Muslim sects in Pakistan

Muslim sects in Pakistan

Census data indicates that over 97% of the population is Muslim. The Muslims belong to different schools which are called Madhahib (singular: Madhhab) i.e., schools of jurisprudence (also 'Maktab-e-Fikr' (School of Thought) in Urdu). Around 75% of Pakistani Muslims are Sunni Muslims and there is a minority 20% Shi'a Muslims.The Hanafi school includes the Barelvis and Deobandis schools. Although the majority of Pakistani Shia Muslims belong to Ithna 'ashariyah school, there are significant minorities: Nizari Ismailis (Aga Khanis) and the smaller Mustaali Dawoodi Bohra and Sulaimani Bohra branches. Many people on the Makran coast of Balochistan follow the Zikri sect of Islam.
The Shia Ithna 'ashariyah school has its own Masjids and Hussainias. Mustaali Dawoodi Bohra and Sulaimani Bohra also have their own Masjids. While the Nizari Khoja Ismailis (Aga Khanis) pray in Jama'at Khanas.
The Ahmadiyya Muslim Community, a minority Muslim group which is persecuted on behalf of their beliefs is also present. For this reason, Ahmadis have been declared Non-Muslims by the Government of Pakistan, although international organisations such as Amnesty International have viewed that such a decision is a move against the international human rights.
There are small non-Muslim religious groups: Christians (1.6%), Hindus (1.85%), Buddhists, Sikhs, Parsis, Bahá'ís Zoroastrians (Parsis) and others making up approximately 3% of the population.
[code]

Data Durbar in Lahore, Pakistan is the tomb of Ali Hajweri, eleventh century Sufi. People come each year to pay their respects and to say prayers. The large complex also includes Jamia Hajweri, or Hajweri [code]Mosque.

[/code]

Laws and customs

There is no law in Pakistan enforcing hijab, although there is strong social pressure for women to observe Purdah in some regions. The practice of wearing Hijab among younger women is growing due to media influence from the Middle East and Persian Gulf countries. Pakistan is also the country with the highest number of Niqab (full-veil) wearing women in the world. In the North-West Frontier Province and some areas in the Punjab they make significant of females.
Education and media has influenced Muslims to learn more about Islam, as a result following of one school of thought (sect) is gradually replacing heterodox beliefs and practices with orthodox beliefs from Quran and Sunnah. The Muslim satellite channels are widely available and are watched by Pakistani population.
Islamic education to the masses is propagated mainly by Islamic schools and literature. Islamic schools (or Madrasas) are for the most devoted Muslims, mostly comprising youth and those learning to be Islamic clerics. More casual and even research oriented material is available in the form of books. While the most prominent of these schools are being monitored, the latter are being 'moderated' by both the government and some of the scholars, thereby also removing in the process the various material present in it that is used by Anti-Islam/Anti-Sunni writers. Oldest and universally accepted titles such as the Sahih Bukhari have been revised into 'summarised' editions and some of the old, complete titles, translated to Urdu, the national language, are not available for purchase now. These changes are also a herald to new outbreaks of religious controversy in the region.
The episodes of sectarian violence have significantly decreased in frequency over the years due to the conflictual engagement of the Islamic militant organizations with the state's armed forces and intelligence agencies.