Book: Pakistan: A Kaleidoscope of Islam
Author: Marium Abou Zahab
Publisher: C. Hurst & Co. Ltd
Publishing Year: 2020
Publishing Place: United Kingdom
Series Editor: Christophe Jaffrelot
Pakistan: A Kaleidoscope of Islam is an impressive book that gathers the academic essays written by Marium Abou Zahab during her lifetime regarding the detrimental effects of Islamism and sectarianism on social, political, and economic facets of Afghan and Pakistani society. The book got published in 2020, after her death in 2017.
Marie-Pierre Walquemanne, a French scholar, was born in 1952 and became Marium Abou Zahab later after she accepted Islam in 1975. In 1973–74, she traveled to and became interested in Pakistan, Afghanistan, and India. Her language abilities were superb; she could fluently speak Punjabi, Hindi/Urdu, Arabic, Persian, and Pushto. That’s why she was able to comprehend the rich cultural variety and religious foundations more thoroughly as a result, and she declared herself a Shiite Muslim.
She was a participant observer in various conflicts and wars in the Middle East and west Asia, in particular in Afghanistan. She started to fight with Jihadist in 1983 by supporting Yaseer Arafat’s PLO. Her romance with Pashtun freedom fighters had numerous stories associated with it. She was known as Marium Jan and Sheenogai (green-eyed beauty) in Pakhtoon society. It was also assumed that she led various war fronts in Afghanistan and Palestine as well and actively played her effective role in these regions in the name of the Holy War.
Before reading the book, my expectations from the title were that this book would be able to comprehend and explain different shades of Islam in Pakistan. It will explore the reasons behind this division of society because of sectarianism and Islamism and the prevailing environment for them, along with interesting stories. I further got excited when I read its first page of preface, which mentioned an interesting excerpt from ‘To the Mountains: My Life in Jihad from Algeria to Afghanistan’ fame.”
Between Marium and Abdullah Anas, Mariam informs him that during the 1980s, she was in Afghanistan. She giggled when Anas asked if she was an aid worker or a journalist. After more questioning, he was taken aback when she said, “Jihad.”
This book is a collection of different essays from various books mainly published by Hurst over the years. This book’s preface, “Scholar with a Cause,” is written by Laurent Gayer. Meanwhile, Introduction Part, “Marium Abou Zahab’s Multiscalar Approach to Islamism: The Social and Local Roots of Sectarianism and Jihadism in Pakistan,” is written by Christophe Jafferlot. Additionally, Marium’s written work includes collaborations with other writers that align with her thoughts and ideas.
The book is divided into 4 parts and 10 chapters. My understanding of this book is as discussed below.
Marium’s work on sectarianism and Islamism never mentioned the word religion in her findings. That could be because of her religious affiliations, but according to her, the cultural and social aspects of Islam do not align with the universal and singular concept of Islam. She argued that religion is often used as a tool for acquiring social, economic, and political advantages, and it is also exploited in the name of these vulnerabilities. She further asserted the role of the Army and Inter-Services Intelligence Agency of Pakistan in exploiting these vulnerabilities and promoting sectarianism and Islamism. Additionally, in this context, the role of the Iranian Revolution in sectarian conflicts could also not be neglected, as Marium shed light on this by saying that “the Iranian Revolution inspired Pakistani Shias and promoted their politicization.” She defined sectarianism as:
“a phenomenon of collective outburst against structures of power that must be pressurized or done away with.”.
According to her, South Punjab’s social dynamics of dominance and exclusion are the origins of sectarianism. It is true that the State supported extremist Sunni organisations like SSP in order to achieve its goals for both domestic and international policy, but these organisations could not have survived for as long as they did without commanding the support of the majority of Jhang society. The Madrasas in the area, which multiplied because the local landlords forbade the opening of schools there and so served as the poor people’s sole means of education, served as the backbone of support for these radical organisations.
Additionally, Marium pointed the attention to one more narrative that is The claim that East Pakistani refugees had completely assimilated with Pakistani Punjabis was untrue; only the Urdu-speaking Karachi Muhajirs continued to distinguish themselves from the Sindhis.
Various scholars may or may not agree with her view points but acclaim her as an excellent and profound scholar with remarkable analytic and ethnographic research skills. Meanwhile, she did not care much about the structural requirements for the writings and did not follow the conventional methods of compiling the findings. She explained the overall concepts and scenarios as a story fused with the ground realities. She mentioned those things that conventional writers or non-observant writers would never be able to write about. She focused more on social frustration than on the pictures of Jihadism and sectarianism in Pakistan; that’s why her work rejected instrumentalism. Rather, she used a more constructivist approach in her work, explaining the new identities emerging from sectarianism. She described the factors like social antagonism and economic deprivation behind sectarianism and Islamism in Pakistan as their motivations or enabling factors. She acquired a biographical approach covering the social motivations of various people in these organizations, such as Azim Tariq, Sheik Omar Saeed, Masood Azhar, Mufti Nizammuddin Shamzai, etc. Meanwhile, while explaining the Sunni activism of Sipah-e-Sahaba (SSP), the Jhang paradigm, and Talibanization in FATA, she resorted to local factors and identity crisis’ factors behing such extremisms; a conflict between the powerful tribal elders, known as “mashars,” and the younger, poorer, and helpless “kashars”. The goal therefore becomes to use Islamism as a tool to subvert the prevailing tribal rules that upheld the authority of the “mashars” by the “Kashars”.
The final section of the book discusses the fusion of Sunni militant groups and Jihadis, a development she claims acquired impetus following the 2007 attack on the Lal Masjid. Sectarianism is on the rise in Pakistan’s settled areas as well as the Tribal Agencies as a result of growing Talibanization. These days, widespread attacks against Shias and other minorities are the norm in these areas, particularly in Khurram Agency, where Shias make up almost 40% of the population. This dispute also has a socioeconomic component because Sunnis are resentful of the Shias’ relative prosperity in this region.
Mariam’s work explained those realities and aspects of concepts, thus shaping and molding the preexisting narratives. Though her work might be biased because of her inclination towards Shiite Islam and Najaf, she tried her best not to let it impact her work. One must be open-minded, very keen, and observant while studying this book and understanding her concepts. It also mentioned various points that could have led to serious debate in Pakistan as being unacceptable in society. Ironically, it would not be wrong to say that this book would have either not been published or could have been banned in Pakistan because a few of its quotations refer to Taliban, Jihadism, and sectarian conflicts mainly in Zia-ul-Haq’s era. She in detail also explained the role of transnational state and non-state actors such as Al-Qaeda in fueling such conflicts and aiding Jihadis in Pakistan. The Osama bin Laden killing in Pakistan further led to several controversies and terrorist activities in Pakistan. It’s also to be noted that these all extremist organizations, such as SSP, JeM, LeJ, etc., at the global level, being warriors of God, are all different wings of the same party. LeJ mainly exploits the financial conditions and plays with the psychologies of the local people for recruitment, and religion and other social, economic, and political factors are used as tools for recruitment and loyalty building.
It was an excellent book undoubtedly and enjoyed reading it thoroughly. It is a must read for all those who want to understand the dynamics of sectarianism, Talibanization and Islamism in Pakistan.