ENGLISH: Islamizing Pakistan: The concept of Islamic Constitution Theory and Practice

Abstract

Pakistan after independence faced many problems ranging from the settlement of refugees to the fragile economy and unsteady defence. One of the major issues was the framing of constitution as immediately after separation from India, Pakistan faced a severe challenge of unity. Pakistan was a diverse country with two geographically separated wings, different cultures, divergent languages and separate provinces. The Constituent Assembly which was set up under Indian Independence Act 1947 faced this huge responsibility to provide a document on which the country could be run. Regarding character of the state of Pakistan; the religio-political Parties, Jamiat Ulama-i-Islam (JUI) and Jamat-i-Islami (JI) argued that Pakistan means the land of pure; therefore, in order to bring purity, Pakistan should be made an Islamic state. In it, the affairs of the government should be run according to Quran and Sunnah. In this way the constitution of this newly created state of Muslims should be Islamic in its nature. The rationale put forward was twofold i.e. they (Muslims) achieved Pakistan in the name of Islam and Muhammad Ali Jinnah, the founder of Pakistan, had promised that an Islamic system would be introduced in the newly established state. Secondly, according to them, Islam provides a complete code of life and it had laid basic principles in each aspect of life including the basic guidance for formulating an Islamic Constitution. This article deals with the theoretical and practical aspects of the Islamic Constitution propounded by the scholars of JUI, JI and comparative analysis has been drawn in this regard.