Academic researchers belonging to the anti-reformist lobby or namely the conservative section robustly deem that a Muslim can lead his or her life by abiding by the rules laid out in the Koran and the Sunnah. They disapprove of the Modernists interpretations of the Holy Book and conceive that the Sharia and Koran have efficiently set out rules according to which a Muslim should fashion his life. Therefore any deviance from the original doctrines is thought of as against the religion.
In history a number of reformists, including the scholars and politicians, have made an effort to detach the scope of religion from that of politics. It is strongly felt that religion is a subject of personal conviction and free will and it should have a constrained influence in the politics of a nation. This is contrary to the belief's of the conservative groups and thus to their opinion of the role of religion in politics. The only effective instrument, which the conservatives can employ to control the involvement of religion from various scopes of life, is with the aid of the masses. The aspect, which is in favor of the conservatives, is that most Muslim nations across the world are predominantly developing and belonging to the third world. As a direct consequence the majority of the masses within these countries are illiterate. Therefore these masses can be easily influenced by propaganda based on religion, and have proved to be successfully employed to stand up in opposition to and curtail any movement which has hoped to change the present Islamic teachings. In most countries the conservatives have met with success but there are countries in which they have failed to prevent the reformist from bringing about change. An example of a nation where the Modernists have succeeded is Turkey under the reign of Kemal Attaturk. In contrast a country like Pakistan has never seen the realization of a completely secular state where religion plays a minimum role in national politics.
