Certain armed groups seek to legitimize their acts of violence by asserting that they are engaged in a struggle to implement Islamic governance in Pakistan. This claim, however, does not withstand legal or theological scrutiny. Pakistan, by its constitutional foundation and institutional framework, already qualifies as an Islamic state. Therefore, the use of armed violence against it cannot be justified-neither under the principles of international law nor within the normative boundaries of Islamic jurisprudence. Both legal traditions categorically reject insurgency against a state that upholds an Islamic constitutional order.
To address this question meaningfully, one must turn to the text of the Constitution of Pakistan and to the principles informing its domestic and foreign policy frameworks.
Pakistani constitutional framework unequivocally declares that sovereignty belongs solely to Almighty Allah and that the authority delegated to the people of Pakistan is to be exercised as a sacred trust, within the limits prescribed by divine injunctions.
While Pakistan is indeed a democratic republic, its conception of democracy diverges significantly from Western liberal models. In Western democracies, sovereignty is vested in the people, whose elected representatives wield unfettered legislative authority. In contrast, the Pakistani constitutional framework unequivocally declares that sovereignty belongs solely to Almighty Allah and that the authority delegated to the people of Pakistan is to be exercised as a sacred trust, within the limits prescribed by divine injunctions.
Thus, while Pakistan is not a theocracy-since legislative functions are carried out by the elected parliament-it is also not a secular democracy in the Western sense. The legislative authority of Parliament is circumscribed by the Quran and Sunnah, and representatives are constitutionally bound to regard their office as a divine trust rather than a manifestation of popular will alone.
This constitutional arrangement represents a unique experiment in Islamic governance: a democratic state governed not by the absolute will of the majority, but by a legal and moral framework drawn from Islamic sources. It is this hybridity-Islamic in essence but parliamentary in form-that often leads to conceptual ambiguities among both domestic and international observers.
The ideological orientation of the state is clearly articulated in the preamble to the Constitution. It begins with the invocation “In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful,” followed by an affirmation that “sovereignty over the entire universe belongs to Almighty Allah alone, and the authority which He has delegated to the people of Pakistan is a sacred trust.” The document goes on to commit the state to establishing a system in which Muslims may live their lives in accordance with the teachings of Islam as laid down in the Quran and Sunnah.
This orientation is reaffirmed in Article 2, which states: “Islam shall be the State religion of Pakistan.” The assertion that the state has a religion-Islam-effectively counters the notion that Pakistan is merely a homeland for Muslims, rather than an Islamic state per se. To suggest otherwise would be to negate a core constitutional provision.
Article 227 further strengthens the Islamic character of the legal system by mandating that “all existing laws shall be brought in conformity with the injunctions of Islam as laid down in the Quran and Sunnah,” and that no law shall be enacted which is repugnant to these sources. In addition, the Constitution establishes specific institutions to oversee and facilitate this objective, including the Council of Islamic Ideology, the Federal Shariat Court, and the Shariat Appellate Bench of the Supreme Court.
Moreover, the Constitution outlines a set of Principles of Policy, one of which encourages the state to take steps to enable Muslims to live by the fundamental teachings and requirements of Islam and to understand the meaning of their lives in light of the Quran and Sunnah.
The requirement that both the President and Prime Minister must be Muslims further affirms the Islamic orientation of the state. The oath of office for the President explicitly includes declarations of belief in the finality of Prophethood, the divine origin of the Quran, and affirmation of faith in all revealed books and messengers.
Pakistan’s Islamic foundations are also evident in its foreign policy posture. Historically, Pakistan has aligned itself with causes associated with the Muslim world and has maintained a consistent position of solidarity with Muslim nations. For example, in the context of the recent escalation involving Israel and Iran, Pakistan has unambiguously condemned Israeli aggression. Similarly, Pakistan has been one of the most vocal opponents of Israeli actions in Gaza at international forums, including the United Nations.
In light of these constitutional, institutional, and foreign policy commitments, it becomes clear that Pakistan is not a secular state in the Western sense. Rather, it is an Islamic state-established on religious and moral foundations-whose protection and preservation is a religious and civic obligation for all those who identify with the Islamic tradition.
The writer is a Ph.D. scholar in Islamic Jurisprudence.