The First officially declared citizen of Pakistan was a Jewish born Allama Muhammad Asad (Leopold Weiss
, 1900-1992). Jinnah appointed him as head of Department of Islamic Reconstruction with an aim:
“To establish an Islamic state as a liberal, multiparty parliamentary democracy”
In its 1992 obituary of Asad, the British newspaper 'The Independent' noted that he “Was a powerful advocate of the rights of women. It was Asad’s insistence that the constitution of Pakistan allow for the election of a woman leader that opened the way for Benazir Bhutto”
Asad wrote his book "Islam at the crossroads" in 1934.
Allama Iqbal wrote the following testimonial on it's front page:
“I have no doubt that coming as it does from highly cultured European convert to Islam, It will prove to be an eye opener to our younger generations”
Asad's greatest achievement is the translation of Holy Qur'an in English along with commentary to explain the contents of holy verses. "The message of the Qur'an" took him 17 years to complete and is considered as one of the most influential Quranic translations of modern age.
“Islam appears to me like a perfect work of architecture. All it's parts are harmoniously concieved to compliment and support each other. Nothing is superfluous and nothing lacking; and the result is structure of absolute balance and solid composure”
~ Allama Muhammad Asad
The place which is in front of the Viennese United Nations Office (UNO) is named after him: Muhammad Asad Platz.
Asad settled in Spain in the later stages of his life. He passed away on 29 Feb 1992. He is buried near Alhambra in Granada which is one of the provinces of Andalusia in Spain.
A few years after the independence of Pakistan, the Department of Islamic Reconstruction caught fire and all the work done by Allama Asad on education reform vanished. And so did the dream of a prosperous Pakistan.