zaid hamid : jihad fi sabil allah, quaid-e-azam & our present leaders

7/30/2019 Zaid Hamid : Jihad fi Sabil Allah, Quaid-e-Azam & our present leaders

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Jihad fi Sabil Allah, Quaid-e-Azam & our present leaders

There is a controversial statement attributed to Quaid-e-Azam MuhammedAli Jinnah that Pakistan was

established with the first Muslim stepping on the coastal lands of Sind. The controversy in thisstatement is due to the disputed claims of whether or not it was ever articulated by the Founding Father

of the Pakistan. Without going into the details of the controversy, the statement indeed is reflective of the

ideology of Pakistan. In this article, we are discussing the vision of Quaid-e-Azam Muhammed Ali Jinnah

with regard to one of the most prominent aspect of Islamic Ideology, i.e. Jihad fi Sabeel Allah. It will also

help ease our over-ambitious secularists who spend their time and wealth to symbolize Quaid-e-Azam

as someone who stood for an independent homeland for Muslims of sub-continent (as this cant be


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denied), in order to live in the similar manner as they used to live in the pre-partition India under the

British Raj by following a refined version of Anglo-Saxon constitution enabling Western Democracy.

Similarly, the so-called Rightists who are despicable towards the idea of Pakistan since its inception and

strongly believe that the person we know as Quaid-e-Azam was actually a Kaafir, would hopefully realizeit one more time that the way they are tuned to look at this world needs to be refined, to be on the right

side of history, or remain on the losing side, as always.

After the conclusion of World War 1, when the whole West conspired to establish the illegitimate state of

Israel on the soil of Palestine which used to be under Islamic rule for centuries, the only notable Muslim

voice that opposed the British led Western alliance raised from British India. Allama Iqbal and Quaid-e-

Azam led the Muslims of India to one of the most distinguished effort against the creation of Israel [1].

This incontestable fact illustrates the vision, these two most prominent personalities had, i.e., theUmmah beyond the concept of modern Nation State and the singularity of Muslims as global entity.


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Quaid-e-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah with Grand Mufti of Palestine in Cairo - 1946

It was this very vision which was at work during Indonesias war of independence in early 1940s too.

Indonesia, the most populated Muslim nation, formally known as Republic of Indonesia announced its

independence on 17th August 1945, just few days after the surrender of Japan in World War 2 in the

wake of horrendous nuclear attacks on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The newly born Republic instantly

confronted military threats to its very existence from British troops that arrived on its soil as a contingent

of the Allied Forces to disarm the Japanese. Dutch troops also seized this opportunity to regain control

of the former East Indies. The British troops that were officially assigned to the task of repatriating Allied

prisoners of war, assisted the Dutch troops indirectly in their neo-colonial agenda.

Bendera Pusaka Sang Saka Merah Putih(The Sacred Red and White Heirloom Flag), the firstIndonesian flag, is raised on 17 August 1945.


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The war between Indonesian and British troops started in November 1945 and in the heat of fighting,

British Commander felt the need of reinforcement from regional base. At that historical juncture, Indian

Subcontinent was still part of British monarchy while final negotiations were underway for Indian

freedom. Being most significant and closest British colony from Indonesia, the Indian army was used byBritish command as reinforcement for Indonesia. However, in India, emotions were high, political

settlement for the Indo-Pak freedom was in the final stage, leaders from Indian National Congress and

All India Muslim League were striving their best to gain as much geographical ground as they could.

Quaid-e-Azam Muhammed Ali Jinnah could have tolerated the move of British Raj to send Army

personnel as reinforcement in Indonesia, after all he was more than 65 years of age with terminal

tuberculosis, had passed an extraordinary time of decades old struggle for the rights and freedom of

Muslims of India and was very close to achieving his objective of gaining independence of the first ever

ideological state for the Muslims after the creation of State of Madina-e-Munawarra 1300 years ago by

Sayyedi RasoolAllah (S.A.W). But he preferred otherwise; instead of only focusing on his mission,

Quaid-e-Azam Muhammed All Jinnah raised his thundering voice of protest against the colonial

atrocities in Indonesia and gave a clarion call for support to the Indonesian struggle for independence.

It is not clear as to how many armed personnel joined British contingent in Indonesia from British India

and also, what the ethnic and religious divide of the reinforcement was. But it is very apparent that from

among them, a group of 600 Muslim soldiers of British Indian Army played a very crucial role, they

rebelled from the British command and joined the armed struggle against colonial designs of European

powers. They fought shoulder to shoulder with their Indonesian brothers in faith and almost 500 out of

600 Mujahideen achieved martyrdom [2]. The question here is who motivated these British soldiers to

turn into Mujahideens and encouraged them to die with dignity in the way of Allah instead of committing

the grave sin of oppressing fellow Muslims as part of the colonial army?


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The answer to the above question might come as surprise to our fellow seculars and to the section of

clergy which never acknowledged the sincerity behind the life long struggle of Quaid-e-Azam

Muhammed Ali Jinnah. On 17th August 1995, the Government of Indonesia awarded the highest

honor Adipura to the Founding Father of Pakistan, Mohammad All Jinnah and the Government ofPakistan [3] for inspiring the Muslim soldiers of the British Indian Army to support the freedom struggle of

the fellow Indonesian Muslims against their own command. On the other hand Indonesias support

towards Pakistan in the 1965 war against India never forgotten by Pakistan. Until now, Indonesias

support still considered one of the most valuable contributions and noted in the history of Pakistan. This

historical journey has helped to shape an emotional relationship between the two countries, which can

be enhanced into a more substantial relationship.

The interesting fact is that Pakistan was not even an entity on the map when these brave 600 MuslimMujahideen showed their loyalty to their Creator; then why were these soldiers considered Pakistanis

and why was the Government of Pakistan awarded the highest honour of Indonesia along with Quaid-e-

Azam? This fact would resolve another point which is fundamental to the foundation of Pakistan and as

highlighted earlier at the start of this article, i.e., the basis for Quaids resolve to struggle for an

independent homeland of Muslims in South Asia. For Quaid-e-Azam, Pakistan existed even before 14th

August 1947. He acted and lived his tenure as a true pluralistic leader of the Muslims of South Asia

without any discrimination of ethnicity, sect, tribe and locality. The Muslim soldiers of British Army

considered Quaid as their Supreme Commander and complied with his wishes and desires by treating

them as orders. The day of 14th August 1947 was just a formal initiation of a romantic journey of the

Islamic spirit, which we call Pakistan.

The most profound point declared from this above historical fact is the understanding of the concept of

Jihad by Quaid-e-Azam and the tactical measures he directed to perform this role. In essence, he

utilized a group of Mujahideen, capable of performing the obligation of armed struggle to support the


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oppressed fellow Muslims. This answers another current issue about the use of Mujahideen groups in

areas where Muslims are fighting the freedom struggles.

Pakistan has been the fore-runner in reviving the spirit of Jihad globally since its formal establishment in

August 1947 as per the vision of Quaid-e-Azam. Be it Arab-Israel wars, Russian-Chechen war, Bosnia-

Serbia conflict, Afghan Jihad or the Kashmir cause.

Pakistan has tried to execute its role in helping the oppressed Muslims where ever it could, with its

limited resources and frail leadership, it has always unfortunately had. The present ruling elite, the

opposition and those aspiring to take the leadership of Pakistan in the name of justice, change and

religion are now openly calling it a historical mistake of the country to govern the obligation of Jihad [4] [5]

[6] [7] [8]. No one can deny that some serious miscalculations and errors occurred in running this obligation

of Jihad by those who were in authority at those respective times. The effects of these mistakes are

evident till date on our socio-political fabric. But instead of rectifying those mistakes and prioritizing

Jihad-fi-Sabeel-Allah as the main driver of Pakistans foreign policy, our elites from all walks of life,

specially politicians and bureaucrats are openly advocating to disband Jihad to support oppressed

Muslims on national and international media.

We warn these rulers, leaders and people of authority not to betray the sacrifices of Ummat of Sayyedi

Rasool Allah (S.A.W) and the struggles of Quaid-e-Azam. The time is not far when the traitors of the

precious Muslim blood would be held accountable. On the Day of Judgment, Allah will not forgive those

who call for the cease of Jihad and they will be in the deepest shame in front of the Pakistani martyrs in

Indonesia, Kashmir, Afghanistan, Chechnya, Bosnia and in other parts of the world.

References:


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[1] -http://www.allamaiqbal.com/publications/journals/review/oct91/5.htm> Iqbal and Jinnah on

Palestine by Dr. Ghulam Ali Chaudhry from Iqbal Academy

[2], [3] -http://www.kemlu.go.id/karachi/Pages/AboutUs.aspx?IDP=1&l=en> A brief available on the

website of Consulate General of the Republic of Indonesia in Karachi about the historical relationship

between the two brotherly countries.

[4] -http://www.arabnews.com/node/217636> Musharraf banned organizations for Jihad in Kashmir

[5] - http://tribune.com.pk/story/231877/nawaz-sharif-gets-it-right-on-india/ > Nawaz Sharif speaking at

SAFMA conference in support of friendship with India by declaring that we have same culture and eating

habits and heavily criticised the Afghan policy of strategic depth as obsession.

[6] - http://www.thefridaytimes.com/beta3/tft/article.php?issue=20121012&page=4.1 > Harkatul

Mujahideens statement on Zardaris Kashmir policy: "Musharraf betrayed the Kashmiris," he said,

adding that President Asif Zardari's policies had been even worse for jihad in Kashmir. He played Holi

with the blood of the Kashmiris by granting India the Most Favored Nation status and forging trade ties

with our eternal enemy," Fazlur Rahman Khalil of Harkatul Mujahideen.

[7] - http://www.zemtv.com/2012/12/08/imran-khan-full-interview-and-qa-in-india-agenda-aaj-tak-dec-7-

2012/> A full Imran Khan interview in Indian channel Agenda Aaj Tak

[8] -https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=St97E6XIwAE> Imran Khans proposed solution on Kashmir
http://www.allamaiqbal.com/publications/journals/review/oct91/5.htmhttp://www.allamaiqbal.com/publications/journals/review/oct91/5.htmhttp://www.allamaiqbal.com/publications/journals/review/oct91/5.htmhttp://www.kemlu.go.id/karachi/Pages/AboutUs.aspx?IDP=1&l=enhttp://www.kemlu.go.id/karachi/Pages/AboutUs.aspx?IDP=1&l=enhttp://www.kemlu.go.id/karachi/Pages/AboutUs.aspx?IDP=1&l=enhttp://www.arabnews.com/node/217636http://www.arabnews.com/node/217636http://www.arabnews.com/node/217636http://tribune.com.pk/story/231877/nawaz-sharif-gets-it-right-on-india/http://tribune.com.pk/story/231877/nawaz-sharif-gets-it-right-on-india/http://www.thefridaytimes.com/beta3/tft/article.php?issue=20121012&page=4.1http://www.thefridaytimes.com/beta3/tft/article.php?issue=20121012&page=4.1http://www.zemtv.com/2012/12/08/imran-khan-full-interview-and-qa-in-india-agenda-aaj-tak-dec-7-2012/http://www.zemtv.com/2012/12/08/imran-khan-full-interview-and-qa-in-india-agenda-aaj-tak-dec-7-2012/http://www.zemtv.com/2012/12/08/imran-khan-full-interview-and-qa-in-india-agenda-aaj-tak-dec-7-2012/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=St97E6XIwAEhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=St97E6XIwAEhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=St97E6XIwAEhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=St97E6XIwAEhttp://www.zemtv.com/2012/12/08/imran-khan-full-interview-and-qa-in-india-agenda-aaj-tak-dec-7-2012/http://www.zemtv.com/2012/12/08/imran-khan-full-interview-and-qa-in-india-agenda-aaj-tak-dec-7-2012/http://www.thefridaytimes.com/beta3/tft/article.php?issue=20121012&page=4.1http://tribune.com.pk/story/231877/nawaz-sharif-gets-it-right-on-india/http://www.arabnews.com/node/217636http://www.kemlu.go.id/karachi/Pages/AboutUs.aspx?IDP=1&l=enhttp://www.allamaiqbal.com/publications/journals/review/oct91/5.htm

zaid hamid : jihad fi sabil allah, quaid-e-azam & our present leaders

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