Sadiq Ameen—what’s in a name

Amid debate on the two virtues, a NADRA search reveals 605 Pakistanis are quite literally ‘Sadiq Ameen’

ISLAMABAD: Our society has seen a lot of debate over the words ‘Sadiq’ (truthful) and ‘Ameen’ (righteous) of late, and how to find an individual who truly possesses these virtues.

To clear the confusion, the country’s top database authority has run a check on its record and found out that there are some 605 Pakistanis who genuinely are ‘Sadiq Ameen’.

The name ‘Sadiq’ is commonly found in the country and the same goes for ‘Ameen’. But finding someone with both the ‘virtues’ appears to be a difficult task.



Even the National Database and Registration Authority’s record endorses this fact, as it found only 605 Pakistanis with the complete name of ‘Sadiq Ameen’ out of a population of nearly 200 million.

The record shows that out of 605 individuals, some 425 adults and 180 minors (below the age of 18 years) are registered with Nadra under the name.

Also, another 210 persons have this name but they have an additional first or last name with ‘Sadiq Ameen’ like Muhammad Sadiq Ameen.

Today, in Pakistan almost everyone is aware of the legal term thanks to the Supreme Court that has recently disqualified former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, declaring that he does not possess qualities required to be ‘Sadiq’ and ‘Ameen’ as defined in Articles 62 and 63 of the Constitution.

Moreover, former PTI leader Ayesha Gulalai has been demanding PTI chief Imran Khan’s disqualification, as according to her, Khan is no more ‘Sadiq Ameen’, alleging he had sent her ‘inappropriate’ text messages in the past.

Similarly, MNA Hamza Shehbaz’s ex-wife Ayesha Ahad has also announced approaching the Election Commission of Pakistan to disqualify him, claiming he is not ‘Sadiq Ameen’.

Some legal experts claim only ‘angels’ can meet the definition of ‘Sadiq Ameen’.

And following this fervent legal debate, those 605 ‘Sadiq Ameen’ Pakistanis may require a thorough soul-searching to figure out if they truly meet the requirement the country’s top court has recently defined for their name.

To those 605 Pakistanis, it’s just their name with the  commonly-found meaning of ‘truthful’ and ‘righteous’, but what requires of an individual (elected representative) to be truthful and righteous as per the Constitution they might not be well aware of.

Until recently, the country’s top court was confused over the actual meaning of those two words.

On October 16, 2014, the Supreme Court had admitted that the Constitution was silent on the definition of ‘Sadiq’ and ‘Ameen’.

While hearing a petition, seeking disqualification of Nawaz Sharif in 2014, Justice Dost Muhammad Khan was quoted as saying: “There is no definition of ‘Sadiq’ and ‘Ameen’ in Article 260 of the Constitution – a provision that provides description and meaning of the words used in the green book.”

However, the Supreme Court judges have recently tried to define them in the Panamagate case. But still there is difference of opinion among the honourable judges.

It seems those 605 Sadiq Ameen Pakistanis need to wait and watch if the state of Pakistan succeeds in forming unanimity over the exact and actual definition of their name.