BY: Saad Satti
Amidst a National Health catastrophe it is hard to believe that the closure of mosques could ignite incessant debates every night on national television. Self-styled muftis and allamas are wreaking havoc on an illiterate population, as there are in Pakistan, by using religion as a commodity. This stark reality marginalizes our attention towards the question; Was Pakistan meant to be a Secular or an Islamic state?
Contrastingly, Turkey was fortunate enough to answer this question through the reformist agenda put forward by Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, which paved way for the tolerant and pluralistic Turkish masses. The rise of Turkey from the disintegration of the Ottoman Empire is largely owed to ‘Kemalism’ with secularism at the heart of this reformist agenda.
Coming back to Pakistan, the death of Jinnah right after independence obscurely varnished the answer to the aforementioned question. This haziness has not only resulted in a confused national mindset but it has also allowed rulers such as Zia and Musharraf to play the religion card in the shape of their respective “Islamization” and “Moderate Enlightenment” agendas to fool the masses for personal gains. This augmented the over all power and stature of the religious clergy in the Pakistani society.
Rationality is usually chucked in the bin as charismatic clerics constantly seek to defend their endangered position in the social hierarchy. The opposition to introduction of scientific methods to sight the moon is but only a reflection of the narrow mindedness of the ‘celebrity clerics’ who claim to be the champions of a dynamic religion like Islam that promises to evolve with time through Ijtihad.
Traditionalism is often linked to Islam because that is what helps the ‘maulvi sahib’ to generate legitimacy for his so called holy journey. The criminal silence of the clerics on issues pertaining to economic, social and ethical responsibilities is a depiction of the question that was left unanswered by our freedom fighters.
This makes one realize that the Pakistani society has become subservient to the myopic vision of the religious clergy. Why is that only a bearded man is capable of telling us what ‘real’ religion means? The moral policing by Pakistanis of Esra Bilgic, more commonly known as Halime Sultan from the famous Turkish serial is an apt example of the judgmental mindset that exists.
However, Quaid’s speeches after independence indicate a different story altogether. “You may belong to any religion or caste or creed…that has nothing to do with the business of the State… We are all citizens of a state… in the course of the time, Hindus would cease to be Hindus, and Muslims would cease to be Muslims, not in the religious sense, because that is the personal faith of each individual, but in the political sense, as citizens of the State.” These excerpts from Quaid’s historic speech, three days before independence, are one of the clearest expositions of a secular state. Unfortunately, the Quaid could not live long to actualize this dream, leaving the country in a state marred by a strict Islamic ideology.
On the contrary, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk ensured that secularism was a dominant feature of the Turkish society. From the ban on traditional Turkish hats to the adoption of modern scientific methods, Kemalism changed the very fabric of the Turkish society. Kemalist secularism did not merely mean detachment of state and religion but also the latters separation from educational, cultural and legal affairs. The Kemalist revolution guaranteed protection from traditionalism and practice in the name of religion that was earlier used to hamper a nation’s individual or collective way of life.
Kemalism, often stamped as a pro-western ideology, is in reality the adoption of a basic principle stated in the Holy Quran- that there is no compulsion in religion- which illuminates the idea of the individual and his or her own spiritual self in the approach to God. Spiritual individualism reaffirms the idea that no institution, not even the state should come in between the individual and his or her God. This is the secularism offered by Kemalism in a nutshell.
The saphire waters of bosphorous offer a view of two co-existent realities of Turkey. I point my fingers not towards the segregated borders of Europe and Asia but towards the existence of spectacularly breathtaking mosques on one side and the dense population of nightlife establishments on the other. It is left upon the citizens of Turkey to either opt for a “night out” or be enchanted by spiritual cleansing. One could argue that secular Turkey is far more Islamic in spirit than the Islamic Republic of Pakistan as the average Turk understands that whether you are a good Muslim or bad, it is none of his business!
Pakistan must learn from its Muslim brothers and adopt a more secular approach. If this happens, Pakistan, like Turkey, will not only be better positioned within the Muslim world, it will also not lose its Muslim identity. Had Jinnah lived longer, he might have succeeded in emulating Kemalism in Pakistan, way back in the 1950s—an ideology which one might be terming today as ‘Jinnahism’.
Religious tolerance and liberal thinking must be ensured in order for the state to thrive. The unchecked role of the religious clergy must be checked through increased scrutiny of fatwas. Furthermore, Traditionalism must be delinked with Islam by adopting modern scientific methods in rural and urban areas, as suggested by Sir Syed Ahmed Khan, more than hundred years ago. When the Constitution of Pakistan highlights the fact that “sovereignty belongs to Allah”, then why does the average Pakistani submit to the pressure and hidden agendas of the orthodox clergy?
If Jinnah were to visit his country today, would he be pleased to see the present role of religious clergy in the state of politics and society- or utterly disappointed?
The author is a lawyer based in Islamabad.
Email: [email protected]
HIGHLIGHTED PART: “One could argue that secular Turkey is far more Islamic in spirit than the Islamic Republic of Pakistan as the average Turk understands that whether you are a good Muslim or bad, it is none of his business!”
