Pakistan Culture

Until just a few weeks ago, Islamic scholar Mohammed Amin Minhas was preaching fiery Friday sermons, warning his overwhelmingly Muslim countrymen that a woman leading Pakistan would bring them to the gates of hell. "A nation that elects to be governed by a woman will not prosper," Minhas exclaimed, quoting from the Islamic prophet Mohammed week after week in Islamabad's popular Motamar-e-Alami Islam Mosque.

This was to have been the year that democracy returned to Pakistan. But Gen. Pervez Musharraf has changed his mind. In recent months, he has said that no matter how the October parliamentary election turns out, he intends to stay on as president. This doesn't entirely displease Pakistanis, who have been taken on a breathtaking ride by Musharraf.

A young bride who disappeared two days after a court sanctioned her contested "love marriage" is safe and living at a women's shelter, the shelter director said. Saima Wahid, 22, came to the shelter in Rawalpindi seeking refuge, Syeda Rehman said by telephone. "She's fine and safe, but she doesn't want to see anybody," Rehman said. Wahid disappeared shortly after she reported having been threatened by relatives.

Military coups d'etat in Pakistan are not unusual. Indeed, in its 52-year history, it has frequently seen such military takeovers, often because of social and political uncertainty after a humiliating defeat. Thus the Indo-Pakistan war of 1971--which resulted in Pakistan's partition and the creation of Bangladesh--led in time to Zulfikar Ali Bhutto's demise and the coming to power of Gen. Zia ul-Haq in 1977.

This was to have been the year that democracy returned to Pakistan. But Gen. Pervez Musharraf has changed his mind. In recent months, he has said that no matter how the October parliamentary election turns out, he intends to stay on as president. This doesn't entirely displease Pakistanis, who have been taken on a breathtaking ride by Musharraf.

It was a typical Thursday night in one of the strangest, most deeply troubled cities in Asia. Half the city was under curfew, as it often is these days, yet thousands of people flooded into the sprawling, seaside amusement park called Funland for a few hours of healthy recreation. Fundamentalist Muslim women clad in black from head to foot squealed with glee as they were whipped around on a ride known as the "Red Baron."

It was a typical night at the movies in this fundamentalist capital of Pakistan's North-West Frontier province. Women in the street outside the Naz Cinema were covered head to foot in the traditional burkha . Most of the men were bearded and wore caps in the tradition of strict Islam. Almost everyone was observing Ramadan, the Islamic month of fasting that has just ended.

Benazir Bhutto recited her wedding vows in a room separate from her groom as the Western-educated leader of Pakistan's political opposition was married Friday in a traditional Muslim ceremony. Supporters gathered outside her villa banged drums, chanted and fired guns into the air as Bhutto and businessman Asif Ali Zardari--the man selected for her by her mother--completed the rites.

An English governess taught her to sit up straight. Her lessons in literature and history were taken at Anglican boarding schools. She bought her clothes at Saks Fifth Avenue. She imbibed liberal political ideals at Harvard and Oxford universities and became a powerful symbol of progressive reform for millions of people in her native Pakistan, a staunchly Muslim nation that has embraced Islamic fundamentalism.

Shamaila and Wamiq fell in love and decided to wed despite her parents' objections. One hot day in May, she and her sweetheart signed the formal contract that is the centerpiece of the Muslim ritual of marriage. It should have been the beginning of a happy union between the 19-year-old Lahore student of nursing and the accountant eight years her senior. But it wasn't.

A young bride who disappeared two days after a court sanctioned her contested "love marriage" is safe and living at a women's shelter, the shelter director said. Saima Wahid, 22, came to the shelter in Rawalpindi seeking refuge, Syeda Rehman said by telephone. "She's fine and safe, but she doesn't want to see anybody," Rehman said. Wahid disappeared shortly after she reported having been threatened by relatives.

A young bride who defied tradition and strict Islamic restrictions to marry the man she loved has disappeared, just two days after a court sanctioned her "love marriage." In a landmark decision, the Lahore High Court ruled Tuesday that Saima Waheed's marriage was valid and rejected her parents' arguments that Islamic law required that they choose their daughter's spouse.

Shamaila and Wamiq fell in love and decided to wed despite her parents' objections. One hot day in May, she and her sweetheart signed the formal contract that is the centerpiece of the Muslim ritual of marriage. It should have been the beginning of a happy union between the 19-year-old Lahore student of nursing and the accountant eight years her senior. But it wasn't.

In the many lands where people worship Allah, few torments can be as bittersweet as ambling through a bazaar in the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. You can look. You can touch. You can even buy. But until the sun goes down and it grows so dark you cannot tell a white thread from a black, you cannot eat or drink and call yourself a pious Muslim.

Unlike many popular singers who have wildly animated styles, Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan performs seated, as implacably planted on the stage floor as a bean-bag chair. But though he may be rooted to the spot physically, the Pakistani singer's voice launches into incredible, propulsive flights of melismatic abandon as he strains to embody the content of his songs, and his hands and arms often gesticulate and fly with the emotion of his singing.

It was a typical night at the movies in this fundamentalist capital of Pakistan's North-West Frontier province. Women in the street outside the Naz Cinema were covered head to foot in the traditional burkha . Most of the men were bearded and wore caps in the tradition of strict Islam. Almost everyone was observing Ramadan, the Islamic month of fasting that has just ended.

Unlike many popular singers who have wildly animated styles, Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan performs seated, as implacably planted on the stage floor as a bean-bag chair. But though he may be rooted to the spot physically, the Pakistani singer's voice launches into incredible, propulsive flights of melismatic abandon as he strains to embody the content of his songs, and his hands and arms often gesticulate and fly with the emotion of his singing.

A young bride who defied tradition and strict Islamic restrictions to marry the man she loved has disappeared, just two days after a court sanctioned her "love marriage." In a landmark decision, the Lahore High Court ruled Tuesday that Saima Waheed's marriage was valid and rejected her parents' arguments that Islamic law required that they choose their daughter's spouse.

Until just a few weeks ago, Islamic scholar Mohammed Amin Minhas was preaching fiery Friday sermons, warning his overwhelmingly Muslim countrymen that a woman leading Pakistan would bring them to the gates of hell. "A nation that elects to be governed by a woman will not prosper," Minhas exclaimed, quoting from the Islamic prophet Mohammed week after week in Islamabad's popular Motamar-e-Alami Islam Mosque.

It was a typical Thursday night in one of the strangest, most deeply troubled cities in Asia. Half the city was under curfew, as it often is these days, yet thousands of people flooded into the sprawling, seaside amusement park called Funland for a few hours of healthy recreation. Fundamentalist Muslim women clad in black from head to foot squealed with glee as they were whipped around on a ride known as the "Red Baron."