Sweet little sixty-somethings

E-Paper | June 13, 2026

Articles 62 and 63 of the Constitution of Pakistan suggest (in a nutshell) that a person shall not be qualified to be elected or chosen as a member of the Parliament unless he follows all ‘Islamic injunctions’, especially of being Sadiq (truthful) and Amin (trustworthy) – in the Islamic sense and not in any Godless secular sense, infidel!

But there is always that question: In a country teeming with numerous Muslim sects with their own understanding of a ‘good Muslim,’ who decides which Pakistani politician, is Sadiq or Amin?

Let’s see …

Sadiq and Amin according to Zaid Hamid

Sadiq and Amin according to Dr. Tahirul Qadri

Sadiq and Amin according to the Taliban

Sadiq and Amin according to Imran Khan

Sadiq and Amin according to Sangsar Abbasi

Sadiq and Amin according to Raja Parvez Ashraf

Sadiq and Amin according to Chaudhry Nisar

Sadiq and Amin according to the Judiciary

Sadiq and Amin according to the TV channels

Sadiq and Amin according to Jamat Islami and JUI

Sadiq and Amin according to Pakistanis

Nadeem F. Paracha is a cultural critic and senior columnist for Dawn Newspaper and Dawn.com

The views expressed by this blogger and in the following reader comments do not necessarily reflect the views and policies of the Dawn Media Group.

Our readers are at the heart of everything we do.
Do you have a thought to share or a way we can improve? We’d love to hear it. Reach out to us at feedback@dawn.com.

Pakistan

Nadeem F. Paracha is a researcher and senior columnist for Dawn Newspaper and Dawn.com. He is also the author of ten books on the social and political history of Pakistan.

He tweets @NadeemfParacha

In NA, PM Shehbaz affirms govt commitment to provinces' development

21 terrorists killed in North Waziristan IBOs in last 72 hours: ISPR

Govt balances relief and IMF diktat in FY27 budget

saeed

Feb 07, 2013 09:09pm

Journalists are making fuss over nothing although its very simple. Everyone is sadiq and amin unless proven (in the court of law) otherwise.

Recommend 0

Arif

Feb 08, 2013 05:31am

Where are Zardari + nawaz the real dynamic duo Sadiq and Amin. You're losing it Nadi.

Recommend 0

Rafi

Feb 07, 2013 12:55pm

Wonder why Abdul Shakoor AlCanadavi didn't think of article 62 ,63 earlier. He could have taken the name Amin ul Sadiq Qadiri.

Recommend 0

Nasir

Feb 07, 2013 11:43pm

1 - Yes, 2 - don't know, 3 - Zia also left his very strong legacy behind, that still makes it difficult to debate these clauses, one not just risks his/her life but a lot more, check Salman Taseer....

Recommend 0

Observer

Feb 07, 2013 09:54pm

Any answers? Anybody?

Recommend 0

makraja

Feb 07, 2013 09:53am

Dear T Khan have a chill pill enjoy have a lighter side what nfp says is absolutely true Isnt money our all and be all!

Recommend 0

Linking Edges

Feb 08, 2013 07:15am

All correct, but Nawaz Sharif & Mr. Asif Ali Zardari missing. Analysis should be parallel.

Recommend 0

Sagar

Feb 08, 2013 05:56am

Totally agreed....

Recommend 0

makraja

Feb 07, 2013 09:51am

sir cha gaiy ho you have as usual spread and prevailed

Recommend 0

Abdul

Feb 07, 2013 10:26pm

That was amusing. Godd job NFP.

Recommend 0

Rafi

Feb 08, 2013 06:34am

IK and Saudi Arabia definitely, AZ NS rarely and Altaf Bhai NEVER.NFP u r getting predictable.

Recommend 0

Naeem (usa)

Feb 07, 2013 09:59pm

That will be the day when we see NFP scrutinizing & satirizing AAZ & his turncoat allies from MQM & PML(Q). Good & honest journalist is never a mouth piece of any political party. Is DAWN a non affiliated paper ?

Recommend 0

Mujaahid

Feb 08, 2013 08:02am

Future seems bright, If a Dakoo is allowed to complete the term as president for the first time. Sadiq and Ameen If found! will have a bright future. I am Sadiq, "always such bolnay wala" simply because I can't remember what i said, so always speak the truth, but the same takes me totally out of being an Ameen:(

Recommend 0

pathanoo

Feb 07, 2013 09:27pm

First, a creation like this can come only from the brilliant satirical, irreverent, honest and courageous mind of NFP. Another thought, if you ever made and directed a movie about these hypocrite idiots, here is what is going to happen, I predict : 1) It will be the biggest gross earner of all times - Past, Present and Future. GUARANTEED. 2) There will be so many casualties of people dying of heart attack LAUGHING. 3) It will fire up the imagination of ordinary, uneducated Pakistanis who have no other way to really understand what is going on in the country. 4) It may ultimately shame the un-shameables e.g. the full of Hot Air Military Generals, the Politicians, the "alleged" journalists and the leaders of the hateful religious parties. 5) Last but not least, there will be deafening roar and a demand,"NFP FOR PRESIDENT." CAN I SAY ........"NFP ZINDABAD." HAVEN'T SAID THAT IN DECADES FOR ANY ONE OR ANY THING.

Recommend 0

Capt C M Khan

Feb 08, 2013 09:57am

If picture taking is HARAAM as per Whabee/Saudi Islamic sect then why is the picture of Saudi king on S/Riyal note???? I am telling you these guys are the route cause of most of the miseries in Pakistan along with all corrupt Politicians/Religious Extremists and their funded Madarressas.

Recommend 0

raw is war

Feb 07, 2013 12:44pm

Really a genius

Recommend 0

sarmad123sarmad

Feb 08, 2013 06:58am

what is court of law?

Recommend 0

Akbar

Feb 08, 2013 06:42am

Sadiq and Amin - lets find the two :p .... Buhat Achey ! just the start to the day i needed ...

Recommend 0

Nasir

Feb 07, 2013 11:39pm

This has to be illegal!!!

Recommend 0

Hasan

Feb 07, 2013 01:45pm

Hey, it should be General Amin and Judge Sadiq. The generals are the guardians of our all-encompassing borders, thus Amin. The judge seeks and speaks the truth in cases, thus Sadiq. ^_^

Recommend 0

Observer

Feb 08, 2013 04:35am

Thanks for the answers. The present flagbearer of Zia legacy is our honored Supreme Court.

Recommend 0

suleman

Feb 08, 2013 04:36am

Haha, hilarious

Recommend 0

Observer

Feb 08, 2013 04:34am

There is a newspaper called Jang and News for people like you alam. Go and read those and enjoy their TV channels and web sites.

Recommend 0

Dr Shahzad Faisal

Feb 07, 2013 04:01pm

Isn't it beautiful that all these years these articles have been lying dormant for decades but no body talks about them, however as soon as some one mentions them, instead of seriously discussing them, we are making fun of each other. If they are real bad, why not get rid of them, supreme court might have banned new appointments by the govt but certainly not the amendments.

Recommend 0

Musthaq Ahmed

Feb 07, 2013 04:00pm

NFP . I miss such criticism even in European papers !

Recommend 0

observer

Feb 07, 2013 11:32am

Three questions: (1) Were article 62 and 63 sneaked into the Constitution by 'Zia - the Super Usurper'? (2) Is Pakistan the only country in the world to have such vague and manipulatable clauses in the Constitution? (3) Why is it so hard to remove any controversial clauses from the Constitution but so easy to give a President power to dissolve the Parliament when the President feels like?

Recommend 0

Rafi

Feb 08, 2013 05:02pm

@ Yawar, did I say anything about America. I say why we conveniently blame others for our own ills. Saudi, Iran, America, Afghanistan, Chechnya , UK and even china. The list is endless . How is that we are always the aggrieved party and outsiders the oppressors. No it cant be us , it has to be Saudis for shia killings, Iran for influencing the Shias and America for everything else. The blame has to be fixed here in Pakistan .

Recommend 0

bhujan

Feb 08, 2013 03:08am

Dear NFP, we need your counterpart in India.

Recommend 0

Rahul

Feb 08, 2013 02:05am

I have to agree one thing that Pakistan has better freedom of speech, NFP taking such a miky out of establishment, in India Kejriwal was banned from mainstream media, belive it or not, no media is suppose to show him and that's the dikkat. So NFP in that regards your Pakistan is better.

Recommend 0

Farwa

Feb 07, 2013 01:04pm

Hilariously accurate.

Recommend 0

Talha Zia

Feb 08, 2013 01:06am

There was nothing about many political parties. Why you guys are taking it seriously. It's humor . Chill out. Enjoy it on the face value.

Recommend 0

ghaleezguftar

Feb 07, 2013 11:56am

funny man. i wonder what goes on in your head!

Recommend 0

Rafi

Feb 08, 2013 10:45am

@ Capt. Linking pix on riyal with religion, extremism and politics in Pakistan and topping it with the Wahabee cherry. Truly Hilarious . Don't we already have enough of this " Blame it on Saudi" syndrome. Take a break and introspect.

Recommend 0

gary

Feb 07, 2013 11:22am

Government can conduct a public exam where paper will be set by Zaid Hamid and marked by Hamid Gul. The public then can be issued with certificates with appropriate grades.

Recommend 0

observer

Feb 07, 2013 11:25am

Beautiful. I like the one with Judiciary. Spot on. Excellent. Also, the last one ($ and Riyal) is good. Is it Pakistanis in general or some institution of Pakistan?

Recommend 0

Atif Ehsan

Feb 07, 2013 10:21am

Great...lols...the best were 'jamat Islami & JUI" and "dr. tahir ul qadri".....a close second was "ch.nisar"....

Recommend 0

Observer

Feb 07, 2013 09:50pm

MJ and sk: Why do you expect NFP to think like you do? Do you guys have some experience in reading or newspapers? Makes me sad to see so judgmental and hasty conclusions. Open up your horizons. The world is bigger than you think it is. Better read a variety of things instead of looking for everything in one article.

Recommend 0

Arifq

Feb 07, 2013 12:29pm

NFP at his best, with one exception, Mr Bean must be offended being compared to Ch Nisar, man with multiple wigs!

Recommend 0

r.c.shah

Feb 07, 2013 02:19pm

only a person who is sincear and correct has the guts to write like that. NFP deserves support from every corner

Recommend 0

Parvez

Feb 08, 2013 11:27am

The only two Sadiq and Amin we have are Veena and Mona.............and both are in India.

Recommend 0

Mustafa

Feb 08, 2013 04:00pm

Yes, since last 7-8 years

Recommend 0

Feb 07, 2013 04:24pm

NFP deliberately omitted the biggest Amin of them all "our beloved president sahib"

Recommend 0

Ali

Feb 07, 2013 10:48pm

To this day Pakistani politicians have been anything but Sadiq and Amin.

Recommend 0

namakparay

Feb 08, 2013 05:25pm

Reblogged this on Namakparay.

Recommend 0

alam

Feb 07, 2013 12:23pm

never any mention of iran by nfp, the west he so vehemently admires and adores for being secular ,

Recommend 0

Rafiq Minhas

Feb 07, 2013 01:50pm

Are you telling me my poor hero Imran Khan cannot contest the elections since he is neither sadiq ( fishy past) nor amin (one day declared Altaf Hussain is a murderer, and the next day said he is pure like zam zam water)?

Recommend 0

Ali Khan

Feb 07, 2013 08:23pm

I read ALL the articles written about Qazi Hussain Ahmed...written by the people of EVERY sect, ideology, leftist, rightists etc. etc. etc. & one thing I found in every article was, Qazi Hussain was righteous, Sadiq & Ameen.

Recommend 0

Ghani Khan Niazi

Feb 07, 2013 08:18pm

NFP ,As usual you spared AAZ & Altaf Hussain. You are a true Jayala Sadiq.

Recommend 0

Yawar

Feb 08, 2013 11:25am

Rafi, How come guys like you say that we should be introspective when someone blames the Saudis, but readily agree when someone blames the Amricans?

Recommend 0

Olivia Mukhopadhyay

Feb 08, 2013 11:26am

I guess NFP is courting enough trouble as it is without taking additional cuckoos on his shoulders.

Recommend 0

Atheoi

Feb 07, 2013 07:27pm

Each picture worth a thousand words...Excellent.

Recommend 0

karim

Feb 07, 2013 07:27pm

I agree 100%....even 10 years into Afghan War II US has still not realized that majority of these "Muslim" countries are actually up for sale to highest bidder!

Recommend 0

Cyrus Howell

Feb 07, 2013 06:37pm

Assuming Almighty God cares at all about what we want or who thinks he is important.

Recommend 0

Feb 07, 2013 06:32pm

This article shows sheer hypocrisy and dishonesty on the part of writer that PPP and its many politicians are not equally mocked. Dawn cleverly promotes and encourages this kind of satire but and arbitrarily closes comments on the serious news. Is it not what is good for the goose should be good for the gander ? Or the PPP is above all scrutiny by NFP.

Recommend 0

Suren Singh Sahni

Feb 07, 2013 06:27pm

Humorous and ironic the fodder for soul NFP. You rock the world

Recommend 0

khoso

Feb 07, 2013 06:55am

haha

Recommend 0

Anuj

Feb 07, 2013 07:00am

LOL you nailed it NFP, awesome imagination.

Recommend 0

Capt C M Khan

Feb 07, 2013 07:02am

hahaha....The best was the one for Pakistanis....Dollars/Riyaals......which is the UNDISPUTED SadiqAmin of all Politicians, all religious Parties and Curse of Pakistan TTP ( Tattoed Talibaan of Pakistan ) as well. If I was US president I wold have never fought war in Afghanistan but would have installed a Dollar Printing Press there and PURCHASED them it was so simple.

Recommend 0

Rabia

Feb 07, 2013 07:10am

And he does it again!

Recommend 0

Tariq

Feb 07, 2013 07:26am

good one....top one is IK

Recommend 0

urawal

Feb 07, 2013 07:38am

Bored of the Final Warnings of Zaid Hamid.............the meaning if Final has changed!!! It could be quarter or at the most Semi finals.

Recommend 0

Salman

Feb 07, 2013 07:40am

Hail NFP...:-)

Recommend 0

Tariq

Feb 07, 2013 05:49pm

Hilarious as alway!

Recommend 0

Farooq Ali

Feb 07, 2013 08:04am

According to Islamic belief it is Almighty God only who knows that who is Sadiq and Ameen on the earth and universe created by him , as regards our society we have enough laws and courts to decide as a human being with liimited knowledge to decide honestly as who should be our elected member for the assembly or the govt..

Recommend 0

Srini Dallas,TX

Feb 07, 2013 08:28am

Uganda agrees:)

Recommend 0

Srini

Feb 07, 2013 08:38am

Uganda agrees :)

Recommend 0

T Khan

Feb 07, 2013 08:38am

This whole article in very poor taste

Recommend 0

Zeshan

Feb 07, 2013 08:39am

HAHAHA loved it. Too much spot on!

Recommend 0

Mehwish Batool

Feb 07, 2013 09:06am

Super awesome! This is perhaps the best translation of Sadiq and Amin. Only NFP got the guts to do something like this.

Recommend 0

umergill

Feb 07, 2013 09:15am

silly .

Recommend 0

Latif Khan

Feb 07, 2013 09:22am

No problem. Our Pakistan Assembly is very well qualified to declare other than majority sect non-Muslim. They can issue similar certificates to AMINs and SADIQs.....at cost. In the near future they will take control of the universe.

Recommend 0

basim

Feb 07, 2013 09:38am

hilarious

Recommend 0

Dr Khan

Feb 07, 2013 09:43am

Good one.

Recommend 0

Chi

Feb 08, 2013 09:03pm

@Rafi: Have you missed India and Hindus intently?

Recommend 0

Mustafa

Feb 08, 2013 11:41pm

In Pakistani culture a "Sadiq" or "Ameen" is he or she who is openly a "Chore", "Dakoo", "Daga Baaz", "Rushwat Baaz", "Bey Eeeman", Jhoota, tax evader but who has not been convicted in court for his actions. Please leave them alone.

Recommend 0

Abdurrauf

Feb 09, 2013 01:49am

I think the writer is just confusing the people about this issue. The term is pretty simple and every sect has the same definition about Sadiq and Ameen. No one is differing with being truthful and honest. These are the qualities of a person which does not need religious interpretation but its very simple thing to note. If some is involved in fraud, corruption or any illegal or criminal activity he can never be honest and truthful person. The criteria is there it needs just implementation. All those who are not paying taxes, involve in money laundering, corruption, frauds and have cases against them must be excluded from being considered as candidate for the upcoming elections.

Recommend 0

Hassan

Feb 09, 2013 02:16am

True picture of double standard of Pakistani politics, but as usual NFP miss The Great Leader -Heir of Bhutto the great's dynasty- the real SADIQ and AMIN :)

Recommend 0

Branded Content

Why SQD-Mini LED is the display breakthrough we’ve been waiting for?

The display industry is entering a new phase, where reducing trade-offs is as important as pushing performance limits.

The Palms at Silk Gardens introduces a new family address in Karachi

The Palms places families at the heart of its vision, offering thoughtfully planned 2 and 3-bedroom units in a secure, peaceful and community-led environment.