Religion, politics and governance in Pakistan

Abstract

This report presents the findings of a study of Islam in Pakistan that aimed at understanding and evaluating the relationships between Muslim organizations and activity in the formulation of development policy. The question at the heart of the inquiry is whether religion can play the role of a driver for change in terms of pro-poor policy and practice. The study analyses the nature and direction of the latent force and dynamism of the Islamic establishment, especially in its organizational setting, both in government and in opposition. It shows that the state in Pakistan has typically pursued a policy of exploiting the functional uses of Islam as a source of legitimacy in the absence of, or in combination with, a mass mandate. In so doing, it has played on the turf of Islamic groups by seeking to control the production and the spread of the religious message, co-opting the Ulema and managing religious affairs, ranging from levying Islamic taxes to the management of shrines, policies towards madrasas and a role in sectarian conflict. However, it is necessary to go beyond a purely instrumentalist explanation of how religion is used by the state to understand the structural dynamics of Islam as a constant, pervasive and intense force that includes, but at the same time transcends, the manipulations of the ruling elite.