A moderate Islam

LAHORE – Back in the good old days when the global enemy was an ideology rather than religious extremism, Christmas was celebrated even by Muslims in Pakistan.

An elderly Muslim resident of Lahore remembers gifts being placed under a faux Christmas tree at their home, and hanging up stockings for Santa Claus. She also remembers attending lavish Christmas parties where guests exchanged gifts in Karachi.

The woman, now a retired English teacher, studied in a Christian school where she learned impeccable English and received Catechism classes.

Lessons in Christianity stopped and Christmas celebrations by Muslims became muted when military strongman Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq rose to power.

At around the same time, the Soviets invaded Afghanistan, sending its people fleeing and sparking a jihadi movement that would trigger a new type of war two decades later.

Four million Afghan refugees poured into their next-door neighbor to the east, and Pakistan was never the same again.

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Today some two million of those refugees remain in Pakistan, the Taliban is resurgent on both sides of the border, and Pakistanis are worried that the suicide bombing at an Army camp last week would become commonplace.

Amid the unrest, people in most parts of the country have preserved a peaceful, tolerant and vibrant form of Islam that, if properly highlighted, could pry the eyes of the world from the terrorist problem and shift the focus to the good news about this country.

Christians still make up about two percent of the Pakistani population of 160 million. Christian schools continue to provide quality education to Muslims, though lessons in Catechism have been stopped. The yule season is still a period for gift-giving here and shops are adorned with lights.

There is no dress code for women. The traditional long shirt paired with loose pants is still the outfit of choice, but a veil is optional. There are many women who wear western clothes. Veils of all types are still popular. In some enclaves we spotted burqas – the traditional dress that covers Afghan women from head to foot.

Those whose knowledge of Afghanistan is limited to what they see on cable news will be surprised to find out when they visit Pakistan that not everyone who wears the flowing white robe and pants called kamiz shalwar is a member of the Taliban and a soldier of Osama bin Laden.

Pakistanis – men and women alike, children and the elderly – are quick to smile and are friendly to strangers. Many have a healthy sense of humor.

First-time visitors here will be surprised by the openness of a society long associated with coups, military dictatorships and now the terrorist threat. Women are excelling in all fields and have full access to education. In this nation that has had a female prime minister, if women remain marginalized, it is because of poverty, illiteracy and tribal customs, not religion.

The press is so free some Pakistanis are starting to think their country needs libel laws.

Even the image of the military is softened by individual members. The head of our security detail here, Army Maj. Saifullah Khan of the 14th Baloch Regiment, is a friendly officer who wants to visit the Philippines soon with his cousin, who studied medicine in Manila.

"We are a very, very loving and warm nation," said Zaeem Yaqoob Khan, director for promotion and placement at the University of Central Punjab here. "In this country, everybody will welcome you."

Women can still encounter hostility from conservative Pakistani men. And people still remember the kind of welcome that the late Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl got in Karachi in January 2002.

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An abduction that leads to a gruesome beheading at the hands of al-Qaeda, a missile attack on a madrassa, a suicide bombing on an army training camp, and things can quickly go wrong for the moderate face of Islam in this country.

Perhaps the world should start focusing on what is going right. As ordinary Pakistanis like to point out, their country could have easily become another Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan, Palestine or even fundamentalist Saudi Arabia, but it has not.

Pakistani Muslims are embracing the modern world without sacrificing their Islamic heritage.

That rich heritage is showcased in this city – the capital of the Pakistani Punjab. At the Badshahi mosque and other impressive structures around the city, the legacy of the Mogul empire has been preserved. The Lahore Museum traces Pakistan’s roots from prehistoric times, and the various faiths that influenced the culture, from Buddhism to Jainism, Sikhism and Islam.

Lahore is also home to the Wagha border crossing, where Pakistani and Indian border guards conduct a daily ritual of hand-shaking and simultaneous lowering of their flags.

Pakistanis like to say that they have no appetite for world domination like their Indian neighbors. But Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf wants his country to set an example for the Muslim world in "enlightened moderation" – his regime’s buzz phrase.

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That moderation is being threatened by the marginalization of Muslim migrants in much of the western world.

For most of her life the retired English teacher often visited relatives in London and San Francisco. She has many American and European friends who have never made her feel like a second class citizen.

All that changed after the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001. Her brothers now have elaborate ways of screening incoming phone calls after one too many threatening calls from strangers. Two years ago she was pulled out of the immigration line in San Francisco, made to stand with her hands on the wall and then sit on her shoes while she was questioned. She promised she would never allow herself to be subjected to such humiliation again and has not returned to the US since.

These days in Pakistan, mothers become worried when their children plan trips to the United States and the UK. They are simply staying home, hoping that the reality about their country and its moderate devotion to faith will eventually be known to the world.