The long shadow of the state: The Iranian revolution, saudi influence, and the shifting arguments of anti-shi’a sectarianism in Pakistan

Simon Wolfgang Fuchs*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingChapterpeer-review

4 Scopus citations

Abstract

Studies on the conflict between Sunnis and Shi’as in Pakistan tend to single out intellectual influences emerging from the Arab monarchies of the Gulf as the paradigm for how sectarian ideas have spread more broadly. Yet, Simon Fuchs shows that the focus on Saudi Arabia does not capture the important entanglement of further influences stemming from the Gulf with local dimensions of sectarianism in Pakistan. Local Sunni scholars, although connected to Saudi Arabia, built their own brand of anti-Shiism. After the 1979 Iranian revolution, sectarian arguments based on Salafi-Wahhabi doctrines and emphasizing the doctrinal incompatibility between “proper” Islam and Shiism gave way to more political arguments, as the new Islamic Republic was seen as threatening the identity and the nature of the Pakistani state.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationPan-Islamic Connections
Subtitle of host publicationTransnational Networks Between South Asia and the Gulf
PublisherOxford University Press
Pages217-233
Number of pages17
ISBN (Electronic)9780190862985
DOIs
StatePublished - 1 Jan 2019
Externally publishedYes

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© Christophe Jaffrelot, Laurence Louër, and the Contributors, 2017.

Keywords

  • 1979 Iranian revolution
  • Anti-shiism
  • Anti-shi’a sectarianism in Pakistan
  • Arab monarchies of the Gulf
  • Pakistani state
  • Salafi-wahhabi doctrines
  • Sectarian ideas
  • Sectarianism in Pakistan

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