The Varied Contributions of Sufism to the Pakistani Islamist Register

This article aims at making a comparative analysis of Pakistani Islamist groups through the prism of Sufism, the Islamic mystical tradition. Islamism and Sufism are two major forms of Islamic expression and mobilization that have since long been built as dichotomic categories. In Pakistan, which was created in 1947 in the name of Islam, Sufism has however fuelled the Islamist register in many ways. The Pakistani religious parties lie within the scope of the Sufi tradition even through the influence and the role of the latter has manifested itself very differently. But it is undoubtedly within the majority Barelwi movement that (neo) Sufi orders have most drawn from Sufi resources to build their political identity, organize themselves and mobilize, notably in the framework of the “War against terror” that has provoked a radicalization of religious identities.