14th August Pakistan and Islam

Like the book is known by its cover, and like the theme is known by the preamble and like the chapters are known by their titles, so is the book of Pakistan apprehended by the title of Islam.

Though it is said that Pakistan, the only state of the world that gained its independence on an Ideological basis, of Islam, which separates Muslims from non-Muslims as a nation, had stayed orphaned of any constitution for its first 9 years, until in 1956; but one should not tend to forget the Objective Resolution before that in 1949, and the Two Nation Theory, the seed of which had been sown long before in the 1800s by Sir Syed Ahmad Khan.

The Quaid, known for his determination and strength of rationality, had been clear upon the distinct ideological identity of the Muslims of the Subcontinent all along. In his presidential address to the All India Muslim League in Lahore, on March 22, 1940, he said:

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“It is extremely difficult to appreciate why our Hindu friends fail to understand the real nature of Islam and Hinduism. They are not religions in the strict sense of the word, but are, in fact, different and distinct social orders, and it is a dream that the Hindus and Muslims can ever evolve a common nationality, and this misconception of one Indian nation has troubles and will lead India to destruction if we fail to revise our notions in time. The Hindus and Muslims belong to two different religious philosophies, social customs, and litterateurs.”

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Most of us remember the memorable words from his speech where he said:

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“They neither intermarry nor inter-dine together and, indeed, they belong to two different civilizations which are based mainly on conflicting ideas and conceptions. Their aspects on life and of life are different. It is quite clear that Hindus and Mussalmans derive their inspiration from different sources of history. They have different epics, different heroes, and different episodes. Very often the hero of one is a foe of the other and, likewise, their victories and defeats overlap. To yoke together two such nations under a single state, one as a numerical minority and the other as a majority, must lead to growing discontent and final destruction of any fabric that may be so built for the government of such a state.”

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When Pakistan came into existence, though there was not a written constitution in the hands of the people of Pakistan but that did not, by any means, imply that they did not have a clear path in front of them. In fact their Deen, Islam, the Quran and the Sunnah of the Prophet were a universal constitution in the hands of every Muslim that determined the path clearly to them. For the Muslims the word ‘Quran’ and the words ‘sovereignty of Allah’ is a complete word to follow.