To my eyes, if you ignor physical things such as TVs, cars, modern plumbing, the printed (as opposed to written) word, etc., Islamic societies such as that of (at least parts of) Pakistan are at a developmental stage entirely analogous to that of Christian ones some centuries ago. Social pressures are inordinately important and therefore they are used to individual ends. Thus there will be people who will try to impart their own view to manipulate others - this is simply a matter of taking and exercising power through the network. In the West a form of this is widespread - take the way people feel they must conform regarding fashion, labels, gadgets (not least mobile phones), etc., etc. and the advertising industry are a stupendous master of these pressures over here.
In said Muslim societies the same applies whereby certain people try to bring on (and all too often succeed) a mood that leaves large sections of the population trying to outdo each other in observance. We have current examples (not least in the USA) where people are trying to ostensibly show that they are more faithful, more correct, more within God's circle than the rest. This is, to me, what is behind these extremes of religious observance, a form of power play together with an attempt to feel better about oneself. It is very often motivated by the perpetrator's desire to bestow upon him/herself a kind of halo of goodness by deluding him/herself into actually believing that they are at the forefront of goodness. Others are far more cynically motivated.
The common populous is frequently its own worst enemy when it comes to this sort of following the leader. That is equally true in isolated communities of Pakistan and other such places as it is in the West when some "must have" item is touted as the badge of cool and people fight to get it when it is (deliberately ?) in short supply. I see no difference in substance, only appearance/manifestation.
However, as the hold of the Christian establishment over its people has mostly been pushed to where it belongs (still allowing religious belief) so Islamic practice is evolving. This is actually happening at a much faster pace than the appearance of the same developments in Christianity. Already there are significant sections of the world's Muslim community that abhor the extremes. Again, it is my belief that the extremes we witness today will become a tiny minority exactly like extremist Christians are a minority among Christians. Who knows, maybe the two extremes will in 50 or 100 years only be found in the US of A. In enlightened societies these will be dealt with in an appropriate way, in less enlightened ones appeasing the extremes will be de rigeur at election time.