Three-Day National Conference

Islamization of Laws in Pakistan: An overview of the Role of Constitutional Institutions
26-28 February 2019
Sharī‘ah Academy
International Islamic University, Islamabad

Pakistan is an ideological state created in the name of Islam. In 1946, Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinah unequivocally expressed the objectives of Pakistan in these words: “We do not demand Pakistan simply to have a piece of land but we want a laboratory where we could experiment on Islamic principles.” The endeavors, therefore, have been made right from its inception to Islamize the laws inherited from the colonial period. The Objectives Resolution, the 22 Points of Ulama, Islamic Provisions in successive constitutions are some of the steps taken in this regard. However, this process got its momentum in the late 1970s when the government started Islamization of the laws at greater level, and new initiatives were taken to speed up this process with the creation of the Federal Shariat Court.

Due to swift progress, never seen before in human history, it seems appropriate time to critically evaluate the various mechanisms of Islamization process, analyze what has been Islamized through adjudication, statutory enactments or otherwise; inquire into the Islamicity of Islamized laws; gauge the various impediments in the process of Islamization; thoroughly scrutinize the steps necessary that will pave the way for the process of the Islamization. These questions would be thoroughly discussed if the players involved in this process, that is, the Bar, the Bench, the academia and the ‘Ulama are brought together in a conference and are tasked to consider the mechanisms of Islamization, whatever has been achieved in order to be able to evaluate it and to give recommendations for what should be done in future.