THE WAXING OF RELIGIOUS NATIONALISM CASE STUDY OF PAKISTAN

Date

2025-10-17

Author

Shahid, Fazal

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This thesis studies the waxing of religious nationalism through the case study of Pakistan and questions how religious nationalism forms and endures after a nation-state is formed. For this purpose, the study primarily focuses on the domestic environment and argues that religious nationalism waxes when domestic religious frontiers and threats are combined and securitized by the political elites for the masses, which ultimately influence the identity of the nation. Based on qualitative analysis of primary documents such as speeches, journals, parliamentary debates and special committee proceedings and on a close scrutiny of three historical moments, namely the Objectives Resolution of 1949, declaration of Ahmadis as non-Muslims through the second amendment in1974 and Islamization under Zia-ul-Haq’s regime, this thesis establishes how domestic religious frontiers were constructed and the ensuing perceived threats were securitized. The findings of the study demonstrate that domestic religious frontiers were instrumental in creating a threat perception to the Muslim identity in Pakistan. It also explains that there can be more than one religious frontier simultaneously and that an external religious frontier can be used to magnify a domestic religious frontier. The central argument of the thesis is that in an ideological state, the religious frontiers and the perceived threats are open to interpretation by the political leaders that lead to waxing of religious nationalism.

Subject Keywords

Religion, Nationalism, Religious Nationalism, Pakistan, South Asia

URI

https://hdl.handle.net/11511/116195

Collections

Graduate School of Social Sciences, Thesis