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Islam is the state religion in Pakistan, which is practiced by about 95-97% of the 174,578,558 people of the nation. The remaining 3-5% practice Christianity, Hinduism and other religions. Muslims are divided into two major sects, the majority of them practice Sunni Islam while the Shias are a minority who estimate 5-20% depending on the source. Nearly all Pakistani Sunni Muslims belong to the Hanafi Islamic law school. The majority of Pakistani Shia Muslims belong to the Twelver (Ithna Asharia) branch with significant minority groups who practice Ismailism, which is composed of Nizari (Aga Khanis), Mustaali, Dawoodi Bohra, Sulaymani, and others.

The religion of Islam was first introduced in the territory that is now called Pakistan Umayyad dynasty in the early-8th century led by Muhammad bin Qasim against Raja Dahir, the Hindu ruler of Sindh. The Umayyad Muslims conquered the northwestern part of the Indus Valley, from Kashmir to the Arabian Sea. The arrival of the Arab Muslims to the provinces of Sindh and Punjab, along with subsequent Muslim dynasties, set the stage for the religious boundaries of South Asia that would lead to the development of the modern state of Pakistan in 1947 as well as forming the foundation for Islamic rule which quickly spread across much of South Asia. Following the rule of various Islamic empires, including the Ghaznavids, the Ghurids, and the Delhi Sultanate, the Mughals controlled the region of Pakistan from 1526 until 1739. Muslim technocrats, bureaucrats, soldiers, traders, scientists, architects, teachers, theologians and Sufis flocked from the rest of the Muslim world to the Indian subcontinent during the Mughal era. The Mughal Empire declined in the early 18th century after the Afsharids and the Afghan Durrani Empire from the west came to take over what is now Pakistan.

Constitution of Pakistan on religion

The constitution of Pakistan establishes Islam as the state religion, and provides all its citizens the right to profess, practice and propagate their religion subject to law, public order, and morality. The constitution limits the political rights of Pakistan's non-Muslims, and only Muslims are allowed to become the President or the Prime Minister. Moreover, only Muslims are allowed to serve as judges in the Federal Shariat Court, which has the power to strike down any law deemed un-Islamic.

List of religions in Pakistan

Based on information collected from the Library of Congress, Pew Research Center, CIA World Factbook, Oxford University, University of Pennsylvania, U.S. State Department and others, the following is a list of all the religions that are practiced in Pakistan. The percentages are estimations depending on the source.

• Islam
  • Sunni Muslims: 80-95%
  • Shia Muslims: 5-20%
  • Ahmadi Muslims: approximately 2.3% or 4 million

• Other religions
  • Christians: approx. 1.6% or 2,800,000 people
  • Hindus: approx. 1.6% or 2,443,614 people
  • Bahá'ís: 79,000
  • Sikhs: 20,000
  • Zoroastrian/Parsis: 20,000
  • Buddhist: Unknown
  • Jews: Unknown

Islam

Islam is the state religion of Pakistan, and about 95-97% of Pakistanis are Muslims. The Muslims are divided into 2 sects, Sunni Islam and Shia Islam. The Shia Islam in Pakistan is practiced by 5-20% of the Muslims and the remaining larger number of Muslims practice Sunni Islam. There are a number of Islamic law schools called Madhab (schools of jurisprudence), which are called fiqh or 'Maktab-e-Fikr' in Urdu. Nearly all Pakistani Sunni Muslims belong to the Hanafi Islamic school of thought while small number belong to the Hanbali school. The majority of Pakistani Shia Muslims belong to the Twelver (Ithna Asharia) branch, with significant minority who adhere to Ismailism branch that is composed of Nizari (Aga Khanis), Mustaali, Dawoodi Bohra, Sulaymani, and others.

Islam to some extent syncretized with pre-Islamic influences, resulting in a religion with some traditions distinct from those of the Arab world. Two Sufis whose shrines receive much national attention are Ali Hajweri in Lahore (ca. 11th century) and Shahbaz Qalander in Sehwan, Sindh (ca. 12th century).

Although members of Ahmadiyya (also known as Qadiani) are considered to be Muslims, the government of Pakistan does not consider this group followers of Islam. The Pakistani parliament has declared Ahmadis to be non-Muslims. In 1974, the government of Pakistan amended its constitution to define a Muslim "as a person who believes in finality of Prophet Muhammad". Ahmadis believe in Muhammad as the best and the last law bearing prophet and Mirza Ghulam Ahmad as the Christ of Muslims who was prophesized to come in the latter days and unite the Muslims. Consequently they were declared non-Muslims by a tribunal, the records of which have not been released to date. In 1984, Ordinance XX was enacted, which mdae it a crime for Ahmadis to call themselves Muslims or adherents of Islam,to "pose as Muslims", to call their places of worship Masjid, or to proselytize, punishable by a prison term. According to the last Pakistan census, Ahmadis made up 0.25% of the population, which is highly disputed due to the already existing state treatment of Ahmadis in Pakistan. The website adherents.com cited a report according to which the Ahmadiyya Muslim community was represented by 2,000,000 (1.42%) adherents in 1995. Several other news report however claim adherents amounting to about 4 million, which is difficult to verify.

Christianity

Christians make up 1.6% of Pakistan's population, about 2.8 million people out of a total population. They are the second largest religious minority community in Pakistan. Majority of the Pakistani Christian communities belong to converts from the low caste Hindus from Punjab region, from the British colonial era. The community is geographically spread throughout the Punjab province, whilst its presence in the rest of the provinces is mostly confined to the urban centers. There is a Roman Catholic community in Karachi which was established by Goan and Tamilian migrants when Karachi's infrastructure was being developed by the British during colonial administration between World War I and World War II.

Judaism

Jews (Template:Lang-ur pronounced "Yehudi") are a very small religious group in Pakistan. Various estimates suggest that there were about 2,500 Jews living in Karachi at the beginning of the 20th century, and a smaller community of a few hundred lived in Peshawar. There were synagogues in both cities; while the Karachi synagogue was burnt down. The one in Peshawar still exists but has fallen into disuse. Nearly all Pakistani Jews have emigrated.

Hinduism

Hinduism has an ancient history in Pakistan, the Rig Veda was believed to have been composed in the Punjab region. Hindus today are a much reduced community numbering around 3 million or about 1.6%. According to the last census 93% of Hindus live in Sindh, 5% in Punjab and nearly 2% in Balochistan.

Sikhism

The number of Sikhs remaining in Pakistan today is very small; estimates vary, but the number is thought to be on the order of 20,000. The shrine of Guru Nanak Dev is located in Nankana Sahib near the city of Lahore where many Sikhs from abroad make pilgrimage to this and other shrines.

Buddhism

Like Hinduism, Buddhism has an ancient history in Pakistan. There are no established Buddhist communities and numbers are very few.

Zoroastrianism

Before the independence of Pakistan in 1947, major urban centres in what is now Pakistan were home to a thriving Parsi business community. Karachi had the most prominent population of Parsis in Pakistan and were mostly Gujarati-speaking. After independence, majority of Pakistan's Parsi populace migrated to India, notably Bombay; however a number of Parsis still remain in Pakistan and have entered Pakistani public life as social workers, business folk, and diplomats. The most prominent Parsis of Pakistan today include Ardeshir Cowasjee, Byram Dinshawji Avari, Jamsheed Marker, as well as the late Minocher Bhandara.

Bahá'í

The Bahá'í Faith in Pakistan begins previous to its independence when it was part of India. The roots of the religion in the region go back to the first days of the Bábí religion in 1844, with Shaykh Sa'id Hindi who was from Multan. During Bahá'u'lláh's lifetime, as founder of the religion, he encouraged some of his followers to move to the area that is current-day Pakistan.

In 1921 the Bahá'ís of Karachi elected their first Bahá'í Local Spiritual Assembly. By 1956 Bahá'í local assemblies spread across many cities, and in 1957, East and West Pakistan elected a separate National Bahá'í Assembly from India and later East Pakistan became Bangladesh with its own national assembly. Waves of refugees arrived in 1979 due to the Soviet Union invasion of Afghanistan and the Iranian Revolution in Iran.

The Bahá'ís in Pakistan have the right to hold public meetings, establish academic centers, teach their faith, and elect their administrative councils. However, the government prohibits Bahá'ís from travelling to Israel for Bahá'í pilgrimage. Recent estimates are over 79,000 though Bahá'ís claimed less than half that number.

Kalash Religion

This is the religion of the Kalash people living in a remote part of Chitral. Adherents of the Kalash religion number around 3,000 and inhabit three remote valleys in Chitral; Bumboret, Rumbur and Birir. Their religion is unique but shares some common ground with Vedic and Pre-Zoroastrian religions.

Atheism

There may also be some atheists and agnostics in Pakistan, particularly in the affluent areas of the larger cities. Some were born in secular families while others in religious ones. According to the 1998 census, people who did not state their religion accounted for 0.5% of the population, but social pressures against claiming no religion was strong.

There is slight of atheism in the country. Pakistan's laws, which stipulate the death penalty for blaspheming, institutionalize such discrimination. Subsequently, most atheists and agnostics keep their views private and choose to portray themselves publicly as indifferent Muslims rather than non-Muslims.

See also

• Islam in Pakistan
• Demographics of Pakistan
• Minorities in Pakistan

References

1. ^ "Country Profile: Pakistan" (PDF). Library of Congress Country Studies on Pakistan. Library of Congress. February 2005. Retrieved 2010-09-01. Religion: The overwhelming majority of the population (96.3 percent) is Muslim, of whom approximately 95 percent are Sunni and 5 percent Shia.
2. "Population: 174,578,558 (July 2010 est.)". Central Intelligence Agency. The World Factbook on Pakistan. Retrieved 2010-08-28.
3. ^ "Pakistan, Islam in". Oxford Centre for Islamic Studies. Oxford University Press. Retrieved 2010-08-29. Approximately 97 percent of Pakistanis are Muslim. The majority are Sunnis following the Hanafi school of Islamic law. Between 10 and 15 percent are Shiis, mostly Twelvers.
4. ^ "Religions: Muslim 95% (Sunni 75%, Shia 20%), other (includes Christian and Hindu) 5%". CIA. The World Factbook on Pakistan. 2010. Retrieved 2010-08-28.
5. ^ "Mapping the Global Muslim Population: A Report on the Size and Distribution of the World's Muslim Population". Pew Research Center. October 7, 2009. Retrieved 2010-08-28.
6. ^ Miller, Tracy, ed. (October 2009). Mapping the Global Muslim Population: A Report on the Size and Distribution of the World's Muslim Population (PDF). Pew Research Center. Retrieved 2010-08-28.
7. ^ "Pakistan - International Religious Freedom Report 2008". United States Department of State. Retrieved 2010-08-28.
8. Nicholas F. Gier, FROM MONGOLS TO MUGHALS: RELIGIOUS VIOLENCE IN INDIA 9TH-18TH CENTURIES, Presented at the Pacific Northwest Regional Meeting American Academy of Religion, Gonzaga University, May, 2006.
9. Alexander Berzin, "Part I: The Umayyad Caliphate (661 - 750 CE), The First Muslim Incursion into the Indian Subcontinent", The Historical Interaction between the Buddhist and Islamic Cultures before the Mongol Empire Last accessed September 11, 2007
10. The Constitution of Pakistan, Part I: Introductory
11. The Constitution of Pakistan, Part II: Chapter 1: Fundamental Rights
12. The Constitution of Pakistan, Part III: Chapter 1: The President
13. The Constitution of Pakistan, Notes for Part III, Chapter 3
14. The Constitution of Pakistan, Part VII: Chapter 3A: Federal Shariat Court
15. ^ "Ahmadi massacre silence is dispiriting". Declan Walsh. guardian.co.uk. June 7, 2010. Retrieved 2010-08-28.
16. ^ "Persecution of the Ahmadiyya Community in Pakistan". Harvard Human Rights Journal. Retrieved 30 August 2010.
17. ^ "Fear and silence". Retrieved 5 September 2010.
18. ^ "Most Baha'i Nations (2005)". QuickLists > Compare Nations > Religions >. The Association of Religion Data Archives. 2005. Retrieved 2009-07-04.
19. "The Holy Prophet Muhammad (saw)". Ahmadiyya Muslim Community. Retrieved 2009-07-29.
20. Adherents.com: Ahmadiyya
21. "The Bahá'í Faith -Brief History". Official Website of the National Spiritual Assembly of India. National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of India. 2003. Retrieved 2009-04-04.
22. ^ "History of the Bahá'í Faith in Pakistan". Official Webpage of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Pakistan. National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Pakistan. 2008. Retrieved 2009-04-12.
23. Momen, Moojan; Smith, Peter. "Bahá'í History". Draft A Short Encyclopedia of the Baha'i Faith. Bahá'í Library Online. Retrieved 2009-04-04.
24. Compiled by Hands of the Cause Residing in the Holy Land. "The Bahá'í Faith: 1844-1963: Information Statistical and Comparative, Including the Achievements of the Ten Year International Bahá'í Teaching & Consolidation Plan 1953-1963". pp. 47, 51, 107.
25. Hassall, Graham. "Notes on Research on National Spiritual Assemblies". Research notes. Asia Pacific Bahá'í Studies. Retrieved 2008-12-21.
26. "Bahá'í Faith in Afghanistan". Unofficial Website of the Bahá'ís of Afghanistan. Afghan Bahá'ís. Retrieved 2009-04-12.
27. Chun, Lisa (2008-07-16). "Message of Persecution - Fairfax doctor recalls Iranian persecution of father, members of Bahá'í faith". Arlington Connection.
28. Wardany, Youssef (2009). "The Right of Belief in Egypt: Case study of Baha'i minority". Al Waref Institute. Retrieved 2009-04-04.
29. "Top 20 Largest National Baha'i Populations". Adherents.com. Adherents.com. 2008. Retrieved 2008-11-18.
30. compiled by Wagner, Ralph D. "Pakistan". Synopsis of References to the Bahá'í Faith, in the US State Department's Reports on Human Rights 1991-2000. Bahá'í Academics Resource Library. Retrieved 2009-04-12.

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