The Painful Pages of our History

by Orya Maqbol Jan

This is the chapter in our history whose golden words are being attempted to be erased and wiped, so that the influential class of Pakistans society who were gifted lands, fortune, high official posts and medals by the British and were imposed on the poor of the country. Amongst them the politicians, bureaucrats, army officers, all of them want to prove that this country was created on the basis of financial reasons and its founder Quaid e Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah was a secular minded individual and wanted to make this country a secular state. The golden page of the history of this god given country will not be found in course books, not in the writings of scholars, neither any sound of it will be heard in television talk shows or in the words of a thinker. Everyone tried to scratch this off from this countrys history. The youth of today can only find fabricated and distorted history to read, and is seen roaming around asking the question, Was Pakistan really made in the name of Islam? Did Quaid e Azam really wanted to implement Islamic rule of law? What is in this page of history, this declaration and this proof which is being attempted to be removed.

On the 14th of August, 27th of Ramazan right after the creation of Pakistan, the Pakistani government invited the famous thinker, scholar and writer Allama Muhammad Asad to Pakistan. He was granted Pakistani citizenship and first Pakistani passport was issued to him. After this Quaid e Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah initiated a request for a department which would set up the constitution, law and education syllabus as per the soul of this country that is the Islamic way. This institution was named as the Department of Islamic Reconstruction; its leadership was entrusted to Allama Muhammad Asad. This was the first institution of Pakistan which had with its name the word Islamic. To clarify the objectives and boundaries of the department on 18th October 1948 Allama Muhammad Asad, delivered a speech from Radio Pakistan. He said that the aim of this department is to mold the rules and constitution of Pakistan according to the Islamic teachings, for which this country was created.

Who was Allama Muhamamd Asad? Before finding out his credentials it is necessary to know about his struggle. People know him by his bestseller, Road to Makkah. But for the Muslim nation his other feats have been kept hidden. On 2nd July 1900 a child was born in a Jewish household in Lehmberg, a city in

the Austro-Hungarian Empire, he was names Leopold Weiss. His father was a lawyer and his grandfather was a Rabbi. After early Jewish teaching in his home, he started normal education and ended up in Vienna University. During this he learned German, French, English, Persian and Urdu. After his education he became a journalist and spent time script writing and travelling. On his journalistic endeavors he came to Jerusalem and stayed with his uncle who was a student of the famous psychologist Sigmund Freud. He also published a paper on the solubility of soul from New York. The fervor of learning new languages took him to Arabic language and the Arabic language introduced him to Quran. During this time he came to know of the plight of the Muslims and the conspiracies of the Jews against them. To unveil these conspiracies he started writing about them. In 1926 in the city of Berlin, Germany impressed by the truth of Islam, he reverted to Islam and named himself Muhammad Asad. The story of his journey from Muhammad Asad to Allama Muhammad Asad is an amazing one. He travelled to every Muslim country and instigated its inhabitants to rid themselves from the enslavement of western powers. In 1932 he reached another enslaved country Hindustan and in 1934 he met Allama Iqbal, who convinced him to end his journeys and stay to work on the condition of the Muslims of the SubContinent. According to Allama Muhammad Asad, Allama Iqbal changed his stream of thinking. And he started working on the thinking and educational basis of an Islamic state. Allama Iqbal had him made head of Islamic department of a University in Lahore, but he wanted to work freely and independently. This person spent hours with Allama Iqbal and started writing articles in newspapers all over the globe on ideological and Islamic personality of the country of Pakistan, the Urdu translation of it used to appear in a newspaper in Lahore. Allama Asad delivered lectures on the nature of an Islamic country and the Two-Nation theory in Lahore and Delhi. But the Second World War started. His parents were murdered by Hitler because of them being Jews. And he was arrested by the British government of Hindustan on the suspicion of being a German spy. After six years when he was freed he started publishing a newspaper called Arafaat in which he published articles by the name of What is the meaning of Pakistan. In these articles the famous slogan vibrated the Sub-Continent. What is the meaning of Pakistan. La Illaha IllAllah. One month prior to the independence of Pakistan he wrote a detailed article and explained the objective of Pakistan as to set up its constitution, rule, economic system and education syllabus on basis of the teachings of Islam, and stressed on this being the actual objective of the creation of Pakistan. The subject of it was Towards an Islamic Constitution. After this last edition he came to Lahore and Pakistan honored him with being the first Pakistani citizen. This was the practical and thinking treasure on the basis of which the founder of Pakistan Muhammad Ali Jinnah instituted him the task to lead the new department called the Islamic Reconstruction. And due to his essays and articles, he was entrusted the responsibility of formulating the constitution and law of Pakistan on the basis of Islamic principles. Allama Asad started publishing his paper Arafaat from this institution. He made immediate recommendations; two amongst them were such that they would incur the displeasure of the influential of todays society. The first one was that whoever has been gifted a fortune by the British and they are now sitting with the titles of Nawab, Khan, Chaudhry or wadera, their belongings should be confiscated. And the second suggestion was that a complete Islamic system of education and syllabus should be formulated. And even if it takes three years to formulate, till that time all educational institutions should be closed. Because it is better for children to sit at home rather than studying in an educational system where there is falsehood taught about their religion, values and even personalities, and they move ahead in their life with this fiction. Now this section of people is in

movement. All the big bureaucrats, Nawabs, Khans and Chaudries have gathered. Quaid e Azam had passed away. Prime Minister Liaquit Ali Khan transferred him to the post of Deputy Secretary in the department of foreign affairs, and made him an in charge of the desk of Far East. Allama Asad left for a trip to the entire Arab world and met all of the head of states of the Muslim countries, so that the dreams of the Muslim nation can be materialized. After extreme efforts he formulated practical suggestions for the unity of the Muslim nation, and presented them to the then foreign minister Zafarullah Khan, who due to his personal bias chose to trash the recommendations. Fire erupted in the department of Islamic Reconstruction and Allama Asads work was burnt to ashes. (To be continued)

Original Article in Urdu