Pakistan, June 24 -- Certain armed groups seek to legitimize their acts of violence by asserting that they are engaged in a struggle to implement Islamic governance in Pakistan. This claim, however, does not withstand legal or theological scrutiny. Pakistan, by its constitutional foundation and institutional framework, already qualifies as an Islamic state. Therefore, the use of armed violence against it cannot be justified-neither under the principles of international law nor within the normative boundaries of Islamic jurisprudence. Both legal traditions categorically reject insurgency against a state that upholds an Islamic constitutional order.

To address this question meaningfully, one must turn to the text of the Constitution of Pak...