Islam in Pakistan - wikipedia Islam in Pakistan Islam in Pakistan History Islamic conquest Arab settlement Islamic rule Mughal Empire Hindu conversion Sectarianism Major figures Mohammad bin Qasim Hazrat Daata Ganj Bakhsh Baba Fareed Bulleh Shah Sultan Bahu Allama Iqbal Muhammad Ali Jinnah Muhammad Ilyas Qadri Schools of thought Sunni Barelvi Shi'a Deobandi Ahle Hadith Sufism Ahmadiyya Schools of law Hanafi Shia Shafi ` i Maliki Hanbali Mosques Faisal Mosque Mosques in Lahore ( Badshahi ) List of mosques in Pakistan Political organisations / movements Pakistan Muslim League Jamiat Ulema - e-Islam Jamiat Ulema - e-Pakistan Jamaat - e-Islami Tehrik - e-Jafaria Jamiat Ahle Hadith Dawat e Islami Tablighi Jamaat Sunni Tehreek Culture Architecture Mughal Indo - Islamic Indo - Saracenic Literature Urdu Punjabi Pashto Sindhi Dari ( Persian ) Music Qawwali Hamd Nasheed Naat Ghazal Other topics Ahle Sunnat Movement in South Asia Muslim nationalism in South Asia ( Pakistani ) Muslim chronicles for Indian history Islam portal Pakistan portal Islam by country Africa Algeria Angola Benin Botswana Burkina Faso Burundi Cameroon Cape Verde Central African Republic Chad Comoros Democratic Republic of the Congo Republic of the Congo Ivory Coast Djibouti Egypt Equatorial Guinea Eritrea Ethiopia Gabon The Gambia Ghana Guinea Guinea - Bissau Kenya Lesotho Liberia Libya Madagascar Malawi Mali Mauritania Mauritius Morocco Mozambique Namibia Niger Nigeria Rwanda São Tomé and Príncipe Senegal Seychelles Sierra Leone Somalia South Africa South Sudan Sudan Swaziland Tanzania Togo Tunisia Uganda Western Sahara Zambia Zimbabwe Asia Afghanistan Armenia Bahrain Bangladesh Bhutan Brunei Burma Cambodia Central Asia China Hong Kong Macau Tibet East Timor Georgia India Indonesia Iran Iraq Israel Japan Jordan Kazakhstan Korea Kyrgyzstan Kuwait Laos Lebanon Maldives Malaysia Mongolia Nepal Oman Pakistan Palestine Philippines Qatar Saudi Arabia Singapore South Asia Southeast Asia Sri Lanka Syria Taiwan Tajikistan Thailand Turkmenistan UAE Uzbekistan Vietnam Yemen Europe Albania Andorra Austria Azerbaijan Belarus Belgium Bosnia and Herzegovina Bulgaria Croatia Cyprus Czech Republic Denmark Estonia Finland France Georgia Germany Greece Hungary Iceland Ireland Italy Kosovo Latvia Liechtenstein Lithuania Macedonia Luxembourg Malta Moldova Montenegro Netherlands Norway Poland Portugal Romania Russia Serbia Slovakia Slovenia Spain Sweden Switzerland Turkey Ukraine United Kingdom England Northern Ireland Scotland Wales USSR Americas Antigua & Barbuda Argentina Bahamas Barbados Belize Bolivia Brazil Canada Chile Colombia Costa Rica Cuba Dominica Dominican Republic Ecuador El Salvador French Guiana Grenada Guatemala Guyana Haiti Honduras Jamaica Mexico Nicaragua Panama Paraguay Peru St. Kitts & Nevis St. Lucia St. Vincent & the Grenadines Suriname Trinidad & Tobago United States Uruguay Venezuela Oceania Australia Cocos ( Keeling ) Islands Federated States of Micronesia Fiji Guam Kiribati Marshall Islands Nauru New Caledonia New Zealand Northern Mariana Islands Palau Papua New Guinea Samoa Solomon Islands Tonga Tuvalu Vanuatu Islam portal Islam is the largest and the state religion of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. Pakistan has been called a `` global center for political Islam ''. About 97.0 % of Pakistanis are Muslims. Pakistan has the second largest number of Muslims in the world after Indonesia. The majority are Sunni ( 75 -- 95 % ) while Shias make up between 5 -- 20 % and Ahmadis ( sometimes considered non-Muslims ) are 1 -- 2 %. Contents 1 History 1.1 Arrival of Islam in modern Pakistan 1.2 Umayyad invasion of Sindh 1.3 Punjab 1.4 Khyber Pukhtunkhwa 2 Islam and the Pakistan Movement 3 Islam in independent Pakistan 3.1 Constitution 3.2 Conservatism and right - wing politics 3.3 `` Islamisation '' 3.3. 1 Conservative and right - wing sphere 4 Sufism 5 Muslim fiqhs in Pakistan 5.1 Sunni 5.2 Shia 5.3 Zikri 5.4 Quranists 5.5 Nondenominational 5.6 Ahmadiyya 6 Conversions to Islam 7 Laws and customs 8 Media 9 Islamic education 10 Islamic Charity in Pakistan 11 See also 12 Further reading 13 References 14 External links History Arrival of Islam in modern Pakistan Main article : History of Pakistan § Later Medieval Age Arab Muslim rule in Pakistan region The arrival of the Muslims to the areas of modern - day Pakistan, along with subsequent Muslim dynasties, set the stage for the religious boundaries of South Asia that would lead to the development of the modern state of Pakistan as well as forming the foundation for Islamic rule which quickly spread across much of South Asia. Following the rule of various Islamic empires, including the Ghaznavid Empire, the Ghorid kingdom, and the Delhi Sultanate, the Mughals controlled the region from 1526 until 1739. Many Sufi missionaries from Middle East and Central Asia migrated and settled in South Asia. Sufism in Pakistan plays an important role in the country. The Delhi Sultanate and later Mughal Empire ruled the northern India region. During the Delhi Sultanate and later Mughal Empire attracted Muslim refugees, nobles, technocrats, bureaucrats, soldiers, traders, scientists, architects, artisans, teachers, poets, artists, theologians and Sufis from the rest of the Muslim world and they migrated and settled in the South Asia. During the reign of Sultan Ghyasuddin Balban ( 1266 - 1286 ) thousands of Central Asian Muslims sought asylum including more than of 15 sovereigns and their nobles due to the Mongol invasion of Khwarezmia and Eastern Iran. At the court of Sultan Iltemish in Delhi the first wave of these Muslim refugees escaping from the Central Asian genocide perpetrated by the hordes of Genghis Khan, brought administrators from Iran, painters from China, theologians from Samarkand, Nishapur and Bukhara, nobles from Khwarezm, divines and saints from all Muslim lands, craftsmen and men and maidens from every region, doctors adept in Greek medicine, philosophers from everywhere. After the Battle of Panipat ( 1526 ) Mughal Emperor Babur defeated the Lodi dynasty with a diverse array of Muslim soldiers and nobles who were awarded estates and they settled with their families in modern Pakistan. Umayyad invasion of Sindh Main article : Muslim conquest in the Indian subcontinent In 711 CE, when the Umayyad dynasty sent a Muslim Arab army led by Muhammad bin Qasim against the ruler of Sindh, Raja Dahir. Punjab Main articles : Islam in Punjab and History of Punjab § The Shahi Kingdoms and the Muslim invasions Following the birth of Islam in Arabia in the early 7th century, the Muslim Arabs rose to power and replaced the Zoroastrian Persian Empire as the major power west of India in the mid 7th century. In 711 -- 713 AD, Arab armies from the Umayyad caliphate of Damascus conquered Sind and advanced into the present - day southern Punjab, gaining control of Multan, which was later to become a center of the Ismaili sect of Islam. Khyber pukhtunkhwa Main articles : History of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa § Arrival of Islam, and History of Peshawar § Arrival of Islam Hinduism, Buddhism, and Shamanism were the prominent religions in the region until Muslim Arabs and Turks conquered the area during the 7th century AD. Over the centuries migration took place by the population consisting majorly of Hindus and Buddhists. While local Pashtuns brought in Islam, introducing some of the local traditions ( albeit altered by Islam ) such as Pashtunwali or the Pashtun code of honor. Islam and the Pakistan movement Main articles : History of Pakistan and Pakistan Movement The Muslim poet - philosopher Sir Allama Muhammad Iqbal first proposed the idea of a Muslim state in northwestern South Asia in his address to the Muslim League at Allahabad in 1930. His proposal referred to the four provinces of Punjab, Sindh, Balochistan, and the NorthWest Frontier -- essentially what would become Pakistan. Iqbal 's idea gave concrete form to two distinct nations in the South Asia based on religion ( Islam and Hinduism ) and with different historical backgrounds, social customs, cultures, and social mores. Islam was thus the basis for the creation and the unification of a separate state. Allama Muhammad Iqbal in 1937, in a letter to Jinnah wrote, `` After a long and careful study of Islamic Law I have come to the conclusion that if this system of Law is properly understood and applied, at last the right to subsistence is secured to every body. But the enforcement and development of the Shariat of Islam is impossible in this country without a free Muslim state or states. This has been my honest conviction for many years and I still believe this to be the only way to solve the problem of bread for Muslims as well as to secure a peaceful India. '' Three days before the creation of Pakistan, Mohammad Ali Jinnah is reported to have given an inaugural speech in the constituent assembly, where he said, `` You will find that in the course of time Hindus would cease to be Hindus and Muslims would cease to be Muslims, not in the religious sense, because that is the personal faith of each individual, but in the political sense as citizens of the State. '' This statement of Jinnah is an object of great controversy especially amongst secular Pakistani intellectuals. There is no available audio or video recording of this statement. Moreover, the statement is viewed differently by two major camps. Some Pakistanis try to deduce that secularism is what Jinnah wanted based on his statement. Others claim that the statement is not contrary to Islam 's injunctions since all citizens have equal rights in an Islamic state. They also claim that Jinnah never used the word `` secular '', even though he could have. Those who argue that Mohammad Ali Jinnah wanted an Islamic Pakistan, base their arguments on Jinnah 's own words. He said : `` Pakistan is the premier Islamic State and the fifth largest in the world... The constitution of Pakistan has yet to be framed by the Pakistan Constituent Assembly. I do not know what the ultimate shape of this constitution is going to be, but I am sure that it will be of a democratic type, embodying the essential principles of Islam. Today, they are as applicable in actual life as they were 1,300 years ago. Islam and idealism have taught us democracy. It has taught equality of men, justice and fair - play to everybody. ' ' ( Radio Broadcast to the People of the United States of America, February 1948 ). Most Pakistanis would agree that Jinnah certainly did not want a theocracy but a democracy guided by the principles of Islam. At another instance he said, `` The great majority of us are Muslims. We follow the teachings of the Prophet Mohammed ( may peace be upon him ). We are members of the brotherhood of Islam in which all are equal in rights, dignity and self - respect. Consequently, we have a special and a very deep sense of unity. But make no mistake : Pakistan is not a theocracy or anything like it. '' ( Radio Broadcast to the People of Australia, 1948 ). About democracy and the role of Islam, Jinnah said, `` You have to stand guard over the development and maintenance of Islamic democracy, Islamic social justice and the equality of manhood in your own native soil. '' Islam in independent Pakistan Pakistan had been created in the name of Islam. The idea of Pakistan had received overwhelming popular support among Indian Muslims, especially those in the provinces of British India where Muslims were in a minority such as U.P. The Muslim League leadership, ulama ( Islamic clergy ) and Jinnah had articulated their vision of Pakistan in terms of an Islamic state. Muhammad Ali Jinnah had developed a close association with the ulama. When Jinnah died, Islamic scholar Maulana Shabbir Ahmad Usmani described Jinnah as the greatest Muslim after the Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb and also compared Jinnah 's death to the Prophet 's passing. Usmani asked Pakistanis to remember Jinnah 's message of Unity, Faith and Discipline and work to fulfil his dream : to create a solid bloc of all Muslim states from Karachi to Ankara, from Pakistan to Morocco. He ( Jinnah ) wanted to see the Muslims of the world united under the banner of Islam as an effective check against the aggressive designs of their enemies. The first formal step taken to transform Pakistan into an ideological Islamic state was in March 1949 when the country 's first Prime Minister, Liaquat Ali Khan, introduced the Objectives Resolution in the Constituent Assembly. The Objectives Resolution declared that sovereignty over the entire universe belongs to God Almighty. The president of the Muslim League, Chaudhry Khaliquzzaman, announced that Pakistan would bring together all Muslim countries into Islamistan - a pan-Islamic entity. Khaliq believed that Pakistan was only a Muslim state and was not yet an Islamic state, but that it could certainly become an Islamic state after bringing all believers of Islam into a single political unit. Keith Callard, one of the earliest scholars on Pakistani politics, observed that Pakistanis believed in the essential unity of purpose and outlook in the Muslim world : Pakistan was founded to advance the cause of Muslims. Other Muslims might have been expected to be sympathetic, even enthusiastic. But this assumed that other Muslim states would take the same view of the relation between religion and nationality. However, Pakistan 's pan-Islamist sentiments were not shared by other Muslim governments at the time. Nationalism in other parts of the Muslim world was based on ethnicity, language and culture. Although Muslim governments were unsympathetic with Pakistan 's pan-Islamic aspirations, Islamists from all over the world were drawn to Pakistan. Figures such as the Grand Mufti of Palestine, Al - Haj Amin al - Husseini, and leaders of Islamist political movements, such as the Muslim Brotherhood, became frequent visitors to the country. After General Zia - ul - Haq took power in a military coup, Hizb ut - Tahrir ( an Islamist group calling for the establishment of a Caliphate ) expanded its organisational network and activities in Pakistan. Its founder, Taqi al - Din al - Nabhani, would maintain regular correspondence with Abul A'la Maududi, the founder of Jamaat - e-Islami ( JI ), and he also urged Dr Israr Ahmed to continue his work in Pakistan for the establishment of a global caliphate. Social scientist Nasim Ahmad Jawed conducted a survey in 1969 in pre-divided Pakistan on the type of national identity that was used by educated professional people. He found that over 60 % of people in East Pakistan ( modern day Bangladesh ) professed to have a secular national identity. However, in West Pakistan ( current day Pakistan ) the same figure professed to have an Islamic and not a secular identity. Furthermore, the same figure in East Pakistan defined their identity in terms of their ethnicity and not Islam. But it was the opposite in West Pakistan where Islam was stated to be more important than ethnicity. After Pakistan 's first ever general elections the 1973 Constitution was created by an elected Parliament. The Constitution declared Pakistan an Islamic Republic and Islam as the state religion. It also stated that all laws would have to be brought into accordance with the injunctions of Islam as laid down in the Quran and Sunnah and that no law repugnant to such injunctions could be enacted. The 1973 Constitution also created certain institutions such as the Shariat Court and the Council of Islamic Ideology to channel the interpretation and application of Islam. On 5 July 1977, General Zia - ul - Haq led a coup d'état. In the year or two before Zia - ul - Haq 's coup, his predecessor, leftist Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, had faced vigorous opposition which was united under the revivalist banner of Nizam - e-Mustafa ( `` Rule of the prophet '' ). According to supporters of the movement, establishing an Islamic state based on sharia law would mean a return to the justice and success of the early days of Islam when the Islamic prophet Muhammad ruled the Muslims. In an effort to stem the tide of street Islamisation, Bhutto had also called for it and banned the drinking and selling of wine by Muslims, nightclubs and horse racing. Zia - ul - Haq committed himself to establishing an Islamic state and enforcing sharia law. Zia established separate Shariat judicial courts and court benches to judge legal cases using Islamic doctrine. New criminal offences ( of adultery, fornication, and types of blasphemy ), and new punishments ( of whipping, amputation, and stoning to death ), were added to Pakistani law. Interest payments for bank accounts were replaced by `` profit and loss '' payments. Zakat charitable donations became a 2.5 % annual tax. School textbooks and libraries were overhauled to remove un-Islamic material. Offices, schools, and factories were required to offer praying space. Zia bolstered the influence of the ulama ( Islamic clergy ) and the Islamic parties, whilst conservative scholars became fixtures on television. 10,000 s of activists from the Jamaat - e-Islami party were appointed to government posts to ensure the continuation of his agenda after his passing. Conservative ulama ( Islamic scholars ) were added to the Council of Islamic Ideology. Separate electorates for Hindus and Christians were established in 1985 even though Christian and Hindu leaders complained that they felt excluded from the county 's political process. Zia 's state sponsored Islamization increased sectarian divisions in Pakistan between Sunnis and Shias and between Deobandis and Barelvis. A solid majority of Barelvis had supported the creation of Pakistan, and Barelvi ulama had also issued fatwas in support of the Pakistan Movement during the 1946 elections, but ironically Islamic state politics in Pakistan was mostly in favour of Deobandi ( and later Ahl - e-Hadith / Salafi ) institutions. This was despite the fact that only a few ( although influential ) Deobandi clerics had supported the Pakistan Movement. Zia - ul - Haq forged a strong alliance between the military and Deobandi institutions. Possible motivations for the Islamization programme included Zia 's personal piety ( most accounts agree that he came from a religious family ), desire to gain political allies, to `` fulfill Pakistan 's raison d'être '' as a Muslim state, and / or the political need to legitimise what was seen by some Pakistanis as his `` repressive, un-representative martial law regime ''. According to Shajeel Zaidi a million people attended Zia ul Haq 's funeral because he had given them what they wanted : more religion. A PEW opinion poll found that 84 % of Pakistanis favoured making Sharia the official law of the land. According to the 2013 Pew Research Center report, the majority of Pakistani Muslims also support the death penalty for those who leave Islam ( 62 % ). In contrast, support for the death penalty for those who leave Islam was only 36 % in fellow South Asian Muslim country Bangladesh ( which shared heritage with Pakistan ). A 2010 opinion poll by PEW Research Centre also found that 87 % of Pakistanis considered themselves ' Muslims first ' rather than a member of their nationality. This was the highest figure amongst all Muslim populations surveyed. In contrast only 67 % in Jordan, 59 % in Egypt, 51 % in Turkey, 36 % in Indonesia and 71 % in Nigeria considered themselves as ' Muslim first ' rather than a member of their own nationality. Constitution Main article : Political Islam The conservative convention in Lahore, Pakistan, 2009. At least one observer ( Charles Kennedy ) has described the range of views on the `` appropriate role of Islam '' in Pakistan as having `` Islamic Modernists '' at one end of the spectrum and `` Islamic activists '' at the other. `` Islamic activists '' such as much or the ulama ( Islamic clerics ) and Jamaat - e-Islami ( Islamist party ), support the expansion of `` Islamic law and Islamic practices ''. `` Islamic Modernists '' are lukewarm to this expansion and `` some may even advocate development along the secularist lines of the West. '' Since the 1930s, the Muslim League had been lobbying and pushing its politics for a separate homeland for the Muslims of India, known as Pakistan. After Jinnah died in 1948, Prime Minister Liaquat Ali Khan 's constitutional policies were directed to work on constitution. On 12 March 1949, Prime Minister Ali Khan had the State parliament passing and promulgating the Objectives Resolution, which ultimately declared Islam as state religion of the country. The main objective of Resolution was the `` declaration of State 's submitting to the democratic faith of Islam and to the sovereignty of God ''. Such resolution was met with great resistance in the state parliament when Law minister J.N. Mandal resigned from his ministry and gave great criticism to Prime Minister Liaquat Ali Khan. Politicization of Islam in the country further tighten its support when ultra-conservative Clerics passed a `` demand draft '', called ' Twenty Two Points ' which called for the preparation of constitution according to Objectives Resolution, in 1950. Until the government of General Muhammad Zia - ul - Haq, `` Islamic activists '' were frustrated by the lack of `` teeth '' to enforce Islamic law in Pakistan 's constitution. For example, in the 1956 constitution, the state did not enforce `` Islamic moral standards '' but `` endeavor ( ed ) '' to make them compulsory and to `` prevent '' prostitution, gambling, consumption of alcoholic liquor, etc. Interest was to be eliminated `` as soon as possible ''. Conservatism and right - wing politics Political Islam or Islamic revivalism / activism in Pakistan was and is associated with right - wing politics, ( unlike some countries such as Iran or Lebanon, where Islamist slogans often mention `` revolution '' and support for the mostazafin against the elite ). Influential Islamist leader Abul A'la Maududi, leader of Jamaat - e-Islami, strongly opposed socialism and populism. During the 1970 general elections, the religious conservative and not - so - religious conservative parties participated in the election in direct competition with left - oriented PPP led by Zulfikar Ali Bhutto. When the PPP won and initiated a land reform and nationalization program, right wing opposition ( PNA ) united under the revivalist banner of Nizam - e-Mustafa ( `` Rule of the prophet '' ), calling for the establishment of an Islamic state based on sharia law, that according to supporters of the movement would mean a return to the justice and success of the early days of Islam when the Islamic prophet Muhammad ruled the Muslims. In an effort to stem the tide of street Islamisation, Bhutto had also called for Islamisation -- banning the drinking and selling of wine by Muslims, nightclubs and horse racing. Bhutto was overthrown in 1977 and later executed by General Zia, who received support ( at least at first ) from this opposition, including Maududi, and the Jamaat - e-Islami. Zia pursued conservative policies both domestically and in foreign policy where he maintained strict opposition to Soviet Communism. `` Islamisation '' Main article : Zia - ul - Haq 's Islamization `` Islamisation '' was the `` primary '' policy, or `` centerpiece '' of the government of General Muhammad Zia - ul - Haq, the ruler of Pakistan from 1977 until his death in 1988. Zia establishing Hudood Ordinances against fornication and alcohol consumption, strict blasphemy laws, a profit - and - loss banking system, taxation of Zakat, establishment of a Federal Shariat Court and a Shariat Appellate Bench on the Supreme Court, and other policies such as a Ramadan Ordinance banning eating, smoking, and drinking in public places during that month and changing the weekend from Sunday to Friday. These carried considerably greater implications for women than for men. Islamic activists believed the policies were inadequate, as ( for example ) interest - bearing saving accounts were not prohibited. Conservative and right - wing sphere Right - wing sphere and conservative mass Listing Right - wing Political parties Political views Abbreviation Faction ( s ) Stand Color Pakistan Muslim League ( N ) One - nation, Fiscal, Economic, Environmental and Social conservatism PML ( N ) AML PML ( F ) PML ( L ) PML ( J ) PML ( Z ) Centre - right Pakistan Muslim League ( Q ) Liberal conservatism PML ( Q ) APML Centre Pakistan Tehreek - e-Insaf Communitarianism and Progressive PTI Centre Milli Awami Party nationalism MAP Right Balochistan National Party Nationalism BNP Right Pakistan Awami Tehreek One - nation and Libertarian PAT Right Jamaat - e-Islami Social conservative, Islamic, Traditionalist JeI JAH JUI ( S ) TeJ Far - right Sunni Tehreek Radical Islamism ST SIC Far - right Tehreek Nizam - e-Mustafa Radical Islamism, Sharia law TNeM Far - right Sufism Main article : Sufism in Pakistan Tomb of Syed Abdul Rahim Shah Bukhari constructed by the Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb. Sufism is a vast term and many Sufi orders exist within Pakistan. Sufism has a strong tradition in Pakistan. After the partition of the Indian subcontinent, it was the Muslim Sufi missionaries who played a pivotal role in converting the millions of native people to Islam. The Muslim Sufi orders already prevalent in the South Asia spread in other parts of Pakistan such as predominantly in the Punjab and to a relatively lesser extent in Sindh. The most notable Muslim Sufi orders in Pakistan are doubtlessly the Qadiriyya, Naqshbandiya, Chishtiya and Suhrawardiyya silsas ( Muslim Orders ) and they have a large amount of devotees in Pakistan. The tradition of visiting dargahs is still practiced today. Sufis whose shrines receive much national attention are Data Ganj Baksh ( Ali Hajweri ) in Lahore ( ca. 11th century ), Sultan Bahoo in Shorkot Jhang, Baha - ud - din Zakariya in Multan and Shahbaz Qalander in Sehwan ( ca. 12th century ) and Shah Abdul Latif Bhitai in Bhit, Sindh and Rehman Baba in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province. The Urs ( death anniversary ) of Sufi saints accounts for the largest gathering upon their shrines held annually by the devotees. Although, popular Sufi culture is centered on Thursday night gatherings at shrines and annual festivals which feature Sufi music and dance, certain tariqas such as Sarwari Qadri Order, refrain from such traditions and believe in paying visit to the shrines, making prayers or reciting manqabat. Moreover, contemporary Islamic fundamentalists also criticize the popular tradition of singing, dance and music, which in their view, does not accurately reflect the teachings and practice of the Prophet Mohammad and his companions. There have been terrorist attacks directed at Sufi shrines and festivals, 5 in 2010 that killed 64 people. Presently, the known tariqas in Pakistan have maintained their organisations usually known as tehreeks and have their khanqahs for the dhikr of Allah, as per the old age Sufi tradition. Muslim fiqhs in Pakistan Growth in the number of religious madrassahs in Pakistan from 1988 to 2002. The famed Data Durbar shrine of Sufi saint Ali Hujweiri in Lahore, is a famous for devotees from over the world. Sunni According to the CIA World Factbook and Oxford Centre for Islamic Studies, 95 - 97 % of the total population of Pakistan is Muslim. The majority of the Pakistani Muslims belong to the Sunni Hanafi Madhhab ( school of jurisprudence ). Estimates on the Sunni population in Pakistan ranges from between 75 % to 95 %. Shia Main article : Shia Islam in Pakistan Shia Ithna ' ashariyah are estimated to be 5 -- 20 % of the country 's population. Pakistan, like India, is said to have at least 16 million Shias. A PEW survey in 2012 found that only 6 % of Pakistani Muslims were Shia. Shias allege discrimination by the Pakistani government since 1948, claiming that Sunnis are given preference in business, official positions and administration of justice. Attacks on Shias increased under the presidency of Zia - ul - Haq, with the first major sectarian riots in Pakistan breaking out in 1983 in Karachi and later spreading to Lahore and Balochistan. Sectarian violence became a recurring feature of the Muharram month every year, with sectarian violence between Sunnis and Shias taking place in 1986 in Parachinar. In one notorious incident, the 1988 Gilgit Massacre, Osama bin Laden - led Sunni tribals assaulted, massacred and raped Shia civilians in Gilgit after being inducted by the Pakistan Army to quell a Shia uprising in Gilgit. Zikri Many people on the Makran coast of Balochistan follow the heterodox Zikri sect of Islam. Zikri sect developed within Sunni Hanafis during the 18th century Mahdi movement as a reaction to decline of the Muslim rule and encroaching British colonialism in South Asia. Zikris are now gravitating back towards orthodox Sunni Hanafi beliefs. Quranists Muslims who reject the authority of hadith, known as Quranist, Quraniyoon, or Ahle Quran, are also present in Pakistan. In South Asia during the 19th century, the Ahle Quran movement formed partially in reaction to the Ahle Hadith movement whom they considered to be placing too much emphasis on hadith. Many Ahle Quran adherents were formerly adherents of Ahle Hadith but found themselves incapable of accepting certain hadiths. Notable Quranists of Pakistani descent include Ghulam Ahmed Pervez ( founder of Tolu - e-Islam ), Asarulislam Syed ( founder of the Jannat Pakistan Party ), and Shabbir Ahmed. Non-denominational Roughly twelve per cent of Pakistani Muslims self - describe or have beliefs overlapping with non-denominational Muslims. These Muslims have beliefs that by and large overlap with those of the majority of Muslims and the difference in their prayers are usually non-existent or negligible. Nonetheless, in censuses asking for a clarification on which strand or rite of Muslim faith they most closely align, they usually answer `` just a Muslim ''. Ahmadiyya Main article : Ahmadiyya in Pakistan The Ahmadiyya Muslim community, a minority Muslim group is also present. In 1974, the government of Pakistan amended the Constitution of Pakistan to define a Muslim `` as a person who believes in finality of Prophet Muhammad '' and technically Ahmadis are declared non-Muslims. Ahmadis believe in Muhammad as the best and the last law bearing prophet and Mirza Ghulam Ahmad as the Christ of Muslims. Consequently, they were declared non-Muslims by a parliamentary tribunal. There are approximately 2 million Ahmadi Muslims in the country. This equates to around 1 % of the population. Conversions to Islam There has been conversion to Islam from the religious minorities of Pakistan. Deen Mohammad Shaikh is a Muslim missionary from Matli in Badin District in Sindh province and has converted over 110,000 Hindus to Islam. Laws and customs There is no law in Pakistan enforcing hijab and wearing of Hijab by Pakistani women is fairly uncommon. Media The Muslim print media has always existed in Pakistan which included newspapers, books and magazines. The Muslim satellite channels are widely available and are watched by Pakistani population. Islamic education The Islamiat, study of Islam, as a subject is compulsory for all Muslim students up to Matriculation ( equivalent to Tenth grade ) in Pakistan. Islamic education to the masses is also propagated mainly by Islamic schools and literature. Islamic schools ( or Madrassas ) mostly cater to the youth from impoverished social backgrounds and those learning to be Islamic clerics. More casual and even research oriented material is available in the form of books. While the most prominent of these schools are supervised, the latter are being ' moderated ' by both the government and some of the scholars, thereby also removing in the process the various material present in it that is used by anti-Muslim writers. Oldest and universally accepted titles such as the Sahih Bukhari have been revised into ' summarised ' editions and some of the old, complete titles, translated to Urdu, the national language, are not available for purchase now. These changes are also a herald to new outbreaks of religious controversy in the region. Islamic charity in Pakistan Islamic institutions like the mosque play an active role in philanthropy. In the times of disasters, Islamic religious institutions play a significant role in relief efforts. The first Mughal Emperor Babur before crossing the Indus River. Shah Jahan Mosque, Thatta was patronized by the Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan. A painting by Edwin Lord Weeks c. 1889 of the marketplace near Wazir Khan Mosque. See also Pakistan portal Islam portal Islam in South Asia Religion in Pakistan Blasphemy law in Pakistan Sufi Saints of South Asia Punjabi Muslim Shia Islam in Pakistan Further reading Elliot, Sir H.M., ed. by Dowson, John. The History of India, as Told by Its Own Historians. The Muhammadan Period ; published by London Trubner Company 1867 -- 1877. ( Online Copy : The History of India, as Told by Its Own Historians. The Muhammadan Period ; by Sir H.M. Elliot ; Edited by John Dowson ; London Trubner Company 1867 -- 1877 - This online Copy has been posted by : The Packard Humanities Institute ; Persian Texts in Translation ; Also find other historical books : Author List and Title List ) Jamal Malik. Islam in South Asia : A Short History. Leiden and Boston : Brill, 2008. Raja, Masood Ashraf. Constructing Pakistan : Foundational Texts and the Rise of Muslim National Identity, 1857 -- 1947, Oxford 2010, ISBN 978 - 0 - 19 - 547811 - 2 References Jump up ^ `` Population : 190,291,129 ( July 2012 est. ) ''. The World Factbook. Central Intelligence Agency. 2012. Retrieved 2012 - 05 - 26. Jump up ^ Ḥaqqānī, Husain ( 2005 ). Pakistan : between mosque and military. Washington : Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. p. 131. ISBN 0 - 87003 - 214 - 3. Retrieved 23 May 2010. Zia ul - Haq is often identified as the person most responsible for turning Pakistan into a global center for political Islam. Undoubtedly, Zia went farthest in defining Pakistan as an Islamic state, and he nurtured the jihadist ideology... ^ Jump up to : `` Pakistan, Islam in ''. Oxford Centre for Islamic Studies. Oxford University Press. Retrieved 2010 - 08 - 29. Approximately 97 percent of Pakistanis are Muslim. The majority are Sunnis following the Hanafi school of Islamic law. Between 10 -- 15 percent are Shiis, mostly Twelvers. Jump up ^ Singh, Dr. YP ( 2016 ). Islam in India and Pakistan -- A Religious History. Vij Books India Pvt Ltd. ISBN 9789385505638. Jump up ^ see : Islam by country ^ Jump up to : `` Country Profile : Pakistan '' ( PDF ). Library of Congress Country Studies on Pakistan. Library of Congress. February 2005. Retrieved 2010 - 09 - 01. Religion : The overwhelming majority of the population ( 96.3 percent ) is Muslim, of whom approximately 95 percent are Sunni and 5 percent Shia. ^ Jump up to : `` Religions : Muslim 95 % ( Sunni 75 %, Shia 20 % ), other ''. Pakistan ( includes Christian and Hindu ) 5 %. The World Factbook. CIA. 2010. Retrieved 2010 - 08 - 28. ^ Jump up to : `` Mapping the Global Muslim Population : A Report on the Size and Distribution of the World 's Muslim Population ''. Pew Research Center. October 7, 2009. Retrieved 2010 - 08 - 28. ^ Jump up to : Miller, Tracy, ed. ( October 2009 ). Mapping the Global Muslim Population : A Report on the Size and Distribution of the World 's Muslim Population ( PDF ). Pew Research Center. Archived from the original ( PDF ) on 2009 - 10 - 10. Retrieved 2010 - 08 - 28. ^ Jump up to : `` Pakistan - International Religious Freedom Report 2008 ''. United States Department of State. Retrieved 2010 - 08 - 28. Jump up ^ `` Country Profile : Pakistan '' ( PDF ). Library of Congress Country Studies on Pakistan. Library of Congress. February 2005. Retrieved 2010 - 09 - 01. Religion : The overwhelming majority of the population ( 96.3 percent ) is Muslim, of whom approximately 95 percent are Sunni and 5 percent Shia. Jump up ^ `` Religions : Muslim 95 % ( Sunni 75 %, Shia 20 % ), other ''. Pakistan ( includes Christian and Hindu ) 5 %. The World Factbook. CIA. 2010. Retrieved 2010 - 08 - 28. Jump up ^ `` Country Profile : Pakistan '' ( PDF ). Library of Congress Country Studies on Pakistan. Library of Congress. February 2005. Retrieved 2010 - 09 - 01. Religion : The overwhelming majority of the population ( 96.3 percent ) is Muslim, of whom approximately 95 percent are Sunni and 5 percent Shia. ^ Jump up to : `` The World 's Muslims : Unity and Diversity ''. Pew Research Center. 9 August 2012. Retrieved 26 December 2016. On the other hand, in Pakistan, where 6 % of the survey respondents identify as Shia, Sunni attitudes are more mixed : 50 % say Shias are Muslims, while 41 % say they are not. ^ Jump up to : `` Field Listing : Religions ''. The World Factbook. Central Intelligence Agency. 2010. Retrieved 24 August 2010. ^ Jump up to : The 1998 Pakistani census states that there are 291,000 ( 0.22 % ) Ahmadis in Pakistan. However, the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community has boycotted the census since 1974 which renders official Pakistani figures to be inaccurate. Independent groups have estimated the Pakistani Ahmadiyya population to be somewhere between 2 million and 3 million Ahmadis. However, the 2 million figure is the most quoted figure and is approximately 1 % of the country. See : over 2 million : Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada ( 2008 - 12 - 04 ). `` Pakistan : The situation of Ahmadis, including legal status and political, education and employment rights ; societal attitudes toward Ahmadis ( 2006 - Nov. 2008 ) ''. Retrieved 2012 - 06 - 28. 3 million : International Federation for Human Rights : International Fact - Finding Mission. Freedoms of Expression, of Association and of Assembly in Pakistan. Ausgabe 408 / 2, Januar 2005, S. 61 ( PDF ) 3 -- 4 million : Commission on International Religious Freedom : Annual Report of the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom. 2005, S. 130 4.910. 000 : James Minahan : Encyclopedia of the stateless nations. Ethnic and national groups around the world. Greenwood Press. Westport 2002, page 52 `` Pakistan : Situation of members of the Lahori Ahmadiyya Movement in Pakistan ''. Retrieved April 30, 2014. Jump up ^ Ousel, M. ( 1997 ). Ancient India and Indian Civilization. Routledge. Jump up ^ Iqbal 's letter to Jinnah Jump up ^ Hussain, Rizwan. Pakistan. The Oxford Encyclopedia of the Islamic World. Pakistan is unique among Muslim countries in its relationship with Islam : it is the only country to have been established in the name of Islam. Jump up ^ Talbot, Ian ( 2 February 1984 ). `` Jinnah and the Making of Pakistan ''. History Today. Retrieved 24 December 2016. As British rule there drew to an end, many Muslims demanded, in the name of Islam, the creation of a separate Pakistan state. Jump up ^ Dhulipala, Venkat ( 2015 ). Creating a New Medina : State Power, Islam, and the Quest for Pakistan in Late Colonial North India. Cambridge University Press. p. 496. ISBN 9781316258385. The idea of Pakistan may have had its share of ambiguities, but its dismissal as a vague emotive symbol hardly illuminates the reasons as to why it received such overwhelmingly popular support among Indian Muslims, especially those in the ' minority provinces ' of British India such as U.P. Jump up ^ Dhulipala, Venkat ( 2015 ). Creating a New Medina : State Power, Islam, and the Quest for Pakistan in Late Colonial North India. Cambridge University Press. p. 497. ISBN 9781316258385. As the book has demonstrated, local ML functionaries, ( U.P. ) ML leadership, Muslim modernists at Aligarh, the ulama and even Jinnah at times articulated their vision of Pakistan in terms of an Islamic state. ^ Jump up to : Dhulipala, Venkat ( 2015 ). Creating a New Medina : State Power, Islam, and the Quest for Pakistan in Late Colonial North India. Cambridge University Press. p. 489. ISBN 9781316258385. But what is undeniable is the close association he developed with the ulama, for when he died a little over a year after Pakistan was born, Maulana Shabbir Ahmad Usmani, in his funeral oration, described Jinnah as the greatest Muslim after the Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb. Jump up ^ Haqqani, Hussain ( 2010 ). Pakistan : Between Mosque and Military. Carnegie Endowment. p. 16. ISBN 9780870032851. Jump up ^ Hussain, Rizwan. Pakistan. The Oxford Encyclopedia of the Islamic World. The first important result of the combined efforts of the Jamāʿat - i Islāmī and the ʿulamāʿ was the passage of the Objectives Resolution in March 1949, whose formulation reflected compromise between traditionalists and modernists. The resolution embodied `` the main principles on which the constitution of Pakistan is to be based. '' It declared that `` sovereignty over the entire universe belongs to God Almighty alone and the authority which He has delegated to the State of Pakistan through its people for being exercised within the limits prescribed by Him is a sacred trust, '' that `` the principles of democracy, freedom, equality, tolerance and social justice, as enunciated by Islam shall be fully observed, '' and that `` the Muslims shall be enabled to order their lives in the individual and collective spheres in accord with the teaching and requirements of Islam as set out in the Holy Qurʿan and Sunna. '' The Objectives Resolution has been reproduced as a preamble to the constitutions of 1956, 1962, and 1973. ^ Jump up to : Haqqani, Husssain ( 2010 ). Pakistan : Between Mosque and Military. Carnegie Endowment. p. 18. ISBN 9780870032851. Jump up ^ Dhulipala, Venkat ( 2015 ). Creating a New Medina : State Power, Islam, and the Quest for Pakistan in Late Colonial North India. Cambridge University Press. p. 491. ISBN 9781316258385. Jump up ^ Haqqqani, Hussain ( 2010 ). Pakistan : Between Mosque and Military. Carnegie Endowment. p. 19. ISBN 9780870032851. Jump up ^ Khan, Sher Ali ( 12 February 2016 ). `` Global connections : The crackdown on Hizbut Tahrir intensifies ''. Herald. Jump up ^ Cochrane, Iain ( 2009 ). The Causes of the Bangladesh War. ISBN 9781445240435. The social scientist, Nasim Ahmad Jawed has conducted a survey of nationalism in pre-divided Pakistan and identifies the links between religion, politics and nationalism in both wings of Pakistan. His findings are fascinating and go some way to explain the differing attitudes of West and East Pakistan to the relationship between Islam and Pakistani nationalism and how this affected the views of people in both wings, especially the views of the peoples of both wings towards each other. In 1969, Jawed conducted a survey on the type of national identity that was used by educated professional people. He found that just over 60 % in the East wing professed to have a secular national identity. However, in the West wing, the same figure professed an Islamic and not a secular identity. Furthermore, the same figure in the East wing described their identity in terms of their ethnicity and not in terms of Islam. He found that the opposite was the case in the West wing where Islam was stated to be more important than ethnicity. Jump up ^ Diamantides, Marinos ; Gearey, Adam ( 2011 ). Islam, Law and Identity. Routledge. p. 196. ISBN 9781136675652. Jump up ^ Iqbal, Khurshid ( 2009 ). The Right to Development in International Law : The Case of Pakistan. Routledge. p. 189. ISBN 9781134019991. ^ Jump up to : Diamantides, Marinos ; Gearey, Adam ( 2011 ). Islam, Law and Identity. Routledge. p. 198. ISBN 9781136675652. Jump up ^ Grote, Rainer ( 2012 ). Constitutionalism in Islamic Countries : Between Upheaval and Continuity. Oxford University Press. p. 196. ISBN 9780199910168. Jump up ^ Nasr, Seyyed Vali Reza Nasr ( 1996 ). Mawdudi and the Making of Islamic Revivalism. New York, Oxford : Oxford University Press. pp. 45 -- 6. ISBN 0195096959. ^ Jump up to : Kepel, Gilles ( 2002 ). Jihad : The Trail of Political Islam ( 2006 ed. ). I.B. Tauris. pp. 100 -- 101. Retrieved 5 December 2014. Jump up ^ Michael Heng Siam - Heng, Ten Chin Liew ( 2010 ). State and Secularism : Perspectives from Asia § General Zia - ul - Haq and Patronage of Islamism. Singapore : World Scientific. p. 360. ISBN 9789814282383. ^ Jump up to : Double Jeopardy : Police Abuse of Women in Pakistan. Human Rights Watch. 1992. p. 19. Retrieved 3 December 2014. Jump up ^ Haqqani, Hussain ( 2005 ). Pakistan : between mosque and military. Washington D.C. : United Book Press. p. 400. ISBN 9780870032851. ^ Jump up to : Wynbrandt, James ( 2009 ). A Brief History of Pakistan. Facts on File. pp. 216 -- 7. ISBN 9780816061846. Jump up ^ Jones, Owen Bennett ( 2002 ). Pakistan : eye of the storm. New Haven and London : Yale University Press. pp. 16 -- 7. ^ Jump up to : Paracha, Nadeem F. ( 3 September 2009 ). `` Pious follies ''. Dawn.com. Retrieved 20 December 2014. Jump up ^ Jones, Owen Bennett ( 2002 ). Pakistan : eye of the storm. New Haven and London : Yale University Press. pp. 16 -- 7... Zia rewarded the only political party to offer him consistent support, Jamaat - e-Islami. Tens of thousands of Jamaat activists and sympathisers were given jobs in the judiciary, the civil service and other state institutions. These appointments meant Zia 's Islamic agenda lived on long after he died. Jump up ^ Nasr, Vali ( 2004 ). `` Islamization, the State and Development ''. In Hathaway, Robert ; Lee, Wilson. ISLAMIZATION AND THE PAKISTANI ECONOMY ( PDF ). Woodrow Wilson International Center or Scholars. p. 95. Retrieved 30 January 2015. General Zia became the patron of Islamization in Pakistan and for the first time in the country 's history, opened the bureaucracy, the military, and various state institutions to Islamic parties Jump up ^ Jones, Owen Bennett ( 2002 ). Pakistan : Eye of the Storm. Yale University Press. p. 31. ISBN 0300101473. Retrieved 9 December 2014. Jump up ^ Talbot, Ian ( 1998 ). Pakistan, a Modern History. NY : St. Martin 's Press. p. 251. The state sponsored process of Islamisation dramatically increased sectarian divisions not only between Sunnis and Shia over the issue of the 1979 Zakat Ordinance, but also between Deobandis and Barelvis. Jump up ^ Long, Roger D. ; Singh, Gurharpal ; Samad, Yunas ; Talbot, Ian ( 2015 ). State and Nation - Building in Pakistan : Beyond Islam and Security. Routledge. p. 167. ISBN 9781317448204. In the 1940s a solid majority of the Barelvis were supporters of the Pakistan Movement and played a supporting role in its final phase ( 1940 - 7 ), mostly under the banner of the All - India Sunni Conference which had been founded in 1925. Jump up ^ Cesari, Jocelyne ( 2014 ). The Awakening of Muslim Democracy : Religion, Modernity, and the State. Cambridge University Press. p. 135. ISBN 9781107513297. For example, the Barelvi ulama supported the formation of the state of Pakistan and thought that any alliance with Hindus ( such as that between the Indian National Congress and the Jamiat ulama - I - Hind ( JUH ) ) was counterproductive. Jump up ^ John, Wilson ( 2009 ). Pakistan : The Struggle Within. Pearson Education India. p. 87. ISBN 9788131725047. During the 1946 election, Barelvi Ulama issued fatwas in favour of the Muslim League. ^ Jump up to : Syed, Jawad ; Pio, Edwina ; Kamran, Tahir ; Zaidi, Abbas ( 2016 ). Faith - Based Violence and Deobandi Militancy in Pakistan. Springer. p. 379. ISBN 9781349949663. Ironically, Islamic state politics in Pakistan was mostly in favour of Deobandi, and more recently Ahl - e Hadith / Salafi, institutions. Only a few Deobandi clerics decided to support the Pakistan Movement, but they were highly influential. Jump up ^ Haqqani, Hussain ( 2010 ). Pakistan : Between Mosque and Military. Carnegie Endowment. p. 132. ISBN 9780870032851. Jump up ^ Talbot, Ian ( 1998 ). Pakistan, a Modern History. NY : St. Martin 's Press. p. 286. Jump up ^ Zaidi, Shajeel ( 17 August 2016 ). `` In defence of Ziaul Haq ''. Express Tribune. Jump up ^ `` Chapter 1 : Beliefs About Sharia ''. Pew Research Center 's Religion & Public Life Project. 30 April 2013. Retrieved 4 December 2016. Jump up ^ `` Majorities of Muslims in Egypt and Pakistan support the death penalty for leaving Islam ''. Washington Post. Retrieved 4 December 2016. Jump up ^ `` What Do You Consider Yourself First ? ''. Pew Research Center 's Global Attitudes Project. 31 March 2010. Retrieved 4 December 2016. Jump up ^ Kennedy, Charles ( 1996 ). Islamization of Laws and Economy, Case Studies on Pakistan. Institute of Policy Studies, The Islamic Foundation. p. 83. ^ Jump up to : `` Objectives Resolution is passed ''. Story of Pakistan ( 1949 ). Retrieved 12 May 2013. Jump up ^ quoting article 25, 28, 29, 198 of the 1956 Constitution of Pakistan Jump up ^ Kennedy, Charles ( 1996 ). Islamization of Laws and Economy, Case Studies on Pakistan. Institute of Policy Studies, The Islamic Foundation. pp. 84 -- 5. Jump up ^ Nasr, Seyyed Vali Reza Nasr ( 1996 ). Mawdudi and the Making of Islamic Revivalism. New York, Oxford : Oxford University Press. pp. 45 -- 6. ISBN 0195096959. ^ Jump up to : Kepel, Gilles ( 2002 ). Jihad : The Trail of Political Islam ( 2006 ed. ). I.B. Tauris. pp. 100 -- 101. Retrieved 5 December 2014. Jump up ^ Michael Heng Siam - Heng, Ten Chin Liew ( 2010 ). State and Secularism : Perspectives from Asia § General Zia - ul - Haq and Patronage of Islamism. Singapore : World Scientific. p. 360. ISBN 9789814282383. Jump up ^ Haqqani, Hussain ( 2005 ). Pakistan : Between Mosque and Military ; § From Islamic Republic to Islamic State. United States : Carnegie Endowment for International Peace ( July 2005 ). pp. 395 pages. ISBN 978 - 0 - 87003 - 214 - 1. Jump up ^ Jones, Owen Bennett ( 2002 ). Pakistan : eye of the storm. New Haven and London : Yale University Press. pp. 16 -- 7... Zia made Islam the centrepiece of his administration. Jump up ^ Produced by Charlotte Buchen. `` Sufism Under attack in Pakistan '' ( video ). The New York Times. Retrieved May 21, 2012. Jump up ^ Huma Imtiaz ; Charlotte Buchen ( January 6, 2011 ). `` The Islam That Hard - Liners Hate '' ( blog ). The New York Times. Retrieved May 21, 2012. Jump up ^ Hazrat Sakhi Sultan, Mohammad Najib ur Rehman. Visiting Shrines of Sufi Saints. Sultan ul Faqr Publications Regd. ISBN 9789699795183. Jump up ^ Rahman, T. Madrasas : Potential for Violence in Pakistan in Madrasas in South Asia : Teaching Terror ? Edited by Jamal Malik. Routledge 2008. pp. 64. Jump up ^ The Muslims belong to different schools which are called Madhahib ( singular : Madhhab ) i.e., schools of jurisprudence ( also ' Maktab - e-Fikr ' ( School of Thought ) in Urdu ). Jump up ^ `` Country Profile : Pakistan '' ( PDF ). Library of Congress Country Studies on Pakistan. Library of Congress. February 2005. Retrieved 2010 - 09 - 01. Religion : The overwhelming majority of the population ( 96.3 percent ) is Muslim, of whom approximately 95 percent are Sunni and 5 percent Shia. Jump up ^ Tracy Miller, ed. ( October 2009 ). `` Mapping the Global Muslim Population : A Report on the Size and Distribution of the World 's Muslim Population ''. Pew Research Center. Archived from the original on 27 March 2010. Retrieved 9 June 2010. Jump up ^ Nasr, Vali ( 2007 ). The Shia revival : how conflicts within Islam will shape the future ( Paperback ed. ). New York : W.W. Norton. ISBN 0393329682. ^ Jump up to : Jones, Brian H. ( 2010 ). Around Rakaposhi. Brian H Jones. ISBN 9780980810721. Many Shias in the region feel that they have been discriminated against since 1948. They claim that the Pakistani government continually gives preferences to Sunnis in business, in official positions, and in the administration of justice... The situation deteriorated sharply during the 1980s under the presidency of the tyrannical Zia - ul Haq when there were many attacks on the Shia population. ^ Jump up to : Broder, Jonathan ( 10 November 1987 ). `` Sectarian Strife Threatens Pakistan ` s Fragile Society ''. Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 31 December 2016. Pakistan ` s first major Shiite - Sunni riots erupted in 1983 in Karachi during the Shiite holiday of Muharram ; at least 60 people were killed. More Muharram disturbances followed over the next three years, spreading to Lahore and the Baluchistan region and leaving hundreds more dead. Last July, Sunnis and Shiites, many of them armed with locally made automatic weapons, clashed in the northwestern town of Parachinar, where at least 200 died. Jump up ^ Jones, Brian H. ( 2010 ). Around Rakaposhi. Brian H Jones. ISBN 9780980810721. Many Shias in the region feel that they have been discriminated against since 1948. They claim that the Pakistani government continually gives preferences to Sunnis in business, in official positions, and in the administration of justice... The situation deteriorated sharply during the 1980s under the presidency of the tyrannical Zia - ul Haq when there were many attacks on the Shia population. In one of the most notorious incidents, during May 1988 Sunni assailants destroyed Shia villages, forcing thousands of people to flee to Gilgit for refuge. Shia mosques were razed and about 100 people were killed Jump up ^ Raman, B ( 26 February 2003 ). `` The Karachi Attack : The Kashmir Link ''. Rediiff News. Retrieved 31 December 2016. A revolt by the Shias of Gilgit was ruthlessly suppressed by the Zia - ul Haq regime in 1988, killing hundreds of Shias. An armed group of tribals from Afghanistan and the North - West Frontier Province, led by Osama bin Laden, was inducted by the Pakistan Army into Gilgit and adjoining areas to suppress the revolt. Jump up ^ Taimur, Shamil ( 12 October 2016 ). `` This Muharram, Gilgit gives peace a chance ''. Herald. Retrieved 31 December 2016. This led to violent clashes between the two sects. In 1988, after a brief calm of nearly four days, the military regime allegedly used certain militants along with local Sunnis to ' teach a lesson ' to Shias, which led to hundreds of Shias and Sunnis being killed. Jump up ^ International Organizations and The Rise of ISIL : Global Responses to Human Security Threats. Routledge. 2016. pp. 37 -- 38. ISBN 9781315536088. Several hundred Shiite civilians in Gilgit, Pakistan, were massacred in 1988 by Osama Bin Laden and his Taliban fighters ( Raman, 2004 ). Jump up ^ Murphy, Eamon ( 2013 ). The Making of Terrorism in Pakistan : Historical and Social Roots of Extremism. Routledge. p. 134. ISBN 9780415565264. Shias in the district of Gilgit were assaulted, killed and raped by an invading Sunni lashkar - armed militia - comprising thousands of jihadis from the North West Frontier Province. Jump up ^ Ali Usman Qasmi, A mosque for Qurani Namaz, The Friday Times, Retrieved February 16, 2013 Jump up ^ Daniel W. Brown, Rethinking Tradition in Modern Islamic Thought, Cambridge University Press, 1996, pp. 38, 40. Jump up ^ Pewforum Chapter 1 : Religious Affiliation retrieved, retrieved 11 March 2015 Jump up ^ `` The Holy Prophet Muhammad ''. Ahmadiyya Muslim Community. Retrieved 2009 - 07 - 29. Jump up ^ 100,000 conversions and counting, meet the ex-Hindu who herds souls to the Hereafter This article incorporates public domain material from the Library of Congress Country Studies website http://lcweb2.loc.gov/frd/cs/. External links Complete website on Islam Islam in Asia Sovereign states Afghanistan Armenia Azerbaijan Bahrain Bangladesh Bhutan Brunei Cambodia China Cyprus East Timor ( Timor - Leste ) Egypt Georgia India Indonesia Iran Iraq Israel Japan Jordan Kazakhstan North Korea South Korea Kuwait Kyrgyzstan Laos Lebanon Malaysia Maldives Mongolia Myanmar Nepal Oman Pakistan Philippines Qatar Russia Saudi Arabia Singapore Sri Lanka Syria Tajikistan Thailand Turkey Turkmenistan United Arab Emirates Uzbekistan Vietnam Yemen States with limited recognition Abkhazia Artsakh Northern Cyprus Palestine South Ossetia Taiwan Dependencies and other territories British Indian Ocean Territory Christmas Island Cocos ( Keeling ) Islands Hong Kong Macau Religion in Pakistan Islam Shi'a Sufi Ahmadiyya Hinduism Christianity Sikhism Bahá'í Faith Kalash Buddhism Judaism Jainism Shamanism Irreligion Scientology Freedom of religion Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Islam_in_Pakistan&oldid=802304403 '' Categories : Islam in Asia Islam by country Pakistani law Islam in Pakistan Hidden categories : Wikipedia articles incorporating text from the Library of Congress Country Studies Talk Contents About Wikipedia বাংলা Čeština Français Basa Jawa Bahasa Melayu Русский Simple English Українська اردو 中文 Edit links This page was last edited on 25 September 2017, at 09 : 16. 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Question: what is the population of muslim in pakistan
Answer: About 97.0%