So yes – if you want to write about something using religion as the first support, you have to resort to Islamic websites and magazines which don’t have a reach as wide as the national papers.

I’m sure you understand that this is not by accident. “Elitist” newspapers and media outlets like Dawn do not give these “intellectuals” prime space in their publications only because it’s profitable, but also because there is a not-so-hidden agenda within the secular circles of Pakistan to de-Islamize, so to speak, the populace of our nation who, for the most part, have a strong affinity with Islam.

Now, to some this may sound conspiratorial, and a few will also reject this as emotional rhetoric. But ask yourself, why are these viewpoints – which were at the fringe a few years ago – are being pushed down our throats so ferociously? And of-course, when the speaker is disguised as a Muslim, all the better, because one can come across as sympathetic to society rather than a hostile outsider.

The truth is, that there is an ideological warfare, a global battle, being waged against not just the religion, but the whole system of Islam. Truly, the dajjalli machinery is on the move. Repealing the Hudood laws, installing the most corrupt scums into government, the insurgency in SWAT and FATA, everything that is happening today is by design, there are no coincidences.

But even after all of their efforts to malign the spiritual and sacrosanct character of Pakistani society, these “elites” are failing. As you mentioned, the intense desire for morality and divine guidance is driving even those in the upper echelons of power to seek something greater than what this material world offers. We are living in a transformational age, and InshaAllah, Pakistan will revert back to it’s righteous roots.

In the words of the Blessed Qur’aan, “And they conspire, and ALLAH schemes, surly ALLAH is the best of schemers”!

Perhaps the most pertinent point here is that “Deen” became something restricted to the “Maulvi”. This man is called in to teach your children to recite the Quran (why can’t you do it yourself?), to conduct the Nikah of your children later in life… or in case some other marital issue arises (such as divorce). That’s it, really.

Another factor is the polarization we see in our society – the middle class, in general, has a very specific picture of “Deen” beyond which they are not ready to think or rationalize. For example, checking in the Quran and Sunnah if a certain act is allowed is not done generally. The result… every person dictates Deen according to his “traditions”.

I was talking to an elder Uncle a few days ago and he mentioned how he did not want his daughters to be corrupted in the modern ways. I thought he meant he wanted his daughters to dress properly, etc. He went on to clarify and said he didn’t want them to become “Mullani” either! I was left to wonder what he meant by Mullani, especially as he said practising Muslim women in the West become “Mullani” and that one should stay “normal”.

At this stage, with the media locked down on the “moderate”, enlightened picture of Muslims (which doesn’t leave much Islam in it anyway), there’s little chance of talking sense through mainstream channels. However, private publications and circulations (there’s a “Jumuah” like magazine in circulation here for the past five years Alhamdolillah) are holding up the post. Also, as I mentioned in the post, a small but growing number of Islamic circles in the upper middle and elite classes is becoming noticeable… let us see which way the winds blow. May Allah have Mercy on us!

I think the real thing to ponder here is the absence today of structures that in the past would have prevented something like this from going mainstream. Structures like respect of the ulema, norms and values in society, institutions that empower practising Muslims, etc. It is the careful erosion of societal institutions over the past century and a half that permit this to happen today. Who has a voice today respected enough to make a case to the masses for the head-covering for instance?

Another facet to this I think is that in the Indo-Pak Muslim community we started to focus so much on preservation of Islamic practices that we forgot about keeping up with transmission, and when we were challenged with modernity we didn’t have the tools to deal with it while preserving our way of life.