Misread Verses Missing Voices: A Qualitative Content Analysis of Faith, Fear and Identity in Khuda Kay Liye
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.62843/jrsr/2025.4c117Keywords:
Misread, Missing Voices, Faith, Fear, Identity, Khuda Kay Liye, Ideological Conflict, Gender PoliticsAbstract
The research study investigates the identity crises, ideological conflict, and gender politics portrayed in Pakistani film Khuda Kay Liye (2007) by Shoaib Mansoor through Qualitative content analysis. The current study explores how Khuda Kay Liye portray the ideological clash of fundamentalist Islam and modernity, highlighting the intersections of religion, culture and global politics in post 9/11 Pakistan. The research is inspired by Edward Said's orientalism and Homi Bhabha's theory of hybridity. The research study examines the narrative's treatment of Islamophobia, patriarchal control and forced marriage, alongside the paradoxes in religious practices and the lived realities of hybrid cultural identities. The movie's characters are caught between minarets and the microphones of artistic freedom that embody the struggle of negotiating personal liberties with rigid cultural and religious boundaries. The researcher extracted five themes through the use of the technique of thematic analysis. The results reveal that Khuda Kay Liye not only challenges Western stereotypes of Muslims as extremists but also critiques internal misinterpretations of Islam that perpetuate gender inequality and social intolerance. By unravelling these multifaceted narratives, the study underscores the film's role as a cinematic space for contesting radical ideologies, upholding women's rights and picturing more inclusive and peace-oriented Islamic discourse.
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