<p>This chapter investigates some of the ways in which the framework of the nation-state complicates the implementation of the classical sharia in Pakistan. This investigation is important not just for unpacking the roots of the ambiguities around the religious identity of the Pakistani state, but also in understanding the conflicts over the source of sovereignty underlying the authority of the state itself‚ and the internal contradictions inherent in Pakistan's efforts to reconcile an Islamic definition of nationhood with the modern nation-state's structure.</p>