Pakistani Religion: Islam is the Exclusive Religion in Pakistan

Almost all of the people of Pakistan are Muslims or at least follow Islamic traditions, and Islamic ideals and practices suffuse virtually all parts of Pakistani life. Most Pakistanis belong to the Sunni sect, the major branch of Islam; there are also significant numbers of Shīʿite Muslims. Among Sunnis, Sufism is extremely popular and influential. In addition to the two main groups there is a very small sect called the Aḥmadiyyah, which is also sometimes called the Qadiani (for Qadian, India, where the sect originated).

The role of religion in Pakistani society and politics finds its most visible expression in the Islamic Assembly (Jamāʿat-e Islāmī) party. Founded in 1941 by Abū al-Aʿlā Mawdūdī (Maududi), one of the world’s foremost thinkers in Sunni revivalism, the party has long played a role in Pakistan’s political life and has continually advocated refashioning Pakistan as a chaste Islamic or theocratic state.

The majority of Pakistani Sunnis belong to the Ḥanafī (Hanafite) school, which is one of four major schools (madhhabs) or subsects of Islamic jurisprudence; it is perhaps the most liberal of the four but nevertheless is still demanding in its instructions to the faithful. Two popular reform movements founded in northern India—the Deoband and Barelwi schools—are likewise widespread in Pakistan. Differences between the two movements over a variety of theological issues are significant to the point that violence often has erupted between them. Another group, Tablīghī Jamāʿat (founded 1926), headquartered in Raiwind, near Lahore, is a lay ministry group whose annual conference attracts hundreds of thousands of members from throughout the world. It is perhaps the largest grassroots Muslim organization in the world.

The Wahhābī movement, founded in Arabia, has made inroads in Pakistan, most notably among the tribal Pashtuns in the Afghan border areas. Moreover, since the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1979, Saudi Arabia has assisted Pakistan in caring for vast numbers of Afghan refugees in the border areas and in the construction and staffing of thousands of traditional Sunni madrasahs (religious schools). These schools generally have provided instruction along Wahhābī lines, and they subsequently have become vehicles for the spreading influence of extremist groups (particularly al-Qaeda and the Taliban of Afghanistan) in Balochistan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and elsewhere throughout the country. Although extremism in the name of Islam has become more pronounced in Pakistan since 2000, more-moderate Sunni Muslims are found in the country’s business community, especially among Gujarati Memons and Chiniotis from Punjab who follow less-conservative Islamic traditions.

Among the Shīʿites there are several subsects; notable are the Ismāʿīlīs (or Seveners)—including the Nizārīs (followers of the Aga Khans, among whom are the Khojas and the Bohrās), who are prominent in commerce and industry—and the Ithnā ʿAshariyyah (or Twelvers), who are more austere in their practices and more closely resemble the Shiite tradition found in Iran. Shīʿites have long been the target of Sunni radicals, and violent encounters between followers of the two sects have been common.