The Rise of Political Islam: Zia's Islamization Program

Religious parties in Pakistan have gained greater power and political influence in recent times due to state patronage they received through an alliance with the military regime of General Zia ul Haq in the 1980s. This alliance was driven by national security concerns and a desire to counter the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. The military had previously used religious groups as strategic partners during the civil war in East Pakistan in 1971. The regime of General Zia ul Haq was politically isolated, insecure, and feared a return of the previous government, so they used Machiavellian politics to maintain power.

The Rise of Political Islam: Zia's Islamization Program

The military ruler vowed that his primary objectives were restoring stability, reviving the economy, and enforcing Islamic laws. The military-dominated state became the agency of Islamization. Pakistan's second wave of political Islam differed from the first wave in many essential ways. First, it was designed, directed, and enforced from the top on the ruse that Pakistan was an Islamic society, the country was created in the name of Islam, and that it reflected popular sentiments.

Differences from the First Wave of Political Islam

Second, the content of Islamization and its theological orientation were controversial, and in the second wave, it was driven by the Deobandi-Wahhabi theological line. The process and the heavy imprint of Deobandi and Hanafi views gave it a sectarian character provoking resistance from Shia Muslims. Consequently, the Deobandi factions that form the religious base of the Taliban and their suicide terrorism and insurgency today became highly empowered and increasingly intolerant toward the other Muslim sects and religious minorities.

Regional Influences on the Alliance between Religious Groups and the State

Two regional events have had lasting effects on the religious, political, and security scene and have also significantly contributed to the alliance between religious groups and the state in Pakistan. First, the Islamic revolution in Iran in February 1979 overthrew the Shah, an American ally and close friend of Pakistan on whom the country had relied under challenging times. Ayatollah Khomeini's revolutionary regime was not content with political change in Iran alone; it wanted neighbouring Muslim countries to follow its path.