ISLAMABAD: After remaining in relative obscurity (read opposition) since the Feb 8 elections, JUI-F chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman emerged from the shadows on the back of the 26th constitutional amendment and made his presence felt in mainstream politics, winning praises from the government as well as the opposition.

After the end of the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) — a multi-party alliance that remained in power from April 2022 to Aug 2023 — Maulana Fazl found himself aligned with the PTI, particularly following the elections, as he openly chided the ruling PML-N and the PPP, as well as the establishment, over ‘rigged’ polls.

But his fortunes changed overnight after the government needed his party’s crucial votes for the passage of the 26th Amendment. On Sunday, when the amendments were passed with a two-thirds majority, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif rose from his desk and went to Maulana Fazl to express his gratitude. The same was the response of the PPP chairman.

JUI-F chief garners praise from political circles for ‘statesmanship’; among religious circles for ‘undoing unfair madressah regulation’

Interestingly, his ideological rivals, including Sahibzada Hamid Raza of the Sunni Ittehad Council and Senator Allama Nasir Abbas of Majlis Wahdat Muslimeen (MWM) also lauded the JUI-F chief, calling him ‘one of the best’ contemporary statesmen.

“These praises have significant importance among religious circles – as Maulana Fazlur Rehman was a close friend of Allama Sajid Naqvi, chief of the Shia Ulema Council and former Tehreek-i-Jafaria (TJP) for a long time, while Allama Nasir Abbas was the opponent of Naqvi sahib,” said a senior JUI-F official.

Hamid Raza and Nasir Abbas met the Maulana for the first time earlier this month, when they arrived at his residence along with the PTI delegation.

Some political observers believe the Maulana is an ‘anomaly’ in mainstream politics, since except for his JUI-F, the popularity of all other religio-political parties is declining.

In this vacuum, the JUI-F chief emerged as a saviour for the religious segments, with applause pouring in from all sides for his stance on interest-free economy and the Council of Islamic Ideology.

Senior clerics like Mufti Taqi Usmai and Qari Hanif Jalandhari visited Maulana’s residence on Monday with a basket of sweets, congratulating him on the success of bringing the state structures close to the shariat laws.

Madressah regulation

Senior journalist Sabookh Syed said the tributes to the Maulana by religious segments were not simply due to his role in negotiating the amendment.

“The key reason for the religious segments rallying behind the JUI-F were the amendments to the Societies Act — as a result, the regulation and registration of religious seminaries have been transferred back from the education ministry to the local administration,” Mr Syed said, adding that those controlling the seminaries had fears that their decades-old monopoly would eventually end with the change in the system.

According to APP, the National Assembly on Monday passed the Societies Registration (Amendment) Bill, 2024, paving the way to “register Deeni Madaris... to check their activities in appropriate manner”.

The bill’s statement of objects and reasons said that seminaries played a pivotal role in imparting religious education to every Muslim. “At the same time, such [madressahs] are required to register under an enactment to check their activities in appropriate manner. However, certain serious issues have been noticed in the registration of [seminaries] in the absence of proper legislation.”

The changes were made by the PTI government to break the supremacy of a few madrassa boards over the seminaries’ affairs. This move was strongly opposed by the madressah boards belonging to the mainstream sects in Pakistan.

Currently, there are five education boards for religious seminaries: one each for the four mainstream schools of thought in the country — Shia, Barelvi, Deobandi, and Ahle Hadees, while the fifth board belongs to the Jamaat-i-Islami.

Despite all this success, the JUI-F does not want to capitalise on it by reaping the benefits of their support for the constitutional bill. “There is no truth that the JUI-F wants to see Fazl’s son Asad Mahmood as the KP governor or in parliament,” JUI-F spokesperson Aslam Ghauri said.

But at the same time, Maulana Fazl has again made himself relevant in political affairs and the derogatory moniker used against him, mainly by the PTI and even by some PML-N supporters, has fizzled off. Now he is an important player in the eyes of the establishment.

Incidentally, the JUI-F played a similar role under the banner of Muttehida Majlis-i-Amal (MMA) when the 17th Amendment was approved in 2003 but the PPP and the PML-N had opposed the move at that time.

Published in Dawn, October 22th, 2024