Secularism in Pakistan
Encyclopedia
The concept of the Two-Nation Theory
on which Pakistan
was founded, was largely based on Muslim nationalism. Secularism
in Pakistan went from being a matter of practice in law by the Government of Pakistan
to a political movement opposing the Islamization policies
of the military dictator
General Zia-ul-Haq in the 1980s. Supporters of secular policies argue that the founder of the Pakistani state, Muhammad Ali Jinnah
, had described his desire to see Pakistan as a Muslim-majority secular state that would be free from religious theocracy
and provide freedom to minorities, by referring to his address to the Constituent Assembly of Pakistan
on 11 August 1947. Supporters of Islamisation on the other hand argue that Pakistan was founded as a Muslim state and that in its status as an Islamic republic
, it must thereby implement Islamic religious laws, known as Shariat. And that the context of Jinnah's speech was true implementation of Islam in which all religious would have equal rights and live as free citizens as supported by the Islamic jurisprudence itself.
in 1947, it remained a Dominion
in the British Commonwealth and did not immediately become an Islamic state
. Although the 1949 Objectives Resolution
envisaged an official role for Islam
as the state religion, the state retained the most of the laws that were inherited from the secular British legal code that had been enforced by the British Raj
since the 19th century. The ruling Muslim League
party supported the pro-secular policies of the country's founding rulers Muhammad Ali Jinnah and Liaquat Ali Khan
, giving rise to the opposition Jamaat-e-Islami
, which sought to create a pure Islamic state. In 1957, the state adopted the name of the "Islamic Republic of Pakistan" and decreed Islam as the official religion, but did not take any further measures to adopt Islamic laws. The country's military rulers Gen. Ayub Khan
and Gen. Yahya Khan
continued a moderate tradition and repressed much of hardline Islamist political activism.
Jinnah also referred to religious minorities when he discussed the importance attached to Islam and Islamic principles in the new state:
It has been argued by many people that in this speech Jinnah wanted to point out that Pakistan would be a secular state, since many traditionally associated an Islamic state with a theocratic state, while others argue that a true Islamic state would be giving the said rights to the minorities and hold them in equal status and this statement was rather to distinguish it from a religious oligarchy.
in 1971, hardline Islamic political parties began to see an increase in popular support. In the 1970s, the Islamic Frot
and the United Democratic Front
forced populist and then-elected Prime minister
Zulfikar Ali Bhutto
caved in to a major demand of the Islamic parties by declaring the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community
to be non-Muslims. Under the Constitution
, Bhutto also implemented bans on alcohol consumption, gambling and night-clubs. Bhutto was overthrown
in 1977 by then-Chief of Army Staff General Zia-ul-Haq, who went considerably further with the Hudood Ordinance
and Zina ordinances, Blasphemy laws and the formal introduction of Shariat law.
and Christian
communities continue to demand a more secular system of government, decrying the rampant oppression and victimization caused by the blasphemy laws and rise of Islamic fundamentalism
in Pakistani society. While Pakistan elected its first female prime minister in Benazir Bhutto
in 1988, she did not repeal most of the Zia-era Islamic laws. Bhutto publicly condemned the Islamic extremists, but her assassination in 2007 and the murders of Pakistani politicians calling for the repeal of the blasphemy laws have stifled pro-secular leaders in Pakistani politics. The regime of military ruler Pervez Musharraf
(1999–2008) was seen as more accommodative of Pakistan's Hindu, Christian and Sikh minorities.
Two-Nation Theory
The Two-Nation Theory proposed by Allama Iqbal is the ideology that the primary identity of Muslims in the Indian subcontinent is their religion, rather than their language or ethnicity, and therefore Indian Hindus and Muslims are two distinct nationalities, regardless of ethnic or other...
on which Pakistan
Pakistan
Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...
was founded, was largely based on Muslim nationalism. Secularism
Secularism
Secularism is the principle of separation between government institutions and the persons mandated to represent the State from religious institutions and religious dignitaries...
in Pakistan went from being a matter of practice in law by the Government of Pakistan
Government of Pakistan
The Government of Pakistan is a federal parliamentary system, with an indirectly-elected President as the Head of State and Commander in Chief of the Pakistani Armed Forces, and an indirectly-elected Prime Minister as the Head of Government. The President’s appointment and term are...
to a political movement opposing the Islamization policies
Zia-ul-Haq's Islamization
On December 2, 1978, General Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq delivered a nationwide address on the occasion of the first day of the Hijra calendar. He did this in order to usher in an Islamic system to Pakistan...
of the military dictator
Chief Martial Law Administrator
The office of the Chief Martial Law Administrator was a senior government post created in countries such as Pakistan, Bangladesh and Indonesia that gave considerable executive authority and powers to the holder of the post to enforce martial law in the country. This office has been used mostly by...
General Zia-ul-Haq in the 1980s. Supporters of secular policies argue that the founder of the Pakistani state, Muhammad Ali Jinnah
Muhammad Ali Jinnah
Muhammad Ali Jinnah was a Muslim lawyer, politician, statesman and the founder of Pakistan. He is popularly and officially known in Pakistan as Quaid-e-Azam and Baba-e-Qaum ....
, had described his desire to see Pakistan as a Muslim-majority secular state that would be free from religious theocracy
Theocracy
Theocracy is a form of organization in which the official policy is to be governed by immediate divine guidance or by officials who are regarded as divinely guided, or simply pursuant to the doctrine of a particular religious sect or religion....
and provide freedom to minorities, by referring to his address to the Constituent Assembly of Pakistan
Constituent Assembly of Pakistan
The Constituent Assembly of Pakistan was formed to write Pakistan's constitution, and serve as its first parliament. It first convened on 11 August 1947, before the end of British rule on August 15, 1947. Quaid-i-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah was the first President of this Assembly until his death on...
on 11 August 1947. Supporters of Islamisation on the other hand argue that Pakistan was founded as a Muslim state and that in its status as an Islamic republic
Islamic republic
Islamic republic is the name given to several states in the Muslim world including the Islamic Republics of Pakistan, Iran, Afghanistan, and Mauritania. Pakistan adopted the title under the constitution of 1956. Mauritania adopted it on 28 November 1958. Iran adopted it after the 1979 Iranian...
, it must thereby implement Islamic religious laws, known as Shariat. And that the context of Jinnah's speech was true implementation of Islam in which all religious would have equal rights and live as free citizens as supported by the Islamic jurisprudence itself.
History
Although Pakistan was founded as a separate state for Muslims in the Indian subcontinentIndian subcontinent
The Indian subcontinent, also Indian Subcontinent, Indo-Pak Subcontinent or South Asian Subcontinent is a region of the Asian continent on the Indian tectonic plate from the Hindu Kush or Hindu Koh, Himalayas and including the Kuen Lun and Karakoram ranges, forming a land mass which extends...
in 1947, it remained a Dominion
Dominion of Pakistan
The Dominion of Pakistan was an independent federal Commonwealth realm in South Asia that was established in 1947 on the partition of British India into two sovereign dominions . The Dominion of Pakistan, which included modern-day Pakistan and Bangladesh, was intended to be a homeland for the...
in the British Commonwealth and did not immediately become an Islamic state
Islamic State
An Islamic state is a type of government, in which the primary basis for government is Islamic religious law...
. Although the 1949 Objectives Resolution
Objectives Resolution
The Objectives Resolution was a resolution adopted on 12 March 1949 by the Constituent Assembly of Pakistan. The resolution, proposed by the Prime Minister, Liaquat Ali Khan, proclaimed that the future constitution of Pakistan would not be modelled entirely on a European pattern, but on the...
envisaged an official role for Islam
Islam
Islam . The most common are and . : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...
as the state religion, the state retained the most of the laws that were inherited from the secular British legal code that had been enforced by the British Raj
British Raj
British Raj was the British rule in the Indian subcontinent between 1858 and 1947; The term can also refer to the period of dominion...
since the 19th century. The ruling Muslim League
Muslim League
The All-India Muslim League,, was founded by the All India Muhammadan Educational Conference at Dhaka , in 1906, in the context of the circumstances that were generated over the partition of Bengal in 1905...
party supported the pro-secular policies of the country's founding rulers Muhammad Ali Jinnah and Liaquat Ali Khan
Liaquat Ali Khan
For other people with the same or similar name, see Liaqat Ali Nawabzada Liaquat Ali Khan was a Pakistani statesman who became the first Prime Minister of Pakistan, Defence minister and Commonwealth, Kashmir Affairs...
, giving rise to the opposition Jamaat-e-Islami
Jamaat-e-Islami
This article is about Jamaat-e-Islami Pakistan. For other organizations of similar name see Jamaat-e-Islami The Jamaat-e-Islami , is a Pro-Muslim political party in Pakistan...
, which sought to create a pure Islamic state. In 1957, the state adopted the name of the "Islamic Republic of Pakistan" and decreed Islam as the official religion, but did not take any further measures to adopt Islamic laws. The country's military rulers Gen. Ayub Khan
Ayub Khan
Muhammad Ayub Khan , N.Pk., H.Pk., HJ, psc, was a 5-star General and self-appointed Field Marshal in the Pakistan Army and the first military dictator, and Chief Martial Law Administrator of Pakistan...
and Gen. Yahya Khan
Yahya Khan
General Agha Mohammad Yahya Khan Qizilbash, H.Pk, HJ, S.Pk, psc was the third President of Pakistan from 1969 to 1971, following the resignation of Ayub Khan...
continued a moderate tradition and repressed much of hardline Islamist political activism.
Jinnah's address
A controversy has raged in Pakistan about whether Jinnah wanted Pakistan to be a secular state or an Islamic state. His views as expressed in his policy speech on August 11, 1947 said:Jinnah also referred to religious minorities when he discussed the importance attached to Islam and Islamic principles in the new state:
It has been argued by many people that in this speech Jinnah wanted to point out that Pakistan would be a secular state, since many traditionally associated an Islamic state with a theocratic state, while others argue that a true Islamic state would be giving the said rights to the minorities and hold them in equal status and this statement was rather to distinguish it from a religious oligarchy.
Islamization
As a reaction to the bifurcation of PakistanBangladesh Liberation War
The Bangladesh Liberation War was an armed conflict pitting East Pakistan and India against West Pakistan. The war resulted in the secession of East Pakistan, which became the independent nation of Bangladesh....
in 1971, hardline Islamic political parties began to see an increase in popular support. In the 1970s, the Islamic Frot
Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal
Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal is a coalition of Islamist parties that was formed in 2002 to electorally challenge the Pakistan Parliament's incumbent parties...
and the United Democratic Front
United Democratic Front (Pakistan)
United Democratic Front was formed in Pakistan in 1973 in opposition to ruling Pakistan Peoples Party of Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto. This was a coalition of opposition parties in the National Assembly and Senate....
forced populist and then-elected Prime minister
Prime Minister of Pakistan
The Prime Minister of Pakistan , is the Head of Government of Pakistan who is designated to exercise as the country's Chief Executive. By the Constitution of Pakistan, Pakistan has the parliamentary democratic system of government...
Zulfikar Ali Bhutto
Zulfikar Ali Bhutto
Zulfikar Ali Bhutto was 9th Prime Minister of Pakistan from 1973 to 1977, and prior to that, 4th President of Pakistan from 1971 to 1973. Bhutto was the founder of the Pakistan Peoples Party — the largest and most influential political party in Pakistan— and served as its chairman until his...
caved in to a major demand of the Islamic parties by declaring the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community
Ahmadiyya Muslim Community
The Ahmadiyya Muslim Community is the larger of two communities that arose from the Ahmadiyya movement founded in 1889 in India by Mirza Ghulam Ahmad of Qadian . The original movement split into two factions soon after the death of the founder...
to be non-Muslims. Under the Constitution
Constitution of Pakistan
The Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is the supreme law of Pakistan. Known as the Constitution of 1973, it was drafted by the government of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and, following additions by the opposition parties, was approved by the legislative assembly on April 10, 1973...
, Bhutto also implemented bans on alcohol consumption, gambling and night-clubs. Bhutto was overthrown
Operation Fair Play
Operation Fairplay was the code-name for the coup d'etat conducted at midnight on July 4, 1977 by the Pakistan Army's 111th Infantry Brigade led by Chief of Army Staff General Zia-ul-Haq against the elected civilian government of then-Prime minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto.-1977 election:The coup was...
in 1977 by then-Chief of Army Staff General Zia-ul-Haq, who went considerably further with the Hudood Ordinance
Hudood Ordinance
The Hudood Ordinance was a law in Pakistan that was enacted in 1979 as part of then-military ruler Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq's Islamization and replaced or revised in 2006 by the Women's Protection Bill....
and Zina ordinances, Blasphemy laws and the formal introduction of Shariat law.
Modern politics
Political organizations of the minority HinduHindu
Hindu refers to an identity associated with the philosophical, religious and cultural systems that are indigenous to the Indian subcontinent. As used in the Constitution of India, the word "Hindu" is also attributed to all persons professing any Indian religion...
and Christian
Christian
A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...
communities continue to demand a more secular system of government, decrying the rampant oppression and victimization caused by the blasphemy laws and rise of Islamic fundamentalism
Islamic fundamentalism
Islamic fundamentalism is a term used to describe religious ideologies seen as advocating a return to the "fundamentals" of Islam: the Quran and the Sunnah. Definitions of the term vary. According to Christine L...
in Pakistani society. While Pakistan elected its first female prime minister in Benazir Bhutto
Benazir Bhutto
Benazir Bhutto was a democratic socialist who served as the 11th Prime Minister of Pakistan in two non-consecutive terms from 1988 until 1990 and 1993 until 1996....
in 1988, she did not repeal most of the Zia-era Islamic laws. Bhutto publicly condemned the Islamic extremists, but her assassination in 2007 and the murders of Pakistani politicians calling for the repeal of the blasphemy laws have stifled pro-secular leaders in Pakistani politics. The regime of military ruler Pervez Musharraf
Pervez Musharraf
Pervez Musharraf , is a retired four-star general who served as the 13th Chief of Army Staff and tenth President of Pakistan as well as tenth Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee. Musharraf headed and led an administrative military government from October 1999 till August 2007. He ruled...
(1999–2008) was seen as more accommodative of Pakistan's Hindu, Christian and Sikh minorities.