What's wrong with how religion works in Pakistan.

Religion refers to a code of life shared by a group of people worshiping the same god, beholding the same beliefs, and forming a community to help and relate to each other. The word Islam means peace. Incidentally, Islam is the largest religion in Pakistan, yet ironically the country sometimes lacks the presence of peace, tolerance and humanity, which are the basics of the religion. But why is it that a religion that promotes peace and tolerance is accused of spreading terror?

Perhaps, it is a result of a lot of factors that have resulted in this consequence, and has thus yielded an unfriendly situation for Muslims and Pakistanis, giving them the stereotype of being extremists and generalizations associated with terrorism.

In the Pakistan, religion is more than just a personal way of living. Your religiousness is not just an affair between you and god, but rather a concern of the whole society. In other words, religion is often used as a tool to manipulate people, to show power, influencing arguments, winning people's hearts, and portraying a positive of oneself for popularity. From the education we acquire at schools, to our progress at work, our political beliefs, and even the political career of some people, from somewhere of the other religious belief manages to penetrate in our daily lives.

Unfortunately, just like in medieval times when the church enjoyed special unjustified privileges in society, the mosque still does, to quite a great extent in Pakistan. Although Pakistan isn't an orthodox country, the lack of control on mosques has enabled them to get away with almost anything they want. While aware citizens do question the unjustifiable acts of local clergy and mosques, the government mostly hesitates in order to prevent violent opposition by those elements of society. The fact that many of Pakistan's religious leaders lack education, and the government is abundant in corruption leads to radical Muslims using mosques, such as the Lal Masjid, to not just spew hatred for minorities and for giving out sexist remarks, but it also gives them the courage and opportunity to harbor and support terrorist organizations. Moreover, the blasphemy laws lead to illegal violence against minorities on basis of alleged disrespect of the Quran or the prophet (pbuh). Hundreds of non-Muslim Pakistanis have been the victim of such violence, one of the very barbaric ones is that of the Joseph colony. Likewise, our politics is also overwhelmingly influenced by religion. On many occasions, religious politicians have accused others of having a bad character or being bad Muslims, as a stunt to defame them in the eyes of the religiously inspired majority of Pakistan.

What's more tragic is the fact that despite being aware of these elements in society we tend to remain quiet and live as if it does not even exist.

Upon Pakistan's formation, Mr. Jinnah said in his speech, "You are free; you are free to go to your temples. You are free to go to your mosques or to any other places of worship in this State of Pakistan. You may belong to any religion, caste or creed - that has nothing to do with the business of the State." Unfortunately this speech, which should have been the mantra of all Pakistanis, has been conveniently forgotten by the citizens of our beloved country.

It's high time that we realize this problem and do something about it. As a concerned citizen, who is patriotic enough to wish for a better future for Pakistan and is eagerly waiting to outlive the current turmoil in the country, I request the government to regulate strict rules to question and control the activities of everyone, from politicians to clergymen in order to make sure that we are free of sexism and all other forms of discrimination.

It is indeed not Islam that preaches hatred, but the illiteracy that prevails among many Pakistanis that has led to extremism, sectarian violence and persecution of minorities. The fact that people are uneducated is the reason why they do not question their leaders about their wrongdoings and blindly support them regardless of what they are giving back to the people. Once we get rid of this plague of illiteracy will we be able to progress as a thoughtful nation where everyone can enjoy coexisting with each other despite having differences between them.

As a Muslim Pakistani, I strongly believe that my religion would never preach the kind of Islam that is mostly preached in our country, and if we do not bother worrying about it, speaking against it, and taking action, it is going to direly affect the image of Pakistanis and Muslims internationally.

That said, as privileged and educated Pakistanis, who have the platform to voice our opinions around the world, let’s make sure that we do not let the efforts of the founding members of this country in vain, and work for a better, prosperous Pakistan.