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Islam in Karachi

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Islam in Karachi

Nearly 97% of the population of Karachi is Muslim.There is also a small number of Ahmadi Muslims. The Sunnis follow Hanafi fiqh while Shi'ites are predominantly Ithnā‘Ashariyyah fiqh, with significant minority groups who follow Ismaili Fiqh, which is composed of Nizari (Aga Khanis), Mustaali, Dawoodi Bohra and Sulaymani fiqhs. The Sunni Hanafi are divided into the Barelvi and Deobandi sect and both have their own Masjids.

In AD 711, Muhammad bin Qasim conquered the Sindh and Indus Valley, bringing South Asian societies into contact with Islam, succeeding partly because Dahir was an unpopular Hindu king that ruled over a Buddhist majority and that Chach of Alor and his kin were regarded as usurpers of the earlier Buddhist Rai Dynasty. The Delhi Sultanate, Mughal Empire and local Muslim dynasties ruled the region. Sindh became predominantly Muslim due to the missionary Sufi saints whose dargahs dot the landscape of Sindh.

At the time of British East India Company conquest of Karachi on February 3, 1839 the population was predominantly Muslim. The British developed Karachi as a major port which attracted non-Muslims from rest of South Asia. At the time of independence of Pakistan on August 14, 1947, only half the population of Karachi was Muslim. The emigration of Hindus and Sikhs to India and the settlement of Muslim refugees in the city turned Karachi once again as a predominantly Muslim city.

The province of Sindh is 95% Muslim with majority Sunnis with a significant Shia population and a small Ahmadiyya minority. The majority of Sindhis follow liberal Sufi Islam. The state religion in Pakistan is Islam, which is practiced by about 95-98% of the 187,343,000 people of the nation. Muslims are divided into three major sects: the majority of them practice Sunni Islam, while the Shias an estimated 5-10%. Nearly all Pakistani Sunni Muslims belong to the Hanafi Islamic law school. The majority of Pakistani Shia Muslims belong to the Ithnā‘Ashariyyah Islamic law school, with significant minority groups who practice Ismaili Fiqh, which is composed of Nizari (Aga Khanis), Mustaali, Dawoodi Bohra, Sulaymani, and others.

References

Islam in Karachi Wikipedia