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The blip in NWFP
A_Stranger
06/09/03 at 15:58:24
[size=3]The blip in NWFP[/size] [i]Abid Ullah Jan[/i] For many the news that parliament of Pakistan's North West Frontier Province passed a bill to implement Shari’ah is far more painful than Mr. Bush’s declaration of war on Afghanistan and Iraq, which eventually took lives of thousands of people, and continues to occupy and subjugate millions of people against their will. The anticipated fear of Shari’ah is so overwhelming that it blinds us to the injustices, discrimination and exploitation underway all over the world. Compared to the big bangs in Baghdad, it’s not even a blip in NWFP. Will NWFP government now starve 4,500 to 4,800 children to death per month for the coming ten years? Will it kill more than one million people in NWFP by depriving them of food, medicine and the spare parts necessary to repair their water and sewage systems? Will they use cluster bombs against civilians in major cities? Will Shari’ah compel government functionaries in NWFP to bulldoze homes, shoot children, UN officials, journalists and peace activists? Will people in NWFP get so desperate that they would turn to blowing themselves into pieces just to let the world know that they prefer death over living under Shari’ah? Will NWFP government now engineer endless massacres such as Qana, Dair Yasin, Baldat al-Shaikh, Khan Yunis, Sabra and Shatila, and Trqumia? And lastly, who will do more damage to NWFP: the “neo-Taliban” or the US which will use any trick up its sleeves to discredit and demonise them? The world has yet to realise that the Taliban didn’t kill as many Afghans in 5 years as the US killed in a couple of months with its 22000 bombs to dislodge them. Moreover the invisible genocide continues. (1) Realistically speaking, nothing even similar to the above will happen, nor has the world turned upside down when an insignificant assembly in the remotest part of the world chose to live by what is part of its national constitution and raison d'ętre of the state. We really need to find out what makes us consider blips as bangs and bangs as blips. A closer look at the state of affairs reveals that proponents and promoters of democracy are making two strategic errors. They are embracing one and violating the other principle of democracy to the extreme. There is a fundamentalist obsession for the principle of separation of Church and State — it doesn’t matter if 100,000 Algerians are killed but religion should be kept separate from politics. On the other hand, no one minds clear violations of the principle that calls for respecting the will of the majority. We are witnessing this denial of the majority’s will in country after country in a bid to defend the former principle. These two extremes would become the final nails in the coffin of democracy— yet another addition to the list of failures of the man made systems at the hands of its champions and promoters. The principles of democracy and human rights can make the rhetoric attractive, but limiting their use to protestations of kindness and gentleness signals its imminent demise. People on the ground see that the U.S., or nor one for that matter, is not the final arbiter to allow or deny a people the right to have limited or full implementation of their religious values in the state system. A news report recently said that the U.S. will accept “limited Islamisation” in Pakistan. (2) The people read in the same report that the US “supports Musharraf’s decision to keep controversial Presidential powers, acquired through LFO, under his belt.” Then people keep on reading the headlines: “US support emboldens Musharraf,”(3)“US makes U-turn on Iraq council: A planned Iraqi assembly to elect an interim council was quashed by US officials,”(4) “US 'To Appoint Iraqi Leadership',”(5) and so on. The strategic mistake is to consider US the epitome of goodness, the owner of democracy and freedom _— as if such values are product of the American experience alone. No one has forgotten that slavery, abolished by Islam 1400 years ago, was still a legal institution in US till December 1865.(6) It could get rid of its apartheid just less than 50 years ago. How then can it sit in the judgement seat for filtering values and norms that belong to other religions? How can it approve dictatorship for others under the pretext of “assurance against any possible Talibanisation of the governance system”?(7) Compared to the organised and concerted anti-Taliban campaign, it just needs a single diligent researcher to sit and compile atrocities committed in Afghanistan since October 07, 2001 to shatter the myth of Talibanisation. The point is that the US can never go onto country after country because its commentators believe the US doesn’t need WMD “to justify the war.” It is justified because the US needed to put Iraq “onto progressive path” and “America’s future…rides on building a different Iraq.”(8) The question is, how many countries would it invade and how many thousands people would it kill to secure American’s future or making them progressive in the image of the United States of America. Given a chance to kill this many people and do as much destruction, with as much available force as the US has at its disposal, anyone can come up with any system to call it suitable for addressing all human needs. One just needs to sit and assess the damage that has never been done in human history to impose a system, irrespective of its being right or wrong. We have given enough chance to faithless systems for running human affairs and addressing their needs. We have experienced inhumane, merciless, totalist political dominations. Whether it was godless communism or the ongoing godless secularism, the life of spirit and the inquiring intellect has been equally denounced, harassed, and propagandized. Let us give faith a chance. Only by the resurrection of religious faith can mankind be kept from total destruction. Even if we deny faith a chance, it is the future any way. The material order rests upon the spiritual order. With the weakening of faith and the moral order, things fall apart; mere anarchy is loosed upon the world. The Hellenic and the Roman cultures went down to dusty death after this fashion. The Romans generously liberated the Greek city-states from the yoke of Macedonia. But it was not long before the Romans felt it necessary to impose upon those Greeks a domination more stifling to Hellenic freedom and culture than ever Macedon had been. The American Caesars are acting likewise. Remember, it was faith, not the US provided weapons alone, that defeated communism in Afghanistan. Neither the US-published Jihad literature bolstered Afghan resistance to communism, nor would the US-sponsored ban on such literature reduce Muslim resistance to imposition of a godless system in the Muslim world. Therefore, the wise course is to help small governments, such as that in NWFP, develop systems and gradually nurture them in the true spirit of Islam. Let us guide them if they deviate from the true spirit of Islam. But sweeping them off their feet is a folly. Just as sweeping them off their feet in Algeria has helped us achieve nothing, sweeping them off their feet anywhere else will not help us gain anything other than more misery and pain. June 05, 2003
NS
06/09/03 at 15:58:52
A_Stranger

Re: The blip in NWFP
Abu_Hamza
06/09/03 at 19:58:04
[slm] Really well-written, masha Allah!

Re: The blip in NWFP
humble_muslim
06/09/03 at 21:29:18
AA Yes, a very valid article no doubt... but I must re-iterate my earlier point that Shariah is not an end in itself, but a mean to an end, the end being to help the muslims enter Jannah.  So then Shariah must be examined not in a context of Shariah vs. the west, but Shariah vs. the environment which it will be established in.  And with due respect, some of the items we have in Shariah I just cannot see being implemented in the male-dominated NWFP.  Just one simple example, do you think that women will ber able to appeal to a Qadi that they are being forced into a marriage, a right they have under Shariah?  I would really love to say "yes, of course", but man, the truth is that women are not given thier Islamic rights in that part of their world.  Don't get me wrong, I would really LOVE someone to turn around and give proof that this is not so, that women DO have rights in the NWFP. And I feel that by comparing Shariah with the west in this article, we are missing the more important point.  At the end of the day, anyone who disagrees with Shariah can get lost and hang himself as far as I'm concerned, we are answerable to Allah SWT not to Bush or Blair.  But that doesn't mean that we don't blindly go into Shariah without looking at the environment. And Allah knows best, and may he forgive me if what I have said is out of line.
NS

Re: The blip in NWFP
faisalsb
06/10/03 at 07:26:01
[slm] :) Well brother lets say women don't have their rights or if they have rights in law they are not aware of it. Then what is the solution of the problem? To adopt secular system or sharia law? what is the better way to fight poverty, ignorance, injustice and corruption either we can acheive that goal through kufr system or through golden principals of Islam? How MMA is going to implement sharia is mentioned below: http://jamaat.org/news/pr060803a.html [size=6]MMA won't implement Shariat by force: Siraj[/size] Peshawar, June 6: The Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA) observed Friday as thanksgiving day across the province in connection with the passage of the Shariat bill, which was unanimously passed by the NWFP assembly on Monday. Thanksgiving prayers were offered, and the MMA workers took out processions in small and big towns of the NWFP as the provincial government has already declared the day as a public holiday. Provincial ministers, Senators, MNAs and MPAs led thanksgiving day procession in the provincial metropolis after Friday prayers. A procession was taken out from Madni Mosque, Namakmandi. Senior minister Sirajul Haq, Qari Fayyazur Rehman Alvi and Maulana Hamidul Haq MNAs led the march, which terminated at Shoba Chowk. Addressing the rally senior minister said that MMA believed in democratic values and the government would not implement Shariat by force in society. He said that people, including women, would not be forced to abide by the Shariat laws, and opponents of the bill would be convinced through argument. Mr Siraj said that only a small segment of society was opposing the Shariat Bill, adopted by the provincial assembly. Even minority members of the assembly supported the bill, he said. After the NWFP, he said, the Shariat laws would be implemented in Punjab and Sindh. He stated that with Shariat becoming the supreme law of the province, the menace of corruption, unemployment, illiteracy and ignorance would be eradicated from society. About the row between the MMA government and the district governments in the province, he said, the provincial government did not want confrontation with the federal government. Central Information Department JAMAAT-E-ISLAMI PAKISTAN Mansoorah, Multan Road, Lahore (Pakistan) Ph. :+92-42-5419520-4, Fax : +92-42-5419505 E-mail: jipmedia@pol.com.pk URL: www.jamaat.org
06/10/03 at 07:31:32
faisalsb

Re: The blip in NWFP
humble_muslim
06/10/03 at 13:32:07
AA Sorry Faisal, I disagree (but I still love you!).  Shariah does not change the hearts of people, and that is what is needed in Pakistan.  I mean just by passing a law, that does not mean that the average Pakistani will suddenly FEEL that corruption is wrong, FEEL that drugs is wrong, and FEEL that women should be treated better.  Maybe this is just the pessimist in me, but man Pakistan is just such a pessimistic case... That's not to say that imposing Shariah is wrong, but from an Islamic point of view, what is really required is a change in the hearts of people.
NS

Re: The blip in NWFP
Abu_Hamza
06/10/03 at 15:49:28
[slm] Br. Humble Muslim, have you ever lived in Pakistan?  If so, how long? The reason I ask is, I cannot put much weight in your opinion if you have no first-hand knowledge of what the situation is in that part of the world.  Some brothers on this board - Faisal, Nomi, etc. - are currently living in Pakistan and know very well about what that society is in need of.  I have to say I agree a lot with what's being said here, even though I left Pakistan 10 years ago and have only visited three times in the past 5 years. The reality is, as I think I wrote somewhere else also, that in order to change our situation there's a need to do *both* things.  One is to change our own situation - increase our imaan, increase our knowledge, kill the desires of the lower self, and so on.  Two is to take away the *outside* forces which pull us away from being in a state of submission to Allah's Law, and to place around us other kinds of forces which give us a push towards being in that state of submission. The Shari'ah law is *intended* to do just that.  It is intended to remove all the outer forces that push the believer away from Allah (awj), and replace them with forces which pulls him towards Him.   Once the outer forces are removed, one can then focus more on the inward, because those distractions have been removed. This approach of starting with the outward and moving inward may not always the best, I agree.  However, in Pakistan's case, this is the only approach.  The reasons for this are many.  But what seems apparent in Pakistan is that it has become almost impossible to change the inner state of people while the current non-shar'ee (nay, [i]anti-shar'ee[/i]) system remains in place. There's a reason why Islam doesn't simply outline the moral responsibilities of individuals, but ordains a *system* which must be in place to help nurture those moral values in the individuals.  Without the presence of a system, it cannot be expected for the individuals to develop the moral behavior which is expected from them.  It is too hard. I will write more, perhaps later, insha Allah.   Gotta get back to work. Wassalamu alaikum wa rahmatullah

Re: The blip in NWFP
Abu_Hamza
06/10/03 at 20:33:57
[slm] [quote author=Abu_Hamza link=board=ummah;num=1055185105;start=0#5 date=06/10/03 at 15:49:28]The reality is, as I think I wrote somewhere else also, that in order to change our situation there's a need to do *both* things.  One is to change our own situation - increase our imaan, increase our knowledge, kill the desires of the lower self, and so on.  Two is to take away the *outside* forces which pull us away from being in a state of submission to Allah's Law, and to place around us other kinds of forces which give us a push towards being in that state of submission. [/quote] See my post on page 3 of this thread for a related discourse about this: http://www.jannah.org/cgi-bin/madina/YaBB.pl?board=sis;action=display;num=1052513077;start=31 It's interesting, when one looks at the Seerah [life example] of Rasulullah [saw], to note that the Da'wah was not nearly as successful in Makkah as it was in Madina.  True, it was Makkah where the core of the ummah was formed, a great achievement indeed.  Yet, it was not until the Prophet [saw] had established the state in Madina, and had established an Islamic system of life that the da'wah *really* began to spread.  Victory came, ultimately, at Madina and not Makkah.  Makkah had to be forsaken, in order to find a haven to establish an Islamic system of life (a.k.a. Sharee'ah). Part of what is necessary in any kind of da'wah is to make the path to Islam easier for those who one is calling to Islam.  And that path will never be easy if there are so many temptations and trials alongside of it.  But that is exactly what happens in a society like Pakistan, where the people are Muslim, but because they live in a corrupt jaahilee system, they have an enormous task ahead of them when they attempt to live an Islamic life.  They are bombarded constantly, in a non-Islamic regime, with things that take them away from this Path.  And thus, even though most of them *want* to live as good Muslims inside, that desire is never develop strength and reap its fruits.  Rather it is suppressed and killed, every time something revives it, by the evils that pervade in the immoral society. I'd say in a society where most of the people are completely away from Islam - a society like Turkey, for example - it makes more sense to first educate the people and kindle a flame of imaan in their hearts, and *then* think about establishing a Shar'ee way of life.  However, in a society like Pakistan - a nation which was built *in order to* establish a state for the Muslims where they would be able to freely practice their Deen - and *especially* the NWFP province, where the norm is to find orthodox Muslims who love to live their lives like the Companions of Rasulullah [saw], one has to help that love blossom by removing any obstacles from its path.  And those obstacles are removed by establishing the system of sharee'ah. Wallahu ta'ala a'lam. P.S. Everyone agrees, of course, that the success of the Sharee'ah system lies in its total conformity with the maqaasid [objectives] of the Sharee'ah - which demand that the life, property, etc of all the people (male or female, adult or young, Muslim or non-Muslim) are protected by the Law.  Fairness, Wisdom, and other ingredients must also be present in the system.  And so on ...

Re: The blip in NWFP
faisalsb
06/11/03 at 02:29:13
[slm] Well apart from whatever brother Abu_Hamza said if someone asks me how we can fix Pakistani society then I have very simple solution.(I know what I am going to say are extremist views but I don't mean it but I do fantasize it sometimes) What I think we should do is to establish a new intelligence agency and recruit people in it who fit in certain criteria. Then give a job to that intelligence agency to make lists of all the corrupt poeple in Pakistan. Gather all of those people and tell them that they have won American Green Card visa lottery and they are going to be sent to US. Then load all of them in one ship. (I know we might have to built biggest ship of the world .....:)) And then sink that ship in middle of the sea. And let the Pakistan Navy make sure non of them survive through any means. Then we can start dawaa and all that what brother Abu_Hamza said on remaining people. The reason why I feel like that about my own people is because I have seen the worst level of hypocirsy in our society. I have seen people who have many feet long beards, whose foreheads got black due to sajood, who run to mosque like anything when they hear Idhan. But they don't even bother to listen about their officail work unless you give them bribe. They will ask you to put WHEELS under your file if you want to get your work done. And whatever I am talking about is what I have experienced myself not one, two or three times. But you daily have this kind of experiences there. If you talk about Quran and hadith to those people then you would find them more knowledgeable than you are. So what dawaa will you give to those people? How will you win hearts of them?
06/11/03 at 02:32:47
faisalsb

Re: The blip in NWFP
Nomi
06/11/03 at 08:14:39
[wlm] and [slm] [quote] I know what I am going to say are extremist views [/quote] Exactly :P... you know what i'll do, i'll do more dawah inshAllah and try to make the person who i give dawah to, yet another daee and hence start a chain reaction (isn't this the sunnah ?!). This way the family members of those who are corrupt will be touched and will change inshAllah and when they'll change to (honest) practicing Muslims who are daees as well then they'll give dawah to those corrupt ppl who have been addressed in previous posts. All this is happening and its the only way to change things i guess coz when masses will be good the change will ascend to the top, inshAllah Asim Zafar PS: I like ships, do lemme know when you are gonna build one :P PS2: I was as bold as one could be when i havn't had a beard but now i chose to be more reserved, sometimes, over reserved (my posts here may not reflect that) and i do that coz ppl expect more from bearded guys !!!! [quote] The reason why I feel like that about my own people is because I have seen the worst level of hypocirsy in our society. I have seen people who have many feet long beards, whose foreheads got black due to sajood, who run to mosque like anything when they hear Idhan. But they don't even bother to listen about their officail work unless you give them bribe. [/quote] Mr. Bean once gave a nice explanation as to why do ppl expect more from bearded ones but shouldn't they be expecting even more from non bearded guys i.e. everything thing that they expect from a bearded guy PLUS a beard ? ? ? Quran is for all Muslims not just for bearded men and hijabi/niqabi sisters, i know you guys are gr8 mashAllah but i just wanted to vent it out. PS3: peace :)
06/11/03 at 08:37:40	Nomi

Re: The blip in NWFP
humble_muslim
06/11/03 at 12:22:32
AA Actually I think we're all in general agreement here.  I agree that ALL temptations should be removed from people so that they can practice their Islam in a morally pure environment.  And if the Shariah Bill does this (but only in an across-the-board, non-hypocritical way), then Alhamdolillah.  Maybe they can start by delegitimizing Satellite TV, which undoubtledy has been turning people away from Islam and Islamic values for many years. However, there is a HUGE problem in Pakistan with people's mindsets when it comes to dealing with other people, and this is not caused (IMHO) by any external influence.  It's what I call the "Pakistani mentality".  You have different sorts of pepes in Pakistan : a) Those who practice ibadah but forget the rest of the deen, like Fasial mentioned, especially rights of other muslims. b) Those who really hate the corruption, but then don't think they even need to pray, on the pretext that those who pray a lot are corrupt inside. c) Those who are really bad, who neither pray nor act correctly with other people d) Those who both do ibadah and faer Allah with all their dealings Each of the first three groups has a certain mindset which is VERY difficult to change, no matter how much dawah you give them.  Let's face it, everyone in Pakistan knows that corruption is wrong, that leaving the Salat is wrong, they ARE told the message day in and day out (there is actually a lot of dawah going on in Pakistan), but it still does not change them.  So how will passing a bill which changes external things change this internal mindset ? The other point to note is that IMHO, you cannot have hudud punishments in a society where ever single person in the law and order chain, from top to bottom, is corruptible.  Now I don't know whether imposing hudud punishments is part of the Shariah Bill, but I really hope not. BTW, I agree with your idea Faisal, though slightly modified! Arsalan, I have not lived in Pakistan, but my wife and her relatives have lived there most of their lives. Anmd once again, I really hope deep down that I am completely wrong, and that we are witnessing the beginning of a complete change in Pakistan Inshallah.
NS
06/11/03 at 12:33:02
humble_muslim

Re: The blip in NWFP
Abu_Hamza
06/11/03 at 13:41:23
[slm] Here's another article for perspective.  From Jang.com: Shariah in Frontier Province Rahimullah Yusufzai Writers and analysts sitting far away from the NWFP are having fun while writing about our province after the adoption of Shariat Act by the provincial assembly. But in their enthusiasm, some of them are writing half-truths and spreading lies. It is true that the Shariat Act has generated controversy and prompted a number of writers to express their opinion on the subject. Cartoonists too are having a field day by visualising how life would be in an NWFP under Shariah. Everyone is entitled to his or her opinion while writing on the issue. But articles and opinions are devalued if there are factual errors. Besides, such lapses lead the analysts to the wrong conclusions. Take for example an article by a distinguished writer in the editorial pages of a contemporary English daily from Karachi on June 7. He wrote that music and films have already been banned in the NWFP, along with cable TV. Now this isn't true because cinemas are still showing movies, video and audio shops continue to sell music cassettes, and cable television is available in growing number of cities and homes in the province. The so-called anti-obscenity campaign of the government did target some cinemas, video shops and cable companies and the police overdid its job in certain cases but no ban has been imposed on the different forms of entertainment and none is envisaged, at least for the time-being. The same writer is also worried that the MMA would follow in the footsteps of the Taliban and lock-up women at home and flog those who refuse to wear the burqa, deprive the minorities of their rights, and convert schools into madrassas. Perhaps, he isn't convinced by the frequent assurances by MMA leaders and ministers that they won't implement Shariah by force. Instead, they are saying, and there is no reason not to believe them, that efforts would be made to reform the society and persuade the people to accept Shariah. Other writers and publications have also gone overboard while commenting on the Shariat Act. Without checking their facts, some of the analysts wrote that the MMA-led NWFP government would force men to grow beards and women to cover their faces. Sections of the print media at home and abroad claimed girls 12 years old and above would have to wear the head-to-toe veil and women would not be allowed to leave home unless accompanied by a husband or some male relative. It was also reported that educational institutions having co-education would be shut down. The Taliban in Afghanistan had adopted those measures and writers and analysts take it for granted that the MMA would do exactly the same. Little do they realise that unlike the Taliban the MMA has come into power through the force of the ballot and its elected representatives won't enforce unpopular laws and edicts. For their re-election, they would need electoral support and that cannot be guaranteed if voters are forced to accept an abrupt change in their life-style. Someone also wrote that vigilante groups would enter homes to check whether inmates were drinking alcohol and indulging in merrymaking. This prompted one writer to warn that he would welcome any such intruder in his home with a gun. The above mentioned edicts were faithfully reported and then commented upon by certain local and foreign publications. None of these edicts have been proposed in the Shariat Act or enforced in the Frontier. But none of the writers and analysts who criticised the Shariat Act on the basis of such false information bothered to check their facts. Never mind if presentation of falsehoods as facts destroyed the credibility of the writers and amused the reading public in the NWFP. By no stretch of imagination can one claim that the Shariat Act is a perfect law or that it would serve as the panacea of all our ills as the MMA leadership is claiming. Rather, some of the MMA leaders are raising expectations of the people by maintaining that the passage of the Shariat Act would enable the NWFP to overcome corruption, unemployment and illiteracy. No government, not even the MMA that has made Shariah the supreme law of the province, can root out corruption or solve the problems of unemployment and illiteracy. It would do the MMA lot of good if its leaders stopped leading the people of the province up the garden path. Not much would change even after enforcing Shariah because the MMA government doesn't have the roadmap, powers and resources to effect improvements in the lives of the people. The proposed Hasba Act is even more controversial. The delay in presenting it in the NWFP Assembly is reportedly due to MMA fears that it would generate lot of controversy and attract wider criticism compared to the Shariat Act. Already, critics are arguing that the Hasba Force, which would spearhead the campaign to promote virtue and prevent vice, would be a largely unaccountable and parallel religious police with excessive powers. Members of the Hasba Force in their zeal would invariably transgress their powers and invite the wrath of groups and individuals who are targeted. Instead of creating a new force, the government could have used the existing law-enforcing agencies and forces to do the needful. Besides, voluntary groups such as the Tablighi Jamaat is doing more than any other government force to make us better Muslims. The Tablighis would never allow themselves to be drafted in the Hasba Force but its success could serve as a model for any government attempting to reform the morals of the society. As is evident from the discussion above on the Shariat and Hasba acts, there are loopholes that ought to be criticised. An informed debate on these issues would have helped the MMA government to overcome shortcomings before introducing the two bills in the provincial assembly. It wasn't done and the MMA would regret such lapses in future. Already, the NWFP government is facing criticism for reproducing the Shariat Act that the Nawaz Sharif government had piloted through the parliament in June 1991. It has been alleged that MMA's Shariat Act is a literal Urdu translation of the then prime minister Nawaz Sharif's Enforcement of the Shariat Act. This in itself is a serious allegation and should provide writers and analysts with an opportunity to beat the MMA with. The MMA ought to defend itself against the allegation because it should have done its homework while promising Shariah as its election promise. The Jamaat-i-Islami, JUI and JUP, the three main components of the MMA, are very old Islamic parties and one expected them to have drawn up a programme of Islamisation all these years. In fact, there was an impression that the Jamaat-i-Islami with its wealth of expertise in all walks of life would have no problem in reforming and Islamising the system of governance, economy and judiciary as soon as it came into power. One would also have to question the role and capability of the 21-member Shariah commission that spent more than two months after it was constituted by the MMA government in the NWFP to recommend the Shariah roadmap. Still the disagreements on the Shariat and Hasba acts or the controversy thus generated should in no way give license to learned men and women to propagate half-truths. Opposing the Shariat Act is one thing but presenting wrong information to argue one's case cannot be condoned. Some of us look at things in black and white and are unwilling to see the positive side of things if it doesn't suit our own political philosophy or personal interest. The Shariat Act that won unanimous approval of the 124-member NWFP Assembly is subject to criticism and is, therefore, a controversial piece of legislation. But those who question the role of Islam in Pakistan would do well to heed the opinion of the Pakistani people. The 2003 Global Attitudes Survey by the Washington-based Pew Research Centre for the People and the Press found out that three-quarters Pakistanis want Islam to play a very large role in the political life of the country. Just 35 per cent thought Islam currently played a large role in Pakistanís political life. This was the highest rate of 14 Muslim states that were included in the survey. The same study found out that only a third of Pakistanis completely agree that religion is a matter of personal faith and should be kept separate from government policy. This should serve as an eye-opener for all those who think Islam shouldn't dictate government policies. One only has to go out on the streets and into our villages to grasp this reality. The writer is an executive editor of The News bbc@pes.comsats.net.pk

Re: The blip in NWFP
humble_muslim
06/11/03 at 19:10:33
AA Excellent article, this really puts things in perspective.  I especially liked the idea of using the Tablighi Jammat to encouarge people to act righteously as opposed to the idea of forcing them.
NS

Re: The blip in NWFP
Nomi
06/11/03 at 19:37:21
[slm] Yes Tablighi guys from raiwand and all other marakiz are doing a gr8 job for the society but i doubt that they'll volunteer themselves for the task as politics is not something they are interested in. I think if they ever do it then the whole political games of different parties would earn them a bad name that may negatively affect the superb job they are doing at the moment. Allah knows best. [slm] Asim Zafar
06/11/03 at 19:55:14
Nomi
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