Paper short abstract:

This paper, using especially the political thought of Muhammad Iqbal and Mawdudi, will try to analyse how Islam was used to justify a separate state for the Indian Muslims, and the impacts and challenges on the political process and its evolution.

Paper long abstract:

On the occasion of the 25th session of the All-India Muslim League, in 1930, Muhammad Iqbal (1877-1938) devised for the first time the creation of a separate state for the Indian Muslims, for whom, according to him, the main formative force through History had been Islam, giving to them the emotions and basic loyalties which gradually transformed scattered individuals and groups into a well defined people.

Although predicated upon secular ideologies, the Pakistan movement was able to mobilize the masses only by appealing to Islam. Nationalism became dependent on Islam and, as a result, politicized the faith. A number of Muslim religious and communal organizations pointed to the importance of promoting Muslim nationalism, political consciousness and communal interests.

As the creation of Pakistan became more and more likely, Mawdudi (1903-1979), a friend and close associate of Muhammad Iqbal, increased his attacks on the Muslim League, objecting to the idea of Muslim nationalism because it would exclude Islam from India and surrender the domain of the Mughals to the Hindus.

The increasingly communal character of the Indian politics of the time, and the appeal made to religious symbols in the formulation of new political alliances and programmes by various Muslim groups as well as Muslim League leaders, created a climate in which Mawdudi's theological discourse found understanding and relevance.

Accepting the Partition and the creation of Pakistan as inevitable, Mawdudi worked, until his death, for the Islamization of the new country through his organization, the Jama'at-i Islami.