attitudes towards religion evolved

over a period of time. While his early background has not preparedhim for a full understandingof religious practices, he did show signsof deeper religiosity, for instance when he decided to join Lincoln'sInn in preference o any other law society, because t listed the holyProphet as one of the greatest awgivers. However, there is evidencethat in his later years he moved towards Islam as a sourceof guidance.He constantlyquoted he Qur'an, and the sayingsof the holy Prophet,and pointed out that they are still valid models of societalconduct. Heincreasingly felt that Pakistan should draw upon these sources for

developinga unique and ust systemgovernance.

Both the books are highly readable and valuable additions to the

much-needediterature on Jinnah and Pakistan.

of Poverty

Poverty From Multidimensional Perspectives: A Micro Level Study

of SevenMalaysian Kampungs (Villages), by Ataul Huq (Pramanik).Kuala Lumpur: CahayaPantai M) Sdn. Bhd, 1998. ISBN983-9759-46-9.

Reviewer: Syed Serajul Islam, Department of Political 5cience,

International slamic University Malaysia.

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