Historical Figure
Muhammad Ali Jinnah
1876–1948
Founder and 1st Governor-General of Pakistan (1876–1948)
Talk to Muhammad Ali Jinnah
Have a conversation with this historical figure through AI
Biography
Muhammad Ali Jinnah was a barrister, politician, and the founder of Pakistan. Jinnah served as the leader of the All-India Muslim League from 1913 until the inception of Pakistan on 14 August 1947 and then as Pakistan's first governor-general until his death a year later in 1948.
Timeline
The story of Muhammad Ali Jinnah, told in moments.
Joins the All-India Muslim League while remaining a member of the Indian National Congress. He's called the 'ambassador of Hindu-Muslim unity.' He believes in a united, secular India. He'll change his mind.
Presides over the Lahore Resolution. One hundred thousand Muslims gather in Minto Park. The resolution doesn't use the word 'Pakistan.' But it demands separate Muslim states in northwest and northeast India. The two-nation theory is now official policy.
Pakistan becomes an independent state. Jinnah is sworn in as Governor-General the next day. He's 71, secretly dying of tuberculosis, and hasn't told anyone. In his first address he says Pakistan will be a state where religion is 'not the business of the state.'
Dies of tuberculosis and lung cancer in Karachi. He's been in office 13 months. His ambulance breaks down on the road from the airport. He waits in the heat for a replacement. His only daughter Dina, whom he'd disowned for marrying a Parsi, doesn't come to the funeral.
In Their Own Words (20)
"We are starting the state with no discrimination ... we should keep that in front of us as our ideal, and you will find that in course of time Hindus will cease to be Hindus and Muslims will cease to be Muslims, not in the religious sense, because that is the personal faith of each individual, but in the political sense as the citizens of the nation.
Muhammad Ali Jinnah, on the day he was elected president of the Pakistan Constituent Assembly, Jinnah in a moving speech, quoted in M. J. Akbar, India: The Siege Within (Harmondsworth, England: Penguin, 1985) p 34. As quoted from Ibn, W. (2004). Leaving Islam: Apostates speak out. Amherst, NY: Prometheus Books., 2004
You are free to go to your temples, you are free to go to your masjids or 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 business of the State.
Presidential address to the first Constituent Assembly of Pakistan, Karachi (11 August 1947), 1948
My message to you all is of hope, courage and confidence. Let us mobilize all our resources in a systematic and organized way and tackle the grave issues that confront us with grim determination and discipline worthy of a great nation.
Eid-ul-Azha Message to the Nation 24 October 1947., 1948
I cannot understand the logic of those who have been deliberately and mischievously propagating that the Constitution of Pakistan will not be based on Islamic Sharia. Islamic principles today are as much applicable to life as they were 1300 years ago.
Address to Karachi Bar Association 25 January 1948., 1948
I have one underlying principle in mind: the principle of Muslim democracy. It is my belief that our salvation lies in following the golden rules of conduct set for us by our great lawgiver, the Prophet of Islam.
Address to Darbar in Sibi, Balochistan (14 February 1948), as quoted in South Asia Screening the life of Jinnah" in BBC News (13 September 1998), 1948
Artifacts (15)
Admiral of the Fleet Earl Mountbatten of Burma IND5302
No 9 Army Film & Photographic Unit
church is either true or it's a hoax. And I think it's a hoax.
t of Latter-day Saints during her relationship with a Latter-day Saint boyfriend. According to Amy, Schulz told her that the "church is either true or it's a hoax. And I think it's a hoax."...
I suppose there's a melancholy feeling in a lot of cartoonists, because cartooni...
rlie Brown, Schulz had often felt shy and withdrawn. In an interview with Charlie Rose in May 1997, Schulz observed, "I suppose there's a melancholy feeling in a lot of cartoonists, because...
It was obviously an attempted kidnap-ransom. This was a targeted criminal act. T...
r Jill drove up to the house, prompting the would-be kidnappers to flee. Sonoma County Sheriff Dick Michaelsen said, "It was obviously an attempted kidnap-ransom. This was a targeted criminal act....
I never dreamed that this was what would happen to me. I always had the feeling ...
early, he announced his retirement on December 14, 1999. The decision was difficult for Schulz, who told Al Roker on The Today Show, "I never dreamed that this was what would happen to me. I always...
but that he did not know one way or the other: I do not go to church anymore .....
the late 1980s, Schulz said in interviews that some people had described him as a "secular humanist" but that he did not know one way or the other: I do not go to church anymore ... I guess you...
More from the Industrial
Explore what happened on the days that shaped Muhammad Ali Jinnah's life. Today In History connects historical figures with the events, births, and deaths that defined their era. Browse all historical figures or explore today's events.