“One of history’s most remarkable, tenacious, enigmatic figures.” – Prof. Stanley Wolpert.

These words of Professor Stanley Wolpert are a tribute to a man who was one of the most important
pillars and most charismatic figures of the Indian freedom movement of the last century. He was named
Muhammad Ali Jinnah by his parents and hailed as Quaid e Azam: The great leader, by his nation. His
journey from an “ambassador of Hindu-Muslim unity” to the creator of Pakistan and the way he
confronted both congress and British raj, are the subjects of prime interest for writers of all kinds.

Jinnah was one of the chief begetters of the freedom movement of the last century in the
subcontinent, which makes him the favorite personality of historians to write about, of critics to critique
about, of researchers to research about, and of columnists to draw about his statesmanship prowess.
Much has been said and written about his charismatic and pragmatic personality but yet a major part of
his exceptional peculiarities is undiscovered His personality was all about what a leader could’ve been,
his real essence was of a true Islamic leader. He was a highly judicious and astute person with
unmovable determination and unshakable faith.

“Few individuals significantly alter the course of history. Fewer still modify the map of the
world. Hardly anyone can be credited with creating a nation-state. Mohammad Ali Jinnah did all three.”

Quaid e Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah altered the course of history by his unshakable
fortitude and determination. This stick-to-itiveness and persistence are the hallmarks of Jinnah’s
personality. His determination represents the strength of human will power and tells the story of a hero
who changed history with his determination and steadfastness.

“As a Counsel, he has ever held his head erect, unruffled by the worst circumstances. He
has been our boldest Advocate, no Judge dare bully him”

The prosopography of Jinnah chronicles of a battle which he fought with Gandhi’s

hypocrisy, Nehru’s secularism, and British colonialism, and his only weapon was the unmovable
determination. The devastating and despairing defeat in 1937’s elections questioned the basic claim of
the Muslim League; that the Muslim League is the only representative party of Muslims of India but it
was only the strongest determination of Quaid e Azam that assembled and disciplined the Muslim
league to present the Lahore resolution__ later called Pakistan resolution, with fullest zeal and zest at
Minto Park, Lahore (Now Known as Iqbal park) and where the dense participation of Muslims from all
over India testified the claim of Muslim league to be the only representative political party of Muslims of
the sub-continent. The strength of Quaid’s determination and fortitude is not only a political inspiration
but it can be seen in a humanitarian, cultural, and civilizational perspective as it revealed that Humans
are strong enough to alter the course of history with the strength of their determination.
 “You will have to make up for the smallness of your size by your courage and selfless
devotion to duty, for it is not the life that matters, but the courage, fortitude, and determination you
bring to it.”

― Muhammad Ali Jinnah ( Speech from Radio Pakistan,Lahore,30 October, 1947.)

His determination brought Muslims and Hindus on one table and documented the famous
Lucknow pact in 1914, which earned him the title of “Ambassador of Hindu-Muslim Unity”. It has no
parallel in the history of the Indo-Pak subcontinent.

“He had reached the first peak of his ambitions: Dadabhai Naoroji’s disciple had
become a leader of united India.”

- Hector Bolitho, Jinnah: Creator of Pakistan.

This is in reference to Jinnah’s major achievement in 1916. At the age of 40, he was the architect of
the famous Lucknow Pact which united the Hindus and Muslims of India. He was known as the best
ambassador of Hindu-Muslim unity.The second peak of his ambition was reached after more than 3
decades in 1947 with the creation of Pakistan. The rising star of 1916 realised along the way that unity
was not a practical possibilty. The height of Quaid’s determination can be measured by the fact that he
was willing to lose everything including his life for his nation and Purpose.

“We must get Pakistan at any cost. For it, we will live and for it, we will die”

(Address to Public Meeting, Mardan, 24 th November 1945)

Faith was the highly integrated element of Jinnah’s remarkable and phenomenal personality which
was zealous enough to move the geographic lines of the world and alter the map of the then world.
From the political battlefield to a courtroom in front of a conceited judge, faith remained the most
cogent weapon of Jinnah. Through his staunch and strong faith, he crowned humanity with a pearl-like
example of human courage and faith to reshape the map of the world Thence His faith added fresh
waters to the fountains of human culture and civilization, history, and literature, nations and countries
and politics and governance. He not only established himself as a political leader of the Subcontinent but
his faith oxygenated a downhearted, demoralized, and tormented nation to live and lit a fire of hope
and faith in her heart. The language in which he mostly spoke to his nation and made speeches was
English; an uncommon language among the masses of a Muslim nation, but still, ten million Muslim
populace absorbed his message and disciplined themselves under his prominent and dominant
leadership to dream up an independent country. The road to Pakistan was constructed with the cement
of Jinnah’s faith. The firmness and sturdiness of his faith can be seen in his own words.

“No force can undo Pakistan “. He can truly be called an ambassador of faith to humanity.

“With faith, discipline, and selfless devotion to duty, there is nothing worthwhile that you cannot
achieve.”

_ Muhammad Ali Jinnah

( Reply to the Address Presented by Islamia College Students, Peshawar,12 April, 1948.)

The preeminent, exceptional, and charismatic personality of Muhammad Ali Jinnah was decorated
with many peculiarities. He was an astute leader and judicious politician. He created an independent
nation-state with his ingenious and perspicacious strategy without shedding a single drop of blood. The
strongest affirmation comes from the fact that during his whole political journey he has never been to
jail nor he has left the constitutional strife.

“We have undoubtedly achieved Pakistan, and that too without bloody war, practically peacefully,
by moral and intellectual force, and with the power of the pen, which is no less mighty than that of the
sword and so our righteous cause has triumphed.”

-Muhammad Ali Jinnah

(Radio Broadcast, Dacca, 28 March 1948)

Pakistan was not inevitable, nor was it a mistake. It was, more accurately and precisely, a historical
accident. Jinnah never wanted a full-fledged separation: his strategy till the very end was to empower
Muslims in the center by way of gaining a type of autonomy in the Muslim majority provinces in the
north-west and Bengal and then use that authority and leverage for the safety and welfare of the
Muslims in the regions where they were in minority. This was something that got Congress nonplussed:
the possibility that the areas that come under Muslim autonomy would offer a kind of protection for
Muslims living in other parts of India was not acceptable to its leaders. It was more convenient for them
to partition the subcontinent and let these areas go. This is the central driving thesis of Ayesha Jalal’s
very well-researched classic “The Sole Spokesman: Jinnah, the Muslim League and the Demand for
Pakistan”. It is not like the revisionist propaganda of some people who tend to see the creation of
Pakistan as nothing more than a continuation of the British colonial interest in the region. This ideology
is smeared with hindsight biases to a more or less degree. The emergence of Pakistan happened in the
heated and haphazard post-World War II’s milieu of the late Raj. Its founders were as prone to the
contingencies and vagaries of events as any human actors at any space-time point are. Pakistan and the
two-nation theory are not the same things. The idea of Muslims and Hindus being two major
constituting communities, cultures or even nations of subcontinent emerged somewhere between the
1867 Urdu-Hindi controversy and the 1886 Mohammedan Educational Conference. The idea of
autonomous statehood did not come up until 1930-40.

Jinnah left Congress in 1920, He started to think about autonomous Muslim state idea in 1936 (after
letters from Iqbal). He was ready to compromise on it until 1946 (cabinet mission plan). But he was sure
about the two-nation theory from the very beginning. After all, he was the one who made Lucknow Pact
happen in 1916 and this pact is based on the idea that Muslims are a separate community and deserve
separate electorates.

Separate statehood (creation of Pakistan) had to do with the two-nation theory to this extent that
when congress denied the existence of two nations or refused to recognize them constitutionally,
Muslims began to demand autonomy and ended up creating Pakistan. Had Congress accepted the
League’s demand of separate electorates, provincial autonomy, etc, there would have been no Pakistan,
while the two-nation idea would have continued to be a major political force in India to this day. These
were very modern political conflicts and came up only after the emergence of democratic set-up and
power-sharing and Jinnah coped with the crises brilliantly and profoundly. In the struggle for Pakistan,
he first made the Muslim nation realize that they were a separate nation and not a part of Indian
nationalism. After that, he advocated this fact at every political and social scenario with the fullest
passion and devotion. This idea of a separate nation organized Muslims and unite them against British
colonialism and Hindutva.

-“The Mussalmans are not a minority. They are a nation by any

definition. By all canons of International law, we are a nation.”

( Jinnah: Speeches and Statements 1947-1948, Introduction by S.M. Burke, Oxford University Press,
Karachi, 2000, p. 166)

Moreover, he gave his nation a sense of political

awareness and prepared them to fight a long battle with fortitude against two blocks; British and
cunning Hindus, who were pushing them into the dark streets of ideological, existential, and identity
crises. Jinnah turned the Muslim’s sense of political instability and social vulnerability into a stimulus for
a movement of freedom that acquired its goals in a short period.

Jinnah leads them through the valleys of despair and pain into the lands of freedom with cognition,
determination, faith, and discipline. From Lucknow pact to the khilafat movement, from Simon
commission to Nehru report, from fourteen points to round table conferences, from defeat in 1937 to a
glorious victory in 1946, from crips mission to cabinet mission plan, from Lahore resolution to 3 rd June
plan and from an ambassador of Hindu-Muslim unity to the first Governor-general of Pakistan, Quaid e
Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah always proved his decisions to be right and judicious and never let the
unconstitutional illegal forces to sabotage the Pakistan movement for a moment. He was a true
advocate of the power of Pen and he proved that the pen is mightier than the sword by sketching and
creating a nation-state without any violence.

Moreover, Jinnah has Moreover, Jinnah has not only championed the Muslim’s cause but he stood
for all the downtrodden sects of the Indian subcontinent and made them realize their worth. Rao
Bahadar M. C. Rajah, a Hindu, and a leader of the Depressed Classes — the ‘Untouchables’—
contributed a thoughtful message that should be read at length:

“All religions hold the belief that God sends suitable men into the world to work out His plans from time
to time, and at critical junctures. I regard Mr. Jinnah as the man who has been called upon to correct the
wrong ways into which the people of India have been led by the Congress, under the leadership of Mr.
Gandhi.

I admire Mr. Jinnah and feel grateful to him because, in advocating the cause of the Muslims, he is
championing the claims of all classes who stand the danger of being crushed under the steam roller of a
[caste-] Hindu majority, acting under the inspiration and orders of Mr. Gandhi. . . .”__

(Jinnah: Creator of Pakistan by Hector Bolitho)

When Nelson Mandela visited Pakistan, he came to Karachi instead of Islamabad on October 2, 1992,
and went to the Mazar-e-Quaid. “What is the reason I changed my visit and thought it necessary to
come to Karachi first, then I would tell you that it was my duty and national debt to pay tribute to
Muhammad Ali Jinnah which I paid today. Jinnah raised the most powerful voice for us when it was
raining on us, our struggle to fight against racial discrimination and oppression was influenced by
Muhammad Ali Jinnah. The most impressive source for those who fight against racial discrimination and
discrimination is Jinnah’s personality. I am grateful to Jinnah, Muhammad Ali Jinnah is my hero.”

( Daily Dawn, October 2, 1992)

In 1915, in Asrar e Khudi, Allama Iqbal made an invocation to God asking Him to grant him a confidant
and a comrade :
“Lord, in Thine essence Thou art single,

Thou hast evolved for Thyself a whole world.

I am as the tulip of the field,

In the midst of company I am alone

I beg of Thy grace a sympathising friend,

And adept in the mystery of my nature,

A friend endowed with madness and wisdom,

One that knoweth not the phantom of vain things,

That I may confide my lament to his soul,

And see again my face in his heart.

His image I will mould of my own clay,

I will be to him both idol and worshipper.”

Some years later Iqbal would discover this “God’s gift” in the personality of Jinnah and ask him to
come back to India to lead the Muslims and eventually tell him that:

“You are the only Muslim in India today to whom the community has the right to look up for safe
guidance.”

Iqbal now had complete trust in the Quaid’s ability to lead the nation. Sometime before his death,
Pandit Nehru visited Iqbal. As a sign of respect, Nehru sat down on the floor facing Iqbal. He said to
Allama that he was the real leader of the Muslims and Jinnah was a nobody. Iqbal’s response was angry
and abrupt. Iqbal asked Nehru angrily and abruptly that has he come here to create differences between
him and Jinnah? .He bluntly told Nehru that:

“Know this, Jinnah is the only leader of the Muslims and I am

but an ‘ordinary soldier’ of his.”

Jinnah never aspired to lead the Muslims of India.The reality is that Jinnah aspired to lead the Hindu-
Muslim unity movement in his early days with a desire to ultimately become a ‘leader of united India’.
He achieved this briefly in 1916 following the Lucknow Pact. Partition for a separate homeland was out
of the question up until the 1930s. Following the failed collaboration with the members of the congress
party and the death of Ruttie, Jinnah was disillusioned with politics to the point that he made an exit and
settled for a quiet life in England. Jinnah had no plans to return to the political landscape thereafter, but
he was repeatedly asked to return by members of the Muslim League. Liaqat Ali Khan was instrumental
in pursuing him for this. Furthermore, Sir Muhammad Iqbal’s letters to Jinnah served as evidence that
none other than Jinnah was capable of leading the Muslims of India through the ‘storm that was
coming… to the whole of India’. Whether Jinnah himself had any motivation to lead the way remains
somewhat vague to-date. All evidence points towards the fact that he was selected by those who knew
him best and that he agreed to take on the responsibility with ‘selfless devotion’.

“Jinnah returned to his desk in the house in Mount Pleasant Road, discouraged, but not in despair. He
worked alone, with no personal staff and not even a secretary to copy his letters and keep his papers
tidy. But there was one bundle of letters, in a drawer, to which he could turn for consolation: they had
been written to him by Sir Muhammad Iqbal, after their meeting in England in 1932…”

- Hector Bolitho, Jinnah: Creator of Pakistan.

Jinnah was a man of action and according to Allama, a man of the action takes precedence over a
hundred thousand thinkers or philosophers. As he says:

“It was Rumi who unveiled this secret to me,

That a man of the action takes precedence over a hundred thousand philosophers “

Quaid e Azam was such a person. A man of uncompromising honesty and integrity. With nerves of steel,
will power and determination. Selfless, dedicated, courageous, principled, charismatic, and loyal.

To sum up, his determination changed the course of history, his faith altered the map of the world
and his judicious personality crowned him with the creation of an independent nation-state. He walked
alone towards his goal.

“There was almost wholly lacking in Jinnah the “common touch”; he knew this, but could not help
it. His reliance was entirely placed upon God and upon himself; he had few acquaintances and fewer
friends.

He was a dedicated soul compelled by his genius and his destiny to walk alone.”

-( Times Literary Supplement, 10th December 1954.)

Jinnah’s commitment to the goal attracted the masses of the Muslim nation .He worked tirelessly for
Pakistan to become a great nation basking in the sunshine and joy of freedom, enriched by citizens of
every faith – Parsis and Hindus, Christians and Jews, as well as Muslims of every sect – all working
together, harmoniously helping each other to build this Land of the Pure into one of the world’s
strongest, wisest, richest countries. That was what the Great Leader dreamed his nation could and
would become long before Pakistan’s.

“Mr. Jinnah is surely the Demosthenes of the modern world”

(Frank Clune to Jinnah,15 June 1948.)

“Of all the statesmen that I have known in my life – Clemenceau, Lloyd George, Churchill, Curzon,
Mussolini, Mahatma Gandhi – Jinnah is the most remarkable. None of these men in my view outshone
him in strength of character, and in that almost uncanny combination of prescience and resolution
which is statecraft.”

( Sir Sultan Mohammad Shah, Aga Khan III.)