Islamic movement calls for Islam as a comprehensive system for all of humanity and specifically for Muslims, established in 1941 in the city of Lahore in the Indian subcontinent. Abu al-A’la al-Mawdudi was elected as its leader, and the group was affiliated with Pakistan after gaining independence from India and declaring the establishment of the state of Pakistan on August 28, 1947.
The Islamic movement in Pakistan is inspiring to many Islamic movements around the world and is also the intellectual source from which some have drawn, with the most prominent role in that attributed to Abu al-A’la al-Mawdudi, who attracted many supporters of the Islamic movement through his writings and influenced them with his thinking derived from the Quran, the Sunnah, and the consensus of the predecessors of the Muslim community. His writings and books were translated into Arabic, Persian, English, and French.
Formation and Establishment
The establishment of the Islamic group in Pakistan was announced on August 17, 1941, in the city of Lahore, even before Pakistan gained independence, with a founding meeting consisting of 75 members representing various geographical areas of the country.
In 1943, the Islamic group moved its headquarters from Lahore to Dar es Salaam, a village in the city of Bhatanko, and returned to Lahore after Pakistan’s independence on August 28, 1947, where the group’s headquarters was established, demanding the formation of the Pakistani system according to Islamic law.
Al-Mawdudi delivered a famous speech at the Law College, in which he demanded the formation of the Pakistani system according to Islamic law, expressing the movement’s real interaction with public affairs and its attempt to transfer ideas from mosque spaces and seminars to engage with reality and attempt to influence it.
The group’s formation came amidst harsh circumstances following the fall of the Ottoman Caliphate and the political vacuum it left, in addition to the suffering of Indian Muslims from Hindu persecution after the signs of India’s independence appeared, prompting Hindu leaders to coerce Muslims to change their religion. Al-Mawdudi’s engagement with the events and his interaction with the first generation that laid the foundation resonated throughout the group, leading to the establishment of the Islamic group in a manner guided by his previous ideas as an organization and inspired by his thoughts, writings, and experiences before the movement by engaging in the Islamic Caliphate revival movement and by participating in the relief and support association for Muslims who were victims of clashes with Hindus.
Founding Figures
The most prominent founding figures of the Islamic group in Pakistan, in addition to its first founder Al-A’la al-Mawdudi, include:
- Mian Tufail Muhammad, who served as the group’s secretary general and later became its leader after Al-Mawdudi in 1972, continuing as the leader until 1987.
- Qazi Hussain Ahmed, who served as the group’s secretary general and later became its leader in 1987 succeeding Mian Tufail Muhammad.
- Khursheed Ahmed, the group’s deputy leader, a former minister, and a member of the parliamentary council.
- Khalil Ahmed al-Hamidi, the director of Dar al-Aruba and the director of the Mawdudi International Institute for Islamic Studies.
- Professor Abdul Ghaffar Ahmed, who served as the leader of the group’s branch in Karachi, a member of the central parliament, and a minister for industries and minerals in 1978.
- Ghulam Azam, who lived in his country without citizenship after it was revoked by the government to tighten the noose on his preaching movement, and served as the leader of the Islamic group in East Pakistan before the separation. After his release from prison, he became the leader of the group in Bangladesh.
Supporters of the Islamic group in Pakistan during a gathering in Rawalpindi in 2009 to protest against American intervention in the region (Reuters)
Ideology and Political Daoctrines
The Islamic group in Pakistan is a Sunni group that views Islam as a comprehensive system for all of humanity and specifically for Muslims, based on the call to adhere to the Quran and the Sunnah of the Prophet, and to work towards establishing a civil state in accordance with Islamic principles.
The leaders of the group and its founders have written extensively on their vision for the state and governance, with the founder Abu al-A’la al-Mawdudi extensively expressing the ideology and approach of the group in his widely circulated writings.
The vision of the Islamic group was intrinsic to Al-Mawdudi even before its formation, desiring that it becomes an official vessel that embraces his reformist work and ideological vision to achieve two major goals that later represented its first purpose and a departure from its thought:
- Urgently calling for the application of Islamic law in all of Pakistan as it was a state founded by Muslims.
- Fighting against the trend of westernization and confronting the imported ideologies that gained popularity during the country’s independence.
The Islamic group entrenched itself across Pakistan and penetrated communities through its dissemination of books, messages, establishing schools, institutes, and centers for educating illiterates. Its presence extended to universities through its student arm associated with it, the Islamic Student Association.
Structure of the Group
The group has an elected leader, a central council for consultation elected by the members of the group, and a secretary appointed by the leader from among the members with the council’s advice. The leader acts according to the decisions of the council.
Political Trajectory
The Islamic movement has traversed several significant stages, especially during its inception. The group’s founder, Al-Mawdudi, and some of its members were initially arrested in 1948 after a speech he delivered in Karachi, demanding the application of Islamic law. This sparked the first confrontation between the Islamic group and the authorities in Pakistan, leading to the arrest and subsequent release of the detainees due to influential popular support, thereby pressuring the government to embody their basic ideas in the country’s Islamic constitution, declaring Pakistan as an Islamic state.
The group continued its pressure, and Al-Mawdudi delivered a speech on October 14, 1950, in Lahore, criticising proposed constitutional amendments, which he claimed paved the way for dictatorship. This led to the government calling the scholars to arrange the draft constitution, with Al-Mawdudi being among the participants. However, the issue was met with silence by the government, prompting a new conflict with the movement, which resulted in the imposition of the military judgments on March 6, 1953, leading to the arrest of Al-Mawdudi and some members of the group, only to be released later due to influential public pressure supporting him and the movement, thus conversely issuing their release in 1955.
The group entered into a conflict with socialists, Hindus, and secularists during a period of 9 years (1947-1956). At the beginning of 1956, the Pakistani authorities responded to the demands of the movement and the public by issuing an Islamic constitution, then subsequently issued a decree to ban the group and arrest Al-Mawdudi and 63 of its leaders and members, leading to Al-Mawdudi resigning from his position in 1972 due to health reasons. Mian Tufail Muhammad succeeded him, followed by several officials who assumed the position of the group’s leader.
The roots of the Islamic group penetrated Pakistani society at all levels, becoming influential through student and labor unions. The group has over 2,000 educational institutions and a number of hospitals and clinics, making it a dominant force in political life, exerting strong influence in public affairs, to varying degrees according to the periods.
The Islamic Group and Relations with the Authorities
The relationship between the Islamic group in Pakistan and the authorities witnessed periods of ebb and flow based on the group’s evaluation of the behavior of the ruling authority and the level of understanding between the two sides. Some criticize the group’s “pragmatism” and its alignment with the military, except for limited hiatus periods.
Pakistan has witnessed 5 military coups, reflecting the relationship between the group and the ruling authorities. The group initially opposed the coup of General Ayub Khan in 1958, later supporting him when the Pakistan-India war ignited in 1965, the declaration of Ayub Khan’s “Holy Jihad against India,” but subsequently opposing him through an alliance with political and nationalist forces, accusing him of “turning victory into defeat on the negotiation table”. Ayub Khan resigned under popular pressure in 1969, and the Army Chief, Yahya Khan, assumed power.
The group’s relationship with the authority was unstable, sometimes characterized by collaboration and alliance, and at other times marked by escalation and tension, until it entered the government of General Zia-ul-Haq represented by a Minister of the Islamic group, Mian Tufail Muhammad. The amicable relationship between them eventually deteriorated due to what the group considered as Yahya Khan’s reneging on his promise to organize elections to ensure the transition to civilian political life.
The Islamic group supported the coup led by Pervez Musharraf in 1999, attributing the military intervention in political affairs to the aggression and the criminal and political offenses committed by both Nawaz Sharif and Ayub Sheikh and Yahya Khan. The military intervention described as a temporary phenomenon.
The Islamic group has participated in most of the elections in Pakistan through its political arm, the “Jamiat-e-Islami” party. It reached its electoral peak in 2002, gaining 53 seats in the parliament, making it the third political force in the country. Its leader, Qazi Hussain Ahmed, entered the federal parliament, achieving a significant victory in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa region (formerly known as Sindh) and its capital Peshawar, qualifying it to form the regional government.
The group boycotted the 2008 elections, considering that Pervez Musharraf conducted the elections under his auspices to guarantee a continuation of policies that served American interests. Subsequently, its electoral influence declined, remaining limited compared to its rallying power and impact on Islamic issues internally and externally, notably the Palestinian cause.
The group’s political and parliamentary decline was evident in the 2013-2018 elections, only securing one seat in the parliament, leading some to attribute its political downturn to the absence of influential personalities and internal problems in regions such as Dir, Swat in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and its withdrawal from Punjab, Sindh, and Balochistan, failing to attract any influential figure to strengthen its political position.
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