By: Fahad ibne Masood, MRAeS, Squadron Leader (R)
Miracle’s new contributor from Muscat (Oman)
Introduction/Background
The concept ‘Unity (Ittehad), Faith (Yaqeen) and Discipline (Nazm)’ was given by the Quaid as Eid message on 19 October 1941 to Muslims of the sub-continent. “I have no doubt that with unity, faith and discipline we will compare with any nation of the world” were the words reiterated with the same message by Mohammad Ali Jinnah three month after independence in December of 1947 as per Zamir Niazi in his book The Web of Censorship. Becoming the nation’s motto in 1948 while being inscribed in the state’s emblem there has been immense disagreements in the sequence of the words. Till 70’s, the order was maintained but with Zia’s coup d’état the word ‘Faith’ was put before ‘Unity’ and ‘Unity, Faith, Discipline’ became ‘Faith, Unity, Discipline’. During this research, there is no mention of this switch during Zia’s time from 1977 to 1988.
How Jinnah’s Motto was Misrepresented?
Hamid Jalal — an ex-civil servant and parent of acclaimed archivist cum author Ayesha Jalal — mentioned… “Jinnah’s ‘Unity, Faith and Discipline’ had been presented as ‘Faith, Unity and Discipline’ during the early eighties. Andrew Small also mentions the same in his writing Asia’s New Geopolitics that Zia immediately altered the order of words. Whereas Quaid as Governor General exclaimed “It is up to you to work, work and work and we are bound to succeed and never forget our motto, ‘Unity, Discipline and Faith!’” in his first broadcast from Lahore on August 31. Perhaps, it was Zia’s effort to legitimize his reign with a theocratic outlook which was also expressed by late Sibte Hasan in his article in 1983 Urdu monthly Jido-Jehed (The Struggle).
Implication of the Alteration
Pakistan was created to be a Plurastic society as per the dream of Iqbal and efforts of the Quaid along with his vision. The Doctrine behind their efforts was declared in the words… “you are free to go to your worship places…” hence it is safe to state that the aim was to generate an inclusive society and not an exclusive one. But sadly, by putting the word ‘Faith’ before ‘Unity’ extrapolates the fact in Islamic Republic of Pakistan, Muslims remain numero uno citizens above the rest and every other individual is a second-grade citizens. This reversal of words relates to deep-rooted implications which have perpetual negative effects in a society where universal values of ‘Equality, Liberty, Fraternity’ have already taken a backseat. As per Clausewitz… Strategic errors become Tactical blunders… of which we have been a witness to in the state of Pakistan where society has become more inequal rather than equal as per the Islamic teachings. The people in power can take the first step to correct this by putting the ‘UNITY, FAITH, DISCIPLINE’ in order on the roadside hillock of Islamabad Expressway (Pakistan).
Author’s Profile
Fahad ibne Masood, MRAeS, Squadron Leader (R)
A published author/writer on international print media on topics of national security & policy as well as commercial/military aviation to health & safety risk management. His work can be seen on his LinkedIn webpage https://www.linkedin.com/in/fahadibnemasood. He is also a researcher
in various domains being a Doctoral Student from Universidad Católica San Antonio de Murcia, Spain in Aviation Management.
His perspectives have been taken heed to by international televised media channels likes of TRT World, Russian Television, Al-Jazeera and PTV. He has talked to audiences at a global scale while presenting his points of view in Iceland, Australia,
Singapore, UK, Oman and Pakistan on diversified subjects.
Saturday, April 25, 2026
