PERSPECTIVE ON THE FUNCTIONS OF RELIGION IN A DEVELOPING COUNTRY: ISLAM IN PAKISTAN.

People who reject the possibility of religion as prime mover in a social change, some way or the other, do reckons the influence which various forms of religious expressions have, whether these are considered structurally or in more direct relation to the attitudes and behavior of individuals in the society. It is perhaps understandable that comparatively little attention has been given to the sociological analysis of modern Muslim societies or to the specific problem of the social functions of Islam. Max Weber made some passing comments to Islam, although evidently to include an analysis of this faith also in his comparative studies in the sociology of religion. If a developing society may be taken to signify one that is in process of becoming a modern one, the question then hinges upon how modernity, as applied to a large or total social system, is defined. Several conditions would need to be met before full or systematic analysis of the functions of Islam in a developing country such as Pakistan could be made.