Qazi Hussain Ahmad, until recently the Emir of Jamaat-e-Islami Pakistan, a religious-political party in Pakistan, recently wrote an article that was published by the Pakistani daily The News. In it, he argued that since Pakistan's creation in 1947, the majority of Pakistanis have wanted an Islamic system of government in the country.
Following are excerpts from the article: [1]
"The Complete Islamization of Pakistan Has Been the Genuine and Long-Standing Demand of the Overwhelming Majority of Pakistanis"
"The complete Islamization of Pakistan has been the genuine and long-standing demand of the overwhelming majority of Pakistanis.
"This demand surfaced as soon as the inception of the country [in 1947], since the driving force behind the Pakistan movement was the need for a separate country for Muslims where they could protect and practice their Islamic ideology.
"Consequently, the mounting public pressure led the Constituent Assembly to pass the Objectives Resolution, making a sacred covenant with the people of Pakistan that the Koran and Sunnah will be the guiding principles of the constitution, legislation and policy-making of this land of the pure.
"The British-trained establishment, including the civil and military bureaucracy, were, however, averse to the idea of Islamization and wanted to faithfully preserve the British system and the Anglo-Saxon system of government, besides the laws formulated by the colonial masters for subjects. Those people considered themselves the legitimate successors of the British colonial rulers, and aspired to step into their masters' shoes to enjoy the same powers and privileges exclusively reserved for the privileged class of British officers colonizing the subcontinent for over 200 years.
"The ensuing tug-of-war between the small minority of feudal [lords] and capitalists led by the colonial bureaucracy trying to replace colonists, and the vast majority of people yearning to materialize the dream of Pakistan into reality, led the country toward the state of affairs it is presently beset with. This confrontation has not only caused serious damage to the country, including the progressive erosion of nationhood, decline in unity, solidarity and integrity among the federating units, and putting the country on the verge of collapse, but has also led to its dismemberment. For the common people, the independence of Pakistan from the British colonists was nothing but mere change of masters...."
"The Pakistan movement leaders, such as Quaid-e-Azam [Muhammad Ali Jinnah] and Liaquat Ali Khan, were soon replaced by civil and military bureaucrats.... In their quest for absolute power, these people destroyed democratic institutions and undermined the ideology of Pakistan for the sake of promoting the British culture and values, and the English language."
"The Irrational Resistance to the Genuine Public Demand for Islamization Emanates from the Imperialistic Mentality Adopted by Our Ruling Elite"
"The irrational resistance to the genuine public demand for Islamization emanates from the imperialistic mentality adopted by our ruling elite. It stems from the mentality that drove the medieval master-slave struggle, and exposes the ruling classes' state of mind...."
"It was the right of the Romans to think and decide about the welfare of the slaves. The same ideology was adopted by the European colonists, who declared that it was the right of the white masters to decide about the affairs of the colored subjects. The basic idea behind that view was that the colored races were of inferior capabilities and... incapable of running their own affairs and solving their problems...."
"The Entire Debate that Islam Should Not Be the System of Governance in the Country Was the Thinking Paradigm of Those Who are Mental Slaves to Western Culture and Averse to the Islamic Ideology"
"The entire debate that Islam should not be the system of governance in the country was the thinking paradigm of those who are mental slaves to Western culture and averse to the Islamic ideology. It is an undeniable fact that Muslims from the length and breadth of the subcontinent strove for the creation of Pakistan, and rendered sacrifices that are matchless in human history. The proponents of the baseless argument that not Islam but economic reasons were the basis of the Pakistan movement have no answer as to why the Muslims of [Indian states such as] UP, CP, Calcutta, Madras and Bombay, etc., endeavored for Pakistan despite knowing that their areas would not be part of Pakistan.
"Evidently, they were striving for the realization of the dream of a separate homeland for Muslims, to enable them practice Islam freely under the system governed by the Koran and Sunnah.
"Unfortunately, the state of Pakistan created after a historic struggle of Muslims was taken over by the agents of British colonists quite early. They kept weaving a web of conspiracies to consolidate their grip over the country and with the passage of time their clutches became so strong that now even the talk of Pakistan's Islamic ideology hurts their ears."
"Pakistan is not Just Any State Based on Geographical Entities - It Is the Embodiment of a Definite Ideology and Religion; As the Father of the Nation, Quaid-e-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah, Put It: Pakistan Came into Being the Very Day the First Muslim Set Foot on the Subcontinent"
"Pakistan is not just any state based on geographical entities. It is the embodiment of a definite ideology and religion. As the Father of the Nation, Quaid-e-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah, put it: Pakistan came into being the very day the first Muslim set foot on the subcontinent. Pakistan is a result of the Two-Nation Theory [i.e. that Muslims and Hindus cannot live together] that clearly spells out that the life of Muslims is governed by the Islamic system based on the Koran and Sunnah. Until we harmonize our lives, economy, society, Constitution and legal system with Islam, our society will continue to suffer from internal strife and friction.
"Those who believe that Pakistan can be secularized by separating the Islamic system from its state are suffering from a serious fallacy. What they conveniently ignore in their bias against Islamic codes is that Islamization of the country is not just the demand of what they call some extremists but is the strong desire of an overwhelming majority of the people, millions of whom are ready to sacrifice their lives to achieve this objective, like those who laid down their lives in the Pakistan Movement.
"Though this majority is under the strong shackles of a tiny minority of Western slaves, the dawn of an Islamic revolution is round the corner. This is the era of a global Muslim renaissance as slavery's shackles are breaking and the enemies of Islam are on the retreat after the huge fortresses of their military and economic might are coming down under the pure resistance and sacrifices of the believers."
"Regarding the Argument That Promoting Islam Would Enrage Washington And the West, We Would Become Isolated, and Be Dubbed as Fundamentalists… It Must Be Kept in Mind That Alienating Islam will Negate Our Existence and Disintegrate the Country"
"Regarding the argument that promoting Islam would enrage Washington and the West, we would become isolated, and be dubbed as fundamentalists, etc., it must be kept in mind that alienating Islam will negate our existence and disintegrate the country. Islam is the basis of Pakistan, since it was created for Islam and not on the basis of some homeland."
Endnote:
[1] The News, Pakistan, April 20, 2009. The article has been lightly edited for clarity.
