Religion in Pakistan

Religious population in Pakistan
Muslims: 175,376,000
Sunni Muslims: 80%
Shia Muslims: 20%
Ahmadi : 2,000,000
Hindus: 3,200,000
Christians: 2,800,000
Bahá'í Faith: 30,000 - 78,000
Sikhs: 20,000
Zoroastrian/Parsis: 20,000
Buddhism: 70,000
Other (included Animists, Atheists, Jews, etc: unknown

Census data indicates that over 98% of the population are Muslims. The Muslims are divided into different sects which are called schools of jurisprudence i.e. 'Maktab-e-Fikr' (School of Thought) in Urdu. Nearly 80% of Pakistani Muslims are Sunni Muslims and 20% are Shi'a Muslims. The nearly all Pakistani Sunni Muslims belong to Hanafi school with a small Hanbali school represented by Wahabis and Ahle Hadith. The Hanafi school is divided into Barelvis and Deobandis schools. While majority of Pakistani Shia Muslims belong to Ithna 'ashariyah school with significant minority of Nizari Khoja Ismailis (Aga Khanis) and a small Mustaali Dawoodi Bohra schools. By one estimate, in Pakistan, Muslims are divided into following schools: the Barelvis 48%, Deobandis 25%, Ithna Ashari 19%, Ahle Hadith 4%, Ismailis 1%, Bohras 0.25%, and other smaller sects. The Ahle-e-Hadith are part of Hanbali school. Nearly 65% of the total seminaries (Madrassah) are run by Deobandis, 25 per cent by the Barelvis, six percent by the Ahle Hadith and three percent by various Shia organizations. Zikris are considered to be a heretical sect by mainstream Muslims.

The non-Muslim population mainly comprises of Christians (1% of the population) and Hindus (1%), with smaller numbers of Ahmadis, Buddhists, Jews, Sikhs, Zoroastrians, and Animists (mainly the Kalash in Chitral). Pakistan's religious demographics has been significantly influenced by the movement of populations in 1947 (millions of Muslims moved to Pakistan and millions of Hindus and Sikhs moved to India) and the wars in Afghanistan (millions of refugees who have become permanent residents).

Although there are very few Sikhs in Pakistan today, the country has a significant place in Sikhism. Guru Nanak, the founder of Sikhism was born in present-day Pakistan, and it is said he received his message near Lahore. Therefore, the religion actually originated in Pakistan. Most of Sikhism's holy sites are located in Pakistan. Many other great Sikh leaders, including Ranjit Singh and several gurus, were born in Pakistan. Ranjit Singh is buried in Lahore.

Pakistan is also the birthplace of Mahayana Buddhism, the form of Buddhism that is practiced by most Buddhists today, including those in India, Japan, China, Korea, and Vietnam. The religion enjoyed prominence in the northwestern section of the country up until the arrival of Islam.

Islam was brought to the South Asian subcontinent in the eighth century by wandering Sufi mystics known as pir. As in other areas where it was introduced by Sufis, Islam to some extent syncretized with preIslamic influences, resulting in a religion traditionally more flexible than in the Arab world. Two Sufis whose shrines receive much national attention are Data Ganj Baksh in Lahore (ca. eleventh century) and Shahbaz Qalander in Sehwan, Sindhh (ca. twelfth century).

Islam

Islam is the national religion of Pakistan and 96% of Pakistanis are Muslims. The Muslims are divided into different sects which are called fiqh or Madhab (Mazhab) i.e., schools of jurisprudence (also 'Maktab-e-Fikr' (School of Thought) in Urdu). Nearly 70% of Pakistani Muslims are Sunnis and 30% are Shi'as which is the second major sect off Muslim sects in Pakistan. 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 the majority of Pakistani Shia Muslims belong to Ithna Asharia branch with significant minority of Ismaili, both Nizari (Agakhanis) and Mustaali (Bohras). By one estimate, in Pakistan, Muslims are divided into following schools: the Barelvi 38%, Deobandi 24%, Shia Ithna Asharia 23%, Ahle Hadith 7%, Ismaili 1%, Bohra 0.25%, and other smaller sects. The Ahle Hadith are part of Hanbali school. Nearly 60% of the total seminaries (Madrasahs) are run by Barelvis , 20 per cent by the Deobandis while 10 percent by the various Shi'a organizations and 10 percent by Ahle Hadith. Zikris are considered to be a heretical sect by Muslims.

Ahmadiyya

The government of Pakistan does not consider this group 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".Ahmadis believe in Muhammad as the best and the last law bearing prophet and Mirza Ghulam Ahmad as the Christ of Muslims who was prophesized to come in the latter days and unite the Muslims. Consequently they were declared non-Muslims by a tribunal, the records of which have not been released to date. According to the last Pakistan census, Ahmadis made up 0.25% of the population. However the website adherents.com[16] proposes that the Ahmadiyya Muslim community made up 1.42% of the population; a much more neutral source. The Ahmadis claim their community is much larger.

Christianity

Over 97% of Pakistan's population is Muslim; the rest is made up of 1.6% Christians about 2.8 million people out of a total population of 173 Million (Est. U.N. census 2008), 1.85% Hindu, with much smaller minorities of Buddhists, Sikhs, Bahá'ís, 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 second 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 majority of the Pakistani Christian community belongs to converts from the low caste Hindus from Punjab region during the British colonial era while others are converts from Islam during the same period. 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 between World War I and World War II.

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; while the Karachi synagogue was burnt down the one in Peshawar still exists but has fallen into disuse. Nearly all Pakistani Jews have emigrated.

Hinduism

Hinduism has an ancient history in Pakistan, the Rig Veda was believed to have been composed in the Punjab region. Hindus today are a much reduced community numbering over 3 million. According to the last census 93% of Hindus live in Sindh, 5% in Panjab and nearly 2% in Balochistan.

Sikhism

There are many important Sikh religious sites in Pakistan where, prior to the partition of India in 1947, some 40-50% of the world's Sikh population resided. Today, the number of Sikhs remaining in Pakistan is very small; estimates vary, but the number is thought to be on the order of 20,000. Over the years more and more Sikhs from abroad have been permitted to make pilgrimages to their shrines.

Buddhism

Like Hinduism, Buddhism has an ancient history in Pakistan. In fact at the time of the arrival of Islam much of the population was Buddhist. Today there are no established Buddhist communities and numbers are very few.

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 independence, 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 the late Minocher Bhandara.

Bahá'í

The Bahá'í Faith in Pakistan begins previous to its independence when it was part of India. The roots of the religion in the region go back to the first days of the Bábí religion in 1844,with Shaykh Sa'id Hindi who was from Multan.During Bahá'u'lláh's lifetime, as founder of the religion, he encouraged some of his followers to move to the area that is current-day Pakistan.

In 1921 the Bahá'ís of Karachi elected their first Bahá'í Local Spiritual Assembly.[19] By 1956 Bahá'í local assemblies spread across many cities,and in 1957, East and West Pakistan elected a separate National Bahá'í Assembly from India and later East Pakistan became Bangladesh with its own national assembly.Waves of refugees arrived in 1979 due to the Soviet Union invasion of Afghanistan and the Iranian Revolution in Iran.

The Bahá'ís in Pakistan have the right to hold public meetings, establish academic centers, teach their faith, and elect their administrative councils.However, the government prohibits Bahá'ís from travelling to Israel for Bahá'í pilgrimage.though Bahá'ís claimed less than half that number.

Kalash Religion

This is the religion of the Kalash people living in a remote part of Chitral. Adherents of the Kalash religion number around 3,000 and inhabit three remote valleys in Chitral; Bumboret, Rumbur and Birir. Their religion is unique but shares some common ground with Vedic and Pre Zoroastrian Iranian religions.

Atheism

There are also an undetermined number of atheists and agnostics in Pakistan, particularly in the affluent areas of the larger cities. Some were born in secular families while others in religious ones. According to the last Pakistan census (1998) people who did not state their religion accounted for 0.5% of the population, although this cannot be considered a reliable indicator of the number of atheists.

There is immense intolerance of atheism in the country. Pakistan's harsh blasphemy laws, which stipulate the death penalty for blaspheming, institutionalize such discrimination. Subsequently, most atheists and agnostics keep their views private and choose to portray themselves publicly as indifferent Muslims rather than non-Muslims.