Islam in Pakistan

The attractiveness of the land of Pakistan and its innumerable wonders have been a motivation of the migration of a great number of the eager. They had been the lovers of this land as well as they had been reckoned as the various strata and guilds. Furthermore the existence of the deep cultural and civilization bonds between I.R of Iran and Pakistan has caused various researches around various fields that the present article has been collected inline with it.

1-The geographical characteristics
The country of Pakistan is located in the south of Asian continent. Its geographical vastness is almost 803943 square kilometers, and is surrounded with the Oman Sea, the countries such as I.R of Iran, Afghanistan, china and India. Pakistan is the second populated country of the Islamic world. Its capital city is Islamabad and the river of Sind located in it which is one of the great rivers of the world and it is reckoned as one of the most important agricultural and economic resources.

2-The political characteristics
Organizing the Muslim union, forming the Sind ulama (scholars) community, activities such as the dissemination of the various publications including Al-Helal were in the final introduction of forming the thought of the independent Pakistan. The first head of the independent state was Muhammad Ali Jinnah who established the first constituent Assembly.
In 1974, the summit of the heads of the Islamic countries was held in Lahore, Pakistan. The then prime minister of Pakistan emphasized upon the necessity of unity among the Islamic countries and their uprising against the American policies. The country of Pakistan has been formed on the basis of the Islamic ideology and more than 97% of its population follow the religion of Islam which among them 70% are Sunni and 20% are Shia. The new constitution of this country introduced it as the Islamic Republic in which Islam is its official religion.

3-The religious characteristics
The shrines and the places of worship constitute the main cultural centers in Pakistan which they are carrying out the various cultural and religious activities. Islamism is also stemmed from the political-social changes as well as the religious and cultural aspects of that society. The Islamic groups and associations have begun their activities through expanding the religious centers in connection with encountering with the western culture and their religious innovations and deviations. The theological seminaries (schools) are the main centers of promulgation the fundamentalism.

4-The important religious centers
The important religious centers of Ahl-e-Sunnah (Sunnis) are as follows: The Ashrafiah Community in Lahore, the Naiemieh Community in Karachi, the Center of Islamic Teachings, the Arabic School of Mazhar-al-olum, Dar-al-Elme Amjadieh.
Furthermore there could be also indicating to a number of the Shia religious centers such as the Ahlul-Bayt (as) community in Islamabad, the school of the infallible Imam Sadiq (as) in Kuwait as well as Al-Montazer in Lahore.

5-The civilization and cultural characteristics
If we want to speak about it we should inevitably speak about the lasting heritage of Iran, particularly the Islamic Iran in Pakistan as well as the subcontinent of India because there is a strong bond among the cultures of the two nations which has to a great extent linked them to one another.
a-the most ancient bonds of the land of Iran with the subcontinent of India go back to the length of the written history that is the same root of the language of Sanskrit with the ancient language of Indians as well as the languages of Avesta and the ancient Persian. The Iranian ancient languages as well as the share of the Persian language on forming the Urdu Language itself is the infrastructure of the entire cultural bonds between these two ancient countries.
b-the expansion of the religion of Islam which in its main stage became more practical through the troops of Mahmoud Ghaznavi and was carried-out in Pakistan which during his conquests in the sub-continent of India there were hundreds of Iranian literati, mystics and artists among the troops of sultan Mahmoud Ghaznavi who had a main role in expanding the Islamic Iranian culture and civilization within Pakistan and the sub-continent of India.
c-the most written heritages remained in Pakistan have been relevant to the Persian language that their manifestations have led to the plentiful of books that have been disseminated in the areas such as history, lexicon, biography and various sciences as well as the mystical texts are completely noticeable which among others there could be indicating to the common heritage of Kashaf al- Mahjoub of Hujwairi.
There could be also indicating to the elegant worlds and the meaningful statements of the Persian language speaking mystics of Pakistan which indeed are reckoned as the honorable heritage of the Islamic mysticism. As well as they are the catchphrases of the people of Pakistan in the meantime they are reckoned as the dearest lasting common literature of the two countries.

6-The cultural organs and centers
The important universities of Pakistan are as follows:
The medical university of Karachi, the University of Sind, in Haidarabad, the university of Baha-al-din Zakaria in Multan, the Islamic university in Bahawalpur, the University of Baluchistan in Quetta. In the Free Kashmir there exists merely a university in the city of Muzaffarabad.

7-The decorum and customs
One of the decorum and events that have important role upon the lives of the people of Pakistan is marriage which its ceremony takes usually 5 days. This ceremony is divided into four stages of Minoo, Mandi, Shadi and Valimah. One of the other customs which the Pakistani people respect them highly are the Islamic feasts such as the auspicious birthday of the Holy Prophet of Islam (PBUH) and the Eids such as Idul-Fitr and Idul-Adha which in these Eids sacrificing and helping the poor people is prevailed as an ancient custom in Pakistan.
Furthermore, in addition to the aforesaid cases the people of Pakistan have specific other feasts that among other, the feasts of Basant as well as Holi Feast could be named.
At the end it is to be mentioned that through a little contemplation it could be conceived that the decorum and customs of the people of Pakistan are nearer to the decorum and customs of the other Muslims particularly to Iranian ones which is an indicative of the cultural interchange among this nation with the other neighboring nations from the ancient times.
The sources:
1- The strategic estimate of Pakistan, the international institute of the contemporary pious of Iran
2- The Memorial of India, Reza Moustafavi Sabzvari
3- The Persian lexicography in India and Pakistan, Mohammad Moghadam
4- The land and people of Pakistan, Robert Lang
5- The Islamic movement of Pakistan, Muhammad Akram Aarefi