Zikrism (also Zikriyya)^[1][2] is a Mahdist minority Muslim group or sect found primarily in the Balochistan region of western Pakistan. Like Shia and Sunni Muslims, Zikri revere the Quran, unlike them they follow different prayer practices and believe the Mahdi (the messiah figure and Final Leader in Islamic eschatology who is believed to appear at the end of times to rid the world of evil and injustice) has already come. The name Zikri comes from the Arabic word Dhikr.^[3]

They have been victim of sectarian attacks since before the founding of Pakistan and recent attacks and insecurity have led to migration by some from Balochistan to Pakistan's cities.^[4][5]

Their population is estimated to be between 500,000 and 800,000 individuals.^[6]

The Zikri faith developed in Makran in the late 16th-century.^[2]

Zikris believe in a Mahdi figure known as Nur Pak, or "Pure Light." Zikris believe Nur Pak walked the earth before Adam and will return at the end of days to restore true Islam which has been perverted by the Sunnis.^[7] According to Stephen Blake, an Afghan named Mulla Muhammad declared himself Mahdi and formed the Zikri movement which faced persecution from the Mughal authorities.^[8] By the 18th-century, Zikrism virtually achieved the status of state religion in Southern Balochistan.^[9]

A number of sources talk about how Sayyid Muhammad Jaunpuri is believed to be or thought to be by some, the founder of Zikrism.^{[note 1]} According to at least two scholars (Robert Benkin and Sabir Badalkhan), this cannot be true. Benkin writes that outside observers have claimed the Mahdi figure of the Balochi Zikris was Muhammad Juanpuri, but Balochi Zikris deny that Muhammad Jaunpuri visited Balochistan and insist their Mahdi is a different figure from a later period. Zikris believe Nur Pak was born in 977 AH, or between 1569 and 1570 AD.^[15][16]

According to Sabir Badalkhan, the vast majority of Zikris, including their most influential leaders, reject the notion their Mahdi was Muhammad Jaunpuri, pointing to the different birth dates and deaths of Juanpuri and their Mahdi, and that all Zikri sources record the Zikri Mahdi having died in Kech.^[17] They state their ancestors have never heard of Juanpuri, and that there are no relations between Zikri and Mahdavi communities, and that their beliefs and practices are distinct.^[2]

Zikris make a pilgrimage (Ziyarat) to Koh-e-Murad, "Mountain of Desire" in Balochi, on the 27th of Ramadan in commemoration of their Mahdi. They observe this day as a sacred holiday.^[3][15] The descendants of the original believers of the Mahdi continue to lead the Zikri community and are known as Murshids. Zikris refer to them as Waja as a form of respect.^[3] Early that morning, Zikris observe Shab-e-Qadr, the commemoration of Muhammad receiving his first revelation from the Angel Gabriel.^[3]

Zikris observe daily prayers called Zikr in place of Salah, the daily prayers of other Muslims. There are five daily Zikrs. Three prayers are obligatory and performed in group orally. Two are silent and generally performed only by older and more devout Zikris. Women perform only the spoken Zikrs.^[2] The five prayer are known as Gwarbamay, Nemrochay, Rochzarday, Sarshapay, and Nemhangamay.^[2] Rochzarday and Nemhangamay may be performed individually, with all others being said in a group.^[2]

Zikri places of worship are called Zikr Khanas or Zigrāna (lit. "House of Zikr"). Zikris gather at three times a day at Zikr Khanas and perform a special prayer in a square formation with the leader in the middle. This prayer consists of formulae in Persian and Balochi, Quranic verses, and the repetition of God's name while standing, sitting, and prostrating. Zikri worshippers wear white or light-colored clothing, wash before participating, and cover their head with a scarf or handkerchief called a rumal. Non-Zikris are forbidden to attend Zikri worship services at the Zikr Khana. Zikr Khanas were often built on Astanas, places deemed holy by the Zikri community. This could be a place a Murshid meditated or the former home of a community leader.^[3] Unlike Mosques, Zikr Khanas have no Mihrab (there is no need to mark the direction of prayer because God is everywhere), nor Minarets.^[18]

Contrary to some popular beliefs, Zikri do not have a different holy book than the Quran or in addition to the Quran. According to Sabir Badalkhan, they keep copies of the Quran ("printed by Sunni Muslim printing presses in major Pakistan cities") in Zikr Khanas on shelves or in niches, "usually wrapped in clean costly cloth" and are treated with customary reverence, being kissed by Zikris after recitation of a verse.^[2]

On special occasions, Zikris observe Chaugan, songs of praise for Muhammad, the Mahdi, Turbat and Koh-i-Murad, accompanied by ritual dance-like movements. Members stay up all night performing devotions. A female reciter known as the Shehr stands in the middle of the formation reciting devotions to which the male group calls back.^[3][2]

Chaugans are sung in celebration of religious events such as the 27th of Ramadan, Shab-i-Barat (the 15th day of Sha'ban), and Eid al-Adha. Zikris believe the fourteenth day of the lunar month, if it falls on a Friday, to be auspicious, and may perform the Chaugan then.^[2]

Zikris have faced persecution from other Muslims for their beliefs.

Zikris faced persecution in the eighteenth century under the rule of Mir Nasir Khan the Great, the Sunni Muslim ruler of the Khanate of Kalat.^[19] Their religious and historical records were destroyed and surviving information was carried on by oral tradition and non-Zikri wtritings.^[4] Nasir Khan waged a war to convert Zikris to Sunni Islam, killing 35,000 Zikris, in a period known as the Zikri-Namazi war.^[13] Sunni Islam became the dominant religion in Balochistan with modern Zikris living in more remote areas.^[9]

In the 1930s, in Iranian Makran, an extremist called Qazi Abdullah Sarbazi declared jihad against Zikris, "which resulted in a major massacre" and the driving out of Zikri from that area.^[20] Also in that era, "hundreds of other Zikris were killed" in periodic pogroms by "fanatic Sunnis at the instigation" of their religious leaders "in the areas of Farod, Baftan and Kishkaur (in Balochistan), according to Abdul Ghani Baloch.^[21]

After the establishment of Pakistan, Sunni Muslims attacked Zikris and subjected them to forced conversions. With the general rise of Islamic extremism and jihadism in the region since the 1980s, Zikris have been discriminated against, targeted, and killed by Sunni militants in Pakistan.^[22][23][24] Under the military government of Zia-al-Haqq, Sunnis sought to have Zikris declared as non-Muslims.^[19] In the 1990s, Zikris were harassed, and protestors called for the destruction of their shrines.^[25]

The persecution of Zikris by Sunni militants as of 2014 has been part of the larger backlash against religious minorities in Pakistani Balochistan, targeting Hindus, Hazaras, Shias, and Zikris, resulting in the migration of over 300,000 Shias, Zikris, and Hindus from Pakistani Balochistan.^[19] The militant groups Lashkar-e-Jhangvi and the Pakistani Taliban were responsible.^[23][24]

During the 1990s, there was a movement among Sunnis to declare Zikris non-Muslim, and a campaign was mounted against their annual congregation at Koh-i-Murad in Malakand. This was accompanied by demonstrations calling for the destruction of the Zikri Baitullah (House of God), and members of the sect were subjected to violence and harassment.^{[26][27][28][29]}

An attack occurred August 29, 2014, on a shrine in the Awaran district of Pakistan. Gunmen killed at least six Zikris and wounded seven others.^[30] On October 7, 2016, a gunman shot a Zikri religious leader dead in the Kech district of Balochistan.^[31] In August 2017, two Zikri pilgrims were killed and two were wounded when a bomb detonated in the Kamp Tal area of Pangjur, Balochistan.^[32]

The United States Senate Committee on Foreign Relations in 2004 stated that there were approximately 200,000 Zikris.^[33] Victoria Williams estimates the number of Zikris at 800,000 Zikris,^[29] and Sabir Badalkhan at around 600,000 to 700,000.^[34]

Zikris live primarily in Pakistani Balochistan, concentrated in the southern coast of Makran, the Lasbela District, and Quetta.^[2] They are a majority in the Gwadar District of Makran in Balochistan.^[15][33] There are sizable communities of Zikris in Pakistan's Sindh province and Karachi,^[2] especially in the economically disadvantaged Lyari Town.^{[citation needed]} While Zikris also historically lived in the province of Iranian Balochistan, almost all of them left for Pakistani Balochistan in the last decades of the 20th-century.^[1] Some Zikris have migrated from Pakistan to the peninsula of the Arabian Gulf where most live in the Sultanate of Oman.^[34]

Persecution has driven hundreds of Zikri and other minorities from Balochistan to safer cities in Pakistan like Karachi, Lahore, Rawalpindi and Islamabad.^[5]

Pakistani Balochistan has a population of people of African descent from slavery.^[35] In the Makran region, many of these Afro-Balochi's follow the Zikri sect.^[36]