At the time Covid-19 was declared a pandemic, I happened to be in London. One of the first steps that the state took there was to shut down Churches. This was possible through guidance by the Church of England that called for the immediate closing down of all churches. The monarch in UK in addition to being the head of state is also the head of the Church of England since 1534. Therefore the state has direct control over faith as such. The independent Churches such as Church of Scotland and Church of Wales followed suit, as did other religious faiths includingCatholics and the various sects of Islam. The mass is central to the Catholic faith but it has been suspended there.
In Pakistan, which constitutionally defines itself as an Islamic Republic, the state strangely has a very laissez faire approach to the activities of clerics. There is no regulation of the faithin Pakistan. Every Maulana and Imam is free to make his own religious policy without any state intervention. Pakistanis are the losers because they lose out on the advantages of having a secular state and by the same token the Islamic Republic does not fulfill what should be its most important duty i.e. regulation of religion. The whole of last week saw the highest officials of Pakistan Government, including the President of the Republic, pitifully and pusillanimously trying to plead with the “Ulema” to close down the mosques. This is at a time when Islam’s holiest places were closed by the state in Saudi Arabia and when Al-Azhar, the main authority in Sunni Islamic World, had given a clear guidance on the matter. Mufti Muneeb and TaqiUsmani on the other hand have appropriated for themselves the position of Pakistani papacy and we are going along with it unthinkingly. This despite the fact that we have clear evidence of what happens when clerics are allowed to run amok. In Malaysia the Covid-19 outbreak is directly linked to the four-day religious event organized by the TalblighiJamat in Kuala Lumpur. In states like Malaysia and Pakistan, there is no politician with courage and foresight to take on the Mullahs.
The solution lies in the nationalization of all Mosques in Pakistan irrespective of sect to be governed by a bona fide religious scholar from each sect vetted by the government. The decision to open and close mosques should rest at all times with the government and any deviation from it must be a crime. All self-styled Islamic holy men not sanctioned by the state should be rounded up and jailed. Pakistan does not have a separation of religion and state and that means that Pakistan establishes the Islamic faith as a cornerstone of the state. Article 2 of the Constitution makes Islam the state religion. What does that mean if not state’s complete control over this faith and activities under it? If Pakistan cannot do this, then it should it abandon the pretence of being an Islamic Republic and become a normal secular state. Article 20 of the Pakistani Constitution, which promises religious freedom, is subject to public order. The spread of a pandemic is a threat to public order.
Pakistan sadly has followed the Mughal example and the country’s sectarian diversity has become its biggest enemy, because the divisions are endless as are the challenges to the state’s authority
There is precedent for regulation of religion in more recent Islamic History starting with the Ottoman Empire. Mehmed the Conqueror had established and codified constitutional law of the Ottoman Empire, which established the Millet system of autonomous communities but he also subordinated religion to the Ottoman state and bureaucracy. The three main organs of the Millet system, Ecumenical Orthodox Patriarchate, Jewish Grand Rabbinate and Armenian Patriarchate of Constantinople were subordinate to the Ottoman State while controlling autonomous millets. In 1517 the Ottomans defeated the Mamluks and took over the institution of Caliphate as well. All decisions about religion and its regulation came from the top. Had the Ottoman Empire adopted a laissez faire approach to religion, it would have led to massive violence and communal bloodshed. Instead Ottoman Empire saw peace and prosperity as a multicultural society under nominal Islamic rule for 400 years. Mughal Empire in the subcontinent in contrast had a lax approach to regulation of religion, especially after Akbar the Great’s demise in 1605. Within 100 years of Akbar’s demise, the Mughal Empire began to crumble badly and by the 1750s the Mughal Emperor was a virtual prisoner of whichever power controlled the field, be it the Marhattas, Afghans or the East India Company. The fissiparous tendency led to hundreds of small principalities. The Shia-Sunni conflict arose amongst the Muslims who in turn were challenged by the Hindu majority that the Mughal Empire had governed at its prime. In sharp contrast to the harmonious multiculturalism of the Ottoman Empire, which only failed in wake of the rise of nationalism, the pluralism of Mughal Empire without regulation led to its premature demise. The crucial difference wasthe state’s active regulation of religion by the Ottoman Empire.
Pakistan sadly has followed the Mughal example and the country’s sectarian diversity has become its biggest enemy, because the divisions are endless as are the challenges to the state’s authority. The Pakistani state has become a hapless observer while the various religious factions turn on each other. In wake of the Coronavirus, this weakness has come to the forefront. Failure of the Pakistani state to enforce its writ on the Mullahs and Pirs will have devastating consequences in the coming weeks as the curve move towards its peak. What the state needs to do now is come down hard through a Presidential Ordinance closing down all mosques for a period of three months. The powerful army that we boast of must be ready to put down any cleric who challenges the state’s authority. Time is of the essence. If Pakistan claims to be an Islamic Republic it forcefully control the Mullahs who now threaten national and human security by preaching their doctrine of ignorance.
The writer is an Advocate of the High Courts of Pakistan