Muhammad Ali Jinnah: Man, Character, Quotes, Inspirations and Milestones
Enter to Learn, Go Forth to ServeMuhammad Ali Jinnah went to a school in Karachi which had the bold inscription: Enter to Learn, Go Forth to Serve. He certainly did.
1916: At age 40, Jinnah is bubbling with confidence: "The word failure is unknown to me."
1918:"A neat, charismatic, well-mannered young man, a master of logic. The most intelligent man I have seen." (Lord Montego Chelmsford)
1920: Mohandas K. Gandhi renames the working committee of the Congress, from Home Rule League to the Hindi "Suraaj Sabha." Jinnah resigns from the Home Rule League. He picked up the name change as Gandhi’s drift toward serving the Hindu Cause alone.
1920s: Gandhi promotes Hindu fundamentalism and gains popularity. He threatens, "If Muslims or Christians slaughter a single cow we will shed rivers of blood in India!"
1922: When people shower him with extremely honorable titles, Jinnah asserts, "I have no desire for any position or title. You may simply call me Jinnah or Mr. Jinnah."
1931: Round Table Conference in London. Chaudhry Rahmat Ali tells Jinnah that he will not accept crucifixion at the hands of the Hindu extremists. Allama Sir Muhammad Iqbal present at the conference convinces M. A. Jinnah that Indian Muslims must have their independent homeland.
1931: "If India ever attains freedom, it will be because of Jinnah." (Gopal Krishna Gokhle)
1933: Allama Iqbal writes to M.A. Jinnah, "Muslims of India are looking up to you to lead them." Liaquat Ali Khan tells M.A. Jinnah, "Indian Muslims need and deserve you."
May 29, 1937: Allama Iqbal writes to Jinnah, "The only safeguard for Muslims is to achieve a free homeland for themselves. Don't you think the time has come for this demand? A great storm is nearing and Muslims deserve to look up to you to captain their ship."
1937: Jinnah declares, "Even if we have to go through fire and blood we must march on to freedom, otherwise, we will forever remain poor, weak, illiterate, and slaves of Hindus.
1938: Bombay, 3 A.M. August 14: A Hindu journalist gently enters the mansion and asks Jinnah why he was staying awake so late while all Hindu leaders were sleeping in comfort. Jinnah responds, "I am awake because my nation is sleeping. They are sleeping because their nation is awake."
1938: "In India, the only un-purchasable leader is M.A. Jinnah." (Pakistanfirst Prime Minister to be, Nawabzada Liaquat Ali Khan)
1938: Jinnah visits Ilahabad, UP. He rules the hearts and minds of students. They crowd the Ilahabad railway station in multitudes. The railway traffic has to be stopped for 2 hours.
May 13, 1939: Muhammad Ali Jinnah orders his fortunes to be distributed between Aligarh University, UP, Islamia College, Peshawar and the Sind Madrasah,Karachi.
1940: Jinnah says, "One's whole life can be built around moral strength, courage, hard work and persistence."
1940: Everyone starts calling M.A. Jinnah as "Quaid-e-Azam", the Great Leader.
1940: Quaid-e-Azam introduces his English newspaper "DAWN" to fight anti-Muslim propaganda.
1940: Careful with words. "I am willing to see Gandhi but you can't say that I wish to see him."
1941: When advised to take rest by his loving sister he replies, "Fatima! Have you ever heard of a general going on vacation while his army is at war?"
1941: "Pakistan was established when the first Indian accepted Islam and Hindus called him Untouchable!"
July 26, 1943: A 30 year old tall and stout man, Rafiq Sabir tries to assassinate Quaid-e-Azam at his office with a dagger. The 67 year old slender Jinnah calmly grabs his wrist while his driver arrests the attacker. Jinnah proceeds with his work as if nothing happened. Rafiq Sabir belonged to the Khaksar Tehrik that believed Muslims must rule the whole India by way of power.
Dec 18, 1943: "The most important man in Asia is 67, tall, thin and elegant, with a monocle on a gray silk cord and a stiff white collar." (Beverly Hill Nichols, in his interview with the great leader titled Dialogue With A Giant)
1945: The Working Committee of the Muslim League requests Quaid-e-Azam to accept becoming the life President of the League. Quaid-e-Azam declines and insists on democratic process with yearly elections.
1945: Jinnah says, "I first decide what is right and proceed to do it. The people invariably come around me and the opposition vanishes. Many leaders would rather say what people want to hear."
1945, to students: "Do not criticize others when you yourselves have not yet learned to respect the sanctity of law. I see you have no lights on your bikes after dusk. --- Education and scholarship must come first and politics after."
1945: Unity, Faith, Discipline must be the motto of our nation.
1945: "I am an old man and I have all the luxuries of life. Why am I toiling hard? It is for you, for the poor of the nation."
1946: "No power on earth can prevent (the creation of) Pakistan!"
1946: "There is no tribunal to which we can go. The only tribunal for us is the Muslim nation."
1946: "Work for the good of the common man." (Addressing the leaders of Muslim League)
1946: M.A. Jinnah addresses students in Deccan, "In Islam, the ultimate obedience belongs to God alone. The only way to follow His Guidance is through the Holy Qur'an. Islam does not preach obedience to a king, parliament, person or any institution. The Islamic government means Rule of the Qur'an. And how can you establish the Rule of the Qur'an without an independent state? In this state, legislation will take place within the boundaries drawn by the Qur'an."
1946: Jinnah reaches this conclusion, "All the conferences in the world cannot reconcile the stark differences between the Hindu and Muslim ideologies."
1946: "What are our utmost demands? The answer is Pakistan."
1946: "Exceptional inner worth, vitality and endurance with eager humanity, a simple, winning humor like a child." (The prominent Indian intellectual, Miss Sarojini Naidu, the Nightingale of India™, poet and later, the governor of Uttar Pradesh)
1946: "Democracy is in the blood of Muslims. I'll give you an example. Very often, when I go to a mosque, my chauffeur stands side by side with me."
1947: "His youth was spotless." (Sarojini Naidu)
1947: "M.A. Jinnah is such a smart man. How would he not make history? I admire the tremendous personality and his inexorable determination." (British Field Marshall, Sir Claude Auchinleck)
1947: M.A. Jinnah says, "I believe in criticizing the government freely and frankly. But at the same time, it is the duty of every educated person to support and help the government when it is doing right."
1947: "Jinnah is the Muslim League. For him, people invariably fall in line. No one has any doubt what he means when he speaks. He speaks what he means and he means what he speaks." (R.G. Casey, Governor of Bengal)
June 3, 1947: Quaid-e-Azam gives the great news of freedom to the Indian Muslims. From All India Radio, Delhi he exclaims, "Pakistan Zindabad!" (Long Live Pakistan!)
July 1947: In the history of nations, an enemy of today is a friend of tomorrow.
August 7, 1947: Do you know I never expected to see Pakistan in my lifetime?
August 11, 1947: Addressing the Nation: You are free; you are free to go to your temples, you are free to go to your mosques or to any other place of worship in this state of Pakistan. You may belong to any religion or caste or creed, that has nothing to do with the fundamental principle that we are all citizens and equal citizens of the state.
These words were Jinnah's, but the thought and beliefs were an inheritance from Prophet Muhammad: Today I trample under my feet all the distinctions of caste, color, and nationality. (Hector Bolitho)
August 12, 1947: Muhammad (the exalted Prophet) was the greatest lawgiver, statesman and sovereign.
August 13, 1947: "The single-mindedness and persistent integrity of Muhammad Ali Jinnah gave him the victory over all his adversaries." (M.K. Gandhi)
August 14,1947: Hindu fundamentalist party RSS tries to assassinate Quaid-e-Azam as he is driven to the Government House in Karachi. For some reason, the bomb thrown on his car fails to explode. Quaid-e-Azam declines personal bodyguard.
1948: "It is as important to unlearn as it is to learn." (M.A. Jinnah).
April 15 1948: On medical advice, Jinnah temporarily moves to a scenic place, Ziyarat near Quettabut he refuses to stop working.
July 1, 1948: Comes to Karachi for the inauguration ceremony of the State Bank of Pakistan. He asserts, The adoption of Western Economic Theory and practice will not help us in achieving our goal of creating a happy and contented people. We must work our destiny in our own way, and present to the world an economic system based on the true Islamic concepts of equality of mankind and social justice. This was the last official engagement of M.A. Jinnah.
August 1948: Muhammad Ali Jinnah's personal physician Col. Elahi Baksh said, Sir! You must have woolen pajamas. Quaid-e-Azam replied, Listen Doctor, whenever you spend money on me. Think twice whether it is necessary or not.
August 1948: My ways are what? - Just common sense.
August 29, 1948: Now it does not matter whether I live or die. I have completed my job.
August 29, 1948, Ziyarat: "I have completed my mission."
September 11, 1948: 10.20 PM, the great leader breathes his last at the Government House in Karachi. The entire Pakistan is beclouded in gloom within the next hour.
1948: While the Hindu leadership of India, including Gandhi, indulged in tactics simulating mantras, soothsaying and voodoo, Jinnah in comparison carried on his politics with the selectivity of an expert surgeon. (Sir Winston Churchill)
1948: Jinnah was a man without malice. (General Sir Douglas Gracey, Commander-in-Chief of the Pakistan army in 1948)
1949: Jinnah was faultless in both ethics and virtue. (Sarojini Naidu, the Nightingale of India).
1949: Jinnah abhorred the "vague, philosophical absurdities" of Gandhi. (Hector Bolitho, the renowned British author)
1949: "Gandhi was an instrument of power, Jinnah was power," states the physician, Dr. JAL Patel, who had treated both leaders. The doctor adds, "Gandhi was unclothed before his disciples, Jinnah was clothed before his disciples. That was the difference between them."
1950: Jinnah used to say, "A spade should be called a spade." And he always did that. (Historian G.A. Alana)
1950: Gandhi was not happy if he achieved his objective through logical progression. He appealed to emotions. Muhammad Ali Jinnah was logical, practical and appealed to reason. (Sir D.B. Cunningham)
1950: Jinnah apart from his integrity, which was frightening, was a powerful man; when he decided to dominate anyone, an individual or a multitude, he did. He spoke to Urdu understanding masses in English but they listened to him, bewitched! (Professor Khalid Bin Saeed, historian)
1951: To doubt Muhammad Ali Jinnah's sincerity was to question the law of his life. (Hector Bolitho, British author)
1951: The profound laurels and long accounts of Muhammad Ali Jinnah achievements in newspapers failed to impress him. (Rizwan Ahmad, a close associate)
1951: The force of Jinnah's convictions and his inimitable style struck large audiences into wonder and agreement. (Hector Bolitho)
1951: Jinnah was completely free from extremes of emotions. (Nawabzada Liaquat Ali Khan)
1952: Jinnah's eyes were the 'twin lamps of truth'. Only the honest could look him straight in the eye. (Begum Raana Liaquat Ali Khan)
1955: The word holiday was foreign to Jinnah's active mind. (Younger sister, Fatima Jinnah)
1970: To the end of his life, he made no effort to court popularity or to please the press. (Lord Mountbatten,India’s last British viceroy)
Pic credit: Khalid Mahmood. Educational institutions received the remaining part of Mr Jinnah’s worldly goods.
Enter to Learn, Go Forth to ServeMuhammad Ali Jinnah went to a school in Karachi which had the bold inscription: Enter to Learn, Go Forth to Serve. He certainly did. 
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