Abstract
Pakistan is situated in a region where fundamentalism has been posed, of late, as one of the most threatening questions. The rise of Islamic fundamentalism in Pakistan really began in the 1980s. On the one hand, the military dictator, General Zia ul-Haq, was using religion to justify his rule and was ‘Islamizing’ laws and society. On the other hand, Pakistan had become a base camp for the forces opposing the Afghan revolution. After the Russian invasion of Afghanistan, the Zia allies with US, uses Islam to consolidate his power passes pro-Islamic legislation, and create many madrasahs and his policies created a “culture of jihad” within Pakistan that continues until present day. Recently Islamic fundamentalism has risen as an alternative political phenomenon not only in Pakistan but also in the entire Muslim world. Islamic fundamentalism in Pakistan is partly a link of this international phenomenon and partly caused by specific local reasons. When analyzing Islamic fundamentalism, one must understand that the religion of Islam and Islamic fundamentalism are not one and the same thing. If the teaching of Islam is studied we would know that the best Muslims are the fundamentalists. The fundamentals of Islam are based on peace; indeed the major point of Islam preaches peace. The peoples who are usually described fundamentalist are far from the following the fundamentals of Islamic teachings. On the contrary they totally reject the teachings of Islam or partially deviate from them. Islamic fundamentalism is now a reactionary, non-scientific movement aimed at returning society to a centuries-old social set-up, defying all material and historical factors. It is an attempt to roll back the wheel of history. Fundamentalism finds its roots in the backwardness of society, social deprivation, a low level of consciousness, poverty, and ignorance. Most of them have seemingly reverted to Pre-Islamic Jahilliya way of extreme loyalty to their groups, clans, or tribes to fanatism.
Malik Mohammad Tariq*. (2011) THE RISE AND IMPACT OF ISLAMIC FUNDAMENTALISM IN PAKISTAN AFTER THE SOVIET INVASION IN AFGHANISTAN WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO KPK AND BALOCHISTAN , Balochistan Review, Volume 1, Issue 1.
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