Nadeem F. Paracha in the Dawn on how the intellectuality of Political Islam turned into the brutality of faithful fascism:
In Pakistan even the traditional Muslim practice of reasoning in matters of religion - originally introduced by the 9th century Mutazilites - is at times treated like some kind of an abomination to be feared, discouraged and repressed.
It is easy to accuse the proverbial mullah for this. And it is equally easy to blame him for being anti-intellectual and regressive.
However, over the years the conventional mullah has already lost a lot of face and respect. But this seemingly anti-mullah trend didn’t always mean the opening up of society to a more enlightening and pluralistic alternative.
On the contrary, the gap created by the conventional mullah’s gradual downfall was filled by religious scholars who only seemed to have intellectualized, modernized and politicized obscurantism. [1]
In Pakistan, Islamic scholars like Abul Ala Maududi and the far more moderate, Professor Fazalur Rahman Malik, were some of the first to occupy this gap.
Their tirades against the conventional mullah were welcomed by the more ‘educated Muslims.’ [2]
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