Islamisation in Pakistan

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. In the speech, he accused politicians of exploiting the name of Islam , saying that "many a ruler did what they pleased in the name of Islam." After assuming power the task that the government set to was its public commitment to enforce Nizam-e-Mustafa (Islamic System) a 180 degree turn from Pakistan's predominantly Common Law. As a preliminary measure to establish an Islamic society in Pakistan, General Zia announced the establishment of Sharia Benches . Speaking about the jurisdiction of the Sharia Benches, he remarked, "Every citizen will have the right to present any law enforced by the government before the 'Sharia Bench' and obtain its verdict whether the law is wholly or partly Islamic or un-Islamic." But General Zia did not mention that the Sharia Benches' jurisdiction was curtailed by the following overriding clause: "(Any) law does not include the constitution, Muslim personal law, any law relating to the procedure of any court or tribunal or, until the expiration of three years, any fiscal law, or any law relating to the collection of taxes and fees or insurance practice and procedure." It meant that all important laws which affect each and every individual directly remained outside the purview of the Sharia Benches. However, he did not have a smooth sailing even with the clipped Sharia Benches. The Federal Sharia Bench declared rajm , or stoning , to be un-Islamic; Ziaul Haq reconstituted the court, which then declared rajm as Islamic.

Islamization of Pakistan Sharization or Islamization ( ) has a long history in Pakistan since its foundation, but it became the primary policy, or "centerpiece" of the government of General Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq , the ruler of Pakistan from 1977 until his death in 1988. Zia has also been called "the person most responsible for turning Pakistan into a global center for political Islam ." The Pakistan movement had gained the country independence from the British Empire as a Muslim-majority state. At the time of its founding, the Dominion of Pakistan had no official state religion prior to 1956, when the constitution had declared it the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. Despite this, no religious laws had yet been adopted for government and judicial protocols and civil governance, until the mid 1970s with the coming of General Muhammed Zia Ul-Haq in a military coup also known as Operation Fair Play which deposed the Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto . Zia-ul-Haq committed himself to enforcing his interpretation of Nizam-e-Mustafa ("Rule of the prophet" Muhammad ), i.e. to establish an Islamic state and enforce sharia law. Zia established separate Shariat judicial courts and court benches to judge legal cases using Islamic doctrine. New criminal offenses (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. Offices, schools, and factories were required to offer praying space. 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. Conservative ulama (Islamic scholars) were added to the Council of Islamic Ideology . In 1984 a referendum gave Zia and the Islamization program, 97.7% approval in official results. However, there have been protests against the laws and their enforcement during and after Zia's reign. Women's and human rights groups opposed incarceration of rape victims under hadd punishments, new laws that valued women's testimony (Law of Evidence) and blood money compensation ( diyat ) at half that of a man. Religious minorities and human rights groups opposed the "vaguely worded" Blasphemy Law and the "malicious abuse and arbitrary enforcement" of it. Possible motivations for the Islamisation programme included Zia's personal piety (most accounts agree that he came from a religious family), desire to gain political allies, to "fulfill Pakistan's raison d'etre " 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". How much success Zia had strengthening Pakistan's national cohesion with state-sponsored Islamisation is disputed. Shia - Sunni religious riots broke out over differences in Islamic jurisprudence ( fiqh ) – in particular, over how Zakat donations would be distributed. There were also differences among Sunni Muslims. The Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal (MMA), a coalition of Islamist political parties in Pakistan, calls for the increased Islamization of the government and society, specifically taking an anti-Hindu stance. The MMA leads the opposition in the national assembly, held a majority in the NWFP Provincial Assembly, and was part of the ruling coalition in Balochistan. However, some members of the MMA made efforts to eliminate their rhetoric against Hindus. Even more Islamization has happened by religious conversions in Pakistan . Pakistan : eye of the storm . Zia made Islam the centrepiece of his administration. Ḥaqqānī, Husain (2005). Pakistan: between mosque and military . Zia ul-Haq is often identified as the person most responsible for turning Pakistan into a global center for political Islam. Undoubtedly, Zia went farthest in defining Pakistan as an Islamic state, and he nurtured the jihadist ideology ... Pakistan - Social and Cultural Transformations in a Muslim Nation . Jihad: The Trail of Political Islam (2006 ed.). Islam, Law and Identity . A Brief History of Pakistan . Pakistan : eye of the storm . 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. In Hathaway, Robert; Lee, Wilson (eds.). ISLAMIZATION AND THE PAKISTANI ECONOMY . Pakistan: Between Mosque and Military . Pakistan, a Modern History . In Hinnells, Richard King, John (ed.). Pakistan, a Modern History . 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 .

Policies for revising Pakistan's political system along Islamic lines Islamization ( ) or Shariazation , has a long history in Pakistan since the 1950s, but it became the primary policy, or "centerpiece" of the government of General Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq , the ruler of Pakistan from 1977 until his death in 1988. Zia has also been called "the person most responsible for turning Pakistan into a global center for political Islam ." The Pakistan movement had gained the country independence from the British India as a Muslim-majority state. At the time of its founding, the Dominion of Pakistan had no official state religion prior to 1956, when the constitution had declared it the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. Despite this, no religious laws had yet been adopted for government and judicial protocols and civil governance, until the mid-1970s with the coming of General Muhammed Zia Ul-Haq in a military coup also known as Operation Fair Play which deposed the Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto . Zia-ul-Haq committed himself to enforcing his interpretation of Nizam-e-Mustafa ("Rule of the prophet" Muhammad ), i.e. to establish an Islamic state and enforce sharia law. Zia established separate Shariat judicial courts and court benches to judge legal cases using Islamic doctrine. New criminal offenses (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. Offices, schools, and factories were required to offer praying space. Zia bolstered the influence of the ulama (Islamic clergy) and the Islamic parties, whilst conservative scholars became fixtures on television. Tens of thousands of activists from the Jamaat-e-Islami party were appointed to government posts to ensure the continuation of his agenda after his passing. Conservative ulama were added to the Council of Islamic Ideology . In 1984 a referendum gave Zia and the Islamization program 97.7% approval in official results. However, there have been protests against the laws and their enforcement during and after Zia's reign. Women's and human rights groups opposed incarceration of rape victims under hadd punishments, new laws that valued women's testimony (Law of Evidence) and blood money compensation ( diyat ) at half that of a man. Religious minorities and human rights groups opposed the "vaguely worded" Blasphemy Law and the "malicious abuse and arbitrary enforcement" of it. Possible motivations for the Islamisation programme included Zia's personal piety (most accounts agree that he came from a religious family), desire to gain political allies, to "fulfill Pakistan's raison d'etre " 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". How much success Zia had strengthening Pakistan's national cohesion with state-sponsored Islamisation is disputed. Shia - Sunni religious riots broke out over differences in Islamic jurisprudence ( fiqh ) – in particular, over how Zakat donations would be distributed. There were also differences among Sunni Muslims. The Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal (MMA), a coalition of Islamist political parties in Pakistan, calls for the increased Islamization of the government and society, specifically taking an anti-Hindu stance. The MMA leads the opposition in the national assembly, held a majority in the NWFP Provincial Assembly, and was part of the ruling coalition in Balochistan. However, some members of the MMA made efforts to eliminate their rhetoric against Hindus. Pakistan : eye of the storm . Zia made Islam the centrepiece of his administration. Ḥaqqānī, Husain (2005). Pakistan: between mosque and military . Zia ul-Haq is often identified as the person most responsible for turning Pakistan into a global center for political Islam. Undoubtedly, Zia went farthest in defining Pakistan as an Islamic state, and he nurtured the jihadist ideology ... Pakistan - Social and Cultural Transformations in a Muslim Nation . Jihad: The Trail of Political Islam (2006 ed.). Islam, Law and Identity . A Brief History of Pakistan . Pakistan : eye of the storm . 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. In Hathaway, Robert; Lee, Wilson (eds.). ISLAMIZATION AND THE PAKISTANI ECONOMY . Pakistan: Between Mosque and Military . Pakistan, a Modern History . In Hinnells, Richard King, John (ed.). Pakistan, a Modern History . 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 .

Policies for revising Pakistan's political system along Islamic lines Islamization ( Urdu : اسلامی حکمرانی ) or Shariazation , has a long history in Pakistan since the 1950s, but it became the primary policy, or "centerpiece" of the government of General Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq , the ruler of Pakistan from 1977 until his death in 1988. Zia is often identified as "the person most responsible for turning Pakistan into a global center for political Islam ." Zia-ul-Haq committed himself to enforcing his interpretation of Nizam-e-Mustafa ("Rule of the prophet" Muhammad ), establishing separate Shariat judicial courts and court benches to judge legal cases using Islamic doctrine. New criminal offenses (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. Offices, schools, and factories were required to provide praying space. Zia bolstered the influence of the ulama (Islamic clergy) and the Islamic parties, and conservative scholars were often on television. Tens of thousands of activists from the Jamaat-e-Islami party were appointed to government posts to ensure the continuation of his agenda after his death. Conservative ulama were added to the Council of Islamic Ideology . The effect on Pakistan's national cohesion of state-sponsored Islamization were mixed. In 1984 a referendum gave Zia and the Islamization program 97.7% approval in official results. However, there have been protests against the laws and their enforcement during and after Zia's reign. Shia - Sunni religious riots broke out over differences in Islamic jurisprudence ( fiqh ) – in particular, over how Zakat donations would be distributed. There were also differences among Sunni Muslims. Women's and human rights groups opposed incarceration of rape victims under hadd punishments, and new laws that valued women's testimony (Law of Evidence) and blood money compensation ( diyat ) at half that of a man. Religious minorities and human rights groups opposed the "vaguely worded" Blasphemy Law and the "malicious abuse and arbitrary enforcement" of it. Possible motivations for the Islamisation programme included Zia's personal piety (most accounts agree that he came from a religious family), desire to gain political allies, to "fulfill Pakistan's raison d'etre " 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". Under the rule of Pervez Musharraf , the Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal (MMA), a coalition of Islamist political parties in Pakistan, called for the increased Islamization of the government and society, specifically taking an anti-Hindu stance. The MMA led the opposition in the national assembly, held a majority in the NWFP Provincial Assembly, and was part of the ruling coalition in Balochistan. However, some members of the MMA made efforts to eliminate their rhetoric against Hindus. Pakistan : eye of the storm . Zia made Islam the centrepiece of his administration. Ḥaqqānī, Husain (2005). Pakistan: between mosque and military . Zia ul-Haq is often identified as the person most responsible for turning Pakistan into a global center for political Islam. Undoubtedly, Zia went farthest in defining Pakistan as an Islamic state, and he nurtured the jihadist ideology ... Jihad: The Trail of Political Islam (2006 ed.). Islam, Law and Identity . A Brief History of Pakistan . Pakistan : eye of the storm . 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. In Hathaway, Robert; Lee, Wilson (eds.). ISLAMIZATION AND THE PAKISTANI ECONOMY . 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 Talbot, Ian (1998). Pakistan, a Modern History . In Hinnells, Richard King, John (ed.). Pakistan, a Modern History . 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 . Pakistan: Between Mosque and Military .