Rahmat Ali A Biography

Biography of Choudhary Rahmat Ali, 1893-1951, foreign-based political activist who was the first to propose the name 'Paḳstan', later named Pakistan, for a separate and independent homeland for the Indian Muslims.

The popularity of the Muslim League and its idea of Pakistan has been measured in terms of its success in achieving the goal of a sovereign state in the Muslim majority regions of North West and North East India. It led to an oversight of Muslim leaders and organizations which were opposed to this demand, predicating their opposition to the League on its understanding of the history and ideological content of the Muslim nation. This volume takes stock of multiple narratives about Muslim identity formation in the context of debates about partition, historicizes those narratives, and reads them in the light of the larger political milieu of the period. Focusing on the critiques of the Muslim League, its concept of the Muslim nation, and the political settlement demanded on its behalf, it studies how the movement for Pakistan inspired a contentious, influential conversation on the definition of the Muslim nation.

An in-depth look into the life of Imam Ali, peace be upon him, the first divinely appointed leader of the Muslim nation after the death of the Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him.

This book is an English translation of as-Sirat an-Nabawiyyah; a scholarly and thoroughly researched Arabic work of Shaykh Abul-Hasan Ali Nadwi (May Allahs Mercy be upon him). However the title has been taken from the Urdu translation of the said work. In this book, the author has been particularly mindful of the current generation’s mindset, taste, understanding and sensibilities. Similarly, he has been entirely considerate of the modern method of research and discourse, so that the content, evidences and style prove to be effective. In preparing the book, the author has read old and new literature, in Arabic and other languages; so that the book, in addition to being comprehensive, is also able to dispel any confusion that exists in the modern mind. As a result, this book has received much acclaim, and within a short space of time it has been included in the syllabus of universities. Now, the English version of this book is in your hands, so that English speakers may also benefit.

This book reflects upon the political philosophy of Muhammad Iqbal, a towering intellectual figure in South Asian history, revered by many for his poetry and his thought. He lived in India in the twilight years of the British Empire and, apart from a short but significant period studying in the West, he remained in Punjab until his death in 1938. The book studies Iqbal's critique of nationalist ideology and his attempts to chart a path for the development of the 'nation' by liberating it from the centralizing and homogenizing tendencies of the modern state structure. Iqbal frequently clashed with his contemporaries over his view of nationalism as 'the greatest enemy of Islam'. He constructed his own particular interpretation of Islam - forged through an interaction with Muslim thinkers and Western intellectual traditions - that was ahead of its time, and since his death both modernists and Islamists have continued to champion his legacy.

From the Publisher: A Brief History of Pakistan attempts to answer these questions in a concise yet thorough account. By illuminating the nation's past, this book offers readers a detailed perspective of Pakistan today and enables them to consider soundly how the country, once a birthplace of civilization, might change in the future.