Last week the news about Jinnah’s maternal great grandson Aslam Jinnah surfaced as to how miserable and poor life his family were living while being the great grandson of Jinnah he should have some recognition. I was wondering Jinnah had only one daughter Dina Wadia (nèe Jinnah).
Jinnah & Dina
Dina got married to a Parsi born Indian Neville Wadia against the wishes of her father. Wikipedia states:
Mahommedali Currim Chagla, who was Jinnah’s assistant at the time, recalls:
“Jinnah, in his usual imperious manner, told her that there were millions of Muslim boys in India, and she could have anyone she chose. Reminding her father that his wife (Dina’s mother Rattanbai), had also been a non-Muslim, the young lady replied: ‘Father, there were millions of Muslim girls in India. Why did you not marry one of them?’ And he replied that, ’she became a Muslim’”.
Neville
Dina and Neville lived in Mumbai and had a son and a daughter. Dina’s son Nusli Wadia is an industrialist and business tycoon. His sons – Dina’s grandsons and Jinnah’s great grandsons are Ness Wadia and Jeh (a.k.a Jehangir) Wadia.
About Jinnah’s rest of extended family:
The only grandson of Quaid-i-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah is Nusli Wadia, Chief Executive Bombay Dying & Manufacturing Company and lives in Bombay. There is no other grandson of Quaid-i-Azam. The only great grandsons are sons of Nusli Wadia who also live in Bombay. Jinnah’s daughter Dina Wadia lives in New York and Bombay.
This was stated by Liaquat Merchant, grandnephew of Quaid-i-Azam and grandson of Jinnah’s sister Mariambai in a clarification following media coverage which projected Aslam Jinnah as grandson or great grandson of Quaid-i-Azam and invitation extended to him by executives of Baitul Maal in Islamabad.
He said he had in past clarified his position on several occasions during period 2004 to 2007. He said it was incorrect to describe anyone except Nusli Wadia as Jinnah’s grandson.
Merchant, who is Administrator Estate of Quaid-i-Azam, Managing Trustee Jinnah Foundation, Executive Trustee Quaid-i-Azam Aligarh Education Trust, President Jinnah Society, author of publications on Jinnah and recipient of Sitara-e-Imtiaz awarded by President of Pakistan in recognition of his publications on Jinnah, public services in health, education, said he had never met Aslam but thought he was probably a descendent from Nathoo Poonja family.
He said Quaid-i-Azam’s father Jinnah Poonja had two brothers — Walji Poonja and Nathoo Poonja. While grandsons of Walji Poonja had come forward and made claim for a share in Estate of Mohtarma Fatima Jinnah in accordance with Hanafi/Sunni law in their capacity as distant kindred claiming through Jinnah’s paternal uncle Walji Poonja, there was no claim by any male descendent of Nathoo Poonja but a claim filed by one Jenabai, a daughter-in-law of one of grandsons of Nathoo Poonja but her application was dismissed as it did not merit consideration. No other claim has been filed up to date by any member of Nathoo Poonja family.
He said if Aslam is a descendent of Nathoo Poonja, he should establish his ancestry and make a claim before the Sindh High Court for a share. He said he only wished for record to be set straight and had no grievance or reservation against any member of Nathoo Poonja family.
Liaquat Merchant said descendents of Walji Poonja who were settled in Karachi included Muhammad Ali, Jaffer Ali, Hussein Ali and Ghulam Ali who are now survived by Amir Ali son of Hussainali Gangji Walji.
The immediate family of Quaid-i-Azam comprised of his daughter Mrs Dina Wadia and her son Nusli Wadia. Quaid’s sisters are Rehmatbai, Mariambai, Shirinbai and Fatima Jinnah. His brother Bande Ali died and his brother Ahmad who was married to a Sunni lady had one daughter Fatima Goepfert.
Merchant said children of Quaid’s sisters Rehmatbai, Mariambai and Shirinbai are no more alive. Daughter of Ahmed Jinnah lived in Switzerland while Fatima Jinnah did not marry.
Grandchildren of Quaid’s sister Mariambai, presently living in Karachi, are Kulsoom Ibrahim, Zehra Chandoo, Gulshan Chandoo, Rohina Peerbhoy, Liaquat Merchant, Hussein Ebrahim and Moonira Kassam. Other grandchildren of Jinnah’s sisters Rehmatbai and Mariambai live in Bombay and Calcutta.
Quaid’s grand nephew issues clarification
Even if Aslam Jinnah is a relative of Quaid then the media shouldn’t call him his maternal great grandson. He might be a distant relative or he may not be related to him at all.
The history we read at schools never talk about such things. It is the responsibility of media and the historians to set the record straight.
Nusli Wadia
Ness
Jeh
[...] See original here: Quaid-e-Azam – Mohammad Ali Jinnah’s Great Grandson [...]
By: Valuable Internet Information » Quaid-e-Azam – Mohammad Ali Jinnah’s Great Grandson on July 1, 2009
at 11:43 am
Assalamoalaikum,
What an interesting post!
I am baffled by something though. Jinnah’s dad’s name was not muslim, neither was his daughters nor is she dressing as a muslim in the picture, nor does she look like one.
Jinnah also looks like a normal forgien person. Only fatimah and his names were muslim, how come? Just a thought.
May Allh give him peace in the grave for his efforts,a meen.
By: Ayesha on July 1, 2009
at 12:58 pm
By birth Jinnah was Shia Khoja and his family belonged to (Indian) Gujarat. I think in those times people while selecting names for their offspring were more influenced by the culture and their native language. The article above says his sisters’ names were Rehmatbai, Mariambai and Shirinbai etc. If you notice even the sur name ‘Jinnah’ is very unusual and unique. Some people suggest it’s an Arabic word (mentioned in the Quran) which means an ‘arm’. But we can’t say that for sure.
Quaid’s wife was Rattanbai who was Parsi but had converted to Islam.
As for Dina… I have no idea what’s the origin and meaning of this name but do remember Quaid was very secular in his lifestyle. Some historian and his biographers mentioned that he used to drink and eat pork. Which might be true. But what makes him wonderful is that he was a man of principles.
Here is a quote from another article:
Jinnah raised his daughter as a Muslim, according to Jinnah’s chauffeur Bradbury, Jinnah asked his sister, Fatima, “to teach her niece, Dina (Jinnah’s only daughter) about Islam and The Holy Qur’an.”
By: Ayesha on July 1, 2009
at 3:49 pm
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By: Quaid-e-Azam – Mohammad Ali Jinnah’s Great Grandson on July 1, 2009
at 1:24 pm
Nice post.
By: Tauqeer on July 2, 2009
at 7:27 am
wow.
what a post!
i did a thorough research once but that was a long time ago!
this refreshes a lot!
By: Americanising Desi on July 2, 2009
at 4:01 pm
Thanks for reading it
By: Ayesha on July 2, 2009
at 7:30 pm
Quite informative!
Thank you for this post
By: Nayni on July 3, 2009
at 6:11 am
My pleasure!
By: Ayesha on July 3, 2009
at 5:26 pm
I don’t think Mr Jinnah had anything to do with Islam. His religion was his own wishes and what was he told to do. He wanted to be on the top, and he got it in shape of Pakistan’s governor general. He had no opportunity of that level whatsoever in united India.
He was as muslim as Mr Asif Ali Zardari, Zukfiqar Ali Bhutto, General Ashfaque Pervez Kiyani or any other figure of authority in Pakistan past and present.
So no worries about Jinnah, his family or anyone else of their stature in Paki Land. Everyone is grabber (of wealth, fame and power plus some sex) here.
By: James on July 7, 2009
at 4:23 pm
if he had nothing to do with Islam then why did he fight for muslims?????
By: angel on October 20, 2009
at 5:37 pm
Angel: That’s politics for you!
If you’ve read history then you must have read that Jinnah was in Congress Party first as he thought it to be the true secular party. Then he joined Muslim League. Left it soon due to Muslim’s strange behavior. Joined again on the request of Dr. Iqbal and then there was no looking back.
It was simple Jinnah had made it his aim to create a separate homeland for Muslims and he did. Okay we were destined to have our own land. So it happened. Let’s see things with simple lens
By: Ayesha on October 22, 2009
at 1:58 pm
Why do we believe ’some’ non-Muslim authors who call our Quaid a drunk person. Hundreds more books written by Muslim authors describe him as a Muslim with fine enough faith. Why don’t we believe them? Are you following Islam by doing this?
About Dina, her daughter, Qauid-e-Azam let her go out of his life when Dina decided marrying a Non-Muslim & didn’t follow the religion. Dina was brought up by her Parsian grand-parents who filled her brain against Islam and Jinnah. If she was Quaid’s obedient daughter, hadn’t she come to Pakistan in 1947 (Just like Fatima Jinnah did)?
Wikipedia says {Jinnah continued to correspond cordially with his daughter, but their personal relationship was strained.}
Would any of you, please, tell me what will be your reaction if I call your deceased grand-pa a drunk, a non-Muslim, a fame wisher, sex-holic? Quaid-e-Azam is our grandpa, our hero. Alas! we the ungrateful people never thank.
And did any of you live with him? Do you know what he did? What he thought? It’s a matter between him and Allah. Why can’t you just stick to your own faith & religion and stop bothering the deceased one?
Why can’t we think positive?
Would you please like to imagine, what would have been your condition, if Jinnah didn’t gift you with Pakistan? I wouldn’t say anything but Orya Maqbool Jaan explains. Even though whole script is worth reading but the true picture of condition of Muslims in India has been captured in last paragraph.
http://www.pkcolumns.com/2008/12/18/lohey-
ke-cheney-by-orya-maqbool-jan/
I didn’t want to comment here, I knew I would go unpleasant but writing “Zardari” blah blah along with My Quaid’s name is just intolerable. I apologize for inconvenience.
By: Moorwen on July 7, 2009
at 5:59 pm
We understand your sentiments!
By: Ayesha on July 8, 2009
at 5:28 pm
ryt,agree with u.
By: salman khan on October 24, 2009
at 2:43 pm
Very informative. Governments always want some brownie points to do such things =p
By: Raheel Lakhani on July 9, 2009
at 3:44 pm
The government has really made a laughing-stock of itself.
By: Ayesha on July 9, 2009
at 5:47 pm
Living like westerners does not one has become non-muslim. The whole thing of associating Islam with Arabian culture is ridiculous from start as we perceive today in Mullahs and Mosques while keeping the slogan of Islam today.
It is not just coincidence that the people who created Pakistan were all educated in Western Institutes and had western influence. Take the example of Iqbal. Germany had a great influence on him. On the other hand, most of Mullah were strongly against the creation of Islam.
In order to understand the true spirit of the creation of Pakistan it is mandatory to read Iqbals lectures in “Reconstruction of Religious Thoughts in Islam”.
By: Mohammad Ali on July 9, 2009
at 8:29 pm
With respect, we should not judge Jinnah whether he was a drunk or a good muslim. That is for god and only god to do. We should not assume he was power hungry because of his behavior. Who knows what he was thinking. We should not judge a book by it’s cover. It is a known fact that he drank and smoked but this does not make him a bad muslim.
It’s like Gandhi, we all knew he wanted an Independent India and he stood for non violence but we do not know what other egotistical inner satisfaction he felt (if there were any atall that is). These inner soul thoughts and feelings is only between man and god.
So all we can do is pray for salvation for ourselves and let god be the judge of us all.
Whether we are Muslims, Hindus, Sikhs, Jews etc. we are all god’s children. We should be careful with our opinions and interpretations.
By: deborah on July 25, 2009
at 10:52 pm
salam
). cz though mr JINNAH was secular in his life style bt he never drun never ate pork, n those who write this are definatly western writers, u must read above mentioned writerz book on JINNAH, this writer also has written on mr gandhi as well so u can easily analyse that he is nt baised n has written the truth. we must respect our grt leader.
m replyn for ayeshaz post for july 1st, ayesha plz u must read stenly walpert( i m nt sure m using the correct spellings
By: samina on August 18, 2009
at 4:36 pm
well said moorwen, 1 thing i wana add is that there r sm western writers who take things rationally n will write only the truth, this writer stenly walpert, i read him in 200 or 2001 bt i wes really inspired that he dint write like other writers who always wrote against PAKISTAN, against RESPECTED mr JINNAH N AGAINST ISLAM.
By: samina on August 18, 2009
at 5:08 pm
Mohammad Ali Jinnah, the Quaid-e-Azam of Pakistan is undoubtedly the most debated political personality in the south-east.
His personality and lifestyle indicate a lot. Especially to Indians who have always ridiculed his policies as biased towards muslims.
And I, as an Indian, feel that there is no doubt to his non-secularism post the 1940’s. What he may have done and said prior to that decade does matter little if we argue the aftermath.
During those times of severe imperialism, he stood alongside greats like The Mahatma, Sardar and others carrying a singular aim of bringing freedom to India. That alone puts him in a position of true respect.
What he may have undergone while being with the Muslim League, only he knows. There might have been deeper reasons for him to masquerade his secular self by demading an independent state, but again, his thoughts and actions gave rise to two nations instead of one.
I just want for a second to imagine both the countries as one nation and think about how we as great grand children may have lived in unity.
I believe, all the wars and the desperateness to seek kashmir from both ends would have dissapeared. I also believe that when the potentials of the Sardars and the Jinnahs and others would have summed, it would have given such an immense boost to the fertility of the combined land in terms of economics, politics, education and defence in contrast to what exists today
If someone has an answer to one question that I want to ask, I will concede to defeat and bury my perceptions.
“Why, if God exists in different forms(Allah, Ram…), did He not come and say…PLEASE STOP FIGHTING IN MY NAME!?
By: Karan on August 23, 2009
at 12:30 pm
People have been thanking you for your effort but I think thats what was your duty to do. But yes you did great.
The moment I saw Ateeqa Odho’s video post [documentary on Jinnah's Grand Son] on Facebook asking whether its correct info or not… I was infuriating. And when I read the comments, it made me burning even more. How can be our media be so pathatic… filthy… and dirty… n then our people they believe every bullshit it says…
I wanted to write so many things there, but thanks God I found link to your post here…
Very well done job…
I am sharing this link on my facebook too.
Take care
By: Afaque on August 31, 2009
at 5:49 pm
Jinnah is an abbreviated form of Jenabhai. M A Jinnah changed to Jinnah while he was in England. He was a Shia of the Ithna Ashari sect of Khoja Muslims. It is generally believed that Khojas are converts from the Hindu Lohana caste. The name of Jinnah’s father was Jenabhai Thakkar.
Thakkar are found in the Punjab in India Hindu Lohanas of Gujrat have surnames such as Mehta or Madhwani.
I quote this from Jaswant Singh’s book.
By: Hayyer on September 16, 2009
at 9:41 pm
Thanks for sharing the info. with us!
By: Ayesha on September 17, 2009
at 6:52 am
Why now worried about his great-grandson’s economical conditions?
when the protocols the great politician, mr. jinnah received hours before his death as the governor general of pakistan are a disgusting fact in the books of history…”ambulance running out of gas/oil”…oo well saudis never had oil in their deserts in those years.
btw informative post ayesha
By: salman on September 19, 2009
at 4:09 pm
very informative..thanks all for sharing your views.
I am a kind of surprised that many of our young people dint know about the background of Mohammad Ali Jinnah (the father of the nation). I think this is purposely wiped off form our textbooks. But I dont think so we should hide the history. yes he belonged to a Shia family. This is correct he was secular in nature. This is also true that his daughter became parsi and settled in Bombay. But this is also immutable fact that he dedicated his life for the well being of the Muslims of India. He was the only person at that time who could stand against the britishers as the representative of the muslims.
By: Fahad on September 19, 2009
at 7:05 pm
The name Jinnah is not derived from Arabic.Mr M A Jinnah coverted his father’s name into his surname by dropping bhai from Jinnahbhai.Jinnah’s family belongs to Ismaili Khoja community of Gujarat.Ismaili khojas are converts from hindu Lohana community.For a long time after converting the Ismailis kept their hindu names and traditions.That should clear up the mystery of non-muslim names in Jinnah’s family.For the record
M A Jinnah’s father was Jinnahbhai.
Jinnah’s gfather:Poonjabhai
Jinnah’s ggfather:Gokuldas
Jinnah’s gggfather:Meghjibhai.
The family name was Thakkar.
Nothing sinister about this since 99% of muslims of South Asia are of hindu descent.
Jinnah was a great man – still misunderstood by both Pakistanis and Indians.I am a lohana
and take great pride in our most famous son.
By: Tarun Dattani on October 28, 2009
at 12:34 pm
I only knew (or remembered) Jinnah’s father’s name.
Thanks for visiting my blog and sharing the info with all of us!
By: Ayesha on October 28, 2009
at 2:58 pm