Paigham-i-Pakistan & interfaith harmony for peace in society
AS reflected in its website, the “Paigham-e- Pakistan,” is a unanimously agreed Fatwa/ ruling prepared in accordance with the injunctions of the Holy Qur’an, the Sunnah of the Holy Prophet (PBUH), the last prophet sent by the Almighty to guide the whole mankind, and the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, that guarantees the basic rights i.e. socio-economic justice, equal in the eyes of law, political justice, freedom of expression, belief, worship and gathering.
This document is based on the consensus of important state institutions of Pakistan and the Ulema of all schools of thought, the academia of the prominent universities of Pakistan and has been signed by eminent religious scholars of Pakistan.
The Paigham-i-Pakistan Fatwa was published with the approval of the Government of Pakistan.
Hence, this document reflects the collective thinking of the State of Pakistan. The Fatwa is a backup moral support as a national narrative for successive Pakistani governments and its security forces to fight and stamp out any form of extremism, violence and terrorism by resolutely implementing everlasting 20 Points National Action Plan, (NAP), prepared with the consensus of all political parties, the government and defence forces of Pakistan, as the terrorism menace had hit Pakistan as a spill-over effect of US/West’s war on terrorism in Afghanistan.
The aim of this big national effort is to build peace and harmony in Pakistan which is necessary for its economic progress.
The salient points of the Fatwa are as follows. Any form of violence, terrorism or armed struggle against the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, its defence forces and security agencies to undermine the Islamic democratic constitution of Pakistan are contrary to the teaching of Islam and tantamount to rebellion and is “Haram” as per Islamic injunction and Shariah.
All religious scholars stand with the defence forces and the whole nation declares its cooperation with the forces and other law enforcement agencies of Pakistan in countering extremism and terrorism.
The Ulema declared Suicide Bombing as “Haram” in the light of Shariah and urged state institutions to take action against such groups.
The educational institutions should educate/groom the students correctly and the state should take action if any of the institutions was found involved in supporting militancy, hatred, extremism and violence.
Every Maslik/school of thought enjoys the freedom of propagation and preaching, but is prohibited from hate speech against any individual or religious school of thought.
Also, no religious scholar will declare a person as a non-believer as only the court of law can do it.
The Fatwa also states that the land of Pakistan will not be used for ideological and physical perpetration of terrorism in any other country.
Non-Muslims enjoy the similar kind of rights as the Muslims and they have the freedom of worship as per the teaching of their religion.
Islam ensures women’s rights and destruction of women’s schools, honour killing and breach of other rights is strictly prohibited in Shariah.
The Fatwa recommended for legally prohibiting the hate speeches made by using the Loud Speakers and TV Channels.
In fact, the Paigham-i-Pakistan Fatwa, as a national narrative to counter extremism, violence and terrorism along with the security forces’ contribution and sacrifices to fight out these menaces, and implementing other points of the NAP have greatly helped in bringing peace and religious harmony in Pakistan, except occurrence of sporadic incidents in the border areas with Afghanistan.
Based on the foregoing discussion, it is felt that since extremism and terrorism transcends religions and borders, the Paigham-i-Pakistan Fatwa can also act as a precedence for the people of other religions in establishing world peace and harmony, if its salient features are taken as a guide to resolutely pursue an interfaith dialogue to strengthen the interfaith harmony, as it basically embodies the notion of “live and let live”.
Martin Luther King, Jr, once said that the interfaith harmony in the environment of Religious Pluralism is all about the co-existence that means live and let live.
It is a way forward towards tranquillity and perhaps success, both urgently required in a world of growing political and economic dissonance and it is a plausible condition, suggesting peaceful co-existence among practitioners of various religious beliefs, aimed at eliminating the possibility of discord, violent or non-violent.
As defined by the Marymount University, Interfaith, in its most basic sense, is when people or groups from different religious/spiritual worldviews and traditions come together to know about each other’s religious beliefs, customs and the ways of living.
A lot of people are discriminated against and even attacked due to misconceptions, ignorance, and hostility based on their religious differences.
Interfaith harmony/cooperation helps stop that as well as deepen people’s own understanding of their faith and values.
For quite some time international efforts to achieve interfaith harmony have been underway, but it gained unprecedented prominence in the years following 9/11.
In Western liberal democracies, interfaith initiatives have been taken as part of wider multiculturalism responses to the threat of radicalization.
In the Middle East, interfaith gatherings are important platforms for the promotion of a true/moderate Islam, and counter the ‘clash of civilizations’ concept that still impacts relations between the Muslim world and the West.
In this regard, with UN sponsored efforts, World Interfaith Harmony Week is an annual event observed at the UN level, by the UN member states during the first week of February every year, after the General Assembly designation in 2010.
In this context, the General Assembly encourages all States to spread the message of interfaith harmony and goodwill in the world’s churches, mosques, synagogues, temples and other places of worship during that week, on a voluntary basis and according to their own religious traditions or convictions.
The interfaith movement has also gained attention at the highest diplomatic levels; the United Nations has passed several important resolutions, for example, on “the promotion of religious and cultural understanding, harmony and cooperation” (2003) and “the promotion of interfaith dialogue” (2004).
There have been several similar resolutions that encompass both interfaith and intercultural dialogue, on “the global agenda for dialogue among civilizations” (2005), for example.
With the intense efforts of the Pakistan government to counter the ever rising Islamophobia in the world, on 15 March 2022 the UN General Assembly also passed a Pakistan-introduced resolution (on behalf of the OIC) and declared 15 March as the Day to combat Islamophobia.
The resolution maintains terrorism “cannot and should not be associated with any religion, nationality, civilization or ethnic group,” and calls for “strengthened international efforts to foster a global dialogue on the promotion of a culture of tolerance and peace at all levels.
” In view of the above discussion, it seems that there is a need at the world level, led by the UN Secretary General, to intensify the interfaith dialogue, to reach an international plan of countering extremism, violence and terrorism which should be implemented by all members of the UNGA in their countries/regions through mutual cooperation and creating international harmony through a successful interfaith dialogue.
—The writer is also a former Research Fellow of IPRI and Senior Research Fellow of SVI Islamabad.
