Abstract
Religious parties are supposed to be more open to factionalization on the relation between religion and politics and
interpretation thereof. This tendency of factionalization can be seen aggravated by personal claims of authority,
superiority and leadership venerations The purpose of this paper is to explore and analyze the nature of
factionalization in Jamiat Ulema-i-Pakistan (JUP), a representative political organization of Ahl-e-Sunnat Barelvi
school of thought, from 1947 to 1977. Sunni Ulema and Mashaikh, took an active part in the creation of “Pakistan”
from the plate form of All India Sunni Conference with an intention of establishing an Islamic state. After the
formation of Pakistan, these Sunni Ulema and Mashaikh, observing a sectarian danger to the rights and beliefs of
Ahl-e-Sunnat, established Jamiat Ulema-i-Pakistan (hereafter as JUP). The JUP provided platform to Ulema and
Mashaikh who already had strong religious identities and following. They had good relationship with Quaid-eAzam and other high officials. Maulana Hamid Badayuni and Shah Abdul Aleem Siddiqui (father of Maulana Shah
Ahmad Noorani) were assigned the task of informing the world about the objectives of the establishment of
Pakistan. The party played a vital role for the establishment of a religious identity of Pakistan. However, like every
religious group and party, JUP had to face serious type of factionalization by its inception. This research paper is
intended to examine whether the religious issues had forced the dissident groups to form factions or political issues
had caused rifts within the party. It is important to analyze that to what extent these intra-party conflicts affected the
stability and recognition of JUP as religio-political party.
Hamida Fatima, Muhammad Shafique. (2022) Intra-Party Factionalization in Jamiat Ulema-i-Pakistan (JUP): From Inception to 1977, Journal of the Research Society of Pakistan, volume 59, issue 2.
-
Views
495 -
Downloads
88
Article Details
Volume
Issue
Type
Language
