MUHAMMAD ALI JINNAH
Born in Karachi to a Gujurati family, Pakistan’s founder was among the first students of a Muslim school in Bombay which was also attended by the renown Quran translator Abudllah Yusuf Ali. Jinnah also attended the school Sind Madrassat-ul-Islam in his native Karachi.
From a young age, his aspirations were clearly Islamic. When he was sent to study law in England, he chose the law school the Lincoln Inn in London because it considered Prophet Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him, as one of the greatest law givers of the world.
He became the youngest graduate at his school, completing his law degree at 18. Later, after returning to India and establishing a successful law practice, he joined the Indian National Congress and its movement to free India from British colonial rule. However, he became disenchanted with the party when Mohandas Gandhi, its leader, began brining Hindu religious language and symbolism into the movement. Jinnah felt this disempowered Muslims and slowed down the cause of freedom.
In response, he quit the Congress and returned to England. The Muslim poet-philosopher Allama Muhammad Iqbal coaxed him back to India, inspiring him with the idea of Pakistan and the need to fight for the rights of Indian Muslims, who were not fairly represented in the Hindu-majority country, particularly in the areas of politics and employment.
Jinnah rose to become president of the Muslim League and leader of the movement for Pakistan. His entry into Muslim politics also led him to become a much more conscientious Muslim as he adopted Muslim dress, learned Urdu, and studied the Quran with Islamic scholar Shabbir Usmani. These changes eventually led to him abandoning a number of unIslamic practices he had been engaged in.
Although suffering from severe tuberculosis, he kept his illness a secret not only from those who opposed his mission,