Tolerating the values of diversity and pluralism can help resolve the prevailing socio-political and ideological ambiguities in Pakistan which not only create discord among people but also make it difficult to counter the perils of extremism and violence. Media and religious scholars have a key role in promoting these values in society. These views were … Read more
Lack of a culture of research and enquiry, indifference to modern education, and growing trends of sectarianism and religious extremism are the key challenges facing Muslim world today. This was acknowledged by Islamic scholars from Pakistan, Egypt, Turkey, Indonesia, Iran, Bangladesh and Malaysia in a international conference on “The Emerging Challenges and the Responses from … Read more
Religious radicalism has many forms and manifestations and affects almost every segment of Pakistani society in one way or the other. Triggered by multiple factors, it gains strength mainly from the prevalent religious-political discourse in country that offers largely extreme positions to the people in the political, socio-cultural and ideological perspectives. The religious scholars have … Read more
Broader interaction and coordination among state and various segments of society are needed to reach at a better understanding of different forms of discriminations existing in Pakistan and the required ways to eradicate them.The government has almost failed to provide security and a feeling of equal citizenship to religious minorities, a fact that encourages those … Read more
States have failed to evolve comprehensive counter-radicalization and de-radicalization responses and strategies because of their largely security-centric approaches and less emphasis on dealing with extremism and radicalism in sociocultural, economic and political perspectives. This argument emerged as a consensus point among the participants of a focused group discussion on ‘assessment of de-radicalization models’, organized by … Read more
Pakistan’s education system has inadequate capacity and substance to promote the spirit of inquiry, thirst for knowledge and critical thinking among the students. Education provided by different public and private educational institutions and madrassas lacks quality and diversity. It is imperative for the government to set some standard principles of education, bridge the existing gaps … Read more
There are some similarities and several differences between the situations in Pakistan in recent years and the state of affairs in those Middle Eastern and North African countries where mass uprisings were characterized as the Arab spring over the past one year or so. Distinct factors have been dictatorial regimes, corruption, and lack of basic … Read more
The religious radicals and extremists in Pakistan use Islam as a tool to achieve their vested political goals and objectives. To get politico-ideological support of the people for that purpose they have invented a new method of making selective inferences from the Holy Quran and sayings of the Prophet (ahadith, plural of hadith) overriding all other Quranic … Read more
Pakistan’s religious organizations and scholars have a lot to learn from the non-political and public-oriented approach of the Indonesia Islamic organizations to educate people according to peaceful and dynamic principles of Islam. Like Indonesians, Pakistani religious scholars can respond effectively to challenges of extremism and intolerance through the reforms in religious education system particularly by … Read more
The Arab Spring, a recent wave of civil uprisings and demonstrations in the Arab countries, hasnot received much attention in Pakistan. Pakistani government and people appear least concerned about it seemingly due to internal mess of political, economic and security crises.Nonetheless, it is a least likely scenario that the Arab Spring may replicate itself in … Read more