Muhammad Ali Jinnah Biography, birth place, family background, Early Life, Education

Pakistan Founder Muhammad Ali Jinnah Biography, Early life and family details the first governor-general of Pakistan

Muhammed Ali Jinnah was born on 25 December 1876 in Karachi, now in Pakistan, but then part of British-controlled India. His father was a prosperous Muslim merchant.

He was the son of a middle-class Gujarati Merchant, Jinnahbhai Poonja and Mithibai. His parents were from Panel, Gondal and had shifted to Karachi just a year before his birth. Second, of his seven siblings, his family belonged to the creed of Ismaili Khoja of Shia Islam. However, he later became a staunch follower of the Twelver Shi'a teachings.

The Jinnah family was a political family of Pakistan. Jinnah has played an important role in the Pakistan Movement for the creation of Pakistan, a separate country for Muslims of India.

The family held the leadership of All-India Muslim League, and its successor, Muslim League, until it dissolved in 1958 by martial law. Originally from a Gujarati background, they moved to Karachi from Kathiawar, Gujarat in the 19th century.

Jinnah's paternal grandfather was Premjibhai Meghji Thakkar. He was a Lohana from Panel Moti village in Gujrat but later he changed his religion to Muslim. Jinnah’s father Poonjabhai Jinno was a first generation Muslim with Khoja Ismaili belief, however, the next generation switched their belief to Shia Islam.

Muhammad Ali Jinnah and Fatima Jinnah, have been important figures in the history of Pakistan. Jinnah is considered as the founder of Pakistan and he served as the first Governor General of Pakistan upon independence, while Fatima played an important role in the struggle for Pakistan Movement and was the founding mother of Pakistan.