Jamaat-e-Islami

This article is about Jamaat-e-Islami Pakistan.For other organizations of similar name see Jamaat-e-Islami (Disambiguation)

Jamaat-e-Islami
جماعتِ اسلامی
Leader Syed Munawar Hasan
Founder Sayyid Abul A'la Maududi
Founded 26 August 1941
Ideology Islam
Muslim Nationalism
International affiliation No affiliation
Official colors Green, White, Blue
Website
http://jamaat.org
Pakistan

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The Jamaat-e-Islami [1] (Urdu: جماعتِ اسلامی, Jamaat-i-Islami, "Islamic Party" Jamaat, JI) is a Muslim religious and political party in Pakistan. It was founded on 26 August 1941 in Lahore by Muslim theologian Maulana Sayyid Abul Ala Maududi.[2] and is the oldest religious party in Pakistan.[2]

Founded during British rule in India, the Jamaat moved its organisation after the partition of India to the newly-created Muslim state of Pakistan. The members who remained in India regrouped to form an independent organization called Jamaat-e-Islami Hind. The Jamaat opposed the independence of Bangladesh, but established itself there as an independent political party, the Jamaat-e-Islami Bangladesh after 1975. There is also a Jamaat offshoot in Sri Lanka. The Jamaat maintains close ties with international Muslim groups such as the Muslim Brotherhood. Within Pakistan, the Jamaat leads the Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal alliance of religious parties.[2]. A vanguard party, its members (or arkan) form an elite with "affiliates" (mutaffiq) and then "sympathisers" (hamdard) beneath them.[2]

The Jamaat's objectives are the "Iqamat-e-Deen" or "Nizam-e-Mustafa" - the establishment of a pure Islamic state, governed by Sharia law. The Jamaat opposes Westernization, ideologies such as capitalism, socialism and secularism, and practices such as bank interest and liberalist social mores.[3]

Contents

History

The party was founded in British India on 26 August 1941 by Syedd Abul Ala Maududi as a movement to promote Islamic values and practices. It is not simply a religious or political party. It bears the logo from a verse in the Quran " Ud-Khulu Fis-Silmi Kaffa" meaning "Enter In Islam Full Fledge" - Take Islam as a complete way of life.

This movement and its constitution has following major notable points:

1)) Human kind will find peace and growth only when it will accept and practise true teachings of God "Allah" in all spheres of its life, from individual level to national and international levels. These teachings are presented by prophets in different ages and Muhammad has left the last book of God - The Quran - in its original form and his personal teachings are recorded in different hadiths which are sufficient to establish a complete code of life.

2)) This movement will not adopt any illegal or underground means to come to power. It will educate people in the first course about real Islamic Values and participate in elections.

With the support of common Pakistanis, the JI organized a movement in 1948 to convince government to initiate Islamic Constitution. As a result, The Constitution Preamble, commonly known as "Qaraardad e Maqasid" was approved by the national assembly which in principle accepts that all laws and amendments will be Islamic or made Islamic.

The writings of Maududi gained a wide audience. It is to be noted that in JI no body asks for any position or responsibility. It is the movement which elects its top leadership to lead. On health grounds Mr. maududi excused to lead the movement in 1972 and requested the Top Elected Body of the movement "Shoura" to select someone else to perform the duties of Chief " Ameer".

Liberal groups in Pakistan raised the question of whether the JI could be regarded as a political party or a subversive group. The Pakistani supreme court ruled in favor of the JI as a "legitimate political group". They became an opposition party from 1950-1977.

By 1976, Jamaat's street power multiplied by 2,000,000 new entrants when it swore to organize marches to Islamabad for implementing Sharia. In 1977, Maududi cobbled together a grand alliance of rightist parties and launched a "civil disobedience campaign", leading to his arrest. So powerful had [Jamaat] become in Islamist ranks by then that the Sunni government of Saudi Arabia personally intervened to secure Maududi's release by dangling the specter of "revolution" in Pakistan.[4]

Initially supporting the incoming President of Pakistan, General Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq, they had conflicts with the decade-long Zia regime when he chose to ban student unions in 1988, including the ones under JI, such as the IJT. The IJT became major recruiting grounds for the ranks of the JI and they havoc the concept of student unions.[3]

In their aggressive support for Islamization of Pakistan, they piloted the Sharia bill through the Pakistani Senate in 1986. Over the course of the 1990s their influence diminished somewhat. In the 1993 national elections, the JI captured only 3 seats in the national assembly.[3]

During the democratic interlude of 1988-99, the Jamaat continued to act as an "eternal opponent" of non-Islamic rulers, while grabbing power-sharing chances, especially under Nawaz Sharif.[4] The 1999 Pervez Musharraf coup was welcomed by the JI, but once Musharraf started reforms, they turned against him and started preaching radical Islamism, warning that "Pakistan's destiny lay in the Islamic revolution" and that party workers "were ready to sacrifice their lives for the cause of Almighty Allah and His Prophets".[4]

In the legislative elections of Pakistan on October 20, 2002, [Jamaat-e-Islami] got 53 out of 272 elected members. http://massmediapk.blogspot.com

Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal

JI was a member of the Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA, United Council of Action, United Front), a coalition between religious-political parties in Pakistan. The MMA has denounced President Musharraf for "betraying" the Taliban and siding with the U.S. against them. They reject any attempts to settle the Kashmir dispute with India peacefully and support the Kashmir "Jihad". The MMA also denounces the presence of American troops and agencies in Pakistan. .[5]

Views and platform

The JI website gives the party's position on various matters in a statement on "Objectives, Goals and Approach."[6]

War

JI believes that war and organized violence "...flows from man’s lack of complete allegiance to God Almighty as a supreme Creator,"[6] although it supports armed jihad in Indian-held Kashmir.

Kashmir and India

For more details on this topic, see Indo-Pakistani wars and conflicts.

Pakistan and India have fought three wars, in two of them the casus belli was the disputed Kashmir region.

In 2002, President Musharraf prohibited the movement of armed militants across the Line of Control that divides the disputed territory. His pledge to stop militants from crossing the line was a significant factor in the easing of tensions with India.[7]

JI organized a protest rally against his action. Qazi Hussain Ahmed, president of JI, said Pakistan-administered Kashmir was the base-camp for the jihad (holy war) in Indian-administered Kashmir and no one in Pakistan had the right to create obstacles in its way. He said the people of Pakistan were not afraid of another war with India and demanded President Musharraf take a firmer stand in support of the struggle of the Kashmir's Muslims.[7]

Prejudice

"The Jamaat-e-Islami is an ideological party, devoid of any trace of expediency, power-politics, prejudices of caste, colour, country, language and nationality." [6] In the Islamic state it seeks, however, only Muslims would have ruling positions.

JI is not opposed to discrimination against the Ahmadiyya sect, which it believes is un-Islamic. It has been accused of "fomenting religious violence against [Ahmadis] and other religious minorities."[8][9]

Human rights

JI sets forth that, "Islam has laid down universal fundamental rights for humanity which are to be observed and respected in all circumstances." They state, "...it is not permissible to oppress women, children, old people, the sick or the wounded; women's honour and chastity must be respected; the hungry must be fed, the naked clothed and the wounded or diseased treated medically irrespective of whether they belong to the Islamic community or are from amongst its enemies."[10]

Non-Muslim rights

"The life, property and honour of a Non-Muslim is to be respected and protected in exactly the same way as that of a Muslim citizen. Nor is there difference between a Muslim and a Non-Muslim citizen in respect of civil or criminal law. The Islamic state may not interfere with the personal rights of Non-Muslims, who have full freedom of conscience and belief and are at liberty to perform their religious rites and ceremonies in their own way."[10]

While the JI platform states there is no difference between a Muslim and a Non-Muslim in respect to law, the JI supported the Hudood Ordinance which states if a Muslim is accused of rape, all witnesses against him (other than the victim) must be Muslims themselves.

The Founder of the Jamaat has a clear and loud policy about death punishment for apostasy. He writes: “Whenever the death penalty for apostasy is enforced in a new Islamic state, then Muslims are kept within Islam’s fold. But there is a danger that a large number of hypocrites will live alongside them. They will always pose a danger of treason….. My solution to the problem is this. That whenever an Islamic revolution takes place, all non-practicing Muslims should, within one year, declare their turning away from Islam and get out of Muslim society. After one year all born Muslims will be considered Muslim. All Islamic laws will be enforced upon them. They will be forced to practice all the fara id and wajibat of their religion and, if anyone then wishes to leave Islam, he will be executed. Every effort will be made to save as many people as possible from falling into the lap of kufr. But those who cannot be saved will be reluctantly separated from society forever [executed]. After this purification Islamic society will start afresh with Muslims who have decided voluntarily to remain Muslims.” He says: There is one final question about capital punishment which may disturb many of us. A non-Muslim who freely embraced Islam then returned to kufr can be said to have made a deliberate mistake. He could have remained a dhimmi, so why enter a religion of collective responsibility from which there is no escape? But what of the person who was born of Muslim parents and who has not embraced Islam? He is a Muslim by birth. If, on reaching adulthood, he wants to reject the faith, you threaten him with execution and he remains Muslim. This is unjust. And it also provides sustenance to the ever-growing number of born hypocrites in Muslim society. There are two answers to this question, one deals with the practical aspect, the other with the principle. In principle there can be no distinction between the born followers of a religion and that religion’s converts. And no religion has ever made that distinction. Both converts and born followers are governed by the same laws. It is both impossible and a logical absurdity to treat the children of the followers of a religion as kufar or aliens till they are adults, then give them the choice of choosing or rejecting the religion (or citizenship, for that matter) of their birth. No society in the world could manage its affairs in this way.22 This means we do not compel anyone to embrace our religion. This is true. But we must warn anyone who wishes to recant that this door is impassable to free traffic. If you wish to come, do so with the firm decision that you cannot escape. There are only two methods of dealing with an apostate. Either make him an outlaw by depriving him of his citizenship and allowing him mere existence, or end his life. The first method is definitely more severe than the second, because he exists in a state in which ‘he neither lives nor dies.’28 Killing him is preferable. That way both his agony and the agony of society are ended simultaneously.

This was the policy adopted by the Prophetsa and his rightly guided caliphs. Arabia, where the Muslim Party was first formed, was the first to be subdued. After this the Prophetsa sent invitations to all neighboring countries. But he did not wait to see whether they were accepted or not. As soon as he acquired power, he started the conflict with the Roman Empire. Abu Bakr became the leader of the party after the Prophetsa and attacked both the Roman and Persian Empires, while Umar finally won the war. (Ref: Maulana Abut Ala Maududi, Murtadd ki saza Islami qanun main , (Lahore: Islamic Publications Ltd, 1981 8th ed.)

Women's rights

Jamaat-e-Islami states, "The Muslim woman is accorded full spiritual and intellectual equality with man...", their position on women's rights is from a "Islamic point of view" which, the party claims, is more dignified than international beliefs of equal rights.[11]

Unlike Western ideals, women are not considered to have the same roles as men (other than those restricted by biology) but that both men and women have separate but equal duties and rights.

"Anything a wife earns is her own to dispose of, either to use it herself or to contribute it to the family budget if she wishes.", however she, "is to recognize her husband as the person responsible for the running of the affairs of the family, and thus to obey him even if his judgment is not acceptable to her, in a particular matter, provided he does not go beyond the limits of Islam."[12]

Jamaat-e-Islami feels that Muslim woman have the right to property after a divorce. However, the man receives twice the amount of the woman of their joint property. Since the man is supposed to provide for the maintenance of all the women and children in their family, it is considered fair since the woman's share is for herself alone.[13]

When a woman goes out in public, "...she is expected to wear a dress which will cover all parts of her body except for hands and face and which should not reveal the shape of the figure."[14] Men are also supposed to dress modestly, however in practice their attire is less restricted since women were more oppressed in the past (rape, etc.) and had no rights then men. They are required to wear modest cloths because that would protect them from any kind of attack from the stranger or that which will less tempt the stranger who is gazing at her.

Adultery and Rape

Failure to prove rape places the woman at risk of prosecution for the accusing an innocent man of adultery, which does not require such strong evidence or the woman could be accused of adultery herself, if she is married. However, Muhammad Taqi Usmani who was instrumental in drafting the Hudood Ordinance, claims that, "she cannot be punished in case she is unable to present 4 witnesses."[15]

As a result of these issues and international pressure, the Women's Protection Bill was passed by the National Assembly of Pakistan on 15 November 2006. This Bill brings rape under the Pakistan Penal Code, which is based on civil law. The Bill removes the right of police to detain people suspected of doing unlawful things outside of marriage, instead requiring a formal accusation in court. Under the changes, adultery and non-marital consensual sex is still an offense but now judges would be allowed to try rape cases in criminal. That also requires the needs for the four witnesses and allows convictions to be made on the basis of forensic and circumstantial evidence.

The MMA opposed the Women's Protection Bill. Samia Raheel Qazi, MP and daughter of Qazi Hussain Ahmed stated, "We have been against the bill from the start. The Hudood Ordinance was devised by a highly qualified group of ulema (Islamic scholars), and is beyond question". The Jamaat-e-Islami believe that the bill did not need scrapping, but needed to be applied in a fairer way, and undestood properly by judges.

Activities

The Jamat is very active in the field of Dawah (Missionary movement), Tarbiyah (Islamic education) and Tanzeem (arrangement) almost in all the areas of Pakistan. It has a strong body in each province which is further divided in district, cities, towns and village zones and sectors. Jamat has also its unions for doctors, teachers and workers and the same is in the female wing of Jamat Halqa Khawateen (circle of women).

Neither the "Islamic theodemocracy" nor the "Islamic economy" of the JI have been attained, and though their leader, Qazi Hussain rhetorically claims that "Allah will rule in Islamabad in five years", his organization still remains on the fringes within Pakistan.[4]

Their failures in Pakistan are matched by their successes in foreign Islamist support and militant actions. Their faith in Islamic Jihad gave them sizable currency among the Mujahideen in Afghanistan, Kashmir and other areas troubled by insurgency. They have links with many international militant groups, such as the Hizb-i-Islami during the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan.[4] Jamaat's profession of imparting "Muslims the religious instruction that they lack" has acted as a decoy for training and indoctrination of thousands of mujahideen to fight not only in Afghanistan but also as far as Chechnya, Bosnia, Sinkiang, Nagorno-Karabagh and Southeast Asia. One of the more fascinating strategies of the ISI-Jamaat nexus in Central Asia is to "disintegrate the Russian Federation itself and the recomposition of a new structure dominated by conservative Islamist regimes".[4]

The JI was initially supported by the Inter-Services Intelligence, but the capture of Kabul by the Taliban was as setback for JI on account of their sympathies with the Northern Alliance. Thus, the ISI, which backed the Taliban initially, alienated the JI. They are alleged to have contacts with separatist groups in Kashmir. It has been suggested that JI is supported by the Pakistani state in its Kashmiri activities because it is the only separatist organization in Kashmir committed to unification with Pakistan. It has also been alleged that JI maintains camps in Kashmir for training militants, both Kashmiri and foreign, for 'Jihad against India'.

Various Islamic groups are engaged in competition in trying to provide relief efforts to earthquake victims in Pakistan. Jamaat-e-Islami and affiliated groups have been involved in such efforts in the Pakistani city of Balakot.[16]

Allegation of links to Extremism

In a 1993 US Congressional Report, it is stated that Hizbul Mujahideen has been supported by, and closely affiliated with Jamaat-i-Islami, "from which they receive funding, weapons and training assistance beyond the ISI's contribution. Following the organizational principles recommended by Tehran and Khartoum, the movement has transformed into the Kashmiri Jamaat-i-Islami, under Abdul-Majid Dar, with a quasi-legal character emphasizing educational and social activism, with the Hizbul Mujahideen as the clandestine terrorist arm." Regarding the training of Kashmiri Islamic militants, the report states that, "Islamist indoctrination and other assistance is provided the Jamaat-i-Islami of Pakistan."[17]

Khurshid Ahmed, writes on Jamaat.org, "The reason of war is Islamic forces’ meddling in Kashmir where religious parties’ role, and particularly of Jamaat-e-Islami, is highlighted. Collaboration and cooperation between the military and the Islamic forces is held responsible for the situation."[18]

The Times of India reports, "The Hizbul Mujahideen had borne the brunt of counter-insurgency operations for the past two years. He also found its political wing, the Jamaat-e-Islami, and its ameer, Ghulam Mohammed Butt, stressing the necessity for dialogue."[19]

See also

Personalities

Islamic

The Jamaat is often mentioned as a major Islamic party, being the largest "religious party" in one of the largest Muslim countries in the world. Topics related to the wider discussion include:

Islam-related

Other topics related to Muslims in South Asia

References

  1. ↑ : UN to Ban Jamaat Islami
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 GlobalSecurity.org: Jamaat-e-Islami
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Jamaat-i-Islami Federal Research Division US Library of Congress
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 Grare, Fredric, Anatomy of Islamism, Political Islam in the Indian Subcontinent,Manohar Publishers, New Delhi, 2001. ISBN 81-7304-404-X
  5. ↑ Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA), GlobalSecurity.org, Retrieved 2007-6-20
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 Objectives, Goals and Approach, Jamaat-e-Islami Pakistan, Retrieved 2007-6-20
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 BBC News. 11 June, 2002, Musharraf denounced over Kashmir
  8. ↑ Report on The Situation of Ahmadi Muslims in Pakistan
  9. ↑ Bangladesh: Government Fails to Act Against Religious Violence (Human Rights Watch, 16-6-2005)
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 The Political Framework Of Islam, Jamaat-e-Islami Pakistan, Retrieved 2007-6-20
  11. ↑ Woman in Islam, Jamaat-e-Islami Pakistan, Retrieved 2007-6-19
  12. ↑ Rights and Obligations, Jamaat-e-Islami Pakistan, Retrieved 2007-6-20
  13. ↑ Divorce, Jamaat-e-Islami Pakistan, Retrieved 2007-6-20
  14. ↑ Dress, Jamaat-e-Islami Pakistan, Retrieved 2007-6-20
  15. ↑ Mufti Taqi Usmani (retired judge), The Reality of ‘Women Protection Bill’
  16. ↑ [1]
  17. ↑ The New Islamist International:Task Force on Terrorism & Unconventional Warfare. Report February 1, 1993
  18. ↑ Jamaat-e-Islami Pakistan: Pakistan: Crises and the Way Out
  19. ↑ The Time of India: Why the Hizb talked and why it'll talk again

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