Negotiating Pakistan: a Genealogy of a Post-Colonial Islamic State
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Negotiating Pakistan: A Genealogy of a Post-colonial Islamic State by Syed Adnan Hussain A thesis submitted in conformity with the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Department for the Study of Religion University of Toronto © Copyright by Syed Adnan Hussain 2015 ii Negotiating Pakistan: A Genealogy of a Post-colonial Islamic State Syed Adnan Hussain Doctor of Philosophy Department for the Study of Religion University of Toronto 2015 i. Abstract This dissertation explores the possibilities of Islamic statehood in post-colonial Pakistan through the works of three figures involved in framing the idea of the Islamic state: W.C. Smith, Muhammad Asad, and Muhammad Munir. Each of these three thinkers owes their position and prestige to the dynamics of colonialism, either as one employed in colonial educational institutions and the western academic study of Islam (Smith), or one involved in the critique of empire (Asad), or one tasked with adjudicating the new post-colonial state and its relationship to Islam (Munir). Although their projects embraced to some extent an extension of the colonial state’s hegemonic practices of domination and control, the state was seen by these thinkers as a space in which liberal values could be impregnated with Islamic authenticity. Each of them would find ready opponents amongst the ‘ulama and the Jama’at, who imagined the creation of Pakistan as an opportunity to return to a precolonial past. In exploring these stories, I aim to complicate the genealogy of the Islamic state idea as it was conceived in Pakistan and to provide a perspective from which to understand the ongoing struggles of the Pakistani state to come to terms with both its religious and secular heritage. iii ii. Note On Transliteration Transliteration when dealing with Islam in South Asia tends to be a touchy subject. A large number of Arabic loan words have found their way into Urdu, particularly in areas of law and politics. This transfer has introduced several problems, among these the one posed by the Arabic letters Alif and Ain. Unlike their pronunciation in most Arabic dialects, the Alif and Ain of words borrowed from Arabic are not vocalized differently when spoken in Urdu. For example, and is pronounced by (”ع“) my name, Adnan, is rooted in Arabic. There it is written with an Ain 1.(”ا“) Arabic speakers as such. In Pakistan, it is pronounced as if it began with the Arabic Alif As a result of such cross-language transfers, transliteration into English from Urdu of terms borrowed from Arabic may look different than transliteration directly from Arabic. One option, of course, would be to write all Arabic loan words in Arabic standard transliteration (ALA-LC). This has a tendency, however, to give legitimacy to the terms in Arabic at the expense of the terms as they are actually said and heard by Urdu speakers. My compromise in this thesis is to use Arabic transliteration when dealing with classical legal terms or with the use of a term in Islamic legal history. If I am discussing a concept drawn from Urdu discussions, I will use an Urdu transliteration that, even if it differs slightly from transliteration choices made by other scholars, will at least be consistent throughout this document.2 . اعدنان As a child learning to write, an older friend unfamiliar with how to spell my name taught me to write it as 1 When I tried to impress my Arabic teacher by writing my name on the board, she smiled and then encouraged me to write it fifty times more in the correct way. There I stood, a child deeply betrayed by his own name. On the difficulties of standardizing Urdu and the attempts to create a standard transliteration systems see: Tafseer Ahmed, "Roman to Urdu Transliteration Using Word List" (paper presented at the Conference of Language and Techonology, Lahore, 2009). 2 I have grounded the Romanisation of Urdu in Ayesha Jalal’s uses of the terms in her books. See gen. Ayesha Jalal, Self and Sovereignty : Individual and Community in South Asian Islam since 1850 (London ; New York: Routlege, 2000). iv iii. Acknowledgments As with any project that enjoys many years of labour, those owed thanks are legion. First and foremost, thanks are owed to my beloved Erin Luther who remains for me the most extraordinary person to draw breath and whose strength I owe the lives our two sons. To my darling Ilyas and Faiz, you redefine joy itself. None of these words would be possible without the continued support and love of my parents Ismet and Faiyaz, my sister Adeela and Tim my brother-in-law. Mohammad Fadel has served as a profound interlocutor and guide; you continue to inspire me. To Anver Emon I am thankful for the gifts of confidence and for every door of opportunity you have flung open. To Francis Cody and Amira Mittermaier who have always afforded me excellent advice, and posed challenging questions. In addition, thanks are due to Amir Hussain, who proved an extraordinary external reviewer, and I was lucky to have an editor of the highest order making final suggestions. Others are owed thanks for friendship, excellent conversation and guidance including Karen Ruffle, Laury Silvers, Fereshteh Hashemi, Ken Derry, El Farouk Khaki, Troy Jackson, Maggie Abdul Masih, Edith Szanto, Donald Andrew Grant, Anne Marie Dalton, Cole Sadler, Ajay Rao, and many others. A special thanks to Kem Luther for his keen editing. Also to the many family members and friends in Karachi that opened their homes to me as these words took shape. And to the memories of the Park View Apartments flats seven and eight, where I first began to question. v iv. Table of Contents i. Abstract .................................................................................................................................... ii ii. Note On Transliteration ...................................................................................................... iii iii. Acknowledgments............................................................................................................... iv iv. Table of Contents ................................................................................................................. v 1.0 Chapter One ...................................................................................................................... 1 1.1 Introduction and Scope of the Study ..................................................................................... 1 1.2 Secularism and the Nation ............................................................................................ 6 1.3 Methodological Concerns: Post-Orientalist Histories and Genealogy ....................... 10 1.4 Recent Scholarly Studies on the Islamic State ........................................................... 20 1.5 Maududi and his Islamic State.................................................................................... 25 1.6 The Approach of the ‘ulama ....................................................................................... 30 1.7 Organisation of Chapters ............................................................................................ 32 2.0 Chapter Two ................................................................................................................... 35 2.1 Introduction ................................................................................................................ 37 2.2 Orientalism and W.C. Smith....................................................................................... 41 2.2.1 Framing Orientalism ........................................................................................... 42 2.2.2 Smith as an Orientalist ........................................................................................ 46 2.3 Smith’s Islamic State .................................................................................................. 55 2.4 Background 1939-1949 ............................................................................................. 55 2.5 Pakistan as an Islamic State, 1951 ............................................................................. 58 2.6 Later Developments, Islam in Modern History 1957 ................................................. 63 3.0 Chapter Three ................................................................................................................. 73 3.1 Introduction: From Leopold Weiss to Muhammad Asad .................................................... 75 3.2 Laying the Foundations: Asad in India .............................................................................. 83 3.3 Framing the Ideological Principles of Pakistan 1946-1948 ................................................ 89 3.4 Asad and Islamic Constitution Making ............................................................................... 94 3.5 Conclusions: The Unrealised State ................................................................................... 110 4.0 Chapter Four ......................................................................................................................... 118 4.1 Introduction ....................................................................................................................... 118 4.2 Common Law reaches the Colony .................................................................................... 120 4.3 Colonial Structures in the Post-colony .............................................................................. 128 vi 4.4 South Asian Islamic Modernism and Muhammad Munir