Do we truly know Quaid-e-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah's vision for Pakistan given he never wrote a single book in his life ever?

[FearlessRoar]

I find it intriguing that Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah never wrote a book outlining his vision for Pakistan. We are left to interpret his speeches and public statements, some of which have been lost to time.

This lack of written records makes it challenging to understand his true intentions. We're forced to analyze his speeches (like the iconic Aug 11, 1947 address) and historical context to piece together his vision.

How can we be certain of Jinnah's vision when we don't have his explicit words? Relying on biographies and scholarly works helps, but there's still room for interpretation.

What are your thoughts? How do you think Jinnah envisioned Pakistan? Shouldn't we strive for clarity on his vision to move forward as a nation?

 

[The Bald Eagle]

I think Mr Jinnah wanted a state where all were equal. But at the same time, he knew he can't ignore the influence of Islamic teachings on state affairs that were conveyed to him first by Allama Iqbal and later by overwhelming public support. It could be true that Jinnah wasn't in a favor of true Islamic state but a pure secular state was never in his agenda too.

 

[The Bald Eagle]

@CricketCartoons, you seemed to have a great knowledge regarding Mr Jinnah. So this is an ideal platform for you to prove that he wanted a secular state.

 

[Farhan The Man]

“You are free; you are free to go to your temples. You are free to go to your mosques or to any other places of worship in this State of Pakistan. You may belong to any religion, caste or creed—that has nothing to do with the business of the state.”
― Muhammad Ali Jinnah

Constitution of islamic pakistan contradicts its very foundations. Hence the never-ending misery and despair.

 

[The Bald Eagle]

According to Jashwant Singh, Jinnah wanted a state for Muslims but with rules of equality for all the citizens

 

[KB]

With Jinnah, the inner world is harder to get at. No diaries, few letters. Not many close friends. No dynasty.

But from his public statements and speeches, from the Jinnah papers series and from the work of historians, enough evidence has accumulated over the years to provide, in the words of the great historian, Francis Robinson, a “general appreciation of Jinnah's qualities of vision, will, courage, and intellect.”

On his vision, I think there are four areas that remain especially relevant in light of Pakistan’s history.

Minorities. Jinnah’s speech on 11 August, containing those famous passages on religious tolerance, is now well known. It is in his private correspondence that the sincerity of the position and Jinnah’s personal commitment to his public utterances is revealed. On 24 July 1947 the editor of the Time magazine, requested an autograph on the front cover to which Jinnah replied:

“As I think the description, ‘Mohamed Ali Jinnah: His Moslem Tiger wants to eat the Hindus cow’ is offensive to the sentiments of the Hindu community, I cannot put my autograph on the cover page… as requested by you.”

Instead Jinnah sent him an autograph on a separate piece of paper.

Women. In 1923 Jinnah provided financial help for his sister, Fatima Jinnah, so that she could set up a dental clinic - the first Muslim women to do so in British India - at a time when conservative opinion would have expressed displeasure at such gestures.

During the Pakistan movement and after Pakistan had been attained, Fatima, often accompanied her brother, sharing the public platform with him. Perhaps most prominently Faitma shared the stage with Jinnah in some of the most conservative places, such as Sibi Darbar, in front of Baluch and Pukhtun chiefs and leaders of Sibi.

These actions only served to underscore his public statements. In March 1944 in a speech in Aligarh, he said:

“Another very important matter which I wish to impress on you is that no nation can rise to the height of glory unless your women are side by side with you. We are victims of evil customs. It is a crime against humanity that our women are shut up within the four walls of the houses as prisoners. I do not mean that we should imitate the evils of the Western life. But let us try to raise the status of our women according to our own Islamic ideas and standards. There is no sanction anywhere for the deplorable conditions in which our women have to live. You should take your women along with you as comrades in every sphere of life, avoiding the corrupt practices of Western society.”

Welfare. Jinnah tried hard in the 1940s to address the economic and social development of Muslims, a point often overlooked, because of the emphasis on politics in this decade. After assembling a Planning Committee, Jinnah made a call to action. In an address to the Committee on 5 November 1944 he urged:

“In whatever problems you tackle there is one point which I must request you to keep in mind and it is this. It is not our purpose to make the rich richer and to accelerate the process of the accumulation of wealth in the hands of few individuals. We should aim at levelling up the general standard of living amongst the masses and I hope your committee will pay due attention to this very important question. Our ideal should not be capitalistic, but Islamic and the interests of the welfare of the people as a whole should be kept constantly in mind.”

Jinnah also stressed the need for education for the masses. His Will allocated funds to various educational institutions. This was not a new commitment. In 1912 he said bluntly to his fellow Legislative Council members, on education:

“Then it is said, `Oh! but the people will become too big for their boots', if I may use that expression, that `they will not follow the occupations of their parents, they will demand more rights, there will be more strikes, they will become socialists'. Well, Sir, are you going to keep millions and millions of people under your feet for fear that they may demand more rights; are you going to keep them in ignorance and darkness forever and for all ages to come because they might stand up against you and say we have certain rights and you must give them to us? Is that the feeling of humanity? Is that the spirit of humanity? I say, Sir, that it is the duty of zamindars and of the landlords to be a little less selfish. I say, Sir, that it is the duty of the educated classes to be a little less selfish. They must not monopolise the pedestals, but they must be prepared to meet their people. They must be brought down from their pedestals if they do not do their duties properly. I say, Sir, that it is the elementary right of every man to say, if he is wronged, that he is wronged and he should be righted."

Islam. Jinnah was not well versed with the discourse of medieval Islamic thought, but central to so many of his statements, in the last decade of his life, was an Islamic modernist vision. There was an emphasis on the ‘spirit of Islam’ with the view that Islam was a dynamic religion, that needed to be freed from excessively formalistic understandings of the ulama and that at its core was an ethical purpose which could cure many of the world’s ills. When he spoke of brotherhood, social justice, and equality, he often linked these values to expressions of longstanding Islamic principles rather than grounding them in secular norms. In the words of the historian Barbara Metcalf, “Islam for him, was a moral spirit that supported democratic and egalitarian goals." Jinnah also stressed Islam as a focus for unity. This unity was set against both theological distinctions amongst Muslims and non-religious differences - such as ties of kinship - that also divided Muslims. Typical of such an Islamic modernist vision was the statement he gave in 1945:

“Islam came in the world to establish democracy, peace and justice; to safeguard the rights of the oppressed. It brought to humanity the message of equality of the rich and the poor, of the high and the low. The Holy Prophet fought for these ideals for the major part of his life. Is it not, therefore, the duty of every Muslim, wherever he may be, to do his level best to preserve the great ideals and the glorious tradition of Islam, to fight for the equality of mankind, the achievement of man’s legitimate rights and the establishment of democracy?”

So much for Jinnah’s vision, what of Jinnah the person? For this we may return to Francis Robinson:

“Jinnah was a man of great integrity and personal authority. To some he seemed arrogant and, in particular to those who negotiated with him, cold. He was, however, a sensitive man who controlled his emotions. That his affections were strong is revealed in his relationships with his family: the love affair with Ruttie, less than half his age, who eloped to marry him, his sadness at the breakdown of their relationship, and his grief at her early death; the strong bond between him and his sister Fatima, who called him Jin, while he called her Fati; and the utter certainty of a father's love revealed in the gossipy letters from his daughter, Dina. He inspired, moreover, in those who worked close to him and in the millions who followed him, devotion and admiration.”

 

[ElRaja]

what does it matter now? jinnah is long gone, and his presence in the country he helped to found was momentary. the country needs to step out of this need to search for messiahs, and figure out what it wants for its own future. pakistan cannot be a secular country, religion is the only thing that gives the ppl any hope, and neither can pakistan be a theocracy, cos the ppl dont really like militant religiousity. the truth is somewhere in the middle, but competely beyond anything the current system can bring about.

 

[Farhan The Man]

pakistan cannot be a secular country, religion is the only thing that gives the ppl any hope,

Untrue.

Everything islam has touched in pakistan has turned to dust. Possibly the reason why pakistan zindabad has evolved into pakistan se zinda bhaag.

Whereabouts do you live to espouse such an extremist view?

 

[Aang_The_last_airbender]

According to Jashwant Singh, Jinnah wanted a state for Muslims but with rules of equality for all the citizens

The number of paradoxes in the statement will stump the most powerful of super Computers even in Future!!