Roots of cultural invasion
It is very important to acknowledge that culture and religion are two different entities
The writer is a professor at the University of Western Ontario in Canada
The Arabisation of Pakistani society and its devastating effects in terms of radicalisation and polarisation are now evident, causing irreparable damage to the country’s social fabric. This cultural invasion is often attributed to General Ziaul Haq, who with the financial support of Saudi Arabia promoted a specific ideology that hinged upon Arab supremacy. While there are no doubts that Zia provided the breeding ground for religious extremism and the infiltration of Arab culturalism into Pakistani society, the seeds were sown by his predecessor Zulfikar Ali Bhutto.
The roots of this transformation are originally linked with the ambiguity in defining the prime identity of Pakistan. The identity question — whether Pakistan was created as a homeland for Muslims in India or to establish an Islamic state — was never properly addressed. Since independence, our great religion has been used as a tool for political manoeuvring and power jockeying. While this continued through the decades, the separation of East Pakistan in 1971 created an identity vacuum.
In a desperate attempt to fill this vacuum, Bhutto devised a solution to link the identity of Pakistan with the global Muslim community. Hosting the Islamic head of states conference in 1974 was a part of this effort to gain global recognition of this new and active affiliation.
The Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, the global body of Muslim countries, however, was controlled by Arabs. Hence, to get their support, especially that of the oil-rich Gulf states, efforts began to demonstrate Pakistan’s affiliation with them, which consequently resulted in distancing it from the South Asian identity. This triggered the flow of funds from Saudi Arabia. Zia accelerated those efforts since it was in line with his ideology.
Another factor that played a role in distancing Pakistan from the common South Asian identity was the efforts of the Pakistani leadership, from its inception until today, to distance Pakistan from India to prove that the two are separate nations.
It is very important to acknowledge that culture and religion are two different entities. Culture defines the social norms of society while religion sets the moral boundaries. There are no restrictions on the social norms as long as they are within moral bounds. A sari does not make a woman lesser Muslim than the one who wears an abaya, as long as it properly covers the body. Similarly, the word Khuda is no lesser Islamic than the word Allah. They both refer to the Creator in two different languages. The Arabic word Allah is not specific to Islam.
Belonging to Islam does not mean that we should disown Indian culture and adopt Arab culture instead. Throughout history, Muslims in India embraced Indian culture, practised their own religion and lived peacefully in India’s pluralistic society, while maintaining social harmony with other communities. For centuries, their Indian culture was never a threat to their religion, then why does it suddenly pose a threat.
The Arabisation attempt will leave Pakistani society permanently confused. Despite all their efforts to adopt Arab culture, they will never be recognised as Arabs. And by denouncing Indian culture, they risk becoming a rootless society. Owning and sharing Indian culture does not affect the political identity of Pakistan and its people. Throughout history, the Indian subcontinent rarely existed as a single political entity. Most of the time, it was divided into multiple political entities, either sovereign or confederate states. However, none of these entities denounced their culture and heritage.
Despite the animosity of Pakistani and Indian leadership towards each other, the general population in both the nations have never developed hostile feelings at a personal level, owing to the roots in their common culture and language. By maintaining these roots, peace and harmony may thrive in the region that is bound to bring prosperity to both countries.
Published in The Express Tribune, July 7th, 2017.
The roots of this transformation are originally linked with the ambiguity in defining the prime identity of Pakistan. The identity question — whether Pakistan was created as a homeland for Muslims in India or to establish an Islamic state — was never properly addressed. Since independence, our great religion has been used as a tool for political manoeuvring and power jockeying. While this continued through the decades, the separation of East Pakistan in 1971 created an identity vacuum.
In a desperate attempt to fill this vacuum, Bhutto devised a solution to link the identity of Pakistan with the global Muslim community. Hosting the Islamic head of states conference in 1974 was a part of this effort to gain global recognition of this new and active affiliation.
The Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, the global body of Muslim countries, however, was controlled by Arabs. Hence, to get their support, especially that of the oil-rich Gulf states, efforts began to demonstrate Pakistan’s affiliation with them, which consequently resulted in distancing it from the South Asian identity. This triggered the flow of funds from Saudi Arabia. Zia accelerated those efforts since it was in line with his ideology.
Another factor that played a role in distancing Pakistan from the common South Asian identity was the efforts of the Pakistani leadership, from its inception until today, to distance Pakistan from India to prove that the two are separate nations.
It is very important to acknowledge that culture and religion are two different entities. Culture defines the social norms of society while religion sets the moral boundaries. There are no restrictions on the social norms as long as they are within moral bounds. A sari does not make a woman lesser Muslim than the one who wears an abaya, as long as it properly covers the body. Similarly, the word Khuda is no lesser Islamic than the word Allah. They both refer to the Creator in two different languages. The Arabic word Allah is not specific to Islam.
Belonging to Islam does not mean that we should disown Indian culture and adopt Arab culture instead. Throughout history, Muslims in India embraced Indian culture, practised their own religion and lived peacefully in India’s pluralistic society, while maintaining social harmony with other communities. For centuries, their Indian culture was never a threat to their religion, then why does it suddenly pose a threat.
The Arabisation attempt will leave Pakistani society permanently confused. Despite all their efforts to adopt Arab culture, they will never be recognised as Arabs. And by denouncing Indian culture, they risk becoming a rootless society. Owning and sharing Indian culture does not affect the political identity of Pakistan and its people. Throughout history, the Indian subcontinent rarely existed as a single political entity. Most of the time, it was divided into multiple political entities, either sovereign or confederate states. However, none of these entities denounced their culture and heritage.
Despite the animosity of Pakistani and Indian leadership towards each other, the general population in both the nations have never developed hostile feelings at a personal level, owing to the roots in their common culture and language. By maintaining these roots, peace and harmony may thrive in the region that is bound to bring prosperity to both countries.
Published in The Express Tribune, July 7th, 2017.