Jamat-i-Islami (JI)
Roots
Formed in 1941 by Islamic scholar Abul Ala Maududi as a modern fundamentalist Islamic party.
JI was staunchly opposed to Jinnah’s Muslim nationalism, suggesting that nationalism was a European concept that had no place in Islam.
Another problem Maududi had with Pakistan was that he considered the new country to be in a state of jahiliyat(28) – Arab word meaning ‘ignorance’ and describing the time in Mecca before the arrival of Islam.
Nevertheless, the party moved to the newly created Pakistan in 1947 and made its first dramatic entry into the new country’s politics by joining the Majlis-e-Ahrar in an anti-Ahmadi movement in Lahore in 1953.
Abul Ala Maududi delivering a speech in 1955.
Maududi was arrested for inciting religious hatred and rioting and sentenced to death. The sentence was soon overturned.
Lacking electoral pull, the JI recruited educated urbanites into its fold in an attempt to infiltrate the bureaucracy and the vernacular Urdu print media(29).
JI was banned in 1963 by the Ayub dictatorship when it vehemently opposed the regime’s overtly secular policies and liberal interpretation of Islam.
The ban was soon lifted. During the 1970 election, JI aggressively ran a vigorous campaign against leftist parties (particularly the PPP), and in its manifesto claimed that voting for socialist party was against the teachings of Islam.
Maududi in a meeting with some politicians on the eve of the 1970 election.
The campaign came to a naught when the JI was routed in the 1970 election.
In 1974 it again led the agitation against the Ahmadi community. This time it was successful in getting the community relegated as a non-Muslim minority.
In 1977 the party headed a nine-party election alliance against the PPP regime. The alliance was routed, but it refused to accept the election result. It then began a protest campaign on the streets that led to the imposition of Pakistan's third Martial Law.
The JI joined the reactionary Ziaul Haq dictatorship and was one of the first parties to organise jihadists against the Soviet-backed regime in Afghanistan.
During the 1988 election, JI joined the nine-party right-wing alliance, the Islami Jamhoori Ittihad (IJI).
Amir of JI, late Qazi Hussain Ahmed (right) with Nawaz Sharif.
It quit the alliance after the 1990 election and went solo during the 1993 election but faced defeat.
It boycotted the 1997 election and then went on to hail the military coup against the second Nawaz Sharif/PML-N regime.
In 2002 it became part of the right-wing religious alliance, the Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA). The alliance fell apart before the 2008 election.
The JI boycotted the 2008 election.
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Electoral History (National Assembly)
• 1970 Election Seats won: 4
• 1977 Election Seats won (As part of Pakistan National Alliance): 36
• 1988 Election Seats won (as part of Islami Jamhoori Ittihad) 56
• 1990 Election Seats won: (as part of Islami Jamhoori Ittihad 106 Became part of the PML-led government. Quit in 1992.
• 1993 Election Seats won: 3
• 1997 Election Boycotted.
• 2002 Election Seats won (As part of Muttahida Majlis Amal): 63 Formed governments in NWFP and Balochistan.
Leading members of the MMA (2002).
• 2008 Election
Boycott
Areas of Electoral Influence: Parts of Karachi (Sindh); Parts of KP.
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Ideological Orientation Fundamentalist (1947 - ).
Views on religion Fundamentalist, even though the party has often expressed it through intellectual means and propaganda.
Youth Wings: Islami Jamiat Taleba (formed: 1948); Shabab-e-Milli (formed: 1994); Pasban (but broke away from JI in 1994).
Flag of the Shabab-e-Milli
JI was staunchly opposed to Jinnah’s Muslim nationalism, suggesting that nationalism was a European concept that had no place in Islam.
Another problem Maududi had with Pakistan was that he considered the new country to be in a state of jahiliyat(28) – Arab word meaning ‘ignorance’ and describing the time in Mecca before the arrival of Islam.
Nevertheless, the party moved to the newly created Pakistan in 1947 and made its first dramatic entry into the new country’s politics by joining the Majlis-e-Ahrar in an anti-Ahmadi movement in Lahore in 1953.
Lacking electoral pull, the JI recruited educated urbanites into its fold in an attempt to infiltrate the bureaucracy and the vernacular Urdu print media(29).
JI was banned in 1963 by the Ayub dictatorship when it vehemently opposed the regime’s overtly secular policies and liberal interpretation of Islam.
The ban was soon lifted. During the 1970 election, JI aggressively ran a vigorous campaign against leftist parties (particularly the PPP), and in its manifesto claimed that voting for socialist party was against the teachings of Islam.
In 1974 it again led the agitation against the Ahmadi community. This time it was successful in getting the community relegated as a non-Muslim minority.
In 1977 the party headed a nine-party election alliance against the PPP regime. The alliance was routed, but it refused to accept the election result. It then began a protest campaign on the streets that led to the imposition of Pakistan's third Martial Law.
The JI joined the reactionary Ziaul Haq dictatorship and was one of the first parties to organise jihadists against the Soviet-backed regime in Afghanistan.
During the 1988 election, JI joined the nine-party right-wing alliance, the Islami Jamhoori Ittihad (IJI).
It boycotted the 1997 election and then went on to hail the military coup against the second Nawaz Sharif/PML-N regime.
In 2002 it became part of the right-wing religious alliance, the Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA). The alliance fell apart before the 2008 election.
The JI boycotted the 2008 election.
____________________
Electoral History (National Assembly)
• 1970 Election Seats won: 4
• 1977 Election Seats won (As part of Pakistan National Alliance): 36
• 1988 Election Seats won (as part of Islami Jamhoori Ittihad) 56
• 1990 Election Seats won: (as part of Islami Jamhoori Ittihad 106 Became part of the PML-led government. Quit in 1992.
• 1993 Election Seats won: 3
• 1997 Election Boycotted.
• 2002 Election Seats won (As part of Muttahida Majlis Amal): 63 Formed governments in NWFP and Balochistan.
Areas of Electoral Influence: Parts of Karachi (Sindh); Parts of KP.
______________________
Ideological Orientation Fundamentalist (1947 - ).
Views on religion Fundamentalist, even though the party has often expressed it through intellectual means and propaganda.
Youth Wings: Islami Jamiat Taleba (formed: 1948); Shabab-e-Milli (formed: 1994); Pasban (but broke away from JI in 1994).
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