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Quaide Azam
Mohammed Ali Jinnah:
A Khoja Shia Ithna Asheri Luminary
ndia became Independent in 1947 when the country was divided
as India and Pakistan. Four men played a significant role in
shaping the end of British rule in India: The British Viceroy, Lord
Louis Mountbatten, the Indian National Congress leaders Mahatma
Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru, and the Muslim League leader,
Mohamed Ali Jinnah. Jinnah led the Muslims of India to create the
largest Muslim State in the world then. In 1971 East Pakistan
separated to emerge as Bangladesh.
Much has been written about the first three in relative
complimentary terms. The fourth leading player, Mohammed Ali
Jinnah, founding father of Pakistan, lovingly called Quaid-e-Azam (the
great leader) has been much maligned by both Indian and British
writers. Richard Attenborough's hugely successful film Gandhi has
also done much to portray Jinnah in a negative light.
I
E x c e r p t f r o m E n d a n g e r e d S p e c i e s | 4
The last British Viceroy, Lord Louis Mountbatten, spared no
adjectives in demonizing Jinnah, and his views influenced many
writers. Akber S. Ahmed quotes Andrew Roberts from his article in
Sunday Times, 18 August,1996: “Mountbatten contributed to the
slander against Jinnah, calling him vain, megalomaniacal, an evil
genius , a lunatic, psychotic case and a bastard, while publicly
claiming he was entirely impartial between Jinnah’s Pakistan and
Nehru’s India. Jinnah rose magisterially above Mountbatten’s bias, not
even attacking the former Viceroy when, as Governor General of India
after partition, Mountbatten tacitly condoned India’s shameful
invasion of Kashmir in October 1947.”1
Among recent writers, Stanley Wolport with his biography: Jinnah
of Pakistan, and Patrick French in his well researched Freedom or
Death analyzing the demise of the British rule in India come out with
more balanced portrayal of Jinnah - his role in the struggle for India’s
independence and in the creation of Pakistan. Prof. Akber S. Ahmed
in his Jinnah – Pakistan and Islamic Identity – The search for a Saladin
makes a valiant attempt at reassessing the role of Jinnah.
“While paying lip service, most of the leaders of Pakistan have
ignored him,” writes Akber S. Ahmed. “He was too much of a giant, too
honest and firm in his moral correctness to make them comfortable.
This indeed is the perception of those who knew Jinnah and can
compare him to his successors.”2
The first Netherlands Ambassador to independent India, Mr.
Winkelman told me that he knew Jinnah well. He had bought Jinnah’s
house at 10 Auranghzeb Road in New Delhi which served as the
Chancery for the Netherlands Embassy in Delhi. In response to my
Q u a i d e A z a m M o h a m e d A l i J i n n a h | 5
query whether Jinnah was a difficult man to deal with, Winkelman
gave me an interesting analysis. ‘Jinnah’ he said, ‘was an extremely
intelligent person. At the same time he had an equally high standard of
personal morality. Such people would not stand mediocrity and
flippancy. As a result they at times sound impatient or cold since they
would not suffer fools. Jinnah was one such person’. Mr. Winkelman
was full of praise for Jinnah as a ‘most well mannered and cultured
gentleman.’
In the light of the Indian scene then, Mr. Winkelman went on to
define the philosophical difference between a Hindu and a Muslim.
According to him, for a Hindu, the ultimate utopian concept was the
mythological Ram Raj where a person would live in a thatched hut; eat
out of palm leaves to serve as plates and where a lion and a goat
would peacefully drink water from the same pond. For a Hindu, the
Ram Raj had come and gone and one could only yearn for it.
For a Muslim, according to Mr. Winkelman, there has not been
such Ram Raj. Even in the days of the Holy Prophet, the life of Prophet
Muhammad was beset with endless struggle. The Ram Raj for a
Muslim is the ultimate concept of Jannat for which he has to work
hard in this life to be worthy of it. Jinnah understood this
philosophical difference between the Hindu and the Muslim outlook
and struggled to lead Indian Muslims to a better future.3
To add to the complexity of Jinnah bashing, a new debate has since
emerged among Pakistani Muslims. Questions are now raised as to
whether Jinnah was a Shia or a Sunni. There are claims and counter
claims. A man who throughout his life never projected himself as a
deeply religious person, did not court cheap popularity on religious
E x c e r p t f r o m E n d a n g e r e d S p e c i e s | 6
grounds and was careful enough not to be entrapped into the
sectarian divide that ails the Muslim society today, is now being
touted as either Sunni or Shia by the respective communities.
Who was Jinnah then? Why this belated interest in determining
the sect he belonged to?
Mohamed Ali Jinnah was born in Karachi on December, 25, 1876,
in a Khoja family. As we have seen before and reviewed in greater
depth in this book, the Khoja community in India was then fragmented
into three sections. There were Khoja who practiced the Nizari Ismaili
faith and looked upon the successive Aga Khans as their Nizari Ismaili
Imams. The second group practiced the Shia Ithna-Asheri faith while
the third group was known to be practicing the Sunni faith. Despite
their doctrinal differences, because of common ethnicity, all three
Khoja societies were closely interlinked and operated as one ethnic
group. Often the individual sectarian beliefs and practices were so
intertwined and overlapped with the beliefs and practices of the other
Khoja sects that at times it was difficult to determine who was an
Ismaili, Ithna-Asheri or a Sunni Khoja. The crunch came in 1862 when
the first group separated to proclaim themselves distinctly as Sunni
Khoja. A decade later, from 1873 onwards, yet another group
branched out from the main Khoja community to proclaim themselves
as the Khoja Shia Ithna-Asheri community.
It has been widely believed that at about the period when
Mohamed Ali Jinnah was born, his parents had declared themselves as
Shia Ithna-Asheri as was the case with many other Khoja families at
the time. Hatim Alavi, an associate of Jinnah, himself a reformist
Q u a i d e A z a m M o h a m e d A l i J i n n a h | 7
Bohra, has stated that “Jinnah was born as Ithna-Asheri Khoja and
remained to be one until his death.”4
Commenting on the faith of Muhammad Ali Jinnah, the community
he hailed from and the attributes of the Khoja community, Stanley
Wolport author of Jinnah of Pakistan writes: “Though religion never
played an important role in Jinnah’s life - except for its political
significance - he left the Aga Khan’s “Sevener” Khoja community at this
stage of his maturation, opting instead to join the less hierarchically
structured Ithna-Asheri sect of the “Twelver” Khojas, who
acknowledged no leader. One of Jinnah’s most admired friends, Justice
Badrudin Tayabji (1844-1906) the first Muslim high court judge and
third president of the Indian National Congress was Ithna Asheri”5
About the community of Jinnah and his personal attributes,
Stanley Wolport further writes: “Jinnah (in Arabic, wing as of a bird or
army) was born a Shi’ite Muslim Khoja (Khwaja, noble) a minority
community within Islam, itself a religious minority in India, the Khojas
of South Asia remained doubly conscious of their separateness and
cultural difference, helping perhaps to account for the “aloofness” so
often noted as a characteristic quality of Jinnah and his family. Khojas,
like other mercantile communities the world over, however, traveled
extensively, were quick to assimilate new ideas, and adjusted with
relative ease to strange environments. They developed linguistic skills
and sharp intelligence, often acquiring considerable wealth. Mahatma
Gandhi’s Hindu merchant (bania) family, by remarkable coincidence,
settled barely thirty miles to the north of Jinnah’s grandparents, in the
state of Rajkot. Thus the parents of the Fathers of both India and
E x c e r p t f r o m E n d a n g e r e d S p e c i e s | 8
Pakistan shared a single mother tongue, Gujarati, though that never
helped their brilliant offspring to communicate.”6
In Moslems on the March, F.W. Frenau comments that the family of
Jinnah “was not of the Sunnite persuasion of the majority of the Indian
Moslems, but belonged to the sect of Khojahs. This is one of the
countless offshoots of the Shia. It is something like a cast, in so far as
one can only become Khojah by birth. Most of the Khojahs are
followers of the Aga Khan. Jinnah was a believing Moslem, but by no
means was a fanatic; or he would not have married a Parsee lady.”7
M. A. H. Isphahani, a close associate of Jinnah who later became the
first Pakistani Ambassador to the United States writes in Quaid-E-
Azam Jinnah as I knew him: “In the course of one of our many intimate
conversations, the Quaid-E-Azam told me that he was an Ismaili Khoja
by birth, and when he was twenty-one, decided to quit the ranks of the
Ismailis and join the Ithna Asheri fold. This he did and before long, he
converted his family too. He was convinced that the faith built up by
the first and second Aga Khan and thereafter by the third Aga Khan,
Sir Sultan Mohamed Shah, the present Aga Khan was so unnecessary
that he tried to persuade the Aga Khan himself to abandon his
headship of the Ismailis and to join the ranks of the Ithna Asheri, to
which sect most members of the Aga Khan’s own family belonged.” 8
The nationalist in Jinnah did not approve of the Aga Khan’s role in
Indian politics. The Aga Khan has also admitted that they “never saw
eye to eye.” In his political autobiography, Ayub Khan has recorded the
views expressed by the Aga Khan on Jinnah.
Q u a i d e A z a m M o h a m e d A l i J i n n a h | 9
“Then one day, the Aga Khan started talking about his association
with the Quaid-e-Azam. He said: ‘He and I never saw eye to eye, but I
regarded him as a very great man indeed. I say this because you get
one or two opportunities in life when you have to make major
decisions. The Quaid-e-Azam had the chance of saying whether
Muslims of India should not have Pakistan and he said: “They will have
nothing but Pakistan.” He took the right decision, at the right time. You
can see his breadth of vision, how great he was a man of tremendous
determination and sense of purpose. Once he made up his mind he put
everything into it. I wish he had lived.” 9
Of late, there have been attempts by some to claim that towards
the end of his life, Jinnah was in fact a Sunni. Akber S. Ahmed author of
Jinnah – Pakistan and Islamic Identity – the search for a Saladin, writes:
“Although born into a Khoja (from khwaja or noble) family who were
disciples of the Ismaili Aga Khan, Jinnah moved towards the Sunni sect
early in life. There is evidence later, given by relatives and associates
in court that he was firmly a Sunni Muslim by the end of his life
(Merchant, 1990).”10
Prof. Akber quotes Yahya Bakhtiar who saw Jinnah at close
quarters saying that Jinnah was “a very sincere, deeply committed and
dedicated Musalmaan” though Bakhtiar does not say whether Jinnah
was a Shia or Sunni. At the same time he cites examples from other
sources to say that Jinnah would go to Sunni Mosques for Fridays and
for Eid prayers. He claims that according to one account, Jinnah was
seen to be offering Eid prayers “as the Sunnis do, by folding their
hands.”11
E x c e r p t f r o m E n d a n g e r e d S p e c i e s | 10
It is permitted for Shia and Sunni to go to each others Mosques.
There is no difference in the modes of the daily ritualistic prayers
known as salat except for the fact that Shia pray with their hands open
while majority of Sunnis fold their hands. According to the Maliki
Sunni sect, which is prominent in North Africa, many Maliki offer their
prayers with their hands either open or folded, as both concepts are
permitted for them. In Mecca and Medina, Shia and Sunni pray
together while the prayers are led by local Sunni Imam. The Shia pray
with their hands open while the majority of Sunnis pray with their
hands folded. That Jinnah should frequent a Sunni Mosque is not
surprising at all. In fact it would be only prudent for him to do so as a
leader of the Muslim community. In the interest of fostering Muslim
unity, many Muslims do frequent both Shia and Sunni mosques.
Many may recall having seen photographs of a delegation of
Muslim leaders which included President Zia-ul-Haq of Pakistan and
Yassir Arafat, among others, praying behind a Shia Ayatulla Khomeini
of Iran. During his visit to East Africa, President Rafsanjani of Iran led
the congregational prayers in an open ground at the Jaffery Sports
Club, Mombasa, in which the Chief Kadhi of Kenya and many Sunni
and Shia joined. During his visit to Indonesia, in 2006, President
Ahmedinejad is seen to have joined the congregational prayers led by
a local Sunni Imam.
Whether Jinnah offered his prayers with hands folded is not
proven. Considering his status as a leader of Muslims of India, even if
he did fold his hands on any particular Eid occasion as an act of
“takiyye,” permitted among Shia, to help foster better Muslim unity,
this would not confirm him as a Sunni. When Jinnah was at his zenith,
Q u a i d e A z a m M o h a m e d A l i J i n n a h | 11
after the creation of Pakistan there are reports that on Eid day he took
part in Eid prayers twice. At one congregation he was seen to be
praying with his hands open and at another congregation, he is said to
have joined with his hands folded. Photographs of Jinnah while
offering prayers appear to be carefully selected as he is always shown
while performing takbir. The most recent photo of Jinnah offering Eid
prayers in public on August 17, 1947 (reproduced here) show him in
this position.
Considering the character of Jinnah it is most unlikely that he
would have ever feigned to be a Sunni in order to deceive the Muslim
society of his religious identity. This is especially born out by the fact
that as early as 1918, at the time of his marriage, Syed Abdul Qasim
Najafi, resident Imam of the Khoja Shia Ithna-Asheri Mosque, Mumbai,
who performed his nikah, has recorded in a handwritten register of
marriage in Persian language (facsimile of which is reproduced here)
the community and the faith of Mohamed Ali Jinnah is specifically
described as ‘Khoja Ithna-Asheri’ and further describes his wife as
‘respected spinster of mature age, Rattan bai, daughter of Deenshaw,
Parsee’, and then goes on to tabulate the dowry and the gift amounts
plus the names of the witnesses. Again, in 1929, on the occasion of the
death of his wife, despite opposition from the Trustees of the Khoja
community, Jinnah exercised his right to bury his wife in a Khoja-Shia
cemetery.
Another interesting point to be taken into account here is that if
ever Jinnah tried to project himself as a Sunni, his political opponents,
the hardcore Muslim Ulema, the Indian National Congress party and
the British Colonial administration would have had a field day upon
E x c e r p t f r o m E n d a n g e r e d S p e c i e s | 12
finding out his true beliefs, to indulge in his character assassination
and in projecting Jinnah as a hypocrite. Jinnah may have been accused
of all sorts of sins by his political adversaries but hypocrisy is not an
attribute he has ever been accused of.
In the face of the long recognized fact and the overwhelming
evidences to the effect, as we shall see below, the conclusion arrived at
by Prof. Akber, based on isolated quotations that Jinnah was a Sunni is
surprising.
As an astute politician working to unite Muslims of India, Jinnah
was careful not to be labeled as a sectarian. It is a tribute to his
character that in a predominantly conservative Muslim society,
despite being viewed as an educated and westernized individual, with
no pretenses about projecting himself as a devout religious person,
Jinnah was yet able to draw support from across the divide among
Sunni and Shia.
“Jinnah was once asked whether he was a Shia or a Sunni and he
said if Prophet Muhammad was a Shia, then he (Jinnah) was a Shia and
if the Prophet was a Sunni then he was a Sunni, but as the Prophet was
neither of the two and was but a Muslim then so is he. He also
declared that any Muslim who professed to be a Muslim was a Muslim,
responding to demands by some quarters to declare Ahmadis as non-
Muslims. Pakistan however, declared the Ahmaddiya Islamic sect,
which had been very close to Jinnah during partition, out of the fold of
Islam in 1974, through a constitutional amendment.”12 Ahmadis are
also known otherwise as Qadiani, named after the place in Punjab
where Mirza Gulam Ahmed was born. Chawdri Mohamed Zafarullah
Khan, a Qadiani served as the first Foreign Minister of Pakistan. Prof.
Q u a i d e A z a m M o h a m e d A l i J i n n a h | 13
Abdu-Salam, one of the few Muslim Nobel Laureates was also an
Ahmadi from Pakistan.
Jinnah standing for election for the Indian Legislative Assembly
from his Bombay constituency was once opposed by a Shia Conference
candidate who incidentally happened to be Huseinbhai Lalji, a one
time President of the Khoja Shia Ithna-Asheri Jamaat in Bombay.
Huseinbhai Lalji tried to play the Shia card. Jinnah won the election
with an overwhelming majority drawing support from both Shia and
Sunni voters.
Jinnah married a Parsee girl who first converted to Islam. On
Friday 19th April 1918, his marriage to Ruttie was solemnized at
Jinnah’s residence in Bombay by the Resident Aalim of the Khoja Shia
Ithna-Asheri Mosque in Bombay, Sheikh Abul Qasim Najafi who acted
as the wakil (attorney) for the bride while Sir Muhammad Ali
Muhammad Khan, Raja of Mahmudabad acted as wakil for Mohamed
Ali Jinnah. The marriage was solemnized in the presence of Gulamali
Advocate, Sheriffbhai Dewji and Omar Sultani acting as witness.13
According to facsimile of the marriage records written in Persian
language maintained by Syed Abul Qasim Najafi, which is reproduced
here, the ‘Mahar’ – dowry – declared was Rs.1, 001 and a gift of
Rs.125, 000.
M. A H. Dossa however records that Jinnah gifted his Bombay
residence, which is now subject of a dispute between India and
Pakistan, “to his wife Ruttie Jinnah as ‘meher’ (dowry) verified in the
log of the Khoja Shia Ithna-Asheri Jamat, Palagalli Mosque, at Samuel
Road” Bombay. 14
E x c e r p t f r o m E n d a n g e r e d S p e c i e s | 14
In 1929 when Ruttie Jinnah died, she was buried in the Khoja Shia
Ithna-Asheri Aram Bagh’ Cemetery. At first the Trustees of the Khoja
Shia Ithna-Asheri Jamaat “refused to allow Rattan bai to be buried in
the Aram Bagh cemetery on the grounds that she being a non-Khoja
lady was not entitled to be buried there.”15 Jinnah claimed his right as
a member of the Community to bury his wife in the communal
cemetery and threatened to go to Court. Husein bhai Lalji, then
President of the Jamaat relented and Mrs. Jinnah was accordingly
allowed to be buried in the cemetery.
There are also evidences to suggest that: “On 24 September, 1948,
after the demise of Muhammad Ali Jinnah, his sister Fatimah Jinnah
and the then Prime Minister of Pakistan, Liaquat Ali Khan, submitted a
jointly signed petition at the Karachi High Court, describing Jinnah as
‘Shia Khoja Mohamedan’ and praying that his will may be disposed of
under Shia inheritance law.”
“On 6 February, 1968 after Mohtarema Fatima Jinnah's demise the
previous year, her sister Shirin Bai moved an application at the High
Court claiming Fatimah Jinnah’s property under the Shia inheritance
law on grounds that the deceased was a Shia”.16
Syed Akhtar Rizvi quoting from an Urdu publication “Tashkile
Pakistan” by M. Wasi Khan gives identical information with more
details: “Jinnah in his last will of 20th May, 1929, had appointed Miss
Fatima Jinnah, Mr. Mohamed Ali Chagla, Solicitor, and Nawabzada
Liaquat Ali Khan as executors and Trustees of his estate. On Jinnah’s
death Miss Fatima Jinnah and Liaquat Ali Khan applied in the High
court for probate (No.54 of 1948) with an affidavit that Mr. Jinnah was
a Khoja Shia Ithna Asheri and his heirs also are Shia Ithna Asheris,
Q u a i d e A z a m M o h a m e d A l i J i n n a h | 15
therefore the two should be appointed Trustees of his estate according
to Shia Ithna Asheri law.”17
Despite the sectarian differences, it has not been uncommon
among Khojas to intermarry within the rest of the Khoja society.
Especially during the early days of the three-way split within the
Khoja society, in the latter half of the nineteenth century and the early
part of the twentieth century. Such arranged marriages based on
family ties have been far too common. There are instances of such
marriages even now.
The confusion about his family claiming to be a Sunni emerges
from the fact that one of his sisters Shirinbai got married in a Sunni
family and most of the people now claiming to be his family members,
including that of Mr. Liaquat Merchant have connections through
Shirinbai.18
There are conclusive evidences that when Jinnah passed away on
September, 11, 1948, his last rites were performed in accordance with
the Shia practice.
The Nation Weekly Magazine, Karachi, issued a special edition on
September, 11, 1950, to mark the second death anniversary of Jinnah.
In an article entitled: From Cradle to Grave reviewing the life of the
Pakistani leader, first hand account of how the last rites were
performed are quoted. The following excerpts from the article are
revealing.
“It was in the narrow hours of the morning that the last rites of
Quaid-e-Azam were performed in the tradition of his community to
which he belonged. Maulana Anis-ul-Husnain was called in by the
E x c e r p t f r o m E n d a n g e r e d S p e c i e s | 16
relatives of the departed soul to perform the last rites. The Maulana
with a laden heart had to arrange for the last journey of the Father of
the Nation and he says:
“At 3 in the morning on September 11, 1948, I was roused from
heavy sleep by persistent calls and on enquiry was confidentially
informed that Quaid-e-Azam was dead and that I was summoned to
the Governor-General’s House. The waiting car took me to the Dawn
office where I changed into another car which sped towards the
Government House. There I met Mr. Yusuf Haroon (Chief Minister of
Sind) and his mother who took me to the Quaid-e-Azam’s bed room.
There, the great leader was lying dead and the corpse was stretched in
the correct position (meaning, facing Qibla). I was asked to perform
the Taghseel (bathing the corpse according to the shara’) and Takfeen
in accordance with the Shia Ithna Asheri rites.”
“I returned to make the necessary arrangements and at 08.00 in
the morning (September 12, 1948) with Mr. Rahim Chagla, President
of the Khoja Ithna Asheri Jamaat and Al Haj Seth Abdul Rasul,
Secretary of the Khoja Shia Ithna Asheri Jamat. I started to perform the
sad duty. I got the ghusl khana of Quaid-e-Azam opened and was about
to perform the last rites when the Secretary, in a stern voice
demanded: “Who has given you permission?” I referred him to the
ladies in the other room. He went to the door and enquired and on
receiving the reply, “Maulana Anis-ul-Husnain will perform the ghuls,”
he left the place.
“The doors were closed and the ghusls started. Inside there were
few Shias and Mr. Aftab Alavi, son of Mr. Hatim Alavi and a Sunni
gentleman. After the ghusls the kafan (shroud) was given which was
Q u a i d e A z a m M o h a m e d A l i J i n n a h | 17
Quaid-e-Azam’s personal property and had been sanctified by touching
the Khana-e-Kaaba.”
“Then I led the Namaz-e-Janaza (Prayer for the dead), in the same
room and the following persons joined me:
Mr. Yusuf Haroon, 2) Mr. S. Kazim Raza, 3) Mr. S. Hashim Raza, 4) One
Sunni gentleman, 5) Mr. Aftab Alavi, son of Mr. Hatim Alavi, 6) Haji
Sheikh Hidayat Ali, Ghassal, Khoja Ithna Asheri Jamaat and three other
Shia whose name I do not remember now.”19
In another publication Khaled Ahmed records: “Allama Syed
Anisul Husnain, a Shia scholar, deposed that he had arranged the
‘ghusl’ of the Quaid on the instructions of Miss Fatimah Jinnah. He led
his Namaz-e-Janaza in a room of the Governor General’s House at
which such luminaries as Yousuf Haroon, Hashim Raza, and Aftab
Hatim Alavi were present, while Liaquat Ali Khan waited outside the
room. After the Shia ritual, the body was handed over to the state and
Maulana Shabbir Ahmed Usmani, an Alim belonging to Deoband
school of thought known for its anti-Shia belief, read his Janaza
according to the Sunni ritual at the ground where the mausoleum was
later constructed”.20
According to Syed Saeed Akhtar Rizvi, quoting sources from the
Urdu publication; Tashkile Pakistan by Wasi Khan: “when the body (of
Jinnah) was placed in the grave; Sayyid Gulamali Ahsan Mash-hadi,
Advocate, recited talqin according to Shia Ithna-Asheri Shari’ah.” 21
I tried to check the veracity of these report and contacted the
family of Hatim Alavi in Karachi. Aftab Alavi who participated in the
ghusl of Jinnah is alive. According to his report relayed to me in
E x c e r p t f r o m E n d a n g e r e d S p e c i e s | 18
writing by his son Basit Alavi, when Jinnah passed away on
September, 11, 1948, Hatim Alavi was summoned to the Governor-
General’s house. Accompanied by his son Aftab Alavi, Hatim Alavi
drove to the State House. Upon their arrival they were “straight taken
to the room where Quaid’s body was lying. At that time, Kazim Raza,
who was the Inspector General of Police, and Yousuf Haroon (Chief
Minister of Sind), instructed Aftab Alawi to sit at the door of the room
where the Quaid’s body was lying and not to let anyone in. That is how
Aftab Alavi got the opportunity to give Ghusl to Quaid. There was a
mammoth crowd outside the Governor General’s house who were
getting agitated because a rumour was spreading that the Quaid had
been poisoned. At that time Hatim Alavi climbed the gate pillar of the
GG’s House and addressed the crowd to reassure them that the Quaid
had a natural death,”22
When Mohtarama Fatima Jinnah passed away in 1967, Khaled
Ahmed records that M. A. H. Ispahani made arrangements for “the
Ghusl and Janaza (Funeral bath and funeral prayer) for her at Mohatta
Palace according to the Shia ritual before handing over the body to the
State” and the “Ritualistic Shia talqin (last advice to the deceased) was
done after her dead body was lowered into the grave.” 23
The amusing part of the fresh claim is that the affidavit by his
closest associates, his sister Miss Fatima Jinnah and the first Prime
Minister of Pakistan, Liaqat Ali Khan, who was a Sunni, is disputed in
favour of belated claims made by distant relatives, two decades after
the death of Jinnah and his closest associates.
According to an organization that represents Shias of Pakistan,
following the Islamic Revolution in Iran there was an orchestrated
Q u a i d e A z a m M o h a m e d A l i J i n n a h | 19
conspiracy during the reign of Zia ul Haq to brand the Islamic
revolution in Iran as a sectarian Shiite revolution. Since 98% of the
Irani population practiced Shia faith, subtle attempts were made to
project Iran as a sectarian Shia state and use this example as a pretext
to justify making Pakistan an Islamic state to be governed by one
majority School of thought, contrary to the avowed stand of Jinnah in
his life time. Jinnah had worked to create a non sectarian Muslim State
with freedom of worship and equal citizenship rights for all, including
non Muslims. In his famous address to the Pakistan Constituent
Assembly on August 11, 1947, Jinnah had defined his vision for the
type of tolerant society he wished to see in Pakistan.24
The vision for the type of Pakistan he wanted to see was lucidly
espoused in this address: “You are free;” proclaimed Jinnah, “you are
free to go to your temples, you are free to go to your Mosques or to
any other place of worship in this state of Pakistan. You may belong to
any religion or caste or creed – that has nothing to do with the
fundamental principle that you are all citizens of one State ….. Now, I
think we should keep this in front of us as our ideal, and you will find
that in the course of time, Hindus would cease to be Hindus, and
Muslims would cease to be Muslims, not in the religious sense,
because that is the personal faith of each individual, but in the political
sense as citizens of the State.”25
Three days later, on August 14, 1947, Jinnah responded to the
exhortations of Lord Louis Mountbatten to follow in the footsteps of
Akbar, the third Mogul Emperor of India, with the following
comments:
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“The tolerance goodwill that great Emperor Akbar showed to all
non Muslims is not of recent origin. It dates back thirteen centuries
ago when our Prophet not only by words but by deeds treated the
Jews and the Christians, after he had conquered them, with utmost
tolerance and regard and respect for their faith and beliefs. The whole
history of Muslims wherever they ruled, is replete with those humane
and great principles which should be followed and practiced.” 26
Before the ugly face of the sectarian divide surfaced with such
vengeance in Pakistan, thanks to the machination of Zia ul Haq and the
legacy he left behind, there was hardly any debate in Pakistan about
the sectarian affiliation of their great leader. “Within a few days after
Pakistan was created, Jinnah’s name was being read in the khutba at
mosques as Ami-rul Millat, a traditional title for Muslim rulers. The
Sheikh-ul-Islam Maulana Shabbir Ahmed Usmani’s intense devotion to
Jinnah was perhaps most eloquently expressed when he read his
burial oration in September, 1948, and compared Jinnah to
Aurangzeb.” 27
Jinnah was too towering a personality to be wished away from the
Pakistan scene. The secularist tried to claim him to justify their status
in the society. So did the religious groups for their own agenda.
“Jinnah wearing national dress was popular during Zia’s time; the
western suit depicting ‘secular’ Jinnah was popular during the time of
Bhuttos. The depiction of Jinnah in the national dress, consciously
painted in dark hues, conveys a ‘fundamentalist’ Jinnah”. 28
“Some zealous religious activists are now attempting to distort the
role of Ulema in the struggle for Pakistan. As the old generation is
gradually vanishing from the political scene of the country these
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Ulema are now being projected as the co-founders of Pakistan. "In
some cases even the name of Quaid-e-Azam has been eliminated and
all the credit for the establishment of Pakistan is being bestowed upon
these Ulema." In recent years, there has been a systematic attempt by
Mullahs and the rightist lobby to misrepresent Jinnah on Islam and
they have tried hard to build up an image of the father of the nation as
a religious bigot. He is being projected by Mullahs, who once branded
him as Kafir, as an Islamic fundamentalist.”29
The lust for power and political expediency often lead greedy
individuals to stoop to any levels. They have no qualms even in
exploiting religious sentiments for political ends. Such has been the
sad legacy of Muslim history. A man who had earned the respect and
admiration of Sheikh Hassan al Banna, founder of the Muslim
Brotherhood in Egypt and Haj Husein Al Amini, Grand Mufti of
Jerusalem was branded by the hard core Mullas of the Indian
subcontinent as Kafire Azam –The great infidel - and even dubbed the
emerging Pakistan as Na-Pakistan.
“Jinnah certainly did not want a theocratic state, a nation run by
Mullas. The Taliban of Afghanistan who was doing just that in the mid-
1990 when meeting Pakistan bureaucrats in the north of Pakistan
refused to conduct the proceedings unless the picture of Jinnah
hanging in the office was removed.” The hardcore Salafi movements
decry statues and human portraits. They may shield behind such an
excuse to seek the removal of Jinnah's portrait.
Ironically the same logic appears to be applied selectively in that
few Wahhabi elements can muster courage to seek removal of the
official portraits of the Saudi ruling dynasty from public places in
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Saudi Arabia. The level of anti -Shia prejudice practiced by the Saudi
led Wahhabi movement is further illustrated in what Prof. Akber
Ahmed observed: “Professor Abu Bakr Bagadar, a prominent Saudi
social scientist, told me in 1996 in Jeddah that several South Asians
believed Jinnah was not a Muslim; some even thought he was a
Zoroastrian.”30 Salafi movements have often branded the Shia as kafir.
Almost fifty years after the creation of the State of Pakistan, a
“prominent Social scientist” should harbour such doubts about the
Islamic identity of its founder, simply because he happened to be a
Shia, speaks volumes of the inherent prejudice which the learned
Professor may not have considered diplomatically prudent to spell out
in so many words.
Despite all attempts at maligning Jinnah over the years, ironically
Jinnah was now being courted posthumously and touted as a Sunni
Muslim to give credence to the sectarian designs that has plunged
Pakistan into its present sad state.
“Religious belief has now become an important issue (in Pakistan)
and there are debates whether Mr. Jinnah was a Sunni or a Shia. This is
because religious tolerance is at its lowest ebb and anyone and every
one in Pakistan today claims to be an authority on Jinnah. Secondly, in
a predominantly Sunni state, it cannot be digested that a Shia Muslim
was the architect of a Muslim country, particularly when the divide
between the sectarian groups is widening.”31
“When Zia had decided on Islamization of Pakistan, the unspoken
and unappreciated assumption was that the entire population would
conform to an official version of Islam, where many schools of Islamic
thoughts had flourished with tolerable accommodation through the
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ages,” writes Farhat Abbas in Pakistan’s Drift into Extremism.
“Emphasis on religious conformity was to be a baleful novelty to be
enforced by religious zeal only to be opposed by those whose
persuasions were different. This could only accentuate the already
existing sectarian differences and widen them into a deep chasm of
intolerance and mutual exclusivity garnished by bloodshed and
brutality.”
“The Shias feared that the majority would end up ramming their
version of Islam down the throats of all the minority sects and force
them to comply with laws that, according to their interpretations of
Islam, they saw as violative of Islamic injunctions. In response to these
fears, they had already formed Tehrike-Nifaz-i-Fiqh-Jafaria (TNFJ) in
1981, an organization dedicated to guard against infringement of their
set of beliefs.”
“Hardliners among Sunni, for their part, felt that such dictation
was their right, and those on the extreme right of the Sunni spectrum
cut the Gordian knot by taking a position right or wrong, Pakistan had
a Sunni majority and as such it should be declared a Sunni Muslim
State in which Shias should be treated as a minority. Since the
achievement of this holy goal would likely take some time, some of
them decided that the interregnum aught not be wasted. Thus in 1985
they formed the Anjumane Sipah-i-Sahaba (ASS) – an organization
piously dedicated to ridding the country of Shias by eliminating them
physically.” 32
Despite his pragmatic approach on political issues, Jinnah was
sensitive about the feelings of his co-religionists. In this context it is
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worth recording some interesting incidents in Jinnah’s life that have
received scant mention in his biographies.
“In 1944, Gandhi and Jinnah were having talks to resolve their
differences. On 9th September, Jinnah issued the following statement
to the Press: “Tomorrow is the 21st day of Ramadan and all Muslims
observe it. I have therefore requested Mr. Gandhi to oblige me not to
have the meeting tomorrow”. The 21st day of Ramadan is
commemorated as the martyrdom anniversary of the Imam Ali Ibne
Abi Talib.”33
After the formation of the Interim Government in India in 1946
with Nehru of the Indian National Congress as Prime Minister and
Liaquat Ali Khan of the Muslim League as Finance Minister, the
bickering between the two parties continued. To help resolve the
simmering dispute, the British Government summoned Indian leaders
for a meeting to London. Accompanied by the British Viceroy, Lord
Wavell, Congress and Muslim League leaders flew to London.
“King George V invited the delegation to lunch on 4th December.
Jinnah wrote a letter asking to be excused because the date coincided
with ‘Ashura' day (10th of Muharram) which is a mourning day for the
Muslims. In fact it was unthinkable that anyone could reject the royal
invitation; but Jinnah did and the King of England graciously changed
the date.”34
Another interesting aspect of the funeral of Jinnah was that a black
banner known as an “Alam” of Hazrat Abbas was brought from the
Kharadar Imambara of the Khoja Shia Ithna-Asheri Jamaat and carried
throughout the funeral procession next to the gun carriage bearing the
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body of Jinnah pulled by naval servicemen. Photographs of the funeral
procession show the banner with the Arabic inscription reading: Ya
Hazrat Abbas. Photographs taken of the flag from reverse side do not
show the writings as the inscription is only on one side. An internet
search reveals the black banner with the Arabic writing clearly visible.
Hazrat Abbas who was martyred in Kerbala with his brother Imam
Husein has a special place in Shia fraternity. This is illustrated by the
example of Canada where local Shia lobbied for a special
commemorative postage stamp to be issued in Canada to mark the
“1400th anniversary of Hazrat Abbas (A.S.)”
As the funeral procession wound its way to the burial ground, a
somber crowd lined up the route and thousands more grim faced
Pakistanis followed the cortege in silence. The motto of Jinnah: “Faith,
Unity and Discipline” were exemplified by the disciplined crowd that
had come to pay their last respects to their Quaid-e-Azam. Throughout
the funeral ceremony, the silence was periodically broken with chants
of “Allaho Akbar” and “La ilaha illallah”.
For long Jinnah has been demonized and vilified in India and there
have been many in Pakistan also who chose to ignore Jinnah and his
ideals, save for paying lip service to his memory. Of late, after the
Indian BJP leader Advani’s visit to Pakistan and his controversial
comments that he wrote in the visitor’s book after laying wreath at
Jinnah’s mazaar in Karachi, created a stir in both India and Pakistan.
Another Indian leader, Jaswant Singh a one time finance and foreign
minister of India in the BJP government has since come out with a
voluminous new book of over 600 pages on Jinnah published in 2009,
which is viewed as being much more understanding and sympathetic
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towards Jinnah and his role in the Indian independence struggle.
Publication of his book, Jinnah – India – Partition–Independence, has
earned for Jaswant Singh the wrath of his party and he was
consequently expelled from the BJP. This book has however,
generated a public debate in India as many writers now tend to revisit
their stereotyped perceptions of Jinnah and what he stood for.35
I have come across two scholars who are actively pursuing their
research on publishing books on Jinnah – creator of a new Zion or a
Muslim Zion and another one on a fresh look at comparative study of
the role of Jinnah-Gandhi in the Indian independence struggle.
In Pakistan too, dismayed with all that is happening in Pakistan,
there is growing surge of public opinion clamouring for the return of
Jinnah’s ideals for Pakistan as the only solution to its current plight.
“Bring back Jinnah’s Pakistan” is a demand that newspaper columnist
are now clamouring for. Writing on the subject, Dawn columnist,
Ardeshir Cowasjee, makes a telling comment in this respect.
“Jinnah’s intent was to create a homeland turning the minority
into a majority, not subject to discrimination and challenges. He
expected the Muslims of his country to rise above themselves, to join
the modern world, work and prosper, in a land free from bigotry,
imbued with tolerance for their fellow human beings of no matter
what creed or race. Such was his intent; of this I have no doubt. What
he subsequently had to work with after the birth of Pakistan caused
him grief. His motive and intent being honourable, no blame can
attach to him for where Pakistan find’s itself today.”36
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Seyyid Saeed Akhtar Rizvi has written an article entitled:
Muhammad Ali Jinnah – the most illustrious name in the Khoja
community. Yet how many Khojas have studied the life of this
illustrious son from their community?37
At a Government House reception in Karachi, Jinnah is seen here dressed in western suit and the inevitable cigarette in hand. From left: Mohtarama Fatima Jinnah, Jinnah, Prime Minister Liaquat
Ali Khan and Begum Liaquat Ali Khan.
August 18, 1947, Jinnah offering Eid prayers at Karachi.
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August 14, 1947, Jinnah addressing the Pakistan Parliament. Sitting next to him is the last British Viceroy to India, Lord Louis Mountbatten.
Jinnah, in a traditional Khoja ceremonial dress. A rare picture of Mohamed Ali Jinnah, the founding father of Pakistan dressed in what is widely described as ceremonial Sindhi attire. The long velvet frock coat with golden braided borders known by Khoja community as “Ves” was until the mid 1950’s worn by bridegrooms in East Africa. This has also been common ceremonial attire among the Ismaili Khoja community leaders like “Mukhi”, “Varas” and “Kamadiya” who would don such long frock coats on special occasions as a status symbol. There would also be matching golden headgear known as “pugree” or turban. The golden turban was also worn by Ithna-Asheri Khoja elders during marriages and on festive occasions. Of late this custom has virtually discontinued especially among the Ithna-Asheri Khoja. It is still occasionally practiced by the followers of the Aga Khan. On festive occasions the same type of golden headgear however continues to be widely adorned by members of the Dawoodi Bohra Community while uniformly dressed in white ‘Sherwani’ thus providing a colourful touch.
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Jinnah’s funeral cortege, Karachi, September 12, 1948. Naval Servicemen pulling the gun carriage on which the coffin of Jinnah was laid. The black banner of Hazrat Abbas was brought from the Kharadar Imambara. Below, another view of the coffin of Jinnah, with Prime Minister Liaquat Ali Khan sitting next to it.
The inscription “Ya Hazrat Abbas” written on one side of the banner is visible in this picture.
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Imposing mausoleum of Jinnah - Karachi
Grave of Mrs. Ruttie Jinnah at the Khoja Shia Ithna-Asheri ‘Aram Bagh’ Cemetery, Bombay. The tombstone reads: “Ratanbai Mahomed Ali -Jinnah. Born 20th Feberuary, 1900. Died 20th February, 1929”
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Facsimile of the Register of Marriage in the Farsi language, maintained by Sheikh Abulqasim Najafi, Resident Aalim of the Khoja Shia Ithna-Asheri Jamaat, BombayRegister Number 118 (second from above).
This record of the Nikah is also reproduced by the National Archives of Pakistan in 1997 in an Album
of selected photographs of Quaide Azam Mohamed Ali Jinnah.
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Affidavit by the Secretary of the Mumbai K.S.I. Jamaat, confirming Jamaat membership of Jinnah.
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Membership Register, K.S.I. Jamaat, Mumbai. Mohamdali Jinnah Poonja recorded as a member of the Jamaat on page 107 of the Register.
Death of Ruttie Jinnah recorded in the death Register of Mumbai Jamaat on page 1404
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Death of Mohamedali Jinnah Poonja recorded in Mumbai Jamaat Register on 13th September, 1948. Jinnah died on 11th September, in Karachi and was buried on 12th September. (Recorded in the
membership register opposite the membership registration column, Page 107)
Q u a i d e A z a m M o h a m e d A l i J i n n a h | 35
References
1 Akber S. Ahmed in: Jinnah – Pakistan and Islamic Identity– The search for a Saladin; Ch.1, P.134. Published in 1997 by Routlege, 11 New Fetter Lane, London, EC4P 4EE.
Similar assessment with more insightful details are given by Lawrence James in Raj – The Making and unmaking of British India; p.611. An Abacus Book published in 1997 by Little, Brown and Company (U.K.).
2 ibid; P.207
3 Mr. Winkelman had for many years served as Netherlands Consul in Mombasa. He was transferred to Delhi in 1946 and became the first Netherlands Ambassador to India in 1947. Mr. and Mrs. Winkelman had retired to Australia and periodically would visit East Africa on holidays. Old family friends, from the days of their sojourn in Mombasa, the Winkelmans maintained contacts with our family members in Zanzibar, Arusha and Mombasa. The discussion reported took place in Mombasa around 1967.
4 Hatim Alavi, 1898-1976, Mayor of Karachi – 1938-39. In 1946 Jinnah appointed him as a member of the proposed Pakistan Planning Commission. Later, he served as a Director of the State Bank of Pakistan and as a Pakistani delegate to various U.N. forums.
5 Stanley Wolpert: Jinnah of Pakistan, P. 18. Badruddin Tayabji, though a Shia, as the name suggests, was in fact a Dawoodi Bohra.
6 Stanley Wolpert: Jinnah of Pakistan, P. 4
7 F. Frenau; P. 201.
8 M. A. H. Ispahani: in Qaide-e-Azam Jinnah As I Knew Him; 3rd edition - 1976 – A Centenary presentation, published by Royal Book Company, Karachi, P.117.
9 Friends Not Master – A Political autobiography, by Mohammad Ayub Khan, President of Pakistan, P. 193; Oxford University Press. 1967
10 Akber S. Ahmed writing in: Jinnah – Pakistan and Islamic Identity– The search for a Saladin; Ch. 1, P.4.1997, Routlege, London.
11 ibid; P. 195
12 Ahmadi faith is associated with Mirza Gulam Ahmed (1835-1908), who in 1876 claimed that he had received a revelation and that though Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) was the seal of the Prophets, he was the promised Messiah and Prophet without a book and law giving authority to continue the mission of Islam. Most Ahamadis observe routine rituals of Sunni Islam to a large extent, though minority group among Ahamadis consider Mirza Gulam Ahmad as a God sent reformer and not a Prophet. “According to a great majority of Muslims, Mirza Gulm Ahmad’s declarations were contrary to the basic precepts of Islam.” Abbas Farhat Abbas from: Pakistan’s Drift into Extremism. Allah, the Army, and Americas War on Terror;” An East Gate Book, 2005, M. E. Sharpe, P. 244, Note No.15.
13 For more details see Muhammad Ali Jinnah – the most illustrious name in the Khoja community, by Allama Sayyid Saeed Akhtar Rizvi, from his book A history of the Shia people excerpts reproduced in the Light Maggazine Vol: 35 Issue No.3 – 2001, Bilal Muslim Mission of Tanzania.
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14 M A. H.Dossa, writer, known by his pen name of “Alex London” and author of the book; Khoja – Khwajah – the chosen people, in a letter to Dawn, Karachi.
In my research, I came across account of the gift of Rs.125, 000/- given by Jinnah to his wife at the time of marriage as recorded in the Marriage Register written in Persian language. Facsimile of the ‘nikahnama’ in Farsi is reproduced in this book. No mention is made of the house being gifted at the same time. Of late, an interesting development has taken place. The surviving daughter of Jinnah has staked her claim to the house and has filed a suit against the Indian Government lodging her claim to the Jinnah house in Mumbai. The following report appeared in Dawn, Karachi, dated August, 8, 2007.
“Quaid’s daughter lays claim to Jinnah House “MUMBAI, Aug 8: The daughter of Quaid-e-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah has asked an Indian court to grant her claim to a sprawling home built by her father in India before the country’s partition in 1947. Mr. Jinnah constructed a European-style seafront bungalow in the late 1930s in India’s commercial capital of Mumbai, where he lived with his wife and only daughter before moving to the newly-created Pakistan at independence. For decades, Jinnah House, with its imposing columns, Italian marble and walnut panelling was home to Britain’s deputy high commissioner but mostly fell into disuse after being vacated in 1982. On Tuesday, Mr Jinnah’s 88-year-old daughter, Dina Wadia, who lives in New York, approached the high court in Mumbai in a bid to gain ownership of the property, built on 2.5 acres of land, estimated to be worth about $400 million. Being the only child of Mr Jinnah, she is the sole heir to his property,” Wadia’s lawyer Shrikanth Doijode said. “This is the only property in India which she is claiming and which is in the possession of the Indian government at present.”
”The historic house was the venue for watershed talks on the subcontinent’s partition between Mr Jinnah and Indian leaders. Pakistan has repeatedly requested New Delhi either to sell or lease the house to its government for use as a consular office. India has neither refused nor accepted that request. The house now remains locked and is in an advanced state of decay. After partition, the Indian government appropriated immovable and movable property left behind by those who chose to go to Pakistan, designating such assets as evacuee property. But as a goodwill gesture, India’s first prime minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, ensured neither Jinnah nor his daughter were declared evacuees. Nor was the Jinnah House registered as an evacuee.” 15 S. S. A.Rizvi; see Note 12.
16 Google. http://www.rediff.com/news/1998/may/09jinnah.htm Following is the full report as it appears in Rediff on the net. May, 9, 1998. “Was Jinnah a Shia or Sunni? Which sect of Islam did Mohammad Ali Jinnah belong to, Shia or Sunni? Though it is commonly believed he was a Shia, Khaled Akhtar, a Communist, has evidence that the Quaid-e-Azam converted and became a Sunni later. After Jinnah's death in September 1948, his sister Fatima and then Prime Minister Liaquat Ali Khan had jointly filed a petition in the Karachi high court describing Jinnah as a ''Shia Khoja Mohammedan'' and sought that his will may be executed under the Shia inheritance law. Again, when Fatima died in 1967, another sister Shirin Bai claimed her property under the Shia law. But this claim was
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contested in 1970 by Hussain Ali Ganji Walji in the high court. He maintained that both Jinnah and his sister were Sunnis and hence the property be disposed of in accordance with the Sunni inheritance law. Syed Sharifuddin Pirzada, who appeared as a witness in the case, said that in 1901 Jinnah broke from the Ismaili Shia faith and became a Sunni when his sisters married Sunnis. This may have been a result of the disapprobation expressed by the Ismaili community. In February 1970, the court rejected the joint affidavit of Fatima Jinnah and Liaquat Ali Khan which claimed Jinnah was a Shia. By then Fatima Jinnah had already died. But in December 1976, the court rejected Ganji Walji's plea against Shirin Bai's claim on Fatima's property under the Shia law. This effectively meant the court had accepted the Jinnah family as Shia. A high court bench reversed this verdict in December 1984. Now the court maintained that ''while the Quaid (Jinnah) was definitely not a Shia, the issue whether Fatima Jinnah was a Shia or not was also now open to for further inquiry''. This suggested that Jinnah was a Sunni. In the 1965 presidential election, Fatima Jinnah, who was pitted against President Ayub Khan, played the Shia card in Shia majority areas.” 17 S. S. A. Rizvi; see Note No. 12 On the occasion of the second death anniversary of Jinnah, Nation Magazine, Karachi issued a Special edition on September, 11, 1950. (28th Zeeqad, 1369 A.H.) Editor of the Nation magazine: Mirza Ali Azhar. The article; from Cradle to Grave by Syed Tajammul Hussain, p. 36/36. (I am indebted to Mr. Basit Alavi from Karachi for sending me a clipping of the report).
18 Khalid Ahmed; [PAKISTAN: Behind the Ideological Mask (Facts about Great Men We Don’t Want to Know), published by Vanguard, Lahore, Karachi and Islamabad. The murder of History; A critique of history textbooks used in Pakistan by K. K. Aziz, published by Vavguard, Lahore, Karachi and Islamabad].
19 S. S. A. Rizvi; see note. 12
20 Khalid Ahmed; [PAKISTAN: Behind the Ideological Mask (Facts about Great Men We Don’t Want to Know), published by Vanguard, Lahore, Karachi and Islamabad. The murder of History; A critique of history textbooks used in Pakistan by K. K. Aziz, published by Vavguard, Lahore, Karachi and Islamabad].
21 S. S. A. Rizvi. See note 12
22 Basit Alawi in letters to the writer, April, 2006. In May, 2007, I visited Karachi and met Aftab Hatim Alawi and his son Basit Alawi to confirm the first hand account
23 Khaled Ahmed. See Note 19
24 Khaled Ahmed; see Note. 19
25 Hector Bolitho; Jinnah, p. 197
26 Akber S. Ahmed; Jinnah, p.176
27 Akber S. Ahmed; p.195 Following comments by Tehreek Nafase-e-Jafariya clainming to be “an organization that represents the Shias in Pakistan” reflect the prevalent anxiety on the issue. For more details see:http://www.society-online-enter.com/religion_and_spirituality/islam/shia/organizations/index_2.html
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Tehreek Round up: Islam was the basic ideology of Pakistan. By deviating this ideology a conspiracy was made to make Pakistan a sectarian state in the period of Zia-ul-Haq, a dictator. At this stage the formation of Tehreek-e- Nafaz-e-Fiqh-e-Jafariya was deemed necessary for the failure of this conspiracy, which was linked to that International conspiracy, the objective of which was to divide Muslim states into sects instead of Islam, so they fight with each other. Let us strike at the root of the trouble. This conspiracy was made by colonial powers as a result of fear from the Islamic Revolution of Iran. They tried their best to prove it (the Irani revolution as) a mazhabi (only one school of thought’s) revolution, which was in fact an Islamic revolution and its founder along with the builder of Pakistan, Quaid-i-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah belonged to the same school of thought.”
28 Akber S. Ahmed. p.195 29 ibid. p.208
30 For related interesting review, see Akber S. Ahmed. P.193/198
31 Basit Alawi in a letter to the writer, April, 2006 Also see Akber S. Ahmed’s review on the subject. And also “Ulema and Pakistani Movement” - Chapter 2 http://www.ghazali.net/book1/Chapter2a/body_page_2.html.2006.
32 Farhat Abbas; “Pakistan’s drift into extremism - Allah, the Army, and Americas war on terror;” P.113/114, AN East Gate Book.2005, M. E. Sharpe.
33 S.S.A. Rizvi, See Note 12
34 ibid.
35 . JINNAH – India – Partition – Independence, Jaswant Singh. Published 2009 by Rupa & Co., New Delhi. 36 Bring back Jinnah’s Pakistan,’ (part2) by Aredeshir Cowasjee, DAWN, 08 Nov, 2009. 37 S.S.A. Rizvi , See Note 12.