The National Sufi Council : redefining the Islamic Republic of Pakistan through a discourse on Sufism after 9/11

Abstract

Abstract On September 11, 2001, the United States suffered four terrorist attacks on its soil by a group later identified as Al-Qaeda. The attacks, the worst in US history, resulted in immense destruction and loss of life. For the United States, and for a number of countries around the world, 9/11 constituted a major historical turning point which prompted a series of responses aimed at countering terrorism. For Pakistan, the pragmatic decision to join the US-led military campaign in Afghanistan immediately transformed the nation into a front-line state in the 'war on terror' being waged on its western border. In the years that followed, Pakistan experienced an escalation in terrorist-related incidents and fatalities across all four of its provinces and in the tribal areas. The rise in religious extremism and violence made Pakistan progressively less safe for its many citizens. Moreover, amidst media reports of ongoing terrorism in a nuclear-capable Pakistan, western audiences increasingly viewed Pakistan, and Islam, as synonymous with intolerance, militancy, and terrorism. Within the climate of extremism, sectarianism, and terrorism, a new type of discourse began to emanate from the political leadership in Pakistan. For President Musharraf, the formation of a cohesive national identity was central to the establishment of political legitimacy and hegemony without the need for physical force. He believed this would allow effective revenue extraction, which could be reinvested in much-needed social and economic development. This in turn would result in a peaceful and prosperous civil society, and reverse negative world opinion of Pakistan. Following this Gramscian assumption, after 9/11 President Musharraf attempted to construct an enlightened and moderate identity for Pakistan by promoting the ethical and peace-building aspects found within Islam. By 2006, he had established the National Council for the Promotion of Sufism. Three years later, in 2009, President Zardari reconstituted the council and renamed it the National Sufi Council. With its ostensible message of philosophical, spiritual, and social harmony, Sufism was posited by both administrations as the first and foremost symbol of national identity for Pakistan, as well as a global panacea to terrorism. In order to understand contemporary politics, and Islam, in Pakistan after 9/11, this thesis employed Critical Discourse Analysis as a theoretical framework and as a method for socio-political analysis. The main aim was to analyse and interpret government discourse on the subject of Sufism over a ten-year period following the attacks of 9/11 to demonstrate the ways in which Sufism was officially invoked and promoted. A further aim was to analyse and interpret the discourse of other political actors on the subject of Sufism during the same period to demonstrate the ways in which the official construction of Sufism was reproduced and resisted. Those narratives were then situated within the wider historical socio-political context. This approach was intended to allow a more nuanced understanding of the persistence of Islam as the first and foremost symbol of national identity, and of belonging, for Pakistani society despite the many theological differences that exist amongst the Muslims of Pakistan. It was also intended to reveal the complex and competing identity narratives which continue to hinder government efforts to create a single cohesive and shared national identity for the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. This thesis demonstrates that, whilst Islam has been the ultimate source of identity and legitimacy for Pakistan since before its creation in 1947, the many complex and competing interpretations of Islam that exist in the nation continue to divide it. Most crucially, the inability of Muslims to form a consensus with regard to Islam at a theological level has had a significant impact on the nation's ability to establish a coherent ideology upon which to base a viable political system. Official attempts to construct a national identity through the lens of Sufism after 9/11 were a continuation of a wider, largely incomplete, and problematic struggle to build national unity in Pakistan. Ultimately, however, the turn to Sufism served to further complicate the issue rather than resolve it.

Date of Award	2015
Original language	English