Politics of Exclusion: Muslim Nationalism, State Formation and Legal Representations of the Ahmadiyya Community in Pakistan by Sadia Saeed A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy (Sociology) in The University of Michigan 2010 Doctoral Committee: Professor George P. Steinmetz, Chair Professor Howard A. Kimeldorf Associate Professor Fatma Muge Gocek Associate Professor Genevieve Zubrzycki Professor Mamadou Diouf, Columbia University © Sadia Saeed 2010 2 Dedication This dissertation is dedicated to my parents with my deepest love, respect and gratitude for the innumerable ways they have supported my work and choices. ii Acknowledgements I would like to begin by acknowledging the immense support my parents have given me every step of the way during my (near) decade in graduate school. I have dedicated this dissertation to them. My ammi and baba have always believed in my capabilities to accomplish not only this dissertation but much more in life and their words of love and encouragement have continuously given me the strength and the will to give my research my very best. My father‘s great enthusiasm for this project, his intellectual input and his practical help and advice during the fieldwork of this project have been formative to this project. I would like to thank my dissertation advisor George Steinmetz for the many engaged conversations about theory and methods, for always pushing me to take my work to the next level and above all for teaching me to recognize and avoid sloppiness, caricatures and short-cuts. It is to him that I owe my greatest intellectual debt. I would also like to thank my dissertation committee members Fatma Muge Gocek, Genevieve Zubrzycki, Mamadou Diouf and Howard Kimeldorff. Muge has constantly reminded me to critically appraise my own subject position in relation to the choices I have made in my intellectual endeavors. Her advice to delve fully into the lives, motivations and experiences of the ―subjects‖ of my study before arriving at theoretical conclusions has been pivotal to this project. In addition to the many and amazing ways that she has provided intellectual feedback as well as impress on me the importance of iii making my work accessible to a larger audience, Genevieve has been a role model with regard to balancing being a parent, teacher and scholar. Her dedication to all of these varied pursuits has been a constant source of hope and inspiration for me. From Professor Diouf, I have learnt the importance of critically considering ―general‖ theory and the ways in which trajectories of global historical inequalities make their ways – often silently – into the world of academic discourses. Professor Diouf has always being there for me with advice in spite of his relocation to New York and his many responsibilities and engagements. Last, even though he joined my dissertation committee very near the end, Howard has been reading my work almost throughout. I would like to thank him for always having his office doors open to me, for his warmth, kindness and continuous support. I could not have wished for a better Chair of the Sociology Department! I would also like to thank other professors at Michigan who have engaged with, read and commented on my work, in particular Julia Adams, Peggy Somers, Jeff Paige, Robert Jansen, Barbara Metcalf and Fernando Coronil. My research would not have been possible without the help of a great number of people who have spoken to me about my research, answered my questions and provided me with invaluable resources for carrying out this project. First, I would like to thank all the Ahmadis who have trusted me enough to speak candidly with me and for their support as a community in carrying out my research. By giving me access to their homes, their libraries and their community, they have enriched me. I would particularly like to mention Mujeebur Rehman for the many hours of interviews that he has granted me. Equally, I would like to thank all the individuals who have allowed me to question them on the sensitive political and religious issues central to my project. I admire the iv candidness and integrity of all the people I have spoken to and hope that by bringing all of their stories together in my narrative, we can undertake a collective reappraisal of our present. It has been my privilege to know all of my interviewees. This dissertation would not have been possible without the immense help and patience I have received from the personnel at various archives and other research sites I have visited. I would like to begin by thanking the staff at National Archives of Pakistan, National Library of Pakistan and the National Documentation Center. The help I received from them throughout the arduous process of digging old newspapers and archives and photocopying and scanning them cannot be adequately expressed in words. I would also like to thank the personnel at the Aalmi Majlis-e-Tahaffuz-e-Khatam-e-Nabuwwat’s head offices in Multan, the Khilafat Library at Rabwah and the Ahmadiyya Community Center in Islamabad for facilitating my research. The research for this dissertation was funded by a number of sources. A fellowship from the American Institute of Pakistan Studies allowed me to spend considerable time in the British Library in U.K. I have also received various grants and fellowships from various University of Michigan sources including the Department of Sociology, Rackham Graduate School and the International Institute. At Michigan, I was surrounded by a large group of friends and colleagues who have made the experience of grad school infinitely more fulfilling and fun. My deepest gratitude and appreciation go to my friends Jennifer Ailshire, Baris Buyukokutan, Dave Dobbie, Besnik Pula, Salik Farooqi, Alex Gerber, Atef Said, Laura Hirshfield, Amie Emens, Camilo Leslie, Mariana Craciun, Eric Eide, Avi Astor, Hiro Saito, Bashar Tarabieh, Mike Bader and Byungho Lee. A group of friends unconnected to Michigan v have lent their support from afar. The solitude of grad school in America would not have been possible without my friends Anita Chaudhry, Iffat Sajjad, Sarah Shafiq and Shireen Meer. My family has always provided the utmost support to me and has ensured that I stay sane throughout the process. Many thanks to my siblings Aliya and Adnan for their encouragement but above all for always keeping it light, their humor and for bringing things in perspective. My mother-in-law Maria-Magdolna provided uncompromising support to me by devoting her time to being almost the sole caregiver to her granddaughter while I undertook the most intensive writing of this dissertation. I could not have wished for a more loving, caring and kinder mother-in-law. My partner in life and my very best friend, my husband Zoltan Dezso has been with me every step of the way of this dissertation, giving me unconditional love, support, strength and patience. You have made it all immensely more meaningful. I cannot imagine having done this, or undertaking anything else in life, without you right by my side. Finally, my daughter Alina, my biggest source of joy and my greatest love of all. Your twinkling eyes and your sweetest smile have given me the motivation to take the final huge leaps towards completing this dissertation. I want to make this world a better place for you. Everything I write is for you. Throughout the writing of this dissertation, the thousands of Pakistanis who have been victims of religious intolerance, misguided laws and corruption have been silent companions, reminding me of the gravity of the issues on which I have chosen to write. I have tried my best to do justice to an issue that is an extremely sensitive one to the hearts vi and minds of most Pakistanis. If I have erred in my analysis, the fault lies entirely with me and not with any of the people named above. vii Table of Contents Dedication ………………………………………………………………………………. ii Acknowledgements …………………………………………………………………….. iii List of Figures …………………………………………………………………………….x List of Appendices ……………………………………………………………………… xi List of Abbreviations ……………………………………………………………………xii Glossary ………………………………………………………………………………...xiv Abstract …………………………………………………………………………………xvi Chapters 1. Introduction ……………………………………………………………………...1 1.1. Religion, State Formation and the Ahmadiyya Community in Modern Pakistan ………………………………………………………....3 1.2. Setting the Agenda: The ‗Ahmadi Question‘, National Identity and the Pakistani State ……………………………………………………. .9 1.3. Theoretical Framework: Explaining Shifts in Nationalist Policy Outcomes ………………………………………………………………….. 14 1.4. Methodology and Data Sources …………………………………………… 20 1.5. Outline of Chapters …………………………………………………………36 2. National Identity and the State Field in Modern Pakistan ………………….40 2.1. Explaining Shifts in Nationalist Policy Outcomes: Existing Approaches ………………………………………………………..40 2.2. State Field, Nationalist Policy and Ethno-national Capital ……………….. 55 2.3. Conceptualizing the State Field in Pakistan ………………………………. 68 2.4. Explaining Shifts in Nationalist Policy Outcomes in Pakistan ………….... 92 2.5. Visual Representation of Theoretical Framework ……………………….. 107 3. The Ahmadiyya Movement: Origins, Beliefs & Controversies under British Colonial rule ………………………………………………………... 111 3.1. Mirza Ghulam Ahmad: Beliefs and Controversies ………………………. 112 3.2. The Origins and Development of the Ahmadiyya Movement …………… 121 viii 3.3. Ahmadiyya Community and the Colonial State: Accommodation and Negotiation ……………………………………………………………127