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*Assistant Professor, Department of Islamic Studies, Bahauddin Zakariya University, Multan.
**Assistant Professor, Department of Islamic Studies, Bahauddin Zakariya University, Multan.
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Pakistan Journal of Islamic Research Special Issue
What is a State?
A state is the supreme institution of any society and covers all aspects of human
life. Its efficient assembly is, therefore, of utmost importance for the welfare of humanity.
Islam agrees with Plato and Aristotle in saying that a Just State is indispensable for the
collective social justice and the prosperous life of any individual.
The definition of a State is not only difficult to understand, it also varies greatly
between various philosophers although it is the ultimate embodiment of the various
institutions necessary for the prosperous survival of humanity. States divide the global
population of 7 billion into portions so that they can peacefully coexist while the rights of
no individual (ideally) are infringed.
The City-State:
A city-state is an independent city – and sometimes it‘s surrounding land –
which has its own government, completely separate from nearby countries. Monaco is a
city-state. Today, there are only five city-states that are truly self-governing, but in the
past this was more common. In fact, well-known cities such as Rome and Athens were
city-states, and the entire country of Italy was made up of independent merchant city-
states during the Renaissance. These days, government tends to be concentrated in a large
country, rather than split into small, sovereign cities.1 It was these city states that later
joined together to form dynasties and kingdoms and thus later on formed the Nation
States.
The Nation State:
The French and American revolutions of the late-eighteenth century gave birth
to the idea of the modern nation-state — an independent state with a written constitution,
ruled in the name of a nation of equal citizens.2
A nation state is a type of state that joins the political entity of a state to the
cultural entity of a nation, from which it aims to derive its political legitimacy to rule and
potentially its status as a sovereign state. A state is specifically a political and geopolitical
entity, whilst a nation is a cultural and ethnic one. The term "nation state" implies that the
two coincide, in that a state has chosen to adopt and endorse a specific cultural group as
associated with it.3
Or in simpler words the basis of the western concept of Nation are Language,
Race, Color and a Common Territory; which led to the West‘s Idea of a Homeland.
―Nationalism is relatively a modern political doctrine. Its early propounder was
Rosseau, a European thinker who held that good community was because of homogenous
population. The doctrine, however, flourished not in France but in Germany. Its writers
like Hereder and Fichte advocated nationalism as a legitimate basis of statehood. To
them, it was the language that became the repository of their national character and
heritage and their expansion as a specific nationality took place on this account. Hans
Kohn, too, associates nationalism with the masses and popular forms of politics… The
various types of nationalism have got gradually manifested in history like Turkish
nationalism, Arab nationalism and Indian nationalism.‖
1
http://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/city-state
2
Andreas Wimmer and Yuval Feinstein, The Rise of the Nation-State across the World, 1816 to
2001, American Sociological Review, 75(5) 764–790 _ American Sociological Association 2010,
DOI: 10.1177/0003122410382639, http://asr.sagepub.com
3
http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nation_state
26
Nation State and the Islamic concept of State: The Case study of Islamic Republic of Pakistan
Thus a Nation State although quite efficient, doesn‘t care about the religion or
philosophical thoughts of its intellectuals but relies more on the geographical and ethnic
isolation of the respective population. Thus the Swedish Nation is a Nation because they
all speak the same language and have the same ethnic group, not because they have the
same religion otherwise almost all European Nations have a Christian majority but they
are not one single nation due to ethnic, linguistic and cultural isolation.
Key Points to Define a Nation-State:
The concept of a nation-state is notoriously difficult to define. A working and
imprecise definition is: a type of state that conjoins the political entity of a state
to the cultural entity of a nation, from which it aims to derive its political
legitimacy to rule and potentially its status as a sovereign state.
The origins and early history of nation-states are disputed. Two major
theoretical questions have been debated. First, "Which came first, the nation or
the nation-state?" Second, "Is nation-state a modern or an ancient idea?"
Scholars continue to debate a number of possible hypotheses.
Most commonly, the idea of a nation-state was and is associated with the rise of
the modern system of states, often called the "Westphalian system" in reference
to the Treaty of Westphalia (1648).
Nation-states have their own characteristics that today may be taken-for-granted
factors shaping a modern state, but that all developed in contrast to pre-national
states.
The most obvious impact of the nation-state is the creation of a uniform national
culture through state policy. Its most demonstrative examples are national
systems of compulsory primary education that usually popularize a common
language and historical narratives.4
Some theories about the Nation-statehood are as under.
Declarative Theory of Statehood:
A theory that defines a state as a person in international law if it meets the
following criteria: 1) a defined territory; 2) a permanent population; 3) a government; and
4) a capacity to enter into relations with other states. According to it, an entity's statehood
is independent of its recognition by other states.
Constitutive Theory of Statehood:
A theory that defines a state as a person in international law only if it is
recognized as sovereign by other states. This theory of recognition was developed in the
19th century. Under it, a state was sovereign if another sovereign state recognized it as
such.
Westphalian System:
A global system based on the principle of international law that each state has
sovereignty over its territory and domestic affairs, to the exclusion of all external powers,
on the principle of non-interference in another country's domestic affairs, and that each
4
Boundless. ―Introduction to Nation-States.‖ Boundless World History I: Ancient Civilizations-
Enlightenment Boundless, 19 Nov. 2016. Retrieved 01 Feb. 2017 from
https://www.boundless.com/world-history/textbooks/boundless-world-history-i-ancient-
civilizations-enlightenment-textbook/the-rise-of-nation-states-1052/nation-states-and-sovereignty-
1053/introduction-to-nation-states-1054-17652/
27
Pakistan Journal of Islamic Research Special Issue
state (no matter how large or small) is equal in international law. The doctrine is named
after the Treaty of Westphalia, signed in 1648, which ended the Thirty Years' War.5
The Islamic Concept of State:
Islam did not establish any specific fundamental constitution for any nation or
era nor was it possible or mandatory considering that it is a universal religion unbound by
time or space. Just as Islam has permitted the use of Ijtehad, under specific conditions
and the prevalent circumstance, to decree Fatwa‘, it has similarly permitted the
establishment and modification of any political and governmental system according to
the prevalent circumstances as long as it follows certain fundamental teachings or rules of
Islam. Just like Ijma‘ (Consensus) is an important constituent of the rules of religious
thought i.e. Fiqh; it is also an equally important constituent of political thought. Thus
Islam simply suggested an outline for the establishment of a State in which the rights of
all individuals are safeguarded and Justice is unconditional and supreme regardless of
how and who delivers it.
Dr. Hameedullah writes that the Holy Prophet (PBUH) first of all managed the
system of Brotherhood (Mu‘akhaat) in Yathrab (Madina) to solve the economical
problems of Muhajreen then He focused on the establishment of a state as there was not
any state in Yathrab (Madina) at that time; neither city state nor any other type of state.6
He further writes that it was a city state in the beginning but its jurisdiction was at a part
of city not at the whole city. It spread rapidly. In ten years of Holy Prophet (PBUH) it
expanded over to a territory of 3 million kilometer square and Madina was its capital.
The Caliphate:
Reza Aslan writes, ―The Caliphate, wrote Sir Thomas Arnold, ―grew up without
any pre-vision‖. This was an office that developed not so much through the conscious
determination of the Rightly Guided Caliphs, but as the result of conditions that the
Ummah encountered as it matured from a tiny community in the Hijaz to a vast empire
stretching from Atlas Mountains in West Africa to the eastern edges of the Indian
subcontinent. It is not surprising, therefore, that disagreements over the function of the
Caliphate and the nature of the Ummah ultimately tore the Muslim community apart,
forever shattering any hope of preserving the unity and harmony that Muhammad
(PBUH) had envisioned for his followers. Nor is it surprising that three of the first four
leaders of Islam were killed by fellow Muslims, though it is important to recognize that
both the rebels who murdered Uthman and the Kharijies who assassinated Ali were, like
their spiritual successors among the Jihadist of today, far more concerned with
maintaining their personal ideal of Muhammad‘s community than with protecting that
community from external enemies.‖7
He further writes, ―There is no longer any such thing as Caliph (with the
dismantling of Ottoman Empire in 1924, the Caliphate abolished). With the rise of the
modern nation-state in the Middle East, Muslims have been struggling to reconcile their
dual identities as both citizens of independent sovereign states and members of a united
worldwide community. Some have argued a few of them violently, that the Caliphate
should be restored as the emblem of Muslim Unity. These Muslims believe that the ideals
5
Ibid.
6
Dr. Muhammad Hameedullah, Khutbaat e Bahawalpur, Beacon Books, Ghazni Street, Urdu
Bazar, Lahore, 2012, p. 220
7
Aslan, Raza, No God But God: The Origins, Evolution and Future of Islam, Arrow Books,
London, 2011. P. 138
28
Nation State and the Islamic concept of State: The Case study of Islamic Republic of Pakistan
of Islam and nationalism are ―diametrically opposed to each other,‖ to quote Mawlana
Mawdudi, founder of the Pakistani sociopolitical movement Jama‘at-i Islami (the Islamic
Association). Consequently, Mawlana Mawdudi and many others feel that the only
legitimate Islamic state would be a world-state ―in which the chains of racial and national
prejudices would be dismantled‖.‖8
Majid Fakhry explains the Islamic concept of state according to Ibn Khaldun in
his article as, ―Ibn Khaldun states in his famous Prolegomena, more than two centuries
before Thomas Hobbes, that the principle of political authority is power and its natural
outcome domination and conquest, which tend to generate, by way of reaction,
discontent, disaffection, and eventually open insurrection born of the ingrained clan-spirit
(asabiyah) of the group, which is the ultimate safeguard of social solidarity. To mitigate
the evils of such disruptive tendencies within the State and to ensure the stability of
political life, laws binding equally on ruler and ruled alike had to be introduced. These
laws are either promulgated by the leaders of thought in the community, in which case
our polity would be a rational or secular one; or are the product of direct, divine
legislation, in which case our polity would be a religious or theocratic one. Of the two
polities, the latter is the better and nobler, because it is not directed, like the former,
towards man's earthly welfare only, but equally towards his happiness in this life and the
life to come and is, in addition, inspired by an Omniscient Lawgiver, who knows what is
best for man. In such a polity the bearers of office are the prophets or their successors, the
caliphs, whose task consists in exacting obedience from the masses 'in accordance with
the precepts of the religious law which is directed towards their dual welfare'; whereas
the task of the bearers of office in the secular commonwealth is to exact obedience in
accordance with -the rational principle of utility, as confined to temporal welfare only.‖9
Dr. Mahmood Ahmad Ghazi writes, ―the basic and the foremost social ideal that Islam
stands for is the establishment of an Ummah – the ideal Muslim community to be the
upholder of the actual vicegerency of the Creator on earth, to be the torch bearer of the
true religion of Islam and to bear witness unto mankind. Proclaiming the establishment
and the inauguration of such an Ummah, the Quran declares: ―thus we have you an
Ummah justly balanced so that you might be witness over yourselves.‖ (2:143) On
another occasion, the Quran reports that Hazrat Ibrahim and Ismail, while busy in the
construction of the Ka‘bah, prayed,‖ Our Lord! Make us Muslims bowing to Thy, and of
our progeny a Muslim Ummah bowing to Thy, and show us our places for the celebration
of our rites and turn unto us in mercy: For Thao art the Oft-Returning and Most
Merciful.‖ (2:128) It is significant to note that the two celebrated Prophets of God longed
for the emergence of Ummah which might not necessarily be the holder of any political
power.10
He further elaborates the absence of any formal Islamic State or its need by
stating, ―It is crystal clear from the foregoing that the basic social Ideal of Islam is the
establishment of the Ummah, not the state. A State is necessary only to safeguard the
8
Ibid, p. 140
9
Majid Fakhry, The Theocratic Idea of the Islamic State in Recent Controversies, Source:
International Affairs (Royal Institute of International Affairs 1944-), Vol. 30, No.4 (Oct., 1954), pp.
450-462, Published by: Wiley on behalf of the Royal Institute of International Affairs, Stable URL:
http://www.jstor.org/stable/2608725, Accessed: 07-02-2017 14:00 UTC, See Al-Muqaddamah,
Beirut, I900, pp. 190-1.
10
Dr. Mahmood Ahmad Ghazi, Studies in the Political and Constitutional Thought of Islam,
National Book House Lahore, 1992, pp. 15-16
29
Pakistan Journal of Islamic Research Special Issue
integrity of the Ummah and for the proper and smooth execution of its collective
responsibilities. The Ummah is the ideal itself and state is the instrument to protect and
maintain this Ideal. The Quran presumes the existence of a State; it doesn’t clearly enjoin
the formation of the institution of state. It only gives general principles and norms
according to which an Islam State should be run.11 The importance the establishment of
an Islamic State comes, therefore, after the importance the establishment of an Ummah.
The establishment of an Islamic State becomes a religious obligation because it is the
foremost instrument for the execution of the collective responsibilities of the Ummah as
laid down in the Quran and the Sunnah. There is legal Maxim in Islamic jurisprudence
which goes, ―The thing which is indispensable for the execution of a religious obligation
is also obligatory.‖12
The Events Leading to State of Pakistan:
Although the War of Independence, 1958, was a collective initiative of Hindus
and Muslims, the Muslims were blamed and faced the wrath of the British Raj. Great
conflicts arose between the ruling British and the Muslim population resulting in heavy
losses for the weak Muslims. Here Sir Syed Ahmad Khan came into the limelight and
devoted his energies to reconciling the British and the Muslims. He urged Muslims to set
aside their grievances and reap the benefits of the Raj that up until now had been reserved
for only the Hindus. He urged them to learn the English language and for this he
established the Anglo-Oriental College. In doing so he became the first leader to ever
differentiate the Hindu and Muslim residents of India as two separate nations. This later
went on to become the Two Nation Theory on whose basis the Muslims of the
subcontinent demanded a separate homeland based on an amalgamation of the Islamic
concept of State and the National Concept of State under the leadership of Muhammad
Ali Jinnah and Allama Iqbal.
The first half of the twentieth century was a Period of political struggle for
freedom for the Muslims of the Indian Subcontinent. They were fighting for freedom
after a period of almost one and a half century of bondage to the British. Muslims were
led by the orthodox religious leaders on one hand, and on the other hand by the people
whose ideas were shaped in the light of modern education provided mostly by Aligarh
Muslim University. The Institution of Caliphate (Khilafah) under the leadership of
Ottomans was almost at its end. While the international hegemonic forces were planning
to breakup and abolish the Caliphate (Khilafah), on the other end of the Muslim world,
the voice was Arab Nationalism was gaining popularity. The Muslims of the Indian
Subcontinent launched the Khilafat Movement whose foremost objective was to protect
and prevent the abolishment of Caliphate (Khilafah). But Turkey‘s condition worsened.
The least which could be done under the leadership of Kemal Atta Turk by the Young
Turks was the cry for Turk Nationalism and the prevention of the breakdown of Turkey
into smaller pieces. The Last Islamic State, the only binding force for Ummah, was lost
when Kemal Atta Turk abolished the Caliphate (Khilafat) in 1924 and established a
democracy. The Muslims of the Indian Subcontinent now directed their efforts to
recreating a similar state partially based on the ideas of Islam and partially on the modern
democratic form of governance.
11
It can be implied here that the Quran is silent about the establishment of the state from no state,
as is the case of Pakistan, although it explains as to how to run it.
12
Ibid, pp.16-17
30
Nation State and the Islamic concept of State: The Case study of Islamic Republic of Pakistan
The modern concept of the Islamic state emerged as a reaction and response to the
demise of the last Caliphate in Turkey in 1924,‖13 writes Muhammad Carimo in his
article ―Islam as the national identity for the formation of Pakistan: the political thought
of Muhammad Iqbal and Abu‘l ‗Ala Mawdudi.
The Duality of the Nature of the State of Pakistan:
Since the foundation of Pakistan, it has been hanging between the two
contradicting modes of governance defined by the type of state. Although the founding
father of Pakistan, Muhammad Ali Jinnah was a modernist Muslim, he was a fervent
believer in constitutionalism and democracy, and his speeches stressed the importance of
protecting religious minorities. The Objective Resolution was the first constitutional
document that proved to be the foundation of constitutional development in Pakistan. It
provided parameters and sublime principles to the legislators. It made the constitution-
making process easier task, setting particular objectives before them that would be
acceptable to the people of Pakistan whose majority of population is comprised on
Muslims after independence. The Objectives Resolution was moved by Liaqat Ali Khan,
the then Prime Minister of Pakistan. The Constituent assembly of Pakistan deliberated
this in great details on all clauses and provisions and approved on March 12, 1949 and
this Resolution became the foundation in constitutional history of Pakistan. The
Objective Resolution is described as Magna Carta in the constitutional history of
Pakistan. The first Constituent Assembly of Pakistan that came into existence at the time
of independence in August 1947 lasted until October 1954, was performing two
functions; constitution making when it was called as constituent assembly and when it is
performing the function of law making then it was called as the legislative assembly but
the title was the Constituent Assembly of Pakistan. It is this Constituent Assembly that
passed the Objectives Resolution. The Objectives Resolution was the first constitutional
document which served as the foundation of the constitution sets out the parameters and
identified the goals and the objectives which the framers of the constitution wanted to
achieve. 14
Pakistan is called as an ―Islamic Republic‖ because it is neither a purely Islamic
State in the sense that it does not comprise of the global Ummah and an equally important
Caliphate (Khilafah) system of governance, nor entirely a nation state in the western
sense of the Nation State. This occurred because although Pakistan was created solely on
the grounds of religious division between the Hindus and the Muslims but the creation of
any Muslim religious state in the sense of Caliphate requires it to comprise of the whole
Ummah, which it doesn‘t. To solve this issue the leaders of Pakistan took on an approach
where they tried as much as possible to enforce the law of Islam which is quite apparent
from the first line of the constitution that states that sovereignty rests with Allah.
Wherever there was felt that the Islamic law was silent such as instructions as to the
setting up of social institutions and hierarchy, the Pakistani state leaned on the western
nation state mode of governance, in other words democracy, and this created a
moderately applicable set of laws which are entirely based on the Quran and Sunnah as
well as Ijtehad wherever necessary.
The Problems Faced by Pakistan:
13
Muhammad Carimo, ―Islam as the national identity for the formation of Pakistan: the political
thought of Muhammad Iqbal and Abu‘l ‗Ala Mawdudi‖
14
www.vusr.net/course/pak301-pakistan-studies/faqs/question/what-is-the-objectives-resolution-
1949-briefly-described-its-importance-in-the-constitutional-history-of-pakistan
31
Pakistan Journal of Islamic Research Special Issue
15
Stephen P. Cohen, The Idea of Pakistan, Brookings Institution Press, Washington, D.C., 2004,
p. 132
16
Ibid, p. 131
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Nation State and the Islamic concept of State: The Case study of Islamic Republic of Pakistan
such as Allama Iqbal, Dr. Fazl ur Rahman, Dr. Ali Shariati, Maalik Ben-nabi and their
contemporaries, it is of equal importance for them to be well-versed in the writings of the
Western thinkers so that the political thoughts of Muslim Scholars may be beneficial for
the whole of mankind. Apart from this, it is also crucial and obligatory for them to deeply
study the Qur‘an and Sunnah, the life of the Holy Prophet (PBUH) while staying away
from bigotry, misguided superstitions and noxious traditions because this is the only way
they can play their part in welfare of society in the twenty first century. Boasting baseless
accomplishments, without establishing a sound, secure and successful state with strong
economic, moral and political foundations, can only undermine humanity and is utterly
otiose in itself. It is right time that we devote our energies in creating a Pakistan in which
each and every citizen can live as a happy, honorable, peaceful and efficient part of the
state. A state envisioned by Allama Dr. Muhammad Iqbal and Quid-e-Azam Muhammad
Ali Jinnah.‖17
17
Javed, Maulana Altaf, Jadeed Islami Riyasat, Ikeesween Sadi K Tanazur Main, Institute of
Islamic Culture, Lahore, 2015, p.29
33