Jinnah emphasised the Quran and Sunna; a Muslim cannot ignore these fundamental principles.
ISLAMABAD: No doubt Muhammad Ali Jinnah wanted a liberal and modern state, not a religious one. We always quote his speech of August 11, 1948 and forget other speeches made before and after that.
He emphasised the Quran and Sunna; a Muslim cannot ignore these fundamental principles.
Islam granted basic rights to the minorities, 1400 years ago, so did Jinnah by admitting their rights in an independent state.
However, was a Muslims state created just for bread and butter, or to implement the ideology of Islam? Was Pakistan established by the British due to their favourable policies towards Hindus, as some politicians argue? What would have happened had Pakistan not been established? If the Quaid were alive, how could he deal with the present national and international threatening environment? These are the questions we should think to answer if we want to see Jinnah’s vision of Pakistan.
Akhtar Rao
Published in The Express Tribune, August 16th, 2011.
