The Khilafat Movement of the 1920s had been the first instance when Muslim women had made their presence felt. With Maulanas Shaukat Ali and Mohammed Ali in jail, their mother, Bi Amman, had taken up the cudgels against British imperialism. Her daughter-in-law assisted her. It took an old lady to strike the first blow at seclusion. She addressed meetings from behind the purdah of a sheet, and travelled to various parts of India to whip up support. Women came to hear her, and they were motivated to meet in various mohallas to raise funds. It was an old custom in the subcontinent that women sold their jewellery when the family was faced with a financial crisis.

When the Khilafat Movement demanded contributions from its supporters, the women came forward and gave up their jewellery, that being their only worldly possession. This would have been the first time that they made such a gesture for a political cause. However all this was short-lived and so with the demise of the Khilafat Movement women reverted to the strict seclusion of their homes and their domestic world.

The Quaid had seen the increasing participation of women in the Congress, his parent party. He realized the need to have Muslim women’s participation in the Muslim League, which he had begun to re-organize and bring to life. It was at Lucknow in 1937 that he called for the creation of a Women’s Wing of the Muslim League, but it remained dormant till the Patna Session of the Muslim League in 1938. His instructions were that there should be a recruitment drive through each and every district of India, and women should be made two-anna members of the Muslim League. Within two years of the Patna session political consciousness had begun to spread to all groups and classes of Muslim women, and on March 23, 1940, the women’s section of All-India Muslim League held its annual session at the Islamia College for Girls, Lahore. By now this college had begun to be at the centre of the women’s movement for Pakistan. Its Principal, Fatima Begum, played an instrumental role in bringing this about. Begum Hafeezuddin gave the keynote address in which she called upon the Muslims of the subcontinent to unite under the flag of the Muslim League. Two resolutions were passed at this session. The first pertaining to the Muslim League called for the women to work amongst their friends and acquaintances and rally them to the Muslim League, and help the Party organize sub-committees in towns and rural areas. The second resolution called on Muslim men to help Muslim women get the legal rights which were rightfully theirs under the Shariat, but which they had been denied. Baji Rashida Latif, who was also a member of the Legislative Assembly, declared in her speech that “capitalists” had deprived Muslim women of their rights. She must have been referring to the inheritance of property which continued to be denied to Muslim women in Punjab, for the big landlords did not want their property divided and consequently had opposed inheritance by Muslim women.

The mobilization of girls and women was continued with full force. In November, 1942, the Quaid was invited by the Punjab Girl Students Federation to come to the Jinnah Islamia Girls College and address the girls. In his speech he said: “I am glad to see that not only Muslim men but Muslim women and children also have understood the Pakistan scheme. No nation can make any progress without the co-operation of its women. If Muslim women support their men, as they did in the day of the Prophet of Islam, we should soon realize our goal… no nation is capable of remaining a strong nation, unless and until its men and women struggle together for the achievement of its goals”.

The Quaid exhorted the young students to join the Muslim League and recounted how at Patna he had formed a women’s section of the Party, in order to increase the involvement of the Muslim women.

The women’s section of the Muslim League organized mushairas and get-togethers. The movement for Pakistan had spread to girls’ schools and colleges and got increasingly tied up with Muslim women’s demands for the implementation of Shariat, as that would increase their rights under the law. By 1945 the Muslim League movement had become so widespread amongst women that they were touring the major towns and cities and trying to organize primary branches of the Muslim League.

The main purpose of these tours was to get them to attend the coming session of the All-India Muslims League in Lahore on March 23, 1945. As the Muslim League geared up for the elections of 1946, women’s’ divisional and district committees were organized and conveners Lady Abdullah Haroonappointed. A contingent of women arrived in Lahore from Aligarh to assist in touring the districts. In the last week before polling, women became so active that they held meetings in Simla, Amritsar, Gujranwala and Lahore. Meetings were held in Lahore to assign women to various polling stations. The first women’s branch of the Muslim League in the Frontier was opened in 1939. In October 1945 Lady Abdullah Haroon, the President of the All-India Women’s Muslim League, led a delegation of Muslim women to the Frontier province. When a meeting was organized under the auspices of the Zenana Muslim League, as many as thousand women attended it. The audience contributed Rs 80,000 to the Muslim League fund. In the elections of 1945-46 it was very active and women Leaguers from other parts of the region, and especially from Lahore, toured the province to mobilize support amongst the women of the Frontier province.

During the Civil Disobedience Movement, women’s demonstrations in Peshawar became frequent. Other towns affected in a similar manner were Mardan, Kohat and Abbotabad. Women Leaguers’ militancy in the Frontier increased after the fall of the Unionist ministry in the Punjab. They agitated outside the government offices, hoisted the flag on the Secretariat and took out processions. The presence of a large number of women workers from Punjab and other areas of the country helped.

The Muslim League won all the Muslim seats to the Central Assembly. They celebrated Victory Day on January 11, 1946. Students from Aligarh to Lahore had shown great zeal, and the girls had played a major role. On January 18 the Quaid addressed the Muslim Students Federation in Lahore, and when he went to address the women’s wing of the Muslim League he was escorted by two girls on either side of him with swords drawn. When, despite the Muslim League victory, the British Governor of Punjab asked the Congress and the Unionist Party to form a coalition government, it caused a furore amongst the members and supporters of the Muslim League. Meetings were held, and there was a demonstration of five hundred men and women on Queen’s Road.

The Quaid was in the tradition of a whole host of Muslim intellectuals and thinkers before him who had been calling for the education and emancipation of Muslim women. However, he was the first to actively promote their participation in politics and the Muslim League. It is no accident of history that he took his sister everywhere with him. He set the trend and his followers emulated. It is not surprising that Liaquat Ali Khan had Rana Liaquat by his side. The message was loud and clear: women should come out of their seclusion and be equal partners in the social and political life of the country. He is quoted as having declared that the Muslim nation could not progress or free itself unless women were its equal partners.Begum Rana Liaquat Ali Khan

The Pakistan Movement is an important watershed in the social history of Muslim women. While there is a long line of writers who in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century were advocating that Muslim women be educated, there was none who had the audacity to suggest that they emerge from the physical seclusion of their homes. When the Pakistan fever caught the hearts and minds of the Muslims, it seemed but natural that the women should be drawn into it too.

While the Quaid encouraged this through every policy decision of his, the conservative and the orthodox sections of society do not seem to have provided any major opposition to this new phenomenon. Hence there was no suffragette movement as such. Women acquired voting rights in the process of waging a political struggle for Pakistan. There is no evidence of a war between the genders because both were caught in a common struggle, and were supportive of each other. There is a whole galaxy of confident, intelligent, articulate and committed women who emerged from this Movement. They were poised at this advantageous situation when Pakistan was born.

Quaid-i-Azam University is one of the leading research institutes of the country having its natural as well as social sciences departments where multidimensional research work is going on. The QAU Vice-Chancellor Dr U.A.D. Esani is kind enough to encourage research activities in the university. Under the slogan ‘Save civilization, save mother earth’, the IRC team has recently started surface collection at eight sites at Soan valley, which is considered as the laboratory for geological, anthropological and archaeological studies.

Earlier remains of ‘anthropoid ape’ and ‘Potoharmans’, discovered by German scholars S.B. Leakey and her husband in the valley have been declared as the grandfather of human race.

The IRC team had set up its camp at a small town, Chakbeli Khan, about 60km southwest of Rawalpindi. Chakbeli Khan has an important central position in the area, wherefrom traders, travellers of the surroundings are connected with small villages of the area.

The first site was Bains or Vains as called by the local people, a 16-feet mound, spreading on an area of about four acres, surrounded by rich agricultural land. The others sites are Dhudhumber, Salmoon, Pind, Ghai, Gheela Kalan, Khai Dhok, and Banian. The landowners are extending their fields towards the mound. A mosque has recently been constructed near the mound.

There are remains of foundation walls of a complete room and two independent walls. A piece of conglomerate block is also distinguished on the surface. Pottery pieces are scattered on and around the mound even in the fields. People have found coins, pottery, jewellry and statues of various kinds during their agricultural work. During the surface collection materials like coins, pottery, terracotta, bones etc., of about three different periods were found.

Many pieces of bones of humans and animals have been collected that will need expert suggestions of physical anthropologists who may be able to determine the age and sex of individuals. It will also help us understand biological interpretations about their diet.

Numismatics of the Bains consisted of three dynasties — Muslim, the Hindu Shahi and the earliest Kushan periods. Thirty-two coins have been collected while more searches are going on. Among the other finds the main assemblage of artifacts is pottery. The entire surface of the site is littered with herds of pot shreds, bases, rims, glazed dishes, jars etc. Clay of the area is fine, making it easy to work on its surface in an artistic manner.

A huge quantity of pottery painted with animals, plants and other motifs on them tells the epic stories. It is easy to say that pottery manufacturing process consisted of quality of the clay, which are well levigated and extremely well-fired and burnt. The thickness of the pottery is 0.3 to 1.1cm.

Lingam pieces were also found during the surface collection. Terracotta of the area has significance due to its affinities with Harrapan style. Constructional remains: Three walls appear on the surface having about 5-6 feet depth in the mound, though the remaining walls are completely out of sight. One foundation of a room, measuring 8×14 feet has four walls clearly appeared on the surface, while the width of the wall is 1.5 feet.

Miscellaneous findings: though our objects were spreading around we searched unique material to join the missing links. A rich cultural complex of artifacts opened up many other dimensions in this regard. The pot shreds of various kinds had a great similarity to Kotdijian style. Like other findings our miscellaneous objects were beads, buttons, terracotta cakes, jewellry, lamps, bangles, nip of an arrow etc.

The material findings at Bains leads to many periods, survived in its dead mound, stories of different dynasties, ranging from the mature Indus valley civilization to Kushan, Hindu Shahi and Muslims.

A proper chronological order of the area could be made through institutional efforts. More attention from the government, concerned ministries, local people and scholars is needed for its protection and preservation to save the rich national heritage.

Moti Masjid ( موتی مسجد), one of the “Pearl Mosques”, is a 17th century religious building located inside the Lahore Fort. It is a small, white marble structure built by Mughal emperor Shah Jahan, and is among his prominent extensions (such as Sheesh Mahal and Naulakha pavilion) to the Lahore Fort Complex.The mosque is located on the western side of Lahore Fort, closer to Alamgiri Gate, the main entrance.

Subsequent history

After the demise of the Mughal Empire, the mosque was converted into a Sikh temple and renamed Moti Mandir during the period of the Sikh Confederacy (1716—99). Later, Ranjit Singh also used the building for the state treasury. When the British took over Punjab in 1849, they discovered precious stones wrapped in bits of rags and placed in velvet purses scattered inside the mosque, along with other inventory. The building was later revived to its former status, and the religious relics were conserved at the nearby Badshahi Mosque.

Design

The structure, located in the northwestern corner of Dewan-e-Aam. The facade is composed of cupped arches and engaged baluster columns with smooth and fine contours.The mosque has three superimposed domes, two aisles of five bays, and a slightly raised central quadrangle, is typical of Mughal architecture of Shah Jahan’s times. It is completely built of white marble that was brought from Makranapishtaq, or portal with a rectangular frame. This five-arched facade distinguishes it from other mosques of the similar class with three-arched facades. The interior is simple and plain with the exception of ceilings that are decorated and designed in four different orders, two arcuate, and two trabeated.

The languages of northern India, Turkey, Iran, Portugal, and Spain are full of words of Arabic origin. Modern arabic varies a good deal from country to country, differing as much as, say Spanish and Portuguese. However, the classical written arabic has changed little over the centuries.

Origin

The Arabic script evolved from the Nabataean Aramaic script. It has been used since the 4th century AD, but the earliest document, an inscription in Arabic, Syriac and Greek, dates from 512 AD. The Aramaic language has fewer consonants than Arabic, so during the 7th century new Arabic letters were created by adding dots to existing letters in order to avoid ambiguities. Further diacritics indicating short vowels were introduced, but are only generally used to ensure the Qur’an was read aloud without mistakes.

There are two main types of written Arabic:

• Classical Arabic – the language of the Qur’an and classical literature. It differs from Modern Standard Arabic mainly in style and vocabulary, some of which is archaic. All Muslims are expected to recite the Qur’an in the original language, however many rely on translations in order to understand the text.
• Modern Standard Arabic – the universal language of the Arabic-speaking world which is understood by all Arabic speakers. It is the language of the vast majority of written material and of formal TV shows, lectures, etc.

Each Arabic speaking country or region also has its own variety of colloquial spoken Arabic. These colloquial varieties of Arabic appear in written form in some poetry, cartoons and comics, plays and personal letters. There are also translations of the bible into most varieties of colloquial Arabic.
Arabic has also been written with the Hebrew, Syriac and Latin scripts.

Arabic and Islam

The Qur’an is expressed in Arabic and traditionally Muslims deem it impossible to translate in a way that would adequately reflect its exact meaning—indeed, until recently, some schools of thought maintained that it should not be translated at all. A list of Islamic terms in Arabic covers those terms which are used by all Muslims, whatever their mother tongue. While Arabic is strongly associated with Islam (and is the language of salah, prayer), it is also spoken by Arab Christians, Mizrahi Jews, and smaller sects such as Iraqi Mandaeans.

A majority of the world’s Muslims do not speak Arabic, but only know some fixed phrases of the language, such as those used in Islamic prayer, without necessarily knowing their meaning. However, learning Arabic is an essential part of the curriculum for anyone attempting to become an Islamic religious scholar.

Writing system

The Arabic alphabet derives from the Aramaic script (Nabataean), to which it bears a loose resemblance like that of Coptic or Cyrillic script to Greek script. Traditionally, there were several differences between the Western (North African) and Middle Eastern version of the alphabet—in particular, the fa and qaf had a dot underneath and a single dot above respectively in the Maghreb, and the order of the letters was slightly different (at least when they were used as numerals). However, the old Maghrebi variant has been abandoned except for calligraphic purposes in the Maghreb itself, and remains in use mainly in the Quranic schools (zaouias) of West Africa. Arabic, like other Semitic languages, is written from right to left.

The influence of Arabic on other languages

Main article: Influence of Arabic on other Languages
The influence of Arabic has been most profound in those countries dominated by Islam or Islamic power. Arabic is a major source of vocabulary for languages as diverse as Berber, Kurdish, Persian, Swahili, Urdu, Hindi (especially the spoken variety), Bengali, Turkish, Malay, and Indonesian, as well as other languages in countries where these languages are spoken. For example the Arabic word for book /kita:b/ is used in all the languages listed, apart from Malay and Indonesian (where it specifically means “religious book”). In addition, Spanish and Portuguese both have large numbers of Arabic loan words.
The terms borrowed range from religious terminology (like Berber taẓallit “prayer” < salat), academic terms (like Uyghur mentiq “logic”), economic items (like English “sugar”) to placeholders (like Spanish fulano “so and so”) and everyday conjunctions (like Urdu lekin “but”.) Most Berber varieties (such as Kabyle), along with Swahili, borrow some numbers from Arabic. Most religious terms used by Muslims around the world are direct borrowings from Arabic, such as salat ‘prayer’ and imam ‘prayer leader’. In languages not directly in contact with the Arab world, Arabic loanwords are often mediated by other languages rather than being transferred directly from Arabic; for example, most Arabic loanwords in Urdu entered through Persian, and many older Arabic loanwords in Hausa were borrowed from Kanuri.

In common with other European languages, many English words are derived from Arabic, often through other European languages, especially Spanish and Italian. Among them are commonly-used words like “sugar” (sukkar), “cotton” (quṭn) and “magazine” (maḫāzin). English words more recognizably of Arabic origin include “algebra”, “alcohol”, “alchemy”, “alkali” and “zenith

Lok Virsa Museum

The Lok Virsa Museum also known as the Folk Heritage Museum run by the National Institute of Folk & Traditional Heritage represents art works towards preserving the living folk and traditional culture and crafts of Pakistan. It is located near Shakarparian Hills and has a large display of embroidered costumes, jewellery, woodwork, metalwork, block printing, ivory and bone work. Traditional architecture facades exhibiting such skills as fresco, mirror work and marble inlay; tile, mosaic and stucco tracery are also displayed.

Adjacent to the Lok Virsa Museum, the Lok Virsa Heritage Reference Library is well equipped with resource data on ethnography, anthropology, folk music, art, history and crafts. Books on culture, heritage, audio and video-cassettes of folk and classical vocal and instrumental music are available for sale at Lok Virsa’s sales centre.

Travel the Karakoram Highway along the route of the fabled Silk Road
Come face to face with ancient Indus Valley civilizations at Moenjodaro
Answer the call of a million-dollar mosque with rocketing minarets and tent-like design
Wind along narrow roads from Peshawar to the legendary Khyber Pass

In This Guide:

Six authors beating every possible path for over 70 weeks of research
Packed with detail, including history and culture analysis, safety advice and the best Himalayan treks
Comprehensive coverage of the entire country and beyond, from Karachi into China’s Kashgar

The history of Islam in India has resulted in impassioned debates between scholars—from the secularists to the Hindu right. Arguing that these histories tend to project modern concerns back in time, Raziuddin Aquil conducts a dispassionate investigation of the period between the thirteenth and the nineteenth centuries, from the heyday of Muslim political domination of large areas of the Subcontinent to the decline of the Mughals, accompanied by the transformations colonialism brought in its wake.

Using texts from the medieval and early modern periods, Aquil uncovers connections between a variety of factors—the religious orthodoxy or the ulama; Muslim rulers’ attempts to deal with competing religious ideologies; the influence of Sufi traditions; the emergence of Sikhism and its tenuous relationship with Islam; and the development of Urdu as a language of the people. Situating his arguments in the context of contemporary politics involving Hindus and Muslims, Islam and the West, and the long-term struggles within Muslim societies between reason and faith, Aquil contends that some of the issues explored here have come down to us from medieval times while others have been transformed completely into concerns that are purely modern in origin.

Penetrating and readable, In the Name of Allah tackles the legacy of Muslim rule in India, and in the process presents Islam as a complex and continually changing tradition.

Book review from Liberty Books

Culture is everything! It is the very essence of symbolic dimensions of any community or place. It is the social legacy that is acquired and implemented in the lifestyle of people. The values and beliefs, social organization, behavior and the environment are all encased under the terminology “Culture”. The history and culture of Sindh have always attracted great scholars and left them spellbound. Sindh culture can truly claim to be one of the oldest known to mankind even surpassing certain shades and hues of Egypt, Mesopotamia and China. We welcome you to enter the magnificent Sindh world, we have set up for you and be enthralled by the amazing kaleidoscope of Sindh culture.

The Kaleidoscope of Sindh Dresses, Ornaments, Customs & Festivals
The culture of Sindh is a treasure trove of splendour and grandeur. An apparent facet of this rich culture is the exotic, exuberant and traditional apparel, which are intricately hand embroidered. Wide range of Ornaments are used as adornments, the designs of which are either floral or geometric. One of the prominent features is the use of coloured tinsel to enhance the beauty of the jewellery.

The Dynamic Sindhi Language and Literature

Language is life, and literature is it’s beauty. Sindhi Language and Literature have proved to be a significant means of the preservation of the remarkable culture of Sindh over the years. Striving to keep this rich heritage alive, various facets of the Sindhi Language and Literature have been portrayed in this section. Numerous Sindhi publications available today, are evidence that Sindhi is one of the renowned and flourishing language of today. This exhibition is our endeavour to acknowledge our rich heritage.

Delectable Sindhi Cuisine

Food and cuisine play a vital role in Sindhi culture, not only the ingredients and cooking method, but also the combination of food is such that it gives the best nutritional value without affecting the taste. Thus Sindhi food is not only appetizing and nutritious but also well balanced. It consists of rich aromatic food, laden with spices, ghee and exotic traditional masalas. Dairy products have their due importance in the form of Lassi and Kheer.

Pickles, snacks & sherbets are traditional recipes that are handed down from one generation to another & the ingredients of some are a closely guarded secret.

The Intricate Sindhi Handicrafts

In Sindh handicrafts have gone down the ages almost untouched by the growing emphasis on rapid industrialization. The skill of the crafts-man continues to exhibit the 5000 year old artistic tradition, which dates back to the Indus Valley civilization. It’ is punctuated by fresh and incessant waves of invaders and settlers, providing various exotic modes of arts, which with the passage of time, naturalized and blended with their original counterparts. In short it would only be fair to say that Sindhi Handicrafts are a valuable link from the old to the new!

The Invigorating Sindhi Sports

Cheering, clapping and applauding are the norm in any sporting event. An exciting contest pumps the adrenal and boosts one up from the doldrums, be it the participant or the spectator. Sindh is legendary for the unique contests and games it hosts like the Cock and Partridge fights, Malaakhda, Shatranj etc. So to entertain and enthrall you some of these events-mock or real have been portrayed in the exhibition

The Glorious Fatemi Culture

The tradition and culture of each nation is confined by boundaries of it’s religion but our Fatemi culture has no limitations, hindrances or boundaries. In fact this remarkable culture encompasses both the East and the West and is highly prominent in our daily lives. The Fatemi culture has existed in it’s original form due to unvarying and benevolent guidance of the 51st Dai el Mutlaq Syedna Tahir Saifuddin (R.A) and the 52nd Dai el Mutlaq Syedna Muhammed Burhanuddin (TUS) due to which the followers all over the world have remained steadfast to the Fatemi culture.