Daily Times

In our Muslim majority theological sect, the day a child is born, his or her indoctrination begins. They are given a religious identity and all its trappings, even though they have no choice in the matter. Believing your own religion or sect is superior to all others is also a part of the package.

Though Pakistani society is different now, a few decades back religion was hardly a controversial matter. The first time I remember someone’s religious identity being an issue was when I was in Grade 5. A classmate had come to me and whispered in my ear not to sit with a particular girl because she was a Shia. This was the first time I had ever heard about the sect, and I received a lot of information from my friend who had warned me not to sit with the Shia girl. In retrospect, most of the ‘information’ she gave me was false.

No doubt, she herself had received it from an adult who had not bothered to verify it — or perhaps was actively trying to slander the Shia community. Unfortunately, there are many individuals like this in our country, who consider themselves an authority on religious matters, especially for children.

Another source of religious knowledge for the young are the Qaris in our mosques. Usually, boys are sent to mosques at the age of 6 or 7 to start learning how to read the Quran and for other religious teachings. Girls usually end up going to a senior lady in the household or community for their religious education. Once again — these women usually have no qualification, just their reputation and recitation skills. Furthermore, the religious education imparted by them is often adulterated with their own personal opinions and biases.

The 1973 Constitution declared Pakistan an ‘Islamic Republic’, incorporating various Islamic constitutional components like making being a Muslim mandatory to be head of state. When General Ziaul Haq took over in 1977, he took a series of steps to ‘Islamise’ Pakistan. Apparently this was to produce good and true Muslims. Since then, the role of religion in our society has been transformed. Islamic content has become incorporated into the textbooks of each and every subject, regardless of whether it has anything to do with theology or not.

There is also a myriad religious TV channels, some of them are even dedicated to catering to specific sects of Islam

There is also a myriad religious TV channels, some of them are even dedicated to catering to specific sects of Islam. Then there are those pesky chain messages people can’t seem to keep forwarding, the ones that tell you if you don’t forward it to 10 or 20 people you will burn in hell for eternity. That people take these messages seriously is enough to let you know our society is not as educated as it thinks about religion. This is despite the fact that religious teachings from the best qualified professionals are easily accessible today online.

However, what we must ask ourselves here is, why are we so insecure about our faith in this country? We are a very religious Muslim majority country — an Islamic Republic. Still, we keep hatching new conspiracy theories about Islam being in danger. This is not a recent phenomenon either. Observing the history of the Pakistan movement, it is clear that Muslims felt they were losing their identity after the1857 war of independence against the British. There had been efforts to revitalize Islam on idealistic and naïve cultural and spiritual patterns before this as well, but this time a need was felt to counter the secular British system of education (we will not talk about the Aligarh movement for now). This is how the Darul Uloom Deoband came to be founded. By 1894, the Nadwat-ul-Ulema was founded with the aim of bringing Ulema from different sects under one umbrella, and unifying the Muslim populace, which would be well equipped with both religious and modern education. An addition to these was Anjuman Himayat Islam, Sindh Maddrasa, Jamaat-e-Islami and Islamia College.

Critically analysing the situation at that time and in recent times there are many common findings. Firstly, a sense of insecurity for Islam, which was the main motive behind all these movements before and after 1857,is still there. Secondly the divide between the sects and school of thoughts which originated at that time didn’t stop at any point, but kept expanding with more and more offshoots, sometimes even within the same sect .Thirdly there is rarely an occasion when the religious authorities are seen on the same page, not just on social and religious issues but politics as well. They couldn’t even agree on whether Pakistan should be created or not. This decades old divide still haunts us as a nation.

Even in these modern times, and one is surprised to see sign boards displaying slogans of Islam Zindabaad and Khatme Nabuwwat Zindabaad. Such displays are not just restricted to signboards. Social media is also being used to declare certain groups as true Muslims and others as heretics.

As mentioned earlier, these schisms as well as the prevailing insecurity are actually connected to historical events and differences of opinion. Secondly the history and Islamiat books we come across at all levels of our education represent two main ideas that almost all movements were directed towards; the reformation of Islam.

Overtime, these division have grown wider. Each sides claims that it is the one on the right track. This has turned religion into a tool that creates intolerance and hate, simply because each group thinks that it is right and all others are wrong. Ironically, Islam does talk about Ijtehad and Ijmaa, our scholars have opted not to use it for the benefit of the Muslim community.

However, something positive did take place in the recent past — the Paigham-e-Pakistan — a consensus by religious scholars that suicide bombings are wrong, and killing of innocents is never justified. However, our scholars’ job is far from over. The Council of Islamic Ideology (CII) is still needed to bridge the very wide gaps and bridges between Muslim communities. The danger we face comes from within, not without.

The writer has experience in the field of education and is currently working as a resource person in the development sector

Published in Daily Times, May 1^st 2018.