Hakim, A., Aziz, A. (1999). Socio-cultural, Religious, and Political Aspects of the Status of Women in Pakistan. The Pakistan Development Review. 37(4). 727-746.

Most women in Pakistan do not identify their ethnic race (Balochi, Pathan, Sindhi, and Punjabi) or language as a unifying factor. Instead, Islam is the single most important aspect common to an overwhelming majority. In this article, the term “status” of women, specifically in Pakistan, is defined either in terms of access to resources such as education, employment, and health services, or position, which includes power, prestige, and authority. Note that here women’s status is defined as a conglomeration of indicators that can be measured and easily reported in numbers. This way of analysis overshadows cultural factors such as family caste/class etc.

Hakim and Aziz categorize limitations on women into two broad groups: (1) Legal restrictions interpreted from Quran, Hadith, Sunnah, and Sharia; (2) Enforcement of Purdah. The second category refers to the tradition of seclusion of women from men. This practice was also prevalent in the Hindu community in the Indian subcontinent and was perceived as a symbol of high class. It is important to understand the similarities between Hindu and Muslim communities because Pakistani culture has definitely borrowed some ideas/customs/values from outside. I want to research how these foreign influences and blend of ideas have impacted the perception of women in society.

Another important thing that I learnt from this article was the division of religious authority in Pakistan (See the following diagram). It was interesting to find that ulema (Islamic scholars) are the only one who can directly drive a political change since they are involved in political organizations. Maulvis (local preachers) and pirs (spiritual leaders or sufi shaikhs) are active in the local community, but they do not have any political contributions. Here we are not counting indirect influences that maulvis and pirs can potentially have on citizens who would later have an active role in politics/ government.