by Editor (Editorials, Crescent International Vol. 33, No. 6, Jumada' al-Akhirah, 1425)
It is hard to believe now that when Pakistan was created as a state for the Muslims of the Indian subcontinent in 1947, it was seen as a triumph and a cause for celebration for Muslims all over the world...
It is hard to believe now that when Pakistan was created as a state for the Muslims of the Indian subcontinent in 1947, it was seen as a triumph and a cause for celebration for Muslims all over the world. In the last 57 years the incompetence, corruption and failures of its rulers have become legendary, and the inability of its Islamic movements to provide the leadership Pakistani Muslims need is now largely taken for granted. Today, Muslims around the world look for leadership and inspiration to Islamic movements in Iran, Egypt, Turkey, Sudan, Lebanon, even Palestine and Chechnya; but such has been the disillusion and disappointment with Pakistan that few expect its Muslims to offer anything to the rest of the Ummah in the foreseeable future.
Given the repeated failures of Islamic movements in Pakistan to rise about nationalist politics and sectarian disputes, this is perhaps understandable. However, Muslims around the world also recognise the commitment that Pakistani Muslims have shown for Islam as and when they have been called to do so. What the Muslims of Pakistan have lacked has never been commitment; it has always been leadership. In this Pakistan is not alone. All over the Muslim world we have seen Islamic movements repeatedly failing to address the real issues confronting the people led, and the same political mistakes and failures for which Pakistan has become notorious.
Fifty-seven years after its creation, Pakistan remains a microcosm of the state of the Ummah. And, if we go by the commitment of its people, rather than by the performance of its leaders -- Islamic and otherwise -- it also retains the potential to play a leading role in the future regeneration of the fortunes of the Ummah, insha’Allah.
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