Abstract
The view is widespread and internalized in Pakistan that the state is suffering from a
severe identity crisis. It is almost universally agreed that a lack of consistent
interpretation of Islamic doctrine is partly to blame for the distressing loss of identity,
which has never been properly defined. For this reason, the term will be traced from
its legitimate source in the psychology of an adolescent crisis and to determine the
basis of a Constructivist-Kantian view of the permissive “friendly states” in which
lifestyles and varied roles constitute an identity politics that are attractive to a narrow
group of Pakistan’s intellectuals envious of Western ways. This leads to a predictable
crisis of identity having very little to do with Islam, and still less with Pakistan’s
identity. As critique of a very grievous slander against Pakistan and vigorous protest
against it, the philosopher-poet Iqbal, and the Western giants MacIntyre and Ricoeur
will be cited to present the Universalist view of Islam as the basis of our true culture,
and by contrast the despair of Western thinkers who know that identity crisis is
ultimately a crisis of faith they would do well to avoid. The factors of terrorism,
natural disasters, and political corruption serve to further divide the country and
challenge any emerging moral narratives. The so called Islamic doctrine, due to
disagreements or various interpretations, meanwhile, has not provided an answer to
these problems that Pakistanis face. The result is a state plunged into an identity crisis
with no clear answer. This paper will subject the question of the identity crisis to
some great thinkers who assert the claim of higher values as indeed the basis of firm
identity formation which requires moral principles as the constituting essence of the
“narrative” out of which identity is formulated in Pakistan and everywhere else in the
world.
Riffat Iqbal. (2017) MacIntyre, Ricoerue and Iqbal on Pakistan's Identity Crisis: A Muslim Critique, Journal of Islamic Thought and Civilization, Volume VII, Issue 1.
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