Amin ul-Hasanat (1 February 1922 – 5 January 1960), better known as the Pir of Manki Sharif, was the son of Pir Abdul Rauf and an Islamic religious leader in the

North-West Frontier Province The North-West Frontier Province (NWFP; ps, شمال لویدیځ سرحدي ولایت, ) was a Chief Commissioner's Province of British India, established on 9 November 1901 from the north-western districts of the Punjab Province. Followi ...

(NWFP) of

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance on the Indian subcontinent. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one ...

(now

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 243 million people, and has the world's second-lar ...

). After joining the

All-India Muslim League The All-India Muslim League (AIML) was a political party established in Dhaka in 1906 when a group of prominent Muslim politicians met the Viceroy of British India, Lord Minto, with the goal of securing Muslim interests on the Indian subcont ...

in 1945, he was noted for his campaign in the provincial referendum held in early part of 1947, that saw the NWFP become part of Pakistan rather than

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

. He was popularly known as ''''Fateh-e-Referendum''''.

Muslim League

Amin ul-Hasanat was highly influenced and inspired by the Pakistan Resolution of March 1940 passed by the All-India Muslim League at

Lahore Lahore ( ; pnb, ; ur, ) is the second most populous city in Pakistan after Karachi and 26th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 13 million. It is the capital of the province of Punjab where it is the largest city ...

. Soon after joining the

in 1945, Hasanat toured the NWFP to win support for the Muslim League. On October 1, 1945, Hasanat organized a historic meeting of the

Ulema In Islam, the ''ulama'' (; ar, علماء ', singular ', "scholar", literally "the learned ones", also spelled ''ulema''; feminine: ''alimah'' ingularand ''aalimath'' lural are the guardians, transmitters, and interpreters of religious ...

and Mashaikh at

Peshawar Peshawar (; ps, پېښور ; hnd, ; ; ur, ) is the sixth most populous city in Pakistan, with a population of over 2.3 million. It is situated in the north-west of the country, close to the International border with Afghanistan. It is ...

, which passed resolutions expressing full loyalty with the Muslim League and also expressed complete confidence in Jinnah's leadership. Then he invited the Muslim League leader

Mohammad Ali Jinnah Muhammad ( ar, مُحَمَّد; 570 – 8 June 632 CE) was an Arab religious, social, and political leader and the founder of Islam. According to Islamic doctrine, he was a prophet divinely inspired to preach and confirm the mono ...

to tour the Province which Jinnah did on 24 November 1945. Jinnah's visit boosted the morale of Pir Sahib and his devoted followers. His vigorous campaign for

Pakistan Movement The Pakistan Movement ( ur, , translit=Teḥrīk-e-Pākistān) was a political movement in the first half of the 20th century that aimed for the creation of Pakistan from the Muslim-majority areas of British India. It was connected to the per ...

in the NWFP area bore fruit and contributed significantly to the Muslim League's success in the referendum, held in early part of 1947 in the then NWFP.Pir of Manki Sharif (Amin ul-Hasanat), profile on storyofpakistan.com website
Updated 1 January 2007, Retrieved 5 October 2019 In one of Jinnah's letters to Hasanat, he promised that sharia law would be applied to the affairs of the Muslim community. This success of the Muslim League in the referendum held in NWFP became the basis for the British government to decide in favor of accession of the NWFP to Pakistan.

Opposition

After the independence of Pakistan in 1947, however, Pir Sahib was very disappointed by some of the decisions made by the party. He cut-off his relations with the Muslim League due to his ideological differences with Khan

Abdul Qayyum Khan Khan Abdul Qayyum Khan Kashmiri ( ur, عبدالقیوم خان کشمیری) (16 July 1901 – 23 October 1981) was a major figure in British Indian and later Pakistan politics, in particular in the North-West Frontier Province, where served a ...

, who emerged as the first Muslim League premier in NWFP. He decided to launch his own Awami Muslim League party that started to play the role of opposition in the NWFP Provincial Assembly. His view was that Opposition was the spirit of democratic set up and that it was critical to attain the previously stated objectives of the Muslim League. After he saw new local leadership emerge in the province, he felt that those ideals were being overlooked by the changed Muslim League leadership. Disillusioned, he retired from active politics in 1955 to devote more time to his religious activities.

Commemorative postage stamp

Pakistan Post Office issued a commemorative postage stamp to honor him in its 'Pioneers of Freedom' series in 1990.Commemorative postage stamp issued in 1990 by Pakistan Post Office to honor Pir of Manki Sharif (Amin ul-Hasanat)
Retrieved 7 October 2019

Death

He died on 28 January 1960, at the young age of 37, a few weeks after a car accident on 5 January 1960 near Fateh Jang, Attock District in

Punjab, Pakistan Punjab (; , ) is one of the four provinces of Pakistan. Located in central-eastern region of the country, Punjab is the second-largest province of Pakistan by land area and the largest province by population. It shares land borders with the ...

. He was buried at his hometown

Manki Sharif Manki (Urdu: مانکی is a town and Union Council of Nowshera District in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. It is located to the south of Swabi City in Swabi. Overview Manki is also the home of one of the most powerful families in Pakistan. Th ...

, Nowshera District, NWFP, Pakistan.

Muslim League

Opposition

Commemorative postage stamp

Death

See also

References

Further reading