RELIGIOUS EDUCATION AND EXTREMISM IN PAKISTAN: FROM DEOBANDI MILITANCY TO A RISING SUFI FANATICISM

Aim. The aim of this research article is to verify waves of fanaticism among thefollowers of the Barelvi sect, a branch of Sufi Islam along with continuation of violentextremist activities by the followers of the Deobandi brand of the Muslim religion inPakistan. It has been evidenced that Pakistan’s society has been badly infl uenced byreligious extremism since the 1980s (Gul, 2012). Fitzgerald (2011) termed the religion asa force of nature which is absolutely appropriate for the case of religious extremism inPakistan. The religious extremism in Pakistan can be examined through the concept ofsocial constructivism which emphasizes characterisation of human identity, values andnorms in the society (Sajjad, 2015).Method. The qualitative method of research was employed to analyse circumstancesrelated to growing Sufi ’s fanaticism in Pakistan. The data was collected from differentsources including books, scientifi c journals, research articles, newspapers and websites.Results. By using various valuable references, it has been verifi ed that support of thestate in the 1980s caused growth of Deobandi extremism, as well as support by the state inorder to counter some of the Deobandi fanatic groups in the 1990s and 2000s led to occurrenceof Barelvi fanaticism in the country.Conclusion. The study confi rms that Pakistan, which was already witness of Deobandimilitancy, is facing the more challenging fanaticism of Barelvis, having strong tendencies toward radicalization and extremism on the religious issues like blasphemy.