Muhammad Ali Jinnah alongside Mohandas Gandhi in Bombay, September 1944
The global Islamic resurgence of the 1970s has overshadowed earlier efforts by Muslims in the century to unite religious and political authority. Muslims led the rebellion against Western colonialism across the Middle East, Africa, and South and Southeast Asia. Notably in India, the Muslim aspiration for political power was vividly apparent. With the end of British rule there, many Muslims, invoking Islam, demanded the establishment of a separate state, Pakistan. Its emergence in August 1947 remains a significant political feat in modern Muslim history, largely attributed to one individual, Mohammad Ali Jinnah.
The Muslim community in British India was far from homogenous; they were divided along ethnic, linguistic, and sectarian lines. The main ethnic division was between the descendants of Arab and Turkish invaders and those who descended from indigenous Hindus who converted to Islam. No single language united Indian Muslims; instead, they shared regional languages like Bengali, Punjabi, Gujarati, and Tamil with their Hindu neighbors. Internal strife between the Sunni and Shia sects further impeded Muslim unity. Additionally, economic interests often aligned Muslims with their Hindu counterparts, especially in regions like Punjab and United Provinces, where the Muslim and Hindu populations were in relative balance. As elected councils and assemblies were introduced, Muslims in regions like Punjab and Bengal, where they were the majority, had different political priorities and interests compared to areas like United Provinces, where they were a minority. In such circumstances, Jinnah’s ability to unite Muslims behind the demand for Pakistan in the 1940s was a remarkable feat.
