Islamization Under Zia Ul Haq
ZIA-UL-HAQ AND ISLAMIZATION
When General Zia-ul-Haq took over as the Chief Martial Law Administrator on July 5, 1997, Islamization was given a new boost. General Zia-ul-Haq was a practicing Muslim who raised the slogan of Islam. The Islamic sentiment has always been fully alive in Pakistan. Various governments have used this to their benefit. There are people who doubt Zia’s reasons for raising the Islamic Slogan; whether it was for political purposes to counter balance Bhutto’s appeal or was it to enforce Islam in its true sense.
In his first address to the nation, he declared that Islamic laws would be enforced and that earnest attention would be devoted towards establishing the Islamic society for which Pakistan has been created. General Zia wanted to bring the legal, social, economic and political institutions of the country in conformity with the Islamic principles, values and traditions in the light of Quran and Sunnah, to enable the people of Pakistan to lead their lives in accordance to Islam.
On December 2, 1978, General Zia-ul-Haq delivered a nationwide address on the occasion of the first day of theHijra calendar. He did this in order to usher in an Islamic system to Pakistan. In the speech, he accused politicians of exploiting the name of Islam, saying that “many a ruler did what they pleased in the name of Islam.”
After assuming power and arresting former leader Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto on charges of murder, the task that the government was facing was how to gain legitimacy. Since the Islamist parties were already against Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, they had the most influence on Zia-ul-Haq’s government. It was announced the government would enforce Nizam-e-Mustafa (Islamic System), a 180 degree turn from Pakistan’s predominantly parliamentary law, as a preliminary measure to counter what he saw as a lack of true Islam in Pakistan. Sharing the ideology of the Wahabi sect, Zia advocated purging Islam of what he considered to be impurities and innovations. He
When General Zia-ul-Haq took over as the Chief Martial Law Administrator on July 5, 1997, Islamization was given a new boost. General Zia-ul-Haq was a practicing Muslim who raised the slogan of Islam. The Islamic sentiment has always been fully alive in Pakistan. Various governments have used this to their benefit. There are people who doubt Zia’s reasons for raising the Islamic Slogan; whether it was for political purposes to counter balance Bhutto’s appeal or was it to enforce Islam in its true sense.
In his first address to the nation, he declared that Islamic laws would be enforced and that earnest attention would be devoted towards establishing the Islamic society for which Pakistan has been created. General Zia wanted to bring the legal, social, economic and political institutions of the country in conformity with the Islamic principles, values and traditions in the light of Quran and Sunnah, to enable the people of Pakistan to lead their lives in accordance to Islam.
On December 2, 1978, General Zia-ul-Haq delivered a nationwide address on the occasion of the first day of theHijra calendar. He did this in order to usher in an Islamic system to Pakistan. In the speech, he accused politicians of exploiting the name of Islam, saying that “many a ruler did what they pleased in the name of Islam.”
After assuming power and arresting former leader Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto on charges of murder, the task that the government was facing was how to gain legitimacy. Since the Islamist parties were already against Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, they had the most influence on Zia-ul-Haq’s government. It was announced the government would enforce Nizam-e-Mustafa (Islamic System), a 180 degree turn from Pakistan’s predominantly parliamentary law, as a preliminary measure to counter what he saw as a lack of true Islam in Pakistan. Sharing the ideology of the Wahabi sect, Zia advocated purging Islam of what he considered to be impurities and innovations. He