A Critical Analysis of Islam and Pakistan

This article describes the current religious, political and social practices, the worldviews of different scholars on these practices and my understanding of these worldviews, with a particular focus on Islam and Pakistan. It is considered that Islam is a religion that promotes authoritarianism, patriarchy and moralistic views, but I argue against such allegations based on the Quran and its scholars. At the same time, this article is an attempt to develop a critique of unjust socio-religious practices in the name of Islam, a misleading education system, and the question of why Islam was being misinterpreted or interpreted differently by specific schools of thought. These misinterpretations can be observed in the issues of gender inequality, forced marriages, corporal punishment, discriminating minorities, victimizing other groups who have different religious opinions and introduction of brutal laws like the Hudood Ordinance. This article is also a critical review of political decisions made by politicians throughout the history of Pakistan by using Islam for political gains.