Religion and Politics in Pakistan

Religion and Politics in Pakistan explores the contested role of Islam in the creation and early constitutional development of Pakistan. Tracing debates from the last years of British rule through the first decade of independence, the book examines how politicians, religious scholars, and intellectuals struggled to define the meaning of an “Islamic state.” Pakistan’s founding was driven by anxieties over Hindu majoritarianism, the logic of partition, and the promise of Muslim self-determination. Yet the new nation emerged without a clear consensus about the political application of Islamic principles. Politicians spoke of an Islamic spirit yet had no concrete blueprint, while the ‘ulama’ insisted that the outlines of an Islamic constitution were already available within traditional jurisprudence. Between these poles, modernists and fundamentalists offered rival interpretations, and secularists in the bureaucracy and military pressed for pragmatic solutions.

The book situates these debates within Pakistan’s broader political and social transformations. It analyzes the rise of the Pakistan Muslim League, the influence of reformist thinkers, and the emergence of the Jamaʿat-i-Islami under Abul Aʿla Maududi as a powerful voice for fundamentalism. It charts the centrality of controversies such as the Objectives Resolution, the authority of the legislature versus the shariʿa, and the Ahmadiyya question, showing how they forced political actors to clarify their positions. By reconstructing the constituent process as both political struggle and intellectual exchange, the study demonstrates how tradition, modernism, and fundamentalism contended with one another in shaping Pakistan’s evolving constitutional order. This nuanced account highlights the intersection of religious ideals, political theory, and pragmatic governance in the formative years of the Pakistani state.

This title is part of UC Press's Voices Revived program, which commemorates University of California Press’s mission to seek out and cultivate the brightest minds and give them voice, reach, and impact. Drawing on a backlist dating to 1893, Voices Revived makes high-quality, peer-reviewed scholarship accessible once again using print-on-demand technology. This title was originally published in 1961.