Rhetorical Strategies and Pragmatic Styles in Religious Lectures: A Comparative Analysis of Javed Ahmad Ghamidi and Engineer Muhammad Ali Mirza

Abstract

Religious communication in Pakistan has taken a new shape with the advent of digital media. Online lectures by such scholars as Javed Ahmad Ghamidi and Engineer Muhammad Ali Mirza influence the discourse of Islam today. Their rhetoric and pragmatic ideologies portray different meanings of faith, power and renovation. The present research  seeks to draw a parallel between the rhetorical and pragmatic approaches employed by Ghamidi and Mirza to learn how language constitutes religious power and ideological position in the discourse of a specific population. Ten chosen lectures (5 lectures of each speaker) given between 2018 and 2023 were analyzed using a qualitative comparative discourse analysis. The study used Critical Discourse Analysis and pragmatics frameworks to find out the rhetorical tools, politeness strategy and audience positioning strategies. Evaluation of the analysis showed that Ghamidi uses a rational, inclusive and explanatory tone, focusing on intellectual discussions, whereas Mirza uses assertional, corrective and confrontational rhetoric to claim the authenticity and authority. The present research brings out the differences in linguistic approaches that reflect the opposite ideological orientation in the changing digital religious body in Pakistan.