:Islam in Pakistan

{{Short description|Role and impact of Islam in Pakistan}}

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{{Infobox religious group

| group = Pakistani Muslims
{{Nastaliq|پاکستانی مسلمان}}

| population = {{Circa|231.69 million|lk=yes}} (2023 census){{cite web|url= https://www.pbs.gov.pk/sites/default/files/population/2023/tables/national/table_9.pdf|title=TABLE 9 : POPULATION BY SEX, RELIGION AND RURAL/URBAN, CENSUS - 2023}}{{Cite web |title=Announcement of Results of 7th Population and Housing Census-2023 'The Digital Census' {{!}} Pakistan Bureau of Statistics |url=https://www.pbs.gov.pk/content/announcement-results-7th-population-and-housing-census-2023-digital-census |access-date=2024-06-19 |website=www.pbs.gov.pk}}
(97-98% of the population)

| image = File:Eid prayers at the Badshahi Mosque.JPG

| caption = Eid Prayers at the Badshahi Mosque in Lahore

| regions = Throughout Pakistan

| languages = Urdu, Punjabi, Sindhi, Pashto, Balochi

|rels= Majority: 90% Sunni Muslims, Minority: 10% Shia Muslims[http://www.pewforum.org/The-Future-of-the-Global-Muslim-Population.aspx "The Future of Global Muslim Population: Projections from 2010 to 2013"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130723032443/http://www.pewforum.org/The-Future-of-the-Global-Muslim-Population.aspx |date=2013-07-23 }} Accessed July 2013.

}}

{{Pie chart

|thumb = right

|caption = Islam in Pakistan[https://www.pewforum.org/2012/08/09/the-worlds-muslims-unity-and-diversity-1-religious-affiliation/#identityTHE WORLD’S MUSLIMS: UNITY AND DIVERSITY; Chapter 1: Religious Affiliation]

|title=

|label1 = Sunni Muslims

|value1 = 90

|color1 = DarkGreen

|label2 = Shia Muslims

|value2 = 10

|color2 = Green

}}

{{Islam in Pakistan}}

{{Islam by country}}

Islam is the largest and the state religion of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. Pakistan has over 231.69 Million adherents of Islam (including the administrative territory of Azad Kashmir{{cite web|url= https://ajk.gov.pk/glance/|title =AJ&K at a Glance|website= Azad Government of the State of Jammu & Kashmir}} and Gilgit Baltistan{{cite web|url= https://visitgilgitbaltistan.gov.pk/blog/100|title=Importance of Gilgit-Baltistan|website=Government of Gilgit-Baltistan Tourism, Sports, Culture, Archaeology & Museums Department}}) making it the second-largest Muslim population.{{cite web |year= |title=Religious Demographics of Pakistan |url=https://www.pbs.gov.pk/sites/default/files/population/2023/tables/national/table_9.pdf |access-date=2021-07-14 |work=The World Factbook |publisher=Central Intelligence Agency |quote=238,181,034 (July 2021 est.)}}{{cite web |url=https://www.pbs.gov.pk/sites/default/files/population/2023/Pakistan.pdf |title = Announcement of Results of 7th Population and Housing Census-2023 'The Digital Census' |date= 5 August 2023 |website = Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (www.pbs.gov.pk) |access-date = 15 August 2023}}{{cite book |last=Singh |first=Y P |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pbqfCwAAQBAJ&q=pakistan+has+second+largest+muslim+population+in+the+world&pg=PT5 |title=Islam in India and Pakistan – A Religious History |publisher=Vij Books India Pvt Ltd |year=2016 |isbn=9789385505638 |quote=Pakistan has the second largest Muslim population in the world after Indonesia.}} As much as 90% of the population follows Sunni Islam and around 97% of Pakistanis follow Islam. Most Pakistani Sunni Muslims belong to the Hanafi school of jurisprudence, which is represented by the Barelvi and Deobandi traditions.

Nearly 97% of Pakistanis are Muslims.{{cite web |url=http://www.oxfordislamicstudies.com/article/opr/t125/e1809?_hi=1&_pos=1 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130618023219/http://www.oxfordislamicstudies.com/article/opr/t125/e1809?_hi=1&_pos=1 |url-status=dead |archive-date=June 18, 2013 |title=Pakistan, Islam in |access-date=2010-08-29 |work=Oxford Centre for Islamic Studies |quote=Approximately 97 percent of Pakistanis are Muslim. The majority (85–90)% percent are Sunnis following the Hanafi school of Islamic law. Between (10–15)% are Shias, mostly Twelvers. |publisher=Oxford University Press}} The majority are Sunni (90%){{cite web|url=http://lcweb2.loc.gov/frd/cs/profiles/Pakistan.pdf|title=Country Profile: Pakistan|date=February 2005|publisher=Library of Congress|quote=Religion: The overwhelming majority of the population (96.3 percent) is Muslim, of whom approximately 85–90 percent are Sunni and 10–15 percent Shia.|work=Library of Congress Country Studies on Pakistan|access-date=2010-09-01}}{{cite web|url=https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/pakistan/#people-and-society |title=Religions |quote=Muslim (official) 96.5% (Sunni 85–90%, Shia 10–15%), other (includes Christian and Hindu) 3.5% (2020 est.) |year=2021 |publisher=Central Intelligence Agency |access-date=2021-07-14 |work=The World Factbook}}{{cite web|url=http://pewforum.org/Muslim/Mapping-the-Global-Muslim-Population%286%29.aspx|title=Mapping the Global Muslim Population: A Report on the Size and Distribution of the World's Muslim Population|date=October 7, 2009|access-date=2010-08-28|work=Pew Research Center|archive-date=2010-03-27|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100327201319/http://pewforum.org/Muslim/Mapping-the-Global-Muslim-Population%286%29.aspx|url-status=dead}}{{Cite book|url=http://pewforum.org/newassets/images/reports/Muslimpopulation/Muslimpopulation.pdf |title=Mapping the Global Muslim Population: A Report on the Size and Distribution of the World's Muslim Population |date=October 2009 |publisher=Pew Research Center |editor-last=Miller |editor-first=Tracy |access-date=2010-08-28 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091010050756/http://pewforum.org/newassets/images/reports/Muslimpopulation/Muslimpopulation.pdf |archive-date=2009-10-10 }}{{cite web|url=https://2001-2009.state.gov/g/drl/rls/irf/2008/108505.htm|title=Pakistan – International Religious Freedom Report 2008|work=United States Department of State|date=19 September 2008|access-date=2010-08-28}} while Shias make up around 10%.{{cite web|url=http://lcweb2.loc.gov/frd/cs/profiles/Pakistan.pdf|title=Country Profile: Pakistan|date=February 2005|work=Library of Congress Country Studies on Pakistan|publisher=Library of Congress|access-date=2010-09-01|quote=Religion: The overwhelming majority of the population (97 percent) is Muslim, of whom approximately 90 percent are Sunni and 10 percent Shia.}}{{cite web|url=http://lcweb2.loc.gov/frd/cs/profiles/Pakistan.pdf|title=Country Profile: Pakistan|date=February 2005|work=Library of Congress Country Studies on Pakistan|publisher=Library of Congress|access-date=2010-09-01|quote=Religion: The overwhelming majority of the population (96.3 percent) is Muslim, of whom approximately 10 percent are Sunni and 10 percent Shia.}}{{Cite web|url=http://www.pewforum.org/2012/08/09/the-worlds-muslims-unity-and-diversity-executive-summary/|title=The World's Muslims: Unity and Diversity|date=9 August 2012|website=Pew Research Center|access-date=26 December 2016|quote=On the other hand, in Pakistan, where 6% of the survey respondents identify as Shia, Sunni attitudes are more mixed: 50% say Shias are Muslims, while 41% say Shias are not Muslim.}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.dawn.com/news/1515823|title=Non-Fiction: Pakistan's Shia Dynamics|date=10 November 2019}}{{cite web|url=http://www.oxfordislamicstudies.com/article/opr/t125/e1809?_hi=1&_pos=1|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130618023219/http://www.oxfordislamicstudies.com/article/opr/t125/e1809?_hi=1&_pos=1|url-status=dead|archive-date=June 18, 2013|title=Pakistan, Islam in|access-date=2010-08-29|work=Oxford Centre for Islamic Studies |quote=Approximately 97 percent of Pakistanis are Muslims. The majority are Sunnis following the Hanafi school of Islamic law. Between 10–15 percent are Shiis, mostly Twelvers.|publisher=Oxford University Press}} The Hanbali school has gained popularity recently due to Ahl-i Hadith and also Wahabbi influence from the Middle East.{{cite web | url=https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/belief/2009/aug/20/pakistan-wahhabi-islam-sufi-terrorism | title=Pakistan must confront Wahhabism | Adrian Pabst | website=TheGuardian.com | date=20 August 2009 }} Smaller minority Muslim populations in Pakistan include Quranists, nondenominational Muslims. There are also two Mahdi'ist based creeds practised in Pakistan, namely Mahdavia and Ahmadiyya,Sheikh, Samira. "Aurangzeb as seen from Gujarat: Shi ‘i and Millenarian Challenges to Mughal Sovereignty." Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society 28.3 (2018): 557–581. the latter of whom are considered by the constitution of Pakistan to be non-Muslims; they jointly constitute less than 1% of the population.The 1998 Pakistani census states that there are 291,000 (0.22%) Ahmadis in Pakistan. However, the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community has boycotted the census since 1974 which renders official Pakistani figures to be inaccurate. Independent groups have estimated the Pakistani Ahmadiyya population to be somewhere between 2 million and 3 million Ahmadis. However, the 2 million figure is the most quoted figure and is approximately 1% of the country. See:

  • over 2 million: {{cite web | author= Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada | title= Pakistan: The situation of Ahmadis, including legal status and political, education and employment rights; societal attitudes toward Ahmadis (2006 – Nov. 2008) | date= 2008-12-04 |url=http://www.unhcr.org/refworld/docid/49913b5f2c.html | access-date= 2012-06-28}}
  • 3 million: International Federation for Human Rights: International Fact-Finding Mission. Freedoms of Expression, of Association and of Assembly in Pakistan. Ausgabe 408/2, Januar 2005, S. 61 ([http://www.fidh.org/IMG/pdf/pk408a-2.pdf PDF])
  • 3–4 million: Commission on International Religious Freedom: Annual Report of the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom. 2005, S. 130
  • 4.910.000: James Minahan: Encyclopedia of the stateless nations. Ethnic and national groups around the world. Greenwood Press. Westport 2002, page 52
  • {{cite web|url=http://www.refworld.org/cgi-bin/texis/vtx/rwmain?page=country&category=&publisher=IRBC&type=QUERYRESPONSE&coi=PAK&rid=&docid=45f1478f20&skip=0 | title=Pakistan: Situation of members of the Lahori Ahmadiyya Movement in Pakistan | access-date=April 30, 2014 }} Pakistan has the world's largest Muslim majority city (Karachi).{{cite book|title=Cityscapes of Violence in Karachi: Publics and Counterpublics|first=Nichola|last= Khan|year= 2016| isbn= 9780190869786|publisher=Oxford University Press|quote= ... With a population of over 23 million Karachi is also the world's largest Muslim city, the world's seventh largest conurbation ... }}

History

=Before independence =

{{See also|Pakistan Movement}}

Islam had reached the Indian subcontinent during the lifetime of Muhammad. According to a tradition, Baba Ratan Hindi was a trader from Punjab who was one of the non-Arab companions of Muhammad.{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=C-2lR4XaTgwC&q=baba+ratan+hindi&pg=PA50|title=India and Indonesia: General Perspectives|isbn=9004083650|last1=Heesterman|first1=J. C.|year=1989|publisher=BRILL }}{{Cite book |last=Köprülü |first=Mehmet Fuat |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_v6IWkCLnEwC&dq=baba+ratan&pg=PA79 |title=Early Mystics in Turkish Literature |date=2006 |publisher=Psychology Press |isbn=978-0-415-36686-1 |pages=79 |language=en}} In 644 AD, the Rashidun caliphate conquered Makran after defeating the kingdom of Sindh in the battle of Rasil. According to Derryl N. Maclean, a link between Sindh and early partisans of Ali or proto-Shi'ites can be traced to Hakim ibn Jabalah al-Abdi who traveled across Sind to Makran in the year 649 AD and presented a report on the area to the Caliph.M. Ishaq, "Hakim Bin Jabala – An Heroic Personality of Early Islam", Journal of the Pakistan Historical Society, pp. 145–50, (April 1955). During the Caliphate of Ali, many Hindus of Sindh had come under influence of Islam and some even participated in the Battle of Camel. In 712 CE, a young Arab general Muhammad bin Qasim conquered most of the Indus region for the Caliphal empire, to be made the "As-Sindh" province with its capital at Al-Mansurah.{{cite web |url=http://www.infopak.gov.pk/History.aspx |title=History in Chronological Order |publisher=Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Government of Pakistan |access-date=15 January 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100723113602/http://infopak.gov.pk/History.aspx |archive-date=23 July 2010 |url-status=dead }}{{cite web |url=http://www.dawn.com/news/735610/figuring-qasim-how-pakistan-was-won |title=Figuring Qasim: How Pakistan was won |publisher=Dawn|access-date=19 February 2015|date=2012-07-19 }}{{cite web |url=http://www.dawn.com/news/1175127/the-first-pakistani |title=The first Pakistani? |publisher=Dawn|access-date=19 February 2015}}{{cite web |url=http://www.dawn.com/news/1098562/muhammad-bin-qasim-predator-or-preacher |title=Muhammad Bin Qasim: Predator or preacher? |publisher=Dawn|access-date=19 February 2015|date=2014-04-08 }}{{Cite news|url=https://scroll.in/article/721012/the-curious-case-of-dressing-up-an-8th-century-arab-as-the-true-founder-of-pakistan|title=Why some in Pakistan want to replace Jinnah as the founder of the country with an 8th century Arab|last=Paracha|first=Nadeem F.|work=Scroll.in|access-date=2018-01-09|language=en-US}} The Pakistan government's official chronology claims this as the time when the foundation of Pakistan was laid.{{cite web |url=http://www.dawn.com/news/1125484 |title=What is the most blatant lie taught through Pakistan textbooks? |author=Rubina Saigol |year=2014 |publisher=Herald|access-date=14 August 2014}}{{cite web |url=http://www.dawn.com/news/1164469 |title=A case for Gandhara |author=Shazia Rafi |year=2015 |publisher=Dawn|access-date=19 February 2015}} By the end of the 10th century CE, the region was ruled by several Hindu Shahi kings who would be subdued by the Ghaznavids.

File:PK Thatta asv2020-02 img01 Shah Jahan Mosque.jpg was patronized by the Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan.]]

The early medieval period (642–1219 CE) witnessed the spread of Islam in the region. During this period, Sufi missionaries played a pivotal role in converting a majority of the regional Buddhist and Hindu population to Islam.{{cite book |author=Ira Marvin Lapidus |title=A history of Islamic societies |url=https://archive.org/details/historyislamicso00lapi |url-access=limited |year=2002 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0-521-77933-3 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/historyislamicso00lapi/page/n205 382]–384}} These developments set the stage for the rule of several successive Muslim empires in the region, including the Ghaznavid Empire (975–1187 CE), the Ghorid Kingdom, and the Delhi Sultanate (1206–1526 CE). The Lodi dynasty, the last of the Delhi Sultanate, was replaced by the Mughal Empire (1526–1857 CE).

File:Weeks Edwin Lord An Open-Air Restaurant Lahore.jpg c. 1889 of the marketplace near Wazir Khan Mosque]]

=In independent Pakistan=

==Nature of state==

The Muslim League leadership, ulama (Islamic clergy) and Jinnah had articulated their vision of Pakistan in terms of an Islamic state.{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PrqLBgAAQBAJ&q=articulated+their+vision+of+Pakistan+in+terms+of+an+islamic+state&pg=PA497|title=Creating a New Medina: State Power, Islam, and the Quest for Pakistan in Late Colonial North India|last=Dhulipala|first=Venkat|publisher=Cambridge University Press|year=2015|isbn=9781316258385|pages=497|quote=As the book has demonstrated, local ML functionaries, (U.P.) ML leadership, Muslim modernists at Aligarh, the ulama and even Jinnah at times articulated their vision of Pakistan in terms of an Islamic state.}} Muhammad Ali Jinnah had developed a close association with the ulama.{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PrqLBgAAQBAJ&q=pakistan+has+been+created+in+the+name+of+islam+for+a+new+medina&pg=PA489|title=Creating a New Medina: State Power, Islam, and the Quest for Pakistan in Late Colonial North India|last=Dhulipala|first=Venkat|publisher=Cambridge University Press|year=2015|isbn=9781316258385|pages=489|quote=But what is undeniable is the close association he developed with the ulama, for when he died a little over a year after Pakistan was born, Maulana Shabbir Ahmad Usmani, in his funeral oration, described Jinnah as the greatest Muslim after the Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb.}} When Jinnah died, Islamic scholar Maulana Shabbir Ahmad Usmani described Jinnah as the greatest Muslim after the Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb and also compared Jinnah's death to the Muhammad's passing. Usmani asked Pakistanis to remember Jinnah's message of Unity, Faith and Discipline and work to fulfil his dream:

to create a solid bloc of all Muslim states from Karachi to Ankara, from Pakistan to Morocco. He [Jinnah] wanted to see the Muslims of the world united under the banner of Islam as an effective check against the aggressive designs of their enemies.
The first formal step taken to transform Pakistan into an ideological Islamic state was in March 1949 when the country's first Prime Minister, Liaquat Ali Khan, introduced the Objectives Resolution in the Constituent Assembly.{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nYppZ_dEjdIC&q=islamistan+husain+haqqani&pg=PA18|title=Pakistan: Between Mosque and Military|last=Haqqani|first=Husain|publisher=Carnegie Endowment|year=2010|isbn=9780870032851|pages=16}} The Objectives Resolution declared that sovereignty over the entire universe belongs to God.{{Cite book|url=http://www.oxfordislamicstudies.com/article/opr/t236/e0616|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081121052313/http://www.oxfordislamicstudies.com/article/opr/t236/e0616|url-status=dead|archive-date=November 21, 2008|title=Pakistan|last=Hussain|first=Rizwan|work=The Oxford Encyclopedia of the Islamic World|quote=The first important result of the combined efforts of the Jamāʿat-i Islāmī and the ʿulamāʿ was the passage of the Objectives Resolution in March 1949, whose formulation reflected compromise between traditionalists and modernists. The resolution embodied “the main principles on which the constitution of Pakistan is to be based.” It declared that "sovereignty over the entire universe belongs to God Almighty alone and the authority which He has delegated to the State of Pakistan through its people for being exercised within the limits prescribed by Him is a sacred trust," that “the principles of democracy, freedom, equality, tolerance and social justice, as enunciated by Islam shall be fully observed,” and that “the Muslims shall be enabled to order their lives in the individual and collective spheres in accord with the teaching and requirements of Islam as set out in the Holy Qurʿan and Sunna.” The Objectives Resolution has been reproduced as a preamble to the constitutions of 1956, 1962, and 1973.}} The president of the Muslim League, Chaudhry Khaliquzzaman, announced that Pakistan would bring together all Muslim countries into Islamistan-a pan-Islamic entity.{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nYppZ_dEjdIC&q=islamistan+husain+haqqani&pg=PA18|title=Pakistan: Between Mosque and Military|last=Haqqani|first=Husain|publisher=Carnegie Endowment|year=2010|isbn=9780870032851|pages=18}} Khaliq believed that Pakistan was only a Muslim state and was not yet an Islamic state, but that it could certainly become an Islamic state after bringing all believers of Islam into a single political unit.{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PrqLBgAAQBAJ&q=pakistan+has+been+created+in+the+name+of+islam+for+a+new+medina&pg=PA489|title=Creating a New Medina: State Power, Islam, and the Quest for Pakistan in Late Colonial North India|last=Dhulipala|first=Venkat|publisher=Cambridge University Press|year=2015|isbn=9781316258385|pages=491}} Keith Callard, one of the earliest scholars on Pakistani politics, observed that Pakistanis believed in the essential unity of purpose and outlook in the Muslim world:
Pakistan was founded to advance the cause of Muslims. Other Muslims might have been expected to be sympathetic, even enthusiastic. But this assumed that other Muslim states would take the same view of the relation between religion and nationality.
However, Pakistan's pan-Islamist sentiments were not shared by other Muslim governments at the time. Nationalism in other parts of the Muslim world was based on ethnicity, language and culture. Although Muslim governments were unsympathetic with Pakistan's pan-Islamic aspirations, Islamists from all over the world were drawn to Pakistan. Figures such as the Grand Mufti of Palestine, Al-Haj Amin al-Husseini, and leaders of Islamist political movements, such as the Muslim Brotherhood, became frequent visitors to the country.{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nYppZ_dEjdIC&q=islamistan+husain+haqqani&pg=PA18|title=Pakistan: Between Mosque and Military|last=Haqqani|first=Husain|publisher=Carnegie Endowment|year=2010|isbn=9780870032851|pages=19}} After General Zia-ul-Haq took power in a military coup, Hizb ut-Tahrir (an Islamist group calling for the establishment of a Caliphate) expanded its organisational network and activities in Pakistan. Its founder, Taqi al-Din al-Nabhani, would maintain regular correspondence with Abul A’la Maududi, the founder of Jamaat-e-Islami (JI), and he also urged Dr. Israr Ahmed to continue his work in Pakistan for the establishment of a global caliphate.{{Cite news|url=http://herald.dawn.com/news/1153325|title=Global connections: The crackdown on Hizbut Tahrir intensifies|last=Khan|first=Sher Ali|date=12 February 2016|work=Herald}}

Social scientist Nasim Ahmad Jawed conducted a survey in 1969 in pre-divided Pakistan on the type of national identity that was used by educated professional people. He found that over 60% of people in East Pakistan (modern day Bangladesh) professed to have a secular national identity. However, in West Pakistan (current day Pakistan) the same figure professed to have an Islamic and not a secular identity. Furthermore, the same figure in East Pakistan defined their identity in terms of their ethnicity and not Islam. It was the opposite in West Pakistan, where Islam was stated to be more important than ethnicity.{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=X2_FAgAAQBAJ&q=islam+and+identity+the+causes+of+the+bangladesh+war&pg=PT37|title=The Causes of the Bangladesh War|last=Cochrane|first=Iain|year=2009|publisher=Lulu.com |isbn=9781445240435|quote=The social scientist, Nasim Ahmad Jawed has conducted a survey of nationalism in pre-divided Pakistan and identifies the links between religion, politics and nationalism in both wings of Pakistan. His findings are fascinating and go some way to explain the differing attitudes of West and East Pakistan to the relationship between Islam and Pakistani nationalism and how this affected the views of people in both wings, especially the views of the peoples of both wings towards each other. In 1969, Jawed conducted a survey on the type of national identity that was used by educated professional people. He found that just over 60% in the East wing professed to have a secular national identity. However, in the West wing, the same figure professed an Islamic and not a secular identity. Furthermore, the same figure in the East wing described their identity in terms of their ethnicity and not in terms of Islam. He found that the opposite was the case in the West wing where Islam was stated to be more important than ethnicity.}}

After Pakistan's first ever general elections the 1973 Constitution was created by an elected Parliament.{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WG-pAgAAQBAJ&q=1973+constitution+pakistan+islam&pg=PA196|title=Islam, Law and Identity|last1=Diamantides|first1=Marinos|last2=Gearey|first2=Adam|publisher=Routledge|year=2011|isbn=9781136675652|pages=196}} The Constitution declared Pakistan an Islamic Republic and Islam as the state religion. It also stated that all laws would have to be brought into accordance with the injunctions of Islam as laid down in the Quran and Sunnah and that no law repugnant to such injunctions could be enacted.{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1Wh8AgAAQBAJ&q=1973+constitution+pakistan+islam&pg=PA189|title=The Right to Development in International Law: The Case of Pakistan|last=Iqbal|first=Khurshid|publisher=Routledge|year=2009|isbn=9781134019991|pages=189}} The 1973 Constitution also created certain institutions such as the Shariat Court and the Council of Islamic Ideology to channel the interpretation and application of Islam.{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WG-pAgAAQBAJ&q=1973+constitution+pakistan+islam&pg=PA196|title=Islam, Law and Identity|last1=Diamantides|first1=Marinos|last2=Gearey|first2=Adam|publisher=Routledge|year=2011|isbn=9781136675652|pages=198}}

==Zia ul Haq's Islamization==

{{main|Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq's Islamization}}

On 5 July 1977, General Zia-ul-Haq led a coup d'état.{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PJBpAgAAQBAJ&q=1973+constitution+pakistan+islam&pg=PA196|title=Constitutionalism in Islamic Countries: Between Upheaval and Continuity|last=Grote|first=Rainer|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=2012|isbn=9780199910168|pages=196}} In the year or two before Zia-ul-Haq's coup, his predecessor, leftist Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, had faced vigorous opposition which was united under the revivalist banner of Nizam-e-Mustafa{{cite book|title=Mawdudi and the Making of Islamic Revivalism|url=https://archive.org/details/mawdudimakingisl00nasr|url-access=limited|date=1996|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=0195096959|location=New York, Oxford|pages=[https://archive.org/details/mawdudimakingisl00nasr/page/n55 45]–6|last1=Nasr|first1=Seyyed Vali Reza Nasr}} ("Rule of the prophet"). According to supporters of the movement, establishing an Islamic state based on sharia law would mean a return to the justice and success of the early days of Islam when Muhammad ruled the Muslims.{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OLvTNk75hUoC&q=Nizam-e-Mustafa+sharia&pg=PA100|title=Jihad: The Trail of Political Islam|date=2002|publisher=I.B.Tauris|edition=2006|pages=100–101|last1=Kepel|first1=Gilles|isbn=9781845112578|access-date=5 December 2014}} In an effort to stem the tide of street Islamisation, Bhutto had also called for it and banned the drinking and selling of wine by Muslims, nightclubs and horse racing.{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9cCtsWb9hoYC&q=zia+ul+haq&pg=PA202|title=State and Secularism: Perspectives from Asia§General Zia-ul-Haq and Patronage of Islamism|last=Michael Heng Siam-Heng, Ten Chin Liew|publisher=World Scientific|year=2010|isbn=9789814282383|location=Singapore|page=360}}

File:Muslim self-identification.jpg

"Islamisation" was the "primary" policy,{{cite book|last=Haqqani|first=Husain|title=Pakistan:Between Mosque and Military; §From Islamic Republic to Islamic State|year=2005|publisher=Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (July 2005)|location=United States|isbn=978-0-87003-214-1|pages=395 pages|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nYppZ_dEjdIC&q=Pakistan:Between+Mosque+and+Military}}

or "centerpiece"{{cite book|last1=Jones|first1=Owen Bennett|title=Pakistan : eye of the storm|date=2002|publisher=Yale University Press|location=New Haven and London|pages=[https://archive.org/details/pakistaneyeofsto00benn/page/16 16]–7|isbn=9780300097603|url=https://archive.org/details/pakistaneyeofsto00benn|url-access=registration|quote=... Zia made Islam the centrepiece of his administration.}} of his government. Zia-ul-Haq committed himself to establishing an Islamic state and enforcing sharia law. Zia established separate Shariat judicial courts and court benches{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mIUwZ4aVM8AC&q=%22International+Commission+of+Jurists%22+pakistan+Zia-ul-Haq&pg=PA17|title=Double Jeopardy: Police Abuse of Women in Pakistan|date=1992|publisher=Human Rights Watch|page=19|isbn=9781564320636|access-date=3 December 2014}}{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nYppZ_dEjdIC&q=zia+ul+haq&pg=PA132|title=Pakistan: between mosque and military|last=Haqqani|first=Husain|publisher=United Book Press|year=2005|isbn=9780870032851|location=Washington D.C.|page=400}} to judge legal cases using Islamic doctrine.{{cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/briefhistoryofpa0000wynb_t6l9|url-access=registration|quote=a brief history of pakistan zia bolster ulama.|title=A Brief History of Pakistan|date=2009|publisher=Facts on File|isbn=9780816061846|pages=[https://archive.org/details/briefhistoryofpa0000wynb_t6l9/page/216 216]–7|last1=Wynbrandt|first1=James}} New criminal offences (of adultery, fornication, and types of blasphemy), and new punishments (of whipping, amputation, and stoning to death), were added to Pakistani law. Interest payments for bank accounts were replaced by "profit and loss" payments. Zakat charitable donations became a 2.5% annual tax. School textbooks and libraries were overhauled to remove un-Islamic material.{{cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/pakistaneyeofsto00benn|url-access=registration|quote=zia giving him a free hand to ignore internationally accepted human rights norms.|title=Pakistan : eye of the storm|date=2002|publisher=Yale University Press|location=New Haven and London|pages=[https://archive.org/details/pakistaneyeofsto00benn/page/16 16]–7|last1=Jones|first1=Owen Bennett|isbn=9780300097603}} Offices, schools, and factories were required to offer praying space.{{cite web|url=http://www.dawn.com/news/812995/pious-follies|title=Pious follies|date=3 September 2009|website=Dawn.com|last1=Paracha|first1=Nadeem F.|access-date=20 December 2014}} Zia bolstered the influence of the ulama (Islamic clergy) and the Islamic parties, whilst conservative scholars became fixtures on television. 10,000s of activists from the Jamaat-e-Islami party were appointed to government posts to ensure the continuation of his agenda after his passing.{{cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/pakistaneyeofsto00benn|url-access=registration|title=Pakistan : eye of the storm|date=2002|publisher=Yale University Press|location=New Haven and London|pages=[https://archive.org/details/pakistaneyeofsto00benn/page/16 16]–7|quote=... Zia rewarded the only political party to offer him consistent support, Jamaat-e-Islami. Tens of thousands of Jamaat activists and sympathisers were given jobs in the judiciary, the civil service and other state institutions. These appointments meant Zia's Islamic agenda lived on long after he died.|last1=Jones|first1=Owen Bennett|isbn=9780300097603}}{{cite book|url=http://www.chicagobooth.edu/~/media/E49831A1165C49EBA902C83648F0CE36.pdf|title=ISLAMIZATION AND THE PAKISTANI ECONOMY|date=2004|publisher=Woodrow Wilson International Center or Scholars|page=95|chapter=Islamization, the State and Development|quote=General Zia became the patron of Islamization in Pakistan and for the first time in the country’s history, opened the bureaucracy, the military, and various state institutions to Islamic parties|last1=Nasr|first1=Vali|editor2-last=Lee|editor2-first=Wilson|editor1-last=Hathaway|editor1-first=Robert|access-date=30 January 2015}} Conservative ulama (Islamic scholars) were added to the Council of Islamic Ideology. Separate electorates for Hindus and Christians were established in 1985 even though Christian and Hindu leaders complained that they felt excluded from the county's political process.{{cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/pakistaneyeofsto00benn|url-access=registration|quote=separate electorates for minorities in pakistan.|title=Pakistan: Eye of the Storm|date=2002|publisher=Yale University Press|isbn=0300101473|page=[https://archive.org/details/pakistaneyeofsto00benn/page/31 31]|last1=Jones|first1=Owen Bennett|access-date=9 December 2014}}

Zia's state sponsored Islamization increased sectarian divisions in Pakistan between Sunnis and Shias and between Deobandis and Barelvis.{{cite book|title=Pakistan, a Modern History|url=https://archive.org/details/pakistanmodernhi00talb|url-access=registration|date=1998|publisher=St.Martin's Press|location=NY|page=[https://archive.org/details/pakistanmodernhi00talb/page/251 251]|quote=The state sponsored process of Islamisation dramatically increased sectarian divisions not only between Sunnis and Shia over the issue of the 1979 Zakat Ordinance, but also between Deobandis and Barelvis.|last1=Talbot|first1=Ian|isbn=9780312216061}} A solid majority of Barelvis had supported the creation of Pakistan,{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nzivCgAAQBAJ&q=barelvi+ulema+pakistan+movement&pg=PA167|title=State and Nation-Building in Pakistan: Beyond Islam and Security|last1=Long|first1=Roger D.|last2=Singh|first2=Gurharpal|last3=Samad|first3=Yunas|last4=Talbot|first4=Ian|publisher=Routledge|year=2015|isbn=9781317448204|pages=167|quote=In the 1940s a solid majority of the Barelvis were supporters of the Pakistan Movement and played a supporting role in its final phase (1940-7), mostly under the banner of the All-India Sunni Conference which had been founded in 1925.}} and Barelvi ulama had also issued fatwas in support of the Pakistan Movement during the 1946 elections,{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WgFeAwAAQBAJ&q=Barelvi+ulema+pakistan+movement&pg=PA135|title=The Awakening of Muslim Democracy: Religion, Modernity, and the State|last=Cesari|first=Jocelyne|publisher=Cambridge University Press|year=2014|isbn=9781107513297|pages=135|quote=For example, the Barelvi ulama supported the formation of the state of Pakistan and thought that any alliance with Hindus (such as that between the Indian National Congress and the Jamiat ulama-I-Hind [JUH]) was counterproductive.}}{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XfI-hEI8a9wC&q=Barelvi+ulama+1946+elections&pg=PA87|title=Pakistan: The Struggle Within|last=John|first=Wilson|publisher=Pearson Education India|year=2009|isbn=9788131725047|pages=87|quote=During the 1946 election, Barelvi Ulama issued fatwas in favour of the Muslim League.}} but ironically Islamic state politics in Pakistan was mostly in favour of Deobandi (and later Ahl-e-Hadith/Salafi) institutions.{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0Mx5DQAAQBAJ&q=barelvi+ulema+pakistan+movement&pg=PA379|title=Faith-Based Violence and Deobandi Militancy in Pakistan|last1=Syed|first1=Jawad|last2=Pio|first2=Edwina|last3=Kamran|first3=Tahir|last4=Zaidi|first4=Abbas|publisher=Springer|year=2016|isbn=9781349949663|pages=379|quote=Ironically, Islamic state politics in Pakistan was mostly in favour of Deobandi, and more recently Ahl-e Hadith/Salafi, institutions. Only a few Deobandi clerics decided to support the Pakistan Movement, but they were highly influential.}} This was despite the fact that only a few (although influential) Deobandi clerics had supported the Pakistan Movement. Zia-ul-Haq forged a strong alliance between the military and Deobandi institutions. In Pakistan, actors who have been identified by the state as moderate Sufis—such as the Barelwis, a movement founded in the 19th century in response to conservative reformers such as the Deobandis—mobilized after the government's call from 2009 onwards to save the soul of Pakistan from creeping “Talibanization.”{{Cite web|last=Philippon|first=Alix|date=2018-12-13|title=Positive branding and soft power: The promotion of Sufism in the war on terror|url=https://www.brookings.edu/blog/order-from-chaos/2018/12/13/positive-branding-and-soft-power-the-promotion-of-sufism-in-the-war-on-terror/|access-date=2021-03-30|website=Brookings|language=en-US}}

Possible motivations for the Islamization programme included Zia's personal piety (most accounts agree that he came from a religious family),{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nYppZ_dEjdIC&q=zia+ul+haq&pg=PA132|title=Pakistan: Between Mosque and Military|last=Haqqani|first=Husain|publisher=Carnegie Endowment|year=2010|isbn=9780870032851|pages=132}} desire to gain political allies, to "fulfill Pakistan's raison d'être" as a Muslim state, and/or the political need to legitimise what was seen by some Pakistanis as his "repressive, un-representative martial law regime".{{cite book|title=Pakistan, a Modern History|url=https://archive.org/details/pakistanmodernhi00talb|url-access=registration|date=1998|publisher=St.Martin's Press|location=NY|page=[https://archive.org/details/pakistanmodernhi00talb/page/286 286]|last1=Talbot|first1=Ian|isbn=9780312216061 }}

Until the government of General Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq, "Islamic activists" were frustrated by the lack of "teeth" to enforce Islamic law in Pakistan's constitution. For example, in the 1956 constitution, the state did not enforce "Islamic moral standards" but "endeavor[ed]" to make them compulsory and to "prevent" prostitution, gambling, consumption of alcoholic liquor, etc. Interest was to be eliminated "as soon as possible".quoting article 25, 28, 29, 198 of the 1956 Constitution of Pakistan{{cite book|last1=Kennedy|first1=Charles|title=Islamization of Laws and Economy, Case Studies on Pakistan|date=1996|publisher=Institute of Policy Studies, The Islamic Foundation|ref=CKILE|pages=84–5}}

According to Shajeel Zaidi a million people attended Zia ul Haq's funeral because he had given them what they wanted: more religion.{{Cite news|url=http://blogs.tribune.com.pk/story/38972/in-defence-of-ziaul-haq/|title=In defence of Ziaul Haq|last=Zaidi|first=Shajeel|date=17 August 2016|work=Express Tribune}} A PEW opinion poll found that 84% of Pakistanis favoured making Sharia the official law of the land.{{Cite web|url=http://www.pewforum.org/2013/04/30/the-worlds-muslims-religion-politics-society-beliefs-about-sharia/|title=Chapter 1: Beliefs About Sharia|date=30 April 2013|website=Pew Research Center's Religion & Public Life Project|access-date=4 December 2016}} According to the 2013 Pew Research Center report, the majority of Pakistani Muslims also support the death penalty for those who leave Islam (62%). In contrast, support for the death penalty for those who leave Islam was only 36% in fellow South Asian Muslim country Bangladesh (which shared heritage with Pakistan).{{Cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2013/05/01/64-percent-of-muslims-in-egypt-and-pakistan-support-the-death-penalty-for-leaving-islam/|title=Majorities of Muslims in Egypt and Pakistan support the death penalty for leaving Islam|newspaper=Washington Post|access-date=4 December 2016}} A 2010 opinion poll by PEW Research Centre also found that 87% of Pakistanis considered themselves 'Muslims first' rather than a member of their nationality. This was the highest figure amongst all Muslim populations surveyed. In contrast only 67% in Jordan, 59% in Egypt, 51% in Turkey, 36% in Indonesia and 71% in Nigeria considered themselves as 'Muslim first' rather than a member of their own nationality.{{Cite web|url=http://www.pewglobal.org/2006/07/06/muslims-in-europe-economic-worries-top-concerns-about-religious-and-cultural-identity/254-5/|title=What Do You Consider Yourself First?|date=31 March 2010|website=Pew Research Center's Global Attitudes Project|access-date=4 December 2016|archive-date=25 April 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190425074821/https://www.pewglobal.org/2006/07/06/muslims-in-europe-economic-worries-top-concerns-about-religious-and-cultural-identity/254-5/|url-status=dead}}

"Islamic activists" such as much or the ulama (Islamic clerics) and Jamaat-e-Islami (Islamist party), support the expansion of "Islamic law and Islamic practices". "Islamic Modernists" are lukewarm to this expansion and "some may even advocate development along the secularist lines of the West."{{cite book |last1=Kennedy |first1=Charles |title=Islamization of Laws and Economy, Case Studies on Pakistan |date=1996|publisher=Institute of Policy Studies, The Islamic Foundation |ref=CKILE|page=83}}

=Islamic way of life=

The mosque is an important religious as well as social institution in Pakistan.Malik, Jamal. Islam in South Asia: A Short History. Leiden and Boston: Brill, 2008.{{Cite journal|last=Mughal|first=M. A. Z.|date=2015-05-04|title=An anthropological perspective on the mosque in Pakistan|journal=Asian Anthropology|language=en|volume=14|issue=2|pages=166–181|doi=10.1080/1683478X.2015.1055543|s2cid=54051524|issn=1683-478X|url=http://dro.dur.ac.uk/16438/1/16438.pdf}} Many rituals and ceremonies are celebrated according to Islamic calendar.

Denominations

File:Religion pakistan.png

File:Sunset over Data Durbar.jpg shrine of Sufi saint Ali Hujweiri in Lahore is known for devotees from over the world.]]

According to the CIA World Factbook and Oxford Centre for Islamic Studies, 96–97% of the total population of Pakistan is Muslim.

=Sunni=

The majority of the Pakistani Muslims belong to Sunni Islam. Muslims belong to different schools which are called Madhahib (singular: Madhhab) i.e., schools of jurisprudence (also 'Maktab-e-Fikr' (School of Thought) in Urdu).) Estimates on the Sunni population in Pakistan range from 85% to 90%.

==Barelvi and Deobandi Sunni Muslims==

The two major Sunni sects in Pakistan are the Barelvi movement and Deobandi movement. Statistics regarding Pakistan's sects and sub-sects have been called "tenuous",{{cite book |last1= |first1= |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/resrep42808.7 |title=A New Era of Sectarian Violence in Pakistan |date=2022 |publisher=International Crisis Group |pages=Page 8–Page 14 |access-date=20 July 2023}} but estimates of the sizes of the two groups give a slight majority of Pakistan's population to 50% the Barelvi school, while 20% are thought to follow the Deobandi school of jurisprudence.{{cite web|url=http://www.heritage.org/Research/Reports/2009/05/Reviving-Pakistans-Pluralist-Traditions-to-Fight-Extremism |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100322140255/http://www.heritage.org/Research/Reports/2009/05/Reviving-Pakistans-Pluralist-Traditions-to-Fight-Extremism |url-status=unfit |archive-date=March 22, 2010 | title=Reviving Pakistan's Pluralist Traditions to Fight Extremism | last1=Curtis |first1=Lisa |last2=Mullick |first2=Haider |date=4 May 2009 |access-date=2011-07-31 |publisher=The Heritage Foundation}}{{cite web |last=Pike |first=John |date=5 July 2011 |url=http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/intro/islam-barelvi.htm |title=Barelvi Islam |publisher=GlobalSecurity.org |access-date=25 September 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20031208063014/http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/intro/islam-barelvi.htm |archive-date=8 December 2003 |url-status=live |quote=By one estimate, in Pakistan, the Shias are 18%, Ismailis 2%, Ahmediyas 2%, Barelvis 50%, Deobandis 20%, Ahle Hadith 4%, and other minorities 4%. [...] By another estimate some 15% of Pakistan's Sunni Muslims would consider themselves Deobandi, and some 60% are in the Barelvi tradition based mostly in the province of Punjab. But some 64% of the total seminaries are run by Deobandis, 25% by the Barelvis, 6% by the Ahle Hadith and 3% by various Shiite organisations.}}{{cite book |last1= |first1= |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/resrep42808.7 |title=A New Era of Sectarian Violence in Pakistan |date=2022 |publisher=International Crisis Group |pages=Page 8–Page 14 |quote=Sunni Barelvis are believed to constitute a thin majority of the population |access-date=20 July 2023}}

=Shia=

{{Main|Shia Islam in Pakistan}}

Shias are estimated to constitute about 10-15 percent of the country's population.{{Cite web |date=2012-08-09 |title=Chapter 5: Boundaries of Religious Identity |url=https://www.pewresearch.org/religion/2012/08/09/the-worlds-muslims-unity-and-diversity-5-religious-identity/ |access-date=2023-07-01 |website=Pew Research Center's Religion & Public Life Project |language=en-US}} Major traditions of Shia Islam found in Pakistan include the Twelver Shias (or Ithna Ashariyyah) and the Ismaili Shias (or Seveners); most notably the Dawoodi Bohras and the Khoja Ismailis—known for their prominence in commerce and industry.{{Cite web |title=Pakistan - Islamic Assembly, Sunni & Shiʿi Sects, Wahhābī Movement {{!}} Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/place/Pakistan/Religion |access-date=2023-06-26 |website=www.britannica.com |language=en}}

Many prominent Shia Muslim politicians were known to play a decisive role in the creation of Pakistan for decades during the Pakistan Movement. The role as the first president of the Muslim League and its main financial backer during its earlier years was undertaken by Sir Aga Khan III, an Ismaili by faith. Other politicians that held prominent roles in the initial decades of the Muslim League include Raja Sahib, Syed Ameer Ali and Syed Wazir Hasan, among others.{{Cite book |last=Fuchs |first=Simon Wolfgang |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.5149/9781469649818_fuchs |title=In a Pure Muslim Land: Shi'ism between Pakistan and the Middle East |date=2019 |publisher=University of North Carolina Press |isbn=978-1-4696-4979-5 |jstor=10.5149/9781469649818_fuchs }}

A 2012 study found 50% of surveyed Pakistanis considered Shia as Muslims while 41% rejected Shia as Muslims.{{cite web |url=http://www.pewforum.org/2012/08/09/the-worlds-muslims-unity-and-diversity-executive-summary/ |title=The World's Muslims: Unity and Diversity |date=9 August 2012 |website=Pew Research Center|access-date=26 December 2016 |quote=On the other hand, in Pakistan, where 2% of the survey respondents identify as Shia, Sunni attitudes are more mixed: 50% say Shias are Muslims, while 41% say they are not.}}{{Cite web |date=2012-08-09 |title=Chapter 5: Boundaries of Religious Identity |url=https://www.pewresearch.org/religion/2012/08/09/the-worlds-muslims-unity-and-diversity-5-religious-identity/ |access-date=2023-01-01 |website=Pew Research Center's Religion & Public Life Project |language=en-US}} Shias allege discrimination by the Pakistani government since 1948, claiming that Sunnis are given preference in business, official positions and administration of justice.{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=O7GPWbu8XKgC&q=gilgit+shias+1988+killing&pg=PT24|title=Around Rakaposhi|last=Jones|first=Brian H.|publisher=Brian H Jones|year=2010|isbn=9780980810721|quote=Many Shias in the region feel that they have been discriminated against since 1948. They claim that the Pakistani government continually gives preferences to Sunnis in business, in official positions, and in the administration of justice...The situation deteriorated sharply during the 1980s under the presidency of the tyrannical Zia-ul Haq when there were many attacks on the Shia population.}} Attacks on Shias increased under the presidency of Zia-ul-Haq, with the first major sectarian riots in Pakistan breaking out in 1983 in Karachi and later spreading to other parts of the country.{{Cite news|url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/1987/11/10/sectarian-strife-threatens-pakistans-fragile-society/|title=Sectarian Strife Threatens Pakistan's Fragile Society|last=Broder|first=Jonathan|date=10 November 1987|work=Chicago Tribune|quote=Pakistan`s first major Shiite-Sunni riots erupted in 1983 in Karachi during the Shiite holiday of Muharram; at least 60 people were killed. More Muharram disturbances followed over the next three years, spreading to Lahore and the Baluchistan region and leaving hundreds more dead. Last July, Sunnis and Shiites, many of them armed with locally made automatic weapons, clashed in the northwestern town of Parachinar, where at least 200 died.|access-date=31 December 2016}} Shias have long been a target of Sunni radical groups such as Lashkar-e-Jhangvi in the country. Sectarian violence became a recurring feature of the Muharram month every year, with sectarian violence between Sunnis and Shias taking place on multiple occasions.{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=O7GPWbu8XKgC&q=gilgit+shias+1988+killing&pg=PT24|title=Around Rakaposhi|last=Jones|first=Brian H.|publisher=Brian H Jones|year=2010|isbn=9780980810721|quote=Many Shias in the region feel that they have been discriminated against since 1948. They claim that the Pakistani government continually gives preferences to Sunnis in business, in official positions, and in the administration of justice...The situation deteriorated sharply during the 1980s under the presidency of the tyrannical Zia-ul Haq when there were many attacks on the Shia population. In one of the most notorious incidents, during May 1988 Sunni assailants destroyed Shia villages, forcing thousands of people to flee to Gilgit for refuge. Shia mosques were razed and about 100 people were killed}}{{Cite news|url=http://herald.dawn.com/news/1153556|title=This Muharram, Gilgit gives peace a chance|last=Taimur|first=Shamil|date=12 October 2016|work=Herald|quote=This led to violent clashes between the two sects. In 1988, after a brief calm of nearly four days, the military regime allegedly used certain militants along with local Sunnis to ‘teach a lesson’ to Shias, which led to hundreds of Shias and Sunnis being killed.|access-date=31 December 2016}} Since 2008 thousands of Shia have been killed by Sunni extremists according to Human Rights Watch (HRW) and violent clashes between the two sects are common.{{cite web|title=Pakistan: Rampant Killings of Shia by Extremists|url=https://www.hrw.org/news/2014/06/29/pakistan-rampant-killings-shia-extremists|publisher=Human Rights Watch|access-date=16 November 2014|date=30 June 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141129020929/http://www.hrw.org/news/2014/06/29/pakistan-rampant-killings-shia-extremists|archive-date=29 November 2014|url-status=live|df=dmy-all}}

A subset of Shia in Pakistan are the Hazara ethnic group—which are distinct from other Shi’a due to their language and facial features. Most Hazaras live in Afghanistan, but Pakistan also hosts between 650,000 and 900,000 – and around 500,000 live in the city of Quetta.{{cite web |title=Pakistan. Main minorities and indigenous peoples |url=https://minorityrights.org/country/pakistan/#:~:text=Christians%2C%20Hindus%2C%20Ahmadis%2C%20Scheduled,Ahmadis%20are%20now%20not%20recognized. |website=World Directory of Minorities and Indigenous Peoples |access-date=9 August 2023}}

=Sufism=

{{Main|Sufism in Pakistan}}

File:Tomb of Shah Rukn-e-Alam 2014-07-31.jpg is one of southern Punjab's most important Sufi shrines]]

Sufism is a vast term and many Sufi orders exist within Pakistan where the philosophy has a strong tradition. Historically, the Sufi missionaries had played a pivotal role in converting the native peoples of Punjab and Sindh to Islam.{{cite book |author=Hashmi |first=Taj |author-link=Taj Hashmi |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BxlBDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT45 |title=Global Jihad and America: The Hundred-Year War Beyond Iraq and Afghanistan |date=26 June 2014 |publisher=SAGE Publishing India |isbn=978-93-5150-426-9 |pages=45–}} The most notable Muslim Sufi orders in Pakistan are the Qadiriyya, Naqshbandiya, Chishtiya and Suhrawardiyya silsas (Muslim Orders) and they have a large amount of devotees in Pakistan. The tradition of visiting dargahs is still practiced today. Sufis whose shrines receive much national attention are Data Ganj Baksh (Ali Hajweri) in Lahore (ca. 11th century),{{cite encyclopedia|title=Pakistan: a country study|publisher=Federal Research Division, Library of Congress|location=Washington, D.C.|url=https://www.loc.gov/item/95017247/|date=1995|editor-last=Blood|editor-first=Peter R.|edition=6th|pages=128|isbn=0-8444-0834-4|oclc=32394669|postscript=. {{PD-notice}}}} Sultan Bahoo in Shorkot Jhang, Baha-ud-din Zakariya in Multan,{{cite web |date=27 October 2017 |title=Urs of Bahauddin Zakariya begins in Multan |url=https://www.dawn.com/news/1366492 |access-date=15 February 2018 |publisher=Dawn (newspaper)}} and Shahbaz Qalander in Sehwan (ca. 12th century) and Shah Abdul Latif Bhitai in Bhit, Sindh{{Cite news|url=https://tribune.com.pk/story/1550046/1-urs-celebrations-hazrat-shah-abdul-latif-bhitai-commence/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201109031144/https://tribune.com.pk/story/1550046/1-urs-celebrations-hazrat-shah-abdul-latif-bhitai-commence|archive-date=9 November 2020|title=Urs celebrations of Hazrat Shah Abdul Latif Bhitai commence|date=5 November 2017|publisher=The Express Tribune|access-date=5 March 2021|language=en-US}} and Rehman Baba in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province. The Urs (death anniversary) of Sufi saints accounts for the largest gathering upon their shrines held annually by the devotees.

Although, popular Sufi culture is centered on Thursday night gatherings at shrines and annual festivals which feature Sufi music and dance, certain tariqas such as Sarwari Qadri Order, refrain from such traditions and believe in paying visit to the shrines, making prayers or reciting manqabat. Moreover, contemporary Islamic fundamentalists also criticize the popular tradition of singing, dance and music, which in their view, does not accurately reflect the teachings and practice of Mohammad and his companions. There have been terrorist attacks directed at Sufi shrines and festivals, five in 2010 that killed 64 people. Presently, the known tariqas in Pakistan have maintained their organisations usually known as tehreeks and have their khanqahs for the dhikr of Allah, as per the old age Sufi tradition.{{cite news|title=Sufism Under attack in Pakistan|url=http://video.nytimes.com/video/2011/01/06/world/asia/1248069532117/sufism-under-attack-in-pakistan.html|access-date=May 21, 2012|newspaper=The New York Times|author=Produced by Charlotte Buchen|format=video|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120528051803/http://video.nytimes.com/video/2011/01/06/world/asia/1248069532117/sufism-under-attack-in-pakistan.html|archive-date=May 28, 2012|url-status=dead}}{{cite news|title=The Islam That Hard-Liners Hate|url=http://atwar.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/01/06/the-islam-that-hard-liners-hate/|access-date=May 21, 2012|newspaper=The New York Times|date=January 6, 2011|author=Huma Imtiaz|author2=Charlotte Buchen|format=blog}}

=Quranists=

Muslims who reject the authority of hadith, known as Quranist, Quraniyoon, or Ahle Quran, are also present in Pakistan.Ali Usman Qasmi, [http://www.thefridaytimes.com/beta3/tft/article.php?issue=20130125&page=16 A mosque for Qurani Namaz], The Friday Times, Retrieved February 16, 2013 The largest Quranist organization in Pakistan is Ahle Quran, followed by Bazm-e-Tolu-e-Islam. Another Quranist movement in Pakistan is Ahlu Zikr.Dolatabad, Seyed Ali Hosseini, Hossein Naseri Moghadam, and Ali Reza Abedi Sar Asiya. "Pillars, proofs and requirements of the Quran-Sufficiency Theory, along with its criticism." International Journal of Humanities and Cultural Studies (IJHCS) ISSN 2356-5926 (2016): 2303–2319.

=Non-denominational=

Roughly twelve per cent of Pakistani Muslims self-describe or have beliefs overlapping with non-denominational Muslims. These Muslims have beliefs that by and large overlap with those of the majority of Muslims and the difference in their prayers are usually non-existent or negligible. Nonetheless, in censuses asking for a clarification on which strand or rite of Muslim faith they most closely align, they usually answer "just a Muslim".Pewforum Chapter 1: Religious Affiliation retrieved, retrieved 11 March 2015

Contemporary issues

=Blasphemy =

{{Main|Blasphemy in Pakistan}}

The Pakistan Penal Code, the main criminal code of Pakistan, punishes blasphemy ({{langx|ur|{{Nastaliq|قانون توہین رسالت}}}}) against any recognized religion, providing penalties ranging from a fine to death. Pakistan inherited blasphemy laws enacted by British colonial authorities and made them more severe between 1980 and 1986, when a number of clauses were added by the military government of General Zia-ul Haq, in order to "Islamicise" the laws and deny the Muslim character of the Ahmadi minority.{{cite web|title=What are Pakistan's blasphemy laws?|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-south-asia-12621225|website=BBC News|access-date=21 November 2014|date=6 November 2014|archive-date=5 April 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190405093821/https://www.bbc.com/news/world-south-asia-12621225|url-status=dead}} Parliament through the Second Amendment to the Constitution on 7 September 1974, under Prime Minister Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, declared Ahmadi Muslims as non-Muslims.{{cite web|url=http://www.pakistani.org/pakistan/constitution/amendments/2amendment.html|title=CONSTITUTION (SECOND AMENDMENT) ACT, 1974|access-date=24 April 2017}} In 1986 it was supplemented by a new blasphemy provision also applied to Ahmadi Muslims (See Persecution of Ahmadis).PPC [http://www.pakistani.org/pakistan/legislation/1860/actXLVof1860.html#f108 S. 295-C], inserted by [http://www.thepersecution.org/archive/10_c.html Criminal Law (Amendment) Act, 1986 (III of 1986)]Cf. e.g. Khurshid Ahmad vs. The State, [http://www.khatm-e-nubuwwat.org/lawyers/data/english/11/lahore-high-court-1992.pdf PLD 1992 Lahore 1] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130314131726/http://khatm-e-nubuwwat.org/lawyers/data/english/11/lahore-high-court-1992.pdf |date=2013-03-14 }}, para. 35 In 2020, the European Foundation for South Asian Studies (EFSAS) in a report entitled, Guilty until proven innocent: The sacrilegious nature of blasphemy laws Pakistan, recommended wide-ranging changes to Pakistan's laws and legal systems.{{cite news|url=https://www.business-standard.com/article/news-ani/pak-authorities-should-urgently-reform-draconian-blasphemy-laws-european-think-tank-120040701827_1.html |title=Pak authorities should urgently reform 'draconian' blasphemy laws: European think tank |date=7 April 2020|work=European Foundation for South Asian Studies (EFSAS)|access-date=14 April 2020}}

=Conversions=

{{See also|Coerced religious conversion in Pakistan}}

There have been conversions to Islam from the religious minorities of Pakistan.{{Cite news|url=http://tribune.com.pk/story/325623/100000-conversions-and-counting-meet-the-ex-hindu-who-herds-souls-to-the-hereafter/|title=100,000 conversions and counting, meet the ex-Hindu who herds souls to the Hereafter – The Express Tribune|date=2012-01-23|work=The Express Tribune|access-date=2018-04-03|language=en-US}} The Human Rights Council of Pakistan has reported that cases of forced conversion to Islam are increasing.{{cite web|url=http://www.refworld.org/docid/51826ef842.html|title=Refworld – USCIRF Annual Report 2013 – Countries of Particular Concern: Pakistan|author=United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees|work=Refworld |date=30 April 2013|access-date=May 5, 2015|author-link=United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees}}{{cite web | url=https://www.justice.gov/sites/default/files/eoir/legacy/2014/03/04/PAK104258.E.pdf | title=Pakistan: Religious conversion, including treatment of converts and forced conversions (2009–2012) | publisher=Government Research Directorate, Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada | work=Responses to Information Requests | date= January 14, 2013 | access-date=January 17, 2018| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170504144820/https://www.justice.gov/sites/default/files/eoir/legacy/2014/03/04/PAK104258.E.pdf| archive-date=May 4, 2017 |url-status=live}} According to victims' families and activists, Mian Abdul Haq, who is a local political and religious leader in Sindh, has been accused of being responsible for forced conversions of girls within the province.{{Cite news|url=https://religionnews.com/2019/06/06/forced-conversions-marriages-spike-in-pakistan/|title=Forced conversions, marriages spike in Pakistan}}

See also

References

{{Reflist}}

Further reading

  • {{Country study}}
  • Raja, Masood Ashraf. Constructing Pakistan: Foundational Texts and the Rise of Muslim National Identity, 1857–1947, Oxford 2010, {{ISBN|978-0-19-547811-2}}
  • Zaman, Muhammad Qasim. Islam in Pakistan: A History (Princeton UP, 2018) [http://www.h-net.org/reviews/showpdf.php?id=53232 online review]

{{Asia in topic|Islam in}}

{{Religion in Pakistan}}

Category:Law of Pakistan

Category:History of Islam in Pakistan

Category:Islam-related lists