M. Muhammad Ismail (5 June 1896—5 April 1972) was an Indian politician and social worker from southern Indian state

Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is the southernmost States and union territories of India, state of India. The List of states and union territories of India by area, tenth largest Indian state by area and the List of states and union territories of Indi ...

. He was a founder of the

Indian Union Muslim League Indian Union Muslim League (abbreviated as the IUML or Muslim League) is a political party primarily based in Kerala. It is recognised as a List of political parties in India, State Party in Kerala by the Election Commission of India. After the ...

party after the partition of

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance in South Asia. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one form or another ...

. He was popularly known in

and

Kerala Kerala ( , ) is a States and union territories of India, state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile ...

as the "Quaid-e-Millat" ("the Leader of the Nation"). Ismail was a member of

Madras Legislative Assembly The Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly is the unicameral legislature of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It has a strength of 234 members, all of whom are democratically elected using the first-past-the-post system. The presiding officer of t ...

and

Leader of the Opposition The Leader of the Opposition is a title traditionally held by the leader of the Opposition (parliamentary), largest political party not in government, typical in countries utilizing the parliamentary system form of government. The leader of the ...

(1946—52). He was also a member (1948—50) of the

Constituent Assembly A constituent assembly (also known as a constitutional convention, constitutional congress, or constitutional assembly) is a body assembled for the purpose of drafting or revising a constitution. Members of a constituent assembly may be elected b ...

, the drafting body of the

constitution of India The Constitution of India is the supreme law of India, legal document of India, and the longest written national constitution in the world. The document lays down the framework that demarcates fundamental political code, structure, procedures ...

. He was also a member of

Rajya Sabha Rajya Sabha (Council of States) is the upper house of the Parliament of India and functions as the institutional representation of India’s federal units — the states and union territories.https://rajyasabha.nic.in/ It is a key component o ...

(1952—58) and

Lok Sabha The Lok Sabha, also known as the House of the People, is the lower house of Parliament of India which is Bicameralism, bicameral, where the upper house is Rajya Sabha. Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha, Members of the Lok Sabha are elected by a ...

(3rd, 1962—67, 4th, 1967—70 and 5th, 1971—72).

Early life and career

M. Muhammad Ismail Rowther was born in Pettai,

Tirunelveli Tirunelveli (), also known as Nellai and historically (during British rule) as Tinnevelly, is a major city in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is the administrative headquarters of the Tirunelveli District. It is the fourth-largest munici ...

, in what is now the Indian state of

, on 5 June 1896 to Maulavi K. T. Miakhan Rowther in a

Rowther The Rowther (anglicised as ''Irauttar'', ''Rawther, Ravuttar,'' ''Ravutta'', ''Ravuthar, Ravuthamar'') are a distinct Muslim community living largely in the south Indian states of Tamil Nadu and Kerala. While some of them are partially descende ...

family. He was educated at C. M. S. College and Hindu College at

and later at St. Joseph's College,

Trichinopoly Tiruchirappalli (), also known as Trichy, is a major tier II city in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu and the administrative headquarters of Tiruchirappalli district. The city is credited with being the best livable and the cleanest city of T ...

and Christian College, Madras. Ismail started the 'Young Muslim Society' in his home town Tirunelveli Pettai in 1909 ( as a 13-year-old). He was also instrumental in establishing ''Majlis ul-Ulama'' ('the Council of Islamic Scholars') in 1918. He went into business in the 1920s and became a leader of Madras leather industry and eventually of

Madras Chennai, also known as Madras ( its official name until 1996), is the capital and largest city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost state of India. It is located on the Coromandel Coast of the Bay of Bengal. According to the 2011 Indian ce ...

commerce. Ismail married Jamal Hameeda Biwi in November 1923. Ismail's brother, K. T. M. Ahmed Ibrahim, was also a principal leader of the

All-India Muslim League The All-India Muslim League (AIML) was a political party founded in 1906 in Dhaka, British India with the goal of securing Muslims, Muslim interests in South Asia. Although initially espousing a united India with interfaith unity, the Muslim L ...

Madras Presidency The Madras Presidency or Madras Province, officially called the Presidency of Fort St. George until 1937, was an administrative subdivision (province) of British India and later the Dominion of India. At its greatest extent, the presidency i ...

. Ismail served as Vice President, Muslim Educational Association of Southern India and Anjuman Himayat-e-Islam. He was also a founding member of the Tamil Valarchi Kazhagam, Madras.

Political career

With the All-India Muslim League

Success in

commerce led Ismail into Indian politics. Along with K. M. Seethi Saheb,

B. Pocker B. Pocker (1890 – 29 July 1965), Badekkandy Pocker, also spelled Poker, title Sahib Bahadur, as an Indian politician and lawyer from Tellicherry, north Kerala, Madras Presidency. He served as a member of the Constituent Assembly of India, Con ...

and K. Uppi Saheb, he was one of the principal leaders of

from the mid-1930s. In 1945, he became the President of the

unit of the All-India Muslim League. In the elections to the Madras legislature, the League won all but ten of the reserved seats in 1936 and all in

1946 1946 (Roman numerals, MCMXLVI) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar, the 1946th year of the Common Era (CE) and ''Anno Domini'' (AD) designations, the 946th year of the 2nd millennium, the 46th year of the 20th centur ...

. The League emerged as the second largest party in the Assembly after the 1946 elections and Ismail served as the Leader of the Opposition in the Legislative Assembly during 1946–52.

With the Indian Union Muslim League

When British India was partitioned into India and

Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...

, the

was virtually disbanded (December, 1947). Ismail, the then President of the Madras Muslim League, was chosen as the Convener of the Indian segment of the League. The Indian members of the League formed the

at Madras (first council in March, 1948 and constitution passed in September, 1951). Ismail was chosen as the first President of Indian Union Muslim League. After partition of India, Muslims were still well represented in the

, the drafting body of the

(almost all of these lawmakers had been elected on League tickets). Only those from

formally adhered to the

League League or The League may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Leagues'' (band), an American rock band * ''The League'', an American sitcom broadcast on FX and FXX about fantasy football * ''League of Legends'', a 2009 multiplayer online battle a ...

. Ismail was elected from the Madras Legislative Assembly to the

in 1948. When the report of the Advisory Committee on Minorities was debated (1949), Ismail moved a motion for the retention of reserved seats for Muslims and a separate communal electorate. The Assembly summarily rejected this motion. Ismail Sahib wanted

Tamil Tamil may refer to: People, culture and language * Tamils, an ethno-linguistic group native to India, Sri Lanka, and some other parts of Asia **Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka ** Myanmar or Burmese Tamils, Tamil people of Ind ...

to be the Official Language of India.

Attempts for an alliance

In the 1950s, Ismail started negotiating with the stubborn High Command in New Delhi (through the Madras leadership) for an electoral alliance with the

Congress A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of ...

. Some informal or local alliances with the Madras Congress were realized. The party thereupon suffered a rout in the 1957 General Elections and witnessed a major split in 1961 (instigated by Mohammed Raza Khan, M. S. A. Majeed and K. T. Sheriff). League in due course allied with

Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam The Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (; ; DMK) is an Indian political party based in the state of Tamil Nadu, where it is currently the ruling party, and the union territory of Puducherry (union territory), Puducherry, where it is currently the main ...

and

Swatantra Party The Swatantra Party was an Indian classical liberal political party that existed from 1959 to 1974. It was founded by C. Rajagopalachari in reaction to what he felt was the Jawaharlal Nehru-dominated Indian National Congress's increasingly so ...

. In 1952, Ismail was elected to the

from

with support of the independent candidates endorsed by the League.

As a Member of Parliament from Kerala

When the state of

was formed by the

States Reorganisation Act The States Reorganisation Act, 1956 was a major reform of the boundaries of India's States and union territories of India, states and territories, organising them along linguistic lines. Although additional changes to India's state boundaries ...

in 1956, Ismail his constituency to northern Kerala. He was elected to the

from Manjeri Parliamentary Constituency three times – in

1962 The year saw the Cuban Missile Crisis, which is often considered the closest the world came to a Nuclear warfare, nuclear confrontation during the Cold War. Events January * January 1 – Samoa, Western Samoa becomes independent from Ne ...

(Third Lok Sabha),

1967 Events January * January 1 – Canada begins a year-long celebration of the 100th anniversary of Canadian Confederation, Confederation, featuring the Expo 67 World's Fair. * January 6 – Vietnam War: United States Marine Corps and Army of ...

(Fourth Lok Sabha) and

1971 * The year 1971 had three partial solar eclipses (Solar eclipse of February 25, 1971, February 25, Solar eclipse of July 22, 1971, July 22 and Solar eclipse of August 20, 1971, August 20) and two total lunar eclipses (February 1971 lunar eclip ...

(Fifth Lok Sabha) as an

candidate. During the 1962 India-China War, Ismail famously offered to send his son Mian Khan to join the

Indian Army The Indian Army (IA) (ISO 15919, ISO: ) is the Land warfare, land-based branch and largest component of the Indian Armed Forces. The President of India is the Commander-in-Chief, Supreme Commander of the Indian Army, and its professional head ...

to fight against

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

Business career

Ismail went into business in the 1920s and was involved in various commerce committees. He was a noted businessman of the

involved in leather and meat industry. The boards and committees he was a member of include: * Madras Port Trust Board, Madras Board of Industries, Madras Provincial Marketing Board, Madras Excise Licensing Board, and South India Railway Advisory Committee. * Industrial Planning Committee (Government of Madras), South India Chamber of Commerce and Industry (once Vice-President of the Chamber), Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry, and Court of

Aligarh Muslim University Aligarh Muslim University is a Collegiate university, collegiate, Central university (India), central, and Research university, research university located in Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh, India, which was originally established by Sir Syed Ahmad Kh ...

. * Indian Council of Agricultural Research (Hides and Skins), Hides Cess Enquiry Committee, Mica Enquiry Committee, Chairman of Leather and Leather Goods Committee, Government of Madras, Honorary Secretary and Vice-President of Southern India Skin and Hide Merchants Association, Madras and President, Madras State Mutton Dealers Chamber.

Legacy

M. Muhammad Ismail died in 1972 (after a prolonged illness).

Indian National Congress The Indian National Congress (INC), colloquially the Congress Party, or simply the Congress, is a political parties in India, political party in India with deep roots in most regions of India. Founded on 28 December 1885, it was the first mo ...

politician

M. Bhaktavatsalam Minjur Bhakthavatsalam (9 October 1897 – 13 February 1987) was an Indian independence activist and politician who served as the chief minister of Madras State from 2 October 1963 to 6 March 1967. He was the last Congress chief minister of T ...

, former Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, paying his tribute, described Ismail as a "a model for all Opposition leaders". * A number of colleges in Tamil Nadu including the Quaid-e-Millath Government College for Women, Chennai and Quaid-e-Millat College, Medavakkam, Chennai have been named after M. Muhammad Ismail. * The Tamil Nadu Government renamed

Nagapattinam District Nagapattinam District is one of the 38 districts of Tamil Nadu state in southern India. Nagapattinam district was carved out by bifurcating the erstwhile composite Thanjavur district on 19 October 1991. The town of Nagapattinam is the district ...

as "Nagai Quaid-e-Millat" District in M. Muhammad Ismail's honour (however, it reverted to its old name in 1997, when all names of individuals were dropped from the names of districts and transport corporations). * In 2003, the Tamil Nadu Government constructed a memorial hall for M. Muhammad Ismail.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ismail, Muhammad Members of the Madras Legislative Assembly by term Madras Christian College alumni 1896 births 1972 deaths India MPs 1962–1967 Rajya Sabha members from Tamil Nadu India MPs 1967–1970 India MPs 1971–1977 People from Tirunelveli district Indian Union Muslim League politicians Lok Sabha members from Kerala Indian Union Muslim League politicians from Tamil Nadu Members of the Constituent Assembly of India Tamil Muslims