ISLAM AND DEMOCRATIZATION IN PAKISTAN

As a nation, Pakistan has been facing various conflicts both external and internal. Alongside external conflicts, especially with the British and India, there are dynamics in negotiating Islam and democracy in defining Pakistan as an Islamic nation-state.

Bi-Weekly Forum #29 Faculty of Adab and Cultural Sciences UIN Sunan Kalijaga held a virtual seminar about Pakistan and the future of democracy on Friday, April 22, 2022. The speakers, Sarah Hotz, Ph.D., and Faiza Muhammad din, Ph.D. are scholars at Humboldt Universitat zu Berlin, Germany. The discussion was moderated by Nini Salwa Istiqamah, a lecturer at the Faculty of Adab and Cultural Studies.

The discussion started with Faizah's presentation. She asserts that there were prominent Muslim thinkers such as Muhammad Iqbal and Abu Al-A’la al-Maududi that have a huge contribution to building Pakistan as a nation-state. Moreover, as a Muslim majority country, the idea of an Islamic state has been supported by its inhabitants. Maududi, for instance, proposed theocracy as the political system. He tried to combine the Islamic ideas with some democratic values including liberty, equality, tolerance, and social justice. Therefore, Pakistan today has been struggling to accommodate democratic and modern values with Islamic principles.

The second speaker was Sarah Hotz. She states that Pakistan applies Islamic principles that are similar to other Islamic state countries. It has several departments and ministries that have significant contributions to maintaining Islamic principles. Zakat and Waqf, Islamic education, and Sharia council are some examples of this.

In her presentation, Sarah argues that Pakistan has internal political dynamics that are different from other Muslim country. Some political parties such as Jamiat Ulema-i Islam (1945-1988) and Tahreek-i-Labbaik Pakistan (2015). In addition, Fazlurrahman, the prominent Muslim intellectual from the country, has had a remarkable impact on political contestation in Pakistan's history. The integration of Islam and democracy in Pakistan has a special feature and becomes an idea that is rooted in its history and founding fathers especially al-Maududi.