The forefathers of Muhammad Ali Jinnah, the founding father of Pakistan, were not Jain. They were Hindus belonging to the Lohana caste from Gujarat. The story suggests that Jinnah’s father, Jinnahbhai Poonja, converted to Islam after a falling out with the Lohana caste due to his fishing business.
It is not uncommon for people to convert from one religion to another throughout history. The majority of the people in Pakistan today have ancestors who were either Hindus or Buddhists at some point. Hinduism was predominant east of the Indus River. However, like Jinnahbhai Poonja, the ancestors of the Pakistani people converted to Islam at some point in history.
This conversion is not unique to the Jinnah family or the Pakistani people. All Muslims are aware that their ancestors were not originally Muslims. Iranians were once Zoroastrians, Afghans (including western Pakistan) were Buddhists, Turks were Tengrists, Egyptians believed in the gods of ancient Egypt, and Arabs followed their own local folk religions. Even the Rashidun Caliphs, such as Abu Bakr and Umar, were once non-Muslims who later converted to Islam. Every Muslim today has ancestors who were non-Muslims and who converted to Islam at some point.
It is important to understand that religious conversions have occurred throughout history and are a natural part of human development and cultural evolution.
