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In Purifying the Land of the Pure, Farahnaz Ispahani analyzes Pakistan's policies towards its religious minority populations, both Muslim and non-Muslim, since independence in 1947.

This study provides a 'pyramid of hate' perspective on issues and challenges facing minority religious communities in social and political climates that bestow permission to hate. Previous research shows that adverse social stereotypes and biases, together with non-inclusive policies and practices at the level of the state, create an enabling environment that signals the legitimacy of public hostility towards a minority community. This paper argues that such climates of hate within and outside the workplace may be better understood by paying attention to the multiple levels of hate, i.e., biased attitudes, biased actions, discrimination and violence. In its extreme form, such climate may lead to indiscriminate massacres and genocide. This contextual study draws on interviews with 76 Shia Muslim professionals and employees in Pakistan to provide a 'pyramid of hate' perspective on issues of bias, discrimination and violence facing them. The study unveils a range of experiences, from subtle bias and stereotyping to blatant harassment, discrimination and hostilities facing Shia professionals and employees in Pakistan. The study is unique as it integrates the notion of pyramid of hate into management and organization studies and advances this theory by examining issues of sect-based bias, discrimination and violence within one religion.

Identities of religious believers can motivate believers’ passions, emotions, and action tendencies. Religious identity-based passion can, therefore, lead people to identify with certain kinds of movements, both peaceful and extremist. Around the globe, identities of religious minorities provide a compelling context for studying peaceful and extremist activism driven by passion. Building on previous literature on social identity theory, passion, and religious identity, it was hypothesized that religious identity predicts passion of both types: Harmonious Passion (HP) and Obsessive Passion (OP). It was proposed that people who were harmoniously passionate about their religious identity would promote peaceful activism whereas people who were obsessively passionate would promote hatred and extremism. A sample of 221 devout Shias (a religious minority) from Pakistan participated in the survey-based experiment of this study (males = 108, females = 113; ages ranging from 19 to 38 years, Mage = 22, SD = 2.13; experimental condition = 111, control condition = 110). The results supported the key hypotheses of the study: identification with a minority (Shia Identity) leads to both Harmonious Passion (HP) and Obsessive Passion (OP); when the Shia Identity was threatened, HP and OP scores were lower. Furthermore, HP predicted peaceful activism whereas, under a threat to identify, OP increased and showed a significantly higher violent stance, predicting religious extremism. These findings support the assumption that HP leads to Peaceful Activism, whereas OP is associated with increased support for Extremism and Hatred. The results of this study replicated existing theoretical and empirical predictions about passion pathways and threats to religious identity. The implications of the findings are discussed in the context of contemporary identity threats and activism strategies among Muslim minorities in Pakistan.

The Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a multi-racial and multi-religious nation, with Muslims being in the majority. Its 1973 Constitution guarantees religious freedom to all religious minorities, including Christians, Hindus, and Sikhs. This is mainly because Islam itself ensures religious freedom to the whole of humanity. Unfortunately, some Muslim clerics seem to be attempting to deny religious freedom to other faiths in Pakistan. Their opposition to the plurality of faith contradicts Islamic principles. This research paper identifies such Islamic principles and examines the undesirability of the mistreatment of religious minorities in Pakistan, focusing on the arguments for and against religious freedom in Pakistan on the one hand, and the religious rights and freedoms of non-Muslim minorities from an Islamic perspective on the other. The methodology applied in this discussion is critical analysis. The conclusion drawn is that both the Constitution of Pakistan and Islam guarantee religious freedom to the country’s religious minorities. Finally, this study suggests some practical mechanisms to reconcile the different religious groups in Pakistan.

Can highlighting the national contributions of a religiously marginalized group increase tolerance toward that group, even when its presence in the national identity is disputed? Research shows that prejudice can be overcome by emphasizing a superordinate identity to which members of different groups belong. Our paper investigates whether the provision of information about a religious minority group's contribution to the nation—and in the process, reiterating to citizens the broader identity to which they all belong—can increase tolerance toward members of that group. We test the effect of randomly exposing survey respondents to factual information about Pakistan's first Nobel Prize winner, a member of the widely ostracized Ahmadi minority sect, on support for pro-Ahmadi policies. We find that respondents overall are more willing to express tolerant views toward Ahmadis, but that this effect is attenuated (and in some cases, reversed) among respondents potentially alienated from the national identity.

Occasionally some laws are enacted without proper deliberation and comprehensive understanding of the issue in focus. The same can be said about The Waqf Property Act 2020 which was passed in Islamabad and all the provinces of Pakistan in September 2020 in which some new laws were made and some previous laws were amended. The Rules regarding Awqāf Act were disseminated across all the provinces and advertised on national media. Having explained the rules of the Act, some guardians of the Waqf properties were also issued notices. However, the Waqf Property Act has received a social backlash from ulamas, the political fraternity & the public. It is said that the Act is not only against the Islamic law but is also against the Constitution of Pakistan. Keeping this scenario in view the aim of this paper was set to discuss the violation of the Constitution that has occurred in the enactment of this law. For this purpose the original text of the Waqf Property Act 2020 along with certified references have been analyzed so that the gaps in the focused law are fully identified. The findings of the study can provide a good insight to the law makers as well as common readers. Keywords: Waqf, Constitution of Pakistan, Fundamental Rights, Religious Minorities, Sharī‘ah

The Shia Hazara Community in Pakistan has faced prolonged violence, torture, discrimination, and harassment, which peaked notably from 1999 to 2015. Today, though the frequency of violent incidents has decreased, the Shia Hazara community continues to endure persistent threats, discrimination, and harassment, including sporadic targeted killings. This survey-based investigation draws upon 117 Hazara community members residing in two central localities (Hazara Town and Mariabad) of Quetta, Balochistan, to understand socio-economic discrimination and pervasive insecurity, the intricate interplay of ethnicity and religion, and additional influential factors that contribute to sustained persecution. In this investigation, besides descriptive statistics and visualization, authors utilize robust statistical techniques encompassing Chi-Squared tests for independence, testing independence for ordinal variables, counts, and rates. This study unearths compelling evidence revealing the profound extent of discrimination endured by the Hazara community in the public domain and the tenacious resistance strategies they harness to combat their subjugation.

Events in the Kashmir Valley during the late 1980s changed the demographic and sociopolitical outlook of the region. The armed insurgency that was primarily being carried out by the members of the majority-Muslim community saw organized attacks on the religious minorities of the valley, especially the Kashmiri Hindus (Pandits), resulting in their mass exodus from the valley. Other religious minorities, such as Sikhs and Christians, decided to stay in the valley. With much less research on the issues of minorities (except Pandits) in the Kashmir Valley as compared to other conflict-affected parts of the globe, we conducted a study to explore the issues of Sikhs as a minority group to seek answers to questions about the sense of alienation and neglect among the Sikhs living in the Kashmir Valley. In the process, we also inquired how Sikhs feel about the state’s response to various challenges they faced and how to ensure their integration in Kashmiri society. Drawing on an original survey conducted in the Kashmir Valley and from analyzing secondary data, we establish that the Sikhs have tried to maintain good relations with Muslims, whereas the state’s failure to address their issues has brought a sense of dejection among them. We also find that the conflict has affected Sikhs both socially and economically. The study concludes by providing a few recommendations that may be useful for policy makers to improve the situation of Sikhs in Kashmir.

Muslim marriages have been the focus of considerable public debate in Europe and beyond, in Muslim-majority countries as well as in settings where Muslims are a minority. Most academic work has focused on how the majority Sunni Muslims conclude marriages. This volume, in contrast, focuses on Twelver Shi'a Muslims in Iran, Pakistan, Oman, Indonesia, Norway, and the Netherlands. The volume makes an original contribution to understanding the global dynamics of Shi'a marriage practices in a wide range of contexts--not only its geographical spread but also by providing a critical analysis of the socio-economic, religious, ethnic, and political discourses of each context. The book sheds light on new marriage forms presented through a bottom up approach focusing on the lived experiences of Shi'a Muslims negotiating a diverse range of relationships and forms of belonging.

Background Approximately 5.7 million people in the UK are providing informal care. Carers across all ethnic groups can experience negative impacts on their physical and mental health but some minority ethnic groups face greater challenges. Higher levels of social isolation exist among Pakistani carers compared to White British carers, yet the needs of Pakistani carers and how well support services meet these needs is less well understood. Social prescribing can help people get more control over their health care in a nonmedical way. South Asian and other ethnically diverse populations are under‐served in social prescribing and there is little evidence available on why this is the case. Aim To explore the potential role of culturally relevant and adapted social prescribing in assisting Pakistani carers and identify the cultural and religious influences and barriers on carer health behaviours. Methods Semi‐structured one‐to‐one interviews with Pakistani family carers (n = 27) and social prescribing stakeholders (n = 10) living in London and Sheffield, UK. Participants were recruited through voluntary and community sector organisations (VCSOs), social media, religious organisations, and word of mouth. Interview data was analysed in NVivo using reflexive thematic analysis methods. Findings Two themes were developed; (1) Individual and community level influences: Navigating and accessing carer support within Pakistani communities, including carer identity and cultural barriers to accessing support provision, and cultural adaptation to facilitate support for Pakistani carer health and well‐being, (2) societal and structural level challenges: Accessing and providing social prescribing for Pakistani carers, including funding challenges for the provision of culturally relevant carer support, integration of primary care and social prescribing, and enhancing cultural awareness and competence in social prescribing for Pakistani carers. Conclusions There are complexities surrounding carer identity, family dynamics, stigma, and a lack of knowledge of social prescribing within Pakistani communities. There is a need for more culturally competent support, culturally relevant education, awareness‐raising, and collaboration among primary care and VCSO's to better support Pakistani carers through social prescribing, which acknowledges and addresses the complexities. Patient and Public Contribution The study included a patient advisory group comprised of two South Asian family carers who contributed towards all stages of the study. They provided feedback on study documents (topic guides and recruitment materials) and recruitment strategy, supported with translation of study documents and interpretation of the interview data, and helped with facilitation of our dissemination activities.