Throughout history, religion has had a crucial part to play in world politics. A predominantly Muslim country like Pakistan owes a lot of its political identity to the religion of Islam.
In this essay "The Role of Islam in Pakistani Politics", I will begin with distinguishing between the two schools of thought which are at the forefront of Pakistani politics. These would be the Modernists and the traditional Islamists and their viewpoints. Further, I will identify different measures taken by the leaders of the Pakistani State, such as Ayub Khan and Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto to secularize the country, their motives behind their actions and the reasons leading to their respective failures. In my conclusion, with the help of my arguments, I will evaluate the fact that whether Pakistan is on route towards a secular state or a further Islamized one in the twenty first century. .
With the arrival of the modern era major religions with huge followings have witnessed an emergent reformist group. This faction of individuals also branded as modernists comprise of intellectuals and philosophers who have a dissimilar approach to religion when compared to their ancestors. Although their fundamental codes of reference and direction (Koran, Sunnah, Hadith, Bible) remain unchanged they deduce the instructions in a different fashion. These unorthodox interpretations are viewed as more up to date with the times and are better suited to modern society as we know it, though this opinion may differ across communities and individuals. "Since the Quran and the Sunnah of the Prophet had not, indeed, could not, comprehend the infinitive variety of human relations for all occasions and for all epochs, the Prophet of Islam left a very large sphere free for legislative enactment's and judicial decisions." The two major religions of the world, Islam and Christianity, have both witnessed changes and alterations. Even though, the Islamic code of life has a tendency to be more unyielding to change, of the two.