Religion in Pakistan
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A census held by the Pakistan International Bureau indicates that over 97% of the population of Pakistan are Muslims.[1] There are small non-Muslim religious groups: Christians, Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Parsis, Bahá'ís and others 3%.
Religious minorities may only form three percent of Pakistan's population, but in business, education, medicine, and the arts their contribution is significant. All religions enjoy equal status under the Pakistani constitution. Christians are the biggest minority group in Pakistan; they are distributed throughout the country and represent a wide cross-section of ethnic and linguistic stocks. Churches of virtually every denomination embellish the architectural horizon of most Pakistani cities. Although Pakistani Christians have not restricted themselves to any one area of activity, they have traditionally made an outstanding contribution in health, education, railways and the police force. They are also playing a growing role in the civil service and defence services. The second biggest minority are the Pakistani Hindus.
The Parsis (Zoroastrians) are a very small minority concentrated in the larger cities and are almost exclusively engaged in business. Some of Pakistan's foremost hotel and shipping magnates are Parsis and the richer members of this community are wll known for their philanthropic activities. The Buddhists are numerically very few but the cultural impact of their ancestors has enriched and marked their presence to the heritage of Pakistan. Ancient Buddhist temples, schools and cities dot the archaeological map of Pakistan. There are many important Sikh temples and shrines in Pakistan, most notable is Nankana Sahib. Every year Sikhs celebrate the festivle of Vaisakhi from India's Punjab state to make pilgrimages to these historic places, which are looked after by the Pakistani Sikhs themselves.
Census data indicates that over 97% of the population are Muslims; therefore it is considered by many general Pakistanis as the National religion. The Muslims are divided into different sects which are called Madhab (Mazhab) i.e, schools of jurisprudence (also 'Maktab-e-Fikr' (School of Thought) in Urdu). Nearly 75% of Pakistani Muslims are Sunnis and 20% are Shi'as. The nearly all Pakistani Sunni Muslims belong to Hanafi school with a small group of Ahle Hadith. The Hanafi school is divided into Barelvis and Deobandis schools. While majority of Pakistani Shia Muslims belong to Ithna Asharia branch with significant minority of Ismaili, both Nizari (Agakhanis) and Mustaali. By one estimate, in Pakistan, Muslims are divided into following schools: the Barelvi 50%, Deobandi 32%, Shia Ithna Asharia 18%, Ahle Hadith 1%, Ismaili 2%, Bohra 0.25%, and other smaller sects. The Ahle Hadith are part of Hanbali school. Nearly 65% of the total seminaries (Madrassah) are run by Barelvis, 25 per cent by the Deobandis, six percent by the various Shi'a organizations and three percent by Ahle Hadith. Zikris are considered to be a heretical sect by Muslims.
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[edit] Religious Population in Pakistan
- Muslims: 174,500,000
- Hindus: 2,500,000
- Christians: 2,500,000
- Ahmadis: over 400,000
- Bahá'ís: 30,000
- Sikhs: 20,000
- Buddhists: 20,000
- Zoroastrian/Parsis: 20,000
- Other (included Animists, Atheists, Jews, etc): unknown
[edit] Christianity
Over 97% of Pakistan's population is Muslim; the rest is made up of 1.1% Christians about 2.0 million people out of a total population of 162 Million (Est. U.N. census 2006), 1.1% Hindu, with even smaller minorities of Buddhists, Sikhs, Baha'is, as well as others.
Although under the Pakistani constitution all religious minorities are equal, Social prejudice is practiced with Christians. According to constitution, non-Muslims cannot become President, Prime Minister or the chief of army staff.
The adherents of Christianity are the largest religious minority community in Pakistan. Christianity came to the areas now forming Pakistan most probably through the trade routes from Central Asia; in addition to influence from Syrian Christians in South India
A nearly all of the Pakistani Christian community belongs to converts from the low caste Hindus during the colonial era. The community is geographically spread throughout the Punjab province, whilst its presence in the rest of the provinces is mostly confined to the urban centers. There is a Roman Catholic community in Karachi which was established by Goan migrants when Karachi's infrastructure was being developed by the British during colonial administration before the World War II.
[edit] Judaism
Jews (Urdu: یہودی pronounced "Yehudi") are a very small religious group in Pakistan. Various estimates suggest that there were about 2,500 Jews living in Karachi at the beginning of the twentieth century, and a smaller community of a few hundred lived in Peshawar. There were synagogues in both cities and reportedly the one in Peshawar still exists, but is closed.
[edit] Hinduism
[edit] Sikhism
[edit] Buddhism
[edit] Ahmadi
This group considers themselves Muslim even though the government of Pakistan does not consider them followers of Islam. The Pakistani parliament has declared Ahmadis to be non-Muslims. In 1974, the government of Pakistan amended its constitution to define a Muslim "as a person who believes in finality of Prophet Muhammad." Over the past 3 decades, Ahmadis have faced persecution, murder, as well as harassment due to their faith. in 1974 and a number of laws were subsequently passed which make it a criminal offence for Ahmadis to profess, practice and preach their faith as Islam. Dozens of Ahmadis have been charged with religious offences, including calling for prayers, preaching their faith or calling their place of worship a 'mosque'. Several have been charged with blasphemy under section 295C of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC), which carries the mandatory death penalty. So far all death sentences for blasphemy have been overturned by the higher judiciary.
[edit] Parsi
Before independence of Pakistan in 1947, major urban centres in what is now Pakistan were home to a thriving Parsi business community. Karachi had the most prominent population of Parsis in Pakistan and were mostly Gujarati-speaking. After independance, majority of Pakistan's Parsi populace migrated to India, notably Bombay, however a number of Parsis still remain in Pakistan and have entered Pakistani public life as social workers, business folk, and diplomats. The most prominent Parsis of Pakistan today include Ardeshir Cowasjee, Byram Dinshawji Avari, Jamsheed Marker, as well as Minocher Bhandara.
[edit] Bahá'í
[edit] Atheism
There are also unknown number of Atheists and Agnostics in Pakistan, particularly in the elite circles of large urban areas. Some were born in communist families while others are apostates from Islam.
[edit] See also
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