Ijtihad Network Being Wise and Faithful Muslim in the Contemporary World
This nine-chapter long book comprehensively covers different facets of Shi‘a politics in the subcontinent.
The Shias of Pakistan are the world’s second largest Shia community after that of Iran, but comprise only 10-15 per cent of Pakistan’s population. In recent decades Sunni extremists have increasingly targeted them with hate propaganda and terrorism, yet paradoxically Shias have always been fully integrated into all sections of political, professional and social life without suffering any discrimination. In mainstream politics, the Shia- Sunni divide has never been an issue in Pakistan.
Shia politicians in Pakistan have usually downplayed their religious beliefs, but there have always been individuals and groups who emphasised their Shia identity, and who zealously campaigned for equal rights for the Shias wherever and whenever they perceived these to be threatened. Shia ‘ulama’ have been at the forefront of communal activism in Pakistan since 1949, but Shia laymen also participated in such organisations, as they had in pre-partition India.
Based mainly on Urdu sources, Rieck’s book examines, first, the history of Pakistan’s Shias, including their communal organisations, the growth of the Shia ‘ulama’ class, of religious schools and rivalry between “orthodox” “ulama” and popular preachers; second, the outcome of lobbying of successive Pakistan governments by Shia organisations; and third, the Shia-Sunni conflict, which is increasingly virulent due to the state’s failure to combat Sunni extremism.
About the Author
Andreas T. Rieck has a PhD in Islamic Studies from the University of Hamburg and served with the UN Mission to Afghanistan before spending four years in Pakistan with the Hanns Seidel Foundation. Since 2007 he has been an advisor to the German Federal Criminal Police Office, Berlin.
Bibliographic Information
Title: The Shias of Pakistan: An Assertive and Beleaguered Minority
Author: Andreas T. Rieck
Publisher: Hurst & Co Publishers
Language: English
Length: 564 pages
ISBN: 9781849043557
Pub. Date: January 15, 2016
