#5 Sectarian

8/13/2019 #5 Sectarian

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Q.What are the causes and Losses of "sectarian differences" in Pakistan

and how this problem can be solved in light of Islamic teachings?

INTRODUCTION:

Sectarian strife has seen a major up tick in Pakistan. an! eplain the

bloodshed as the work of conspiracies b! outsiders the forces of

hegemon! and #ionism which aim to weaken Islam. $ccording to Iranian

President ahmoud $hmadinejad%

"These are unspecified enemies."

&thers la! the blame for the strife at a ver! different source% the

unintended effects of the Islamic revival. $ccording to scholar 'ali (asr%

"As the Muslim world was de-colonialised and Arab nationalism lost its

appeal, fundamentalism blossomed and reasserted the differences and

conflicts between various sects"

(evertheless% it is an anathema which has adversel! affected Pakistan and

the worst fought of these battles is the Shi)a*Sunni divide. Sectarianism is

as the former ala!sian Prime inister% +r. ahathir% had said,

"Ummah's curse"

$nd


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"The fragmentation of a single, simple and forthright religion"

resulting in Muslims becoming "backward, weak and unable to deal

with the multitude of challenges the now face".

CAUSES:

1. Islamization in Pakistan:

-he origins of sectarian conflicts lie in the eighties. nder the patronage

of the #ia*ul*/a0 regime the process of Islami1ation was introduced in

Pakistan. -he "Islami1ation" of 2eneral #ia ul*/a0 was resisted b! Shia

who saw it as "Sunnification"as the laws and regulations were based on

Sunni 3i0h% or Islamic 4urisprudence.

In 4ul! 5678% 9:%888 Shia protested the Islami1ation laws in the capital

Islamabad. -he process eventuall! came upon issues in which Sunni and

Shia viewpoints differed. In such instances the Sunni interpretation of

Islam was preferred b! the government over the Shia one% causing a rift

between the two sects.

$ccording to ;a1i 3ae1 Isa,

"A ruler who divides his people into sects is a mufsidun i.e. one who

commits great sins and crimes, an oppressor, a trant." !eril, iraun

#$haraoh% e&alted himself in the land and made its people sects ...

!eril, he was of the Mufsidun" #()*%."


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2. Fanaticism

Islam being one of the major religions in the world toda! is said and

believed to be etremist in its ver! nature. Sectarian tension and conflict

is one of the features of this etremist approach. $khirat

or Paradise as uslims believe it to be the real purpose of life.

3. Ext!mist militias

an! political parties have developed along these lines in Pakistan such

as -ehrik*e*4afria Pakistan >-4P% Lashkar*e*4hangvi% Sipah*e*Sahabah

Pakistan etc $ll of them having their militant wings. -hese etremistmilitias have wreaked havoc and have further caused the sectarian

differences to eacerbate. 3urthermore% man! student bodies have been

formed which have corrupted students from their focus upon education.

". Fo!i#n int!$!ntion


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-he Iranian @evolution >56A6 and the $fghan conflict >56A6*77 gave

fillip to this trend and spawned a new generation of sectarian activists.

$lthough Pakistan is an independent state% her national policies have

alwa!s been under the influence of foreign interventions. International

communities adversel! eploit this weakness. -he emergence of

sectarian conflict is an immediate outcome of this international

eploitation among nation states cannot be bothered. ost of the

militant groups are funded% trained and brainwashed b! the foreign

countries in order to protect their vested interests across continents.

Semi literate clergies with support of some unknown state agencies

get utili1ed b! foreign countries in this contet without noticing who

pla!s the game.

%. St!!o t&'! c(ic(l(m an) *(s+oom #o,t+ o- *a)assa+s

&ur national curriculum lacks intellectual potential to instill the sense of

harmon! and introduce students with emerging social issues. Secondl!

there are no checks and monitoring procedures on the curriculum of our

religious institutions >adrassahs that whether the! are compatible with

the challenges of the modern age or not. @ather the outdated philosoph!

of ideological state is brought forward on ever! forum while discussingalarming issues such as of sectarian tension between masses. adressahs

have been granted the power to award B$ and $ degrees in Islamic

Studies. maslak is permitted to teach its own

curriculum. +egrees are obtained without ac0uiring knowledge of all

aspects of the discipline. The students in these Madrassahs are

indoctrinated with the idea that unit with the sect, and not the faith, is

important.In this bleak scenario there is a plantation of religious schools


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in all parts of the countr! particularl! rural areas where povert! prevails

with a threatening face.

. N!#ati$! ol! o- m!)ia:

$nother major reason is also the burden of operationall! unregulated

electronic media that eaggerates information% which in turn creates

pressure and contributes to intensif! the densit! of issue of sectarian

conflictCtension between different sects.

/. Po$!t& an) (n!m'lo&m!nt:

$n empt! bell! can make !ou do an!thing including suicide bombing and

target killing. -he ever*increasing ratio of povert! contributes towards

eploitation of poor for the protection of the interest of various groups.

ass povert! onl! facilitates involvement of people into anti*social

activities including lawlessness% suicide bombing and issues of sectarian

conflicts in Pakistan. +issatisfaction as a result of not having access to

sustained income leads to promote ethnicCsectarian identit! and in its

etreme cases provokes armed reaction towards the social norm and

peaceful environment.

SECTARIAN CONF0ICTS IN 0IT OF IS0A*IC 0A:

-he 0uestion of sect >shiah% division >fir0a% dissension >fitnah and

groups >hi1b has been considered in the /ol! ;uran.


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"...+o not be divided #tafarrau% in religion" #*)%.

"...And be not of al-mushrikun #hpocrites, dividers, poltheists%.

/f those who split up #farawa% their religion and become sects,

each sect re0oicing in that which is with it" #1)- %.

-he 4ews divided themselves into A9 factions and at this time $llah

>SW- revealed the following $!at,

"And be not as those who divided #tafrau% and differed #ikhtalafu%

among themselves..." #)12%.

Sectarianism destro!s life and from the puddles of blood% gains further

strength. -he Sunni*Shia divide brings us to the brink of a pit of fire.

3...And be not divided among ourselves, and remember Allah4s

avor on ou, for ou were enemies one to another but 5e 0oined

our hearts together, so that, b 5is 6race, ou became brethren,

and ou were on the brink of a pit of fire, and 5e saved ou from it.

Thus Allah makes 5is Aat #signs% clear to ou, that ou ma be

guided7 #).1%

-he ;uran castigates the 4ews for dividing into sects >58,6D% a curse

which our Prophet% >peace and blessings be upon him tried to prevent

within his mmah. /e abhorred dissensions. When two uslims were

loudl! arguing in disagreement about the meaning of a ;uranic verse he

said,


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3$eople before ou perished onl because of their disagreement about

the 8cripture7.

In his famous sermon delivered at $rafat he said that

39ver Muslim is a Muslim4s brother, and that Muslims are brethren"


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RECO**ENDATIONS:

5. o$!nm!nt m(st !ns(! t+at stat! m!c+anisms a! !--ici!nt an)

!--!cti$!. Polic!4 la, !n-oc!m!nt a#!nci!s an) 5()icial s&st!ms n!!)!$am'in#. In the first instance% terrorists get awa! from clutches of the

law% and if few are wedged% judicial procedures take too long to punish

them. -hese terrorist can onl! pull off from their nefarious activities if

the! see their fellow colleagues behind bars or in death cells.

2. o$!nm!nt s+o(l) mak! mico an) maco !conomic 'olici!s t+at

+!l' !)(c! 'o$!t& an) (n!m'lo&m!nt.Benefit from improved

econom! should trickle down to poorest of the poor and not merel!

change hands among those who are alread! well off. +espite high growthrate in recent !ears% inflation has gone out of hands and eorbitant cost of

ever!da! commodities has made living out of reach from man!.

D. R!li#ion its!l- '!sci6!s 7I5ti+a)7 as a tool to tackl! !m!#in#

iss(!s t+at Umma+ -ac!s. Dialo#(! an) )isc(ssions amon# o( s!l$!s

is a ,a& -o,a) to tak! a)$anta#! -om t+is 'o$ision.Imposing

one=s opinion and believes on others through brutal forces is an

unacceptable act. Islam eplicitl! rejects spreading of religion through

force and held a human life sacred to above an! other thing.

E. R!li#io(s 'olitical 'ati!s s+o(l) )!no(nc! s!ctaian $iol!nc! an)

c(t o-- alli!) militant ,in#s. -he! have the responsibilit! to propagate

religious harmon!. $fter all% among different sects there are more

commonalities than the differences. Because most of the sectarian

organi1ations are religious based% their negation from mainstream

religious political parties would be a blow to their operations. If at one

end all literature that ridicule core believes of other sects should be

strictl! banned% then on the other end% people should be educated to not

pa! heed to that material. In religious congregations religious scholarsand Fkhateebs= should promote tolerance% love to humanit!% and right of

minorities as promised in a true uslim societ! to people.

:. O( !)(cation s&st!m is o(t)at!) an) n!!)s !$isions. It s+o(l)

t!ac+ 6asic +(man i#+ts4 !s'!ct o- ot+! !li#ions4 tol!anc! an)

lo$! to +(manit& to st()!nts.Still majorit! of people are illiterate and

mass scale initiatives should be taken to catch up ever increasing lot of

illiterates.


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G. People of different sects are killing each other. -he! are brainwashed

against the other sects. $ suicide bomber though knows that he is also

loosing his life% still he is committed for the action. Hharm of heaven is in

his sight. -hese are miracles of teaching. sing the same techni0ue and

promise% we can teach masses how and wh! to scarif! our life to protectlives of other human beings. Pint an) !l!ctonic m!)ia m(st tak!

!s'onsi6ilit& to s'!a) t+is m!ssa#!. -he! must report what is true and

not necessar! what the! are told b! other organi1ations.

/. o$!nm!nt s+o(l) canc!l all ,!a'ons lic!ns!s iss(!) so -a an)

im'os! 6an o- )is'la& o- ,!a'ons.$ harsh punishment should be

determined against those found breaking the laws and% most importantl!%

this ban should be implemented in true spirit.

CONC0USION:

If we have to move forward as a nation% we should put the sectarian genie

back into the bottle or else face its adverse conse0uences. -here is no

doubt that past incidents have complicated the issue but !et we must

stand forthwith to meet the challenge. 3orward looking nations do not

carr! transgression accounts into the future.

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#5 Sectarian