Past & Present

Umayr Sahlan Masud

(The article was published in dCIDOB 109. and can be found here )

The events of September 11, 2001 resulted in a resurgence of interest in culture and identity moving religion to the center stage. Muslim countries have since been increasingly under the spot light set off by the flames of terrorist activities.  Pakistan, by virtue of its geographic location has been at the core of this debate, with the popular media increasingly portraying it as an intolerant and fundamentalist society. This is both, unfortunate and untrue.  Pakistani society is a complex product of centuries long evolution of religion, culture and traditions. To understand Pakistan one has to look into the history of this country and region. This essay is an attempt to introduce its readers to the Pakistani society in the context of its religious progression, so as to provide a deeper understanding of the complex present.

Pakistan, a cradle of religions: Historic Context

A birthplace to ancient civilizations comparable to Egypt and Mesopotamia, the region now constituting Pakistan has also been the cradle to some of the great religions of the world. Archeological discoveries have found the remains of one of the most important Neolithic Sites (7000 BCE to 3200 BCE) Mehrgarh in the southern province of Balochistan in the country that show a possible presence of multiple religions with figurines depicting the worship of a Mother goddess symbolizing fertility, and Swastika seals pointing to Hinduism and Jainism. The Vedic period during which the Hindu sacred Sansikrit hymns of “Rigveda ” were composed began around 1500 BCE,  with the arrival of Aryan tribes from Central Asia and their settlement around Sindh region.  According to tradition, the Hindu mythological epic of Mahabharata was first recited at the present day city of Taxila in Pakistan. Zorastrianism was introduced to this land around 520 BCE during the reign of Darius the Great resulting in a mixture of cultures and religions.  Buddhism started to spread from northern India around 334 BCE. It was during the same time that the army of Alexander the Great, marched through the lands of Pakistan, leading to the Indo-Greek contacts with local faiths. Archeological evidence shows Buddhism, Hinduism and Zoroastrianism existing side by side with the worship of the Classical pantheon of the Greek deities. The famous Greek historian Herodotus noted that Paganism was also prevalent in the fearsome Pakhtun tribes of Peshawar. The region underwent successive military and religio-cultural invasions in subsequent centuries by the Persians, Greeks, Scythians, Parthians, Arabs, Afghans, Turks and Europeans. Islam was introduced to the region in 8th century as a Arab Muslim chieftain Muhammad Bin Qasim conquered the region and extended the Umayyad rule to the Indus River. Lahore, Multan and several other cities in southern Punjab were the centers of Muslim Sufi saints who attracted most of the warrior tribes in northern India to Islam. Later Islam became the state religion of the Mughal Empire from the sixteenth to nineteenth century. ‘Sikhism’ a neutral faith system based on the eclectic practices of Hinduism and Islam was born in Northern India the area is now in Pakistan, during the fifteenth century.  As the British Empire gained power over South Asia in 1857, Christianity was formally introduced to the region.

Pakistan: Independence in the Name of Religion

At the time the British arrived the Hindu caste system had already expanded to 3000 different casts. The British had strengthened the system giving privileges on basis of the caste of the people. Throughout the British Raj the people remained divided on the basis of castes and religion.

Pakistan gained independence on the basis of identity from British India as a Muslim majority state on August 14 1947. The region had witnessed a unified struggle against the British led by the Hindu majority party Indian National Congress and the All India Muslim league. However socio-political factors forced Muslims in India to forge a separate identity from other communities on the basis of religion and identity. The Muslims of the subcontinent had realized that without a separate homeland they would eventually end up as a caste in the system.  It eventually led the poet Muhammad Iqbal (d.1938) to call for autonomous “states in northwestern India for Indian Muslims”. Muhammad Ali Jinnah (d.1948) embraced the two nation theory and led the All India Muslim League demanding for an Independent Muslim state. Despite the creation of Pakistan for the Muslims of the sub continent, Jinnah envisioned and advocated Pakistan to be a modern nation state “having no discrimination on the basis of religion”.

Pakistan today covers an area of 310,527 square miles and a population of 170 million. According to the 1998 official census approximately 97 percent of the population is Muslim. Muslims are further divided into several sects, Sunni Muslims are in majority, and Shi’as are a minority ranging between 10 to 20 percent, this division goes back to the dispute among the early Muslims about the succession of the Prophet; those who believe that the successor must be from the Prophet’s family later came to be known as the Shi’a who believed in the leadership of twelve holy persons who succeeded the Prophet of Islam. The remaining 3 percent of the population includes Hindus, Christians, and others including, Ahmedis, Parsis (Zoroastrians), Sikhs, Buddhists and Baha’i. Some tribes in Baluchistan and North West Frontier Province (NWFP) still practice traditional animist religious beliefs. Christians and Hindus respectively are the largest minority groups.

Religion and Constitution of Pakistan

The constitution is the supreme law of Pakistan; the existing constitution unanimously adopted in 1973, declares Islam as the State religion and decrees to ensure that the teaching of the Holy Quran and Islamiyat (Islamic Studies) are made compulsory for Muslims, as well as to encourage and facilitate the learning of Arabic language.  The constitution also asserts that only a Muslim could be qualified for election as President and Prime Minister, while no restriction of religion is placed any other post, up to and including provincial governor and Chief Minister. The constitution also announces that no law shall be enacted which is repugnant to the injunctions of Islam and that all existing laws shall be brought in conformity with such injunctions. Council of Islamic Ideology, a constitutional body is proposed for advice to ensure that all laws are in conformity with the injunctions of Islam. The constitution also pronounced prevention of prostitution, gambling and consumption of alcohol, printing, publication, circulation and display of obscene literature and advertisements as the duty of the state.

Admissions to governmental educational institutions are safeguarded by Pakistan’s constitution to prohibit discriminatory admission, with merit and provincial domicile being the only factors affecting admission to governmental educational institutes.

In the Penal Code a number of Islamic law (Shari’a) provisions have been incorporated. The Federal Shari’a Court and the Shari’a bench of the Supreme Court serve as appellate courts for certain convictions in criminal court under the Hudood Ordinances; judges and attorneys in these courts must be Muslim. The federal Shari’a court may overturn any legislation judged to be inconsistent with the tenets of Islam.

The constitution includes basic and fundamental rights and prohibits any discrimination on the basis of sex and religion. Pakistan signed the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, in April 2008, reflecting the commitment of the democratic government to promote human rights.

Religion and Politics:

The role of Islam in the political structure of Pakistan was paramount even before the country gained independence. In 1948, Maulana Shabbir Ahmad Usmani (d. 1949) of Jamiat-al-Ulema-i-Islami demanded that the government must appoint a leading religious scholar as ‘Shaikh al Islam’ (religious authority) and appoint qadis (magistrates) with executive powers across the country. The Jamiat proposed a new ministry of Religious Affairs complete with a name for each post in it.  It was also proposed that the Ministry of Religious Affairs would be excluded from the political changes in the government.  Muhammad Ali Jinnah was the leader of the nation at that time and no action was taken on the Ulema’s demands.

In 1949 the Prime Minister of Pakistan Liaquat Ali Khan moved the Objectives Resolution declaring that future constitution of Pakistan would be based on the ideology and democratic faith of Islam.  The passing of the resolution resulted in giving religious scholars and authorities a profound influence on the political processes of the country.

Soon after the Islamist political party Jamat-i-Islami made a demand for an Islamic constitution. Politicization of religion in Pakistan initiated with the Jamat-i-Islami’s founder  Mulana Maududi actively defining Pakistan movement as the struggle for the establishment of an Islamic state and the Jamat-i-Islami as the most suitable political party to realize it.  As the process of constitution-making began religious scholars vehemently demanded that Islamic Shariah be declared as the source of all legislation in Pakistan.

It was not until the 1980’s under the military rule of General Zia-ul-Haq that the politicization of religion came into full force. With the implementation of Hudood Ordinance in 1979 selective Sharia laws were enforced. Penalties in the law ranged for offences such as drinking, theft, adultery and fornication with stipulated punishments including public flogging, hanging and death by stoning etc. Federal Sharia court was established with powers to declare any statute in the existing civil and criminal codes as un-Islamic. However in March 2005, the Supreme Court ruled that the Federal Shari’a Court had no jurisdiction to review a decision by a provincial high court. A vaguely defined blasphemy law was created which was misused against religious minorities. An Islamic banking and taxation system was established with official collection of Zakat.

The following democratic (1987-1998, 2008- present) and authoritarian (1998-2008) governments have worked towards relaxing and reformation of the alleged Islamization of the Zia regime. However, the use of religious injunctions for political gains has continued even in this period.

It is important to note that while religion has been used as an effective tool to control the masses; political victories have been patchy for religious leaders and religious political parties. This can be attributed to sectarian divides, political agendas that fail to address the larger concerns of the country and the lack of a well-educated leadership. At the national level, the mainstream political parties have always had a clear lead over religious-political parties.

However since the events of September 11, 2001 and the subsequent invasion of Afghanistan and Iraq, the popular sentiment in the country has been divided. The religious elements have been vigorous in demanding action to support fellow Islamic nations. The governments have since been trying to balance their position of supporting and facilitating the war on terror under external pressures and maintaining a solid Islamic stance to resist internal pressures.  Following the U.S attacks at the north western border areas of the country, Taliban-like radical armed groups have emerged within Pakistan with a call to impose Sharia Law.  These groups have had a destabilizing effect on the country.  The government has recently agreed to enforce Sharia law called Nizam-e-Adl which conforms with the constitution of Pakistan, in the northern valley of Swat to hold cease fire, after weeks of military and armed conflict.

Religion and Society:

Formed by a long history of mixing cultures and traditions Pakistani society is essentially a conservative and complex society. Religious beliefs play an important part in daily life.

Beliefs in Sufism are strong, as the Sufism movement can be attributed to generate maximum number of converts, owing to its non-discriminatory treatment of caste, race or religion compared to Hindus ruled by a divisive caste system. New dimensions to Sufism have formed over centuries and people are adherent to shrines and tombs of the Sufis. The original teachings of Sufism have morphed with local traditions giving rise to ritualistic and ceremonially expressive devotees. Annual festivals at the Sufi shrines are widely popular events with devotees traveling from far and wide, often on foot.  Sufism is prevalent in varying degrees in the length and breadth of Pakistan and people generally attribute great respect and powers to the saints, visiting shrines for oblation and prayers.

The popularly practiced religion is flexible and moderate, seamlessly incorporating a substantial amount of pre-Islamic regional traditions.  While religious duties such as the daily prayers, fasting during Ramadan, Annual Hajj etc are observed with fervor, there is a general lack of understanding of religious instructions. This can be attributed also to low levels of literacy, lack of understanding of Arabic language and therefore failure to understand the Quran firsthand, as well as other more complicated factors such as socio-economic structure of the society.

Religion and religious education has been increasingly stereotyped by the media as extremism. This generalization has also resulted in creating a bi-polar society; those who seek and support religious education as means to counter western agenda and those who dispel all religious knowledge as an element fostering extremism.

The belief that external actors (e.g. the United States and Britain) seek to de-Islamize Pakistan is rife. This has contributed to a general sense of insecurity and generated the resolve to counter such attempts in some segments of the society.  Parents wanting their children to have Islamic education send their children to Madaris (Religious schools). These schools attract the poor segments of society as they offer free education and boarding to their students. However, the Madrasa system has been charged of misuse by extremists to brain wash the youth to take up arms and fight against the western conspiracy against Islam since the time of Afghan Jehad. As Pakistan became an ally in the war on terrorism, the government has been actively regulating admission in such institutes. While news reports indicate that links have been found between some madaris and the Afghan Taliban as well as with Al Qaeda, a recent study (Fair.C, 2008) indicates that while it is likely that madaris may have contributed to conditions conducive to supporting terrorism and militancy by promoting sectarianism, there is no reliable evidence that they contribute substantially to the recruitment of militants. Realizing that the madrasa system is training scholars who are irrelevant and ill-prepared to contribute to the needs of a modern Muslim state, a reform program was launched in 2005. Under the program the madaris were registered and proposals were made to update the curriculum. However such changes have been generally resisted by the madarsa administrations.

While Islam is professedly involved in all aspects of daily life, different value systems prevail in the society and most have no roots in Islamic culture. While Inter cousin marriages are practiced as a religious ritual in interior Pakistan and the wealthy families, the custom finds its origin in traditional maintenance of land and property ownership within the family. Family laws in Pakistan due to their patriarchal nature have been used and misused affecting women and children in an adverse manner. Islamic laws of inheritance, marriage and divorce are interpreted to discriminate against women. Ownership of property and shares in inheritance, allowed in Islamic law are denied to women.

It is important to note that the much needed reform in the lower section of the society is usually blocked by the religious political parties and religious scholars. Attempts have been occasionally made to reform the laws, the Council of Islamic Ideology; a constitutional body responsible for giving advice on Islamic issues to the Parliament has recently published recommendations related to family law. These recommendations include registration of  divorce mandatory and the removal of restrictions on women’s rights to travel for Hajj and elsewhere without a male guardian.

As compared to the lower economic section of the population, a majority of Pakistan’s urban middle class is rather sophisticated and resents radical Islamism; the upper classes are even more moderate in religious affiliation. This socio-economic dichotomy is reflected in their education as well as religious and social norms prevalent in these groups.  The urban population is increasingly westernized with access to internet, satellite television and global media. Images from across the world and exposure to issues of contemporary significance provide them with broader and much more liberal public sphere. Globalization and global communication continue to have a profound effect on the societal attitudes, practices and norms of these urban masses.

Religion and Reform:

The severity of the present day internal and external conflicts faced by Pakistan, make it hard to believe that Pakistan is in fact an outcome of modernist movements. Through the 1850’s Sir Syed Ahmad Khan began a movement to modernize the education system for the Muslims. Sir Syed himself was a devout Muslim but realized the need for Western styled education for the survival of the Muslim community in the modern world. Sir Syed created the Scientific Society of Aligarh in which the Muslim scholars from the around the country held annual conferences. This was the first scientific association of its kind in British India. He promoted liberal, rational interpretations of Islamic scriptures, the traditionalists usually rejected his views, but his insights led to a modern Muslim state.

In the 1930’s Allama Muhammad Iqbal’s book “Reconstruction of Religious Thought in Islam” was published based on his lectures given around the subcontinent. The book called for a review of the cerebral foundations of Islamic Philosophy. The book is considered to be one of the most important milestones in the history of intellectual tradition of modernist movement in Islam.

The movement for a Muslim homeland had the Muslim masses of the subcontinent led by the liberals including lawyers and intellectuals.

Furthermore after independence, the constitution itself is a step towards modernity. It states “That the sovereignty of the state of Pakistan vests in God Almighty and that the government of Pakistan shall be only an agent to execute the Sovereign’s Will”. With a core Islamic belief the power to govern lies in the hands of the people of Pakistan.

In the Mid 1960’s a new concept of Islamic socialism was keyed. Pakistan People’s Party with their leader Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto were the initiators of the concept. The idea was to initiate distributive justice, land reforms, labour reforms and nationalization of industries, financial institutions, education and health sectors. The effects were far reaching; the social change could be seen with the growth of small scale industries, education and health sector. The takeover of the industry was aimed to break the power of the elite and bring the reforms to the people.

 

Conclusion

Even today politicians understand the power of religious appeal for social movement, but the widespread lack of religious knowledge has been contributing to increasing resistance towards any such initiative. The hard line religious and political parties are defiant to any implementation of religious reforms in law or society. However it is important to understand that these politically motivated elements are not a representation of the religious Pakistani society. While power structures and political lobbyists have been using religion as a control mechanism, the Pakistani society is more tolerant and progressive than what it has been portrayed to be. Religious fanaticism has only been introduced in to the society in recent times. For the common man, the purported differences between ‘progressive Islam’ and ‘traditional or conservative Islam’ are nominal, and often just a reflection of differences in their specific educational, professional and political affiliation.


Bibliography

Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor. International Religious Freedom Report 2008. Washington DC: State Department USA, September 19, 2008.

Fair, C. Christine. “Religious Education in Pakistan: A Trip Report by Christine Fair: Events: U.S. Institute of Peace.” United States Institute of Peace. March 21, 2006. http://www.usip.org/events/2006/trip_report.pdf (accessed March 1, 2009).

Mehdi, Rubya. The Islamization of the Law in Pakistan. Richmond, Surrey: Curzon Press Ltd., 1994.

Pakistan, Government of. Population Census Organization. http://www.statpak.gov.pk/depts/pco/index.html (accessed March 1, 2009).