Pakistan's new military rulers are facing their first legal challenge since overthrowing the government of Mr Nawaz Sharif two weeks ago.
The country's main religious party, Jamaat-i-Islami, has threatened to go to court over a ban preventing its leader from travelling to his home area. Qazi Hussein Ahmed has been barred from visiting the North West Frontier province for one month.
This is the first sign of a rift between the military and the country's Islamic hardliners since Gen Pervez Musharraf came to power. Religious leaders have made it clear that any attempt to clamp down on their organisations could provoke widespread bloodshed.
The ban was imposed after Mr Ahmed made remarks seen as critical of Gen Musharraf. The Jamaat chief has taken issue with the general's praise for Turkey's great moderniser, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, who ruled his country for 15 years from 1923. He is both admired and vilified in Pakistan for his secular policies. In a mosque in the northern city of Peshawar, Mr Ahmed has been preaching that the destiny of Pakistan is "an Islamic revolution". His party could be on a collision course with the military regime.
Addressing the nation in the wake of the bloodless military coup, Gen Musharraf insisted that Islam taught tolerance and urged religious leaders "to curb elements which are exploiting religion for vested interests and bringing a bad name to our faith".
His remarks have been taken as a condemnation of growing Islamic sectarianism in Pakistan. They have also been interpreted as a warning to the madrassas, strict Islamic schools whose students frequently go off to fight a jihad (holy war) in neighbouring countries.
At the country's largest madrassa near Peshawar, the message to the military government is clear: do not cross Dar-al Alum Haqqania or any other Koranic school. "Pervez Musharraf is a good man," says headmaster Mulana Samiul Haq. "If he does good deeds, he'll have our co-operation. But if he deviates then his hand will be stopped."
Mr Mulana is choosing to look benignly on the new regime's decision to cut his telephone lines shortly after the coup. He says the military takeover is "a positive change" and that the West is purposely misinterpreting the words of Gen Musharraf, portraying him as "a moderate, secular, irreligious kind of person".
Mr Mulana's words are prompted less by certainty about the future than by recent experience of life under Mr Sharif. The former prime minister, now languishing in military detention, had started moves against the madrassas and Islamic militants shortly before his overthrow.
"It was Sharif's agenda to crack down on the genuine Muslims of Pakistan," he says. "I don't think he would have had the guts to take on the madrassas, but if he had done it there would have been bloodshed and civil war."
Most of Pakistan's Islamic militants have welcomed the military government of Gen Musharraf. "I'm hopeful he won't crack down on us," says Abdullah Muntazeer of Lashkar-e-Taiba, whose mujahedeen (Islamic fighters) have been fighting against India in the contested state of Kashmir. "The new rulers seem more understanding than Nawaz Sharif. We were praying to Allah for his downfall because he'd started arresting us. Our prayers were quickly answered."
The West has also given a cautious welcome to Gen Musharraf. Despite imposing sanctions, most Western states have indicated they will do business with him if he steers Pakistan towards democracy. Some even think Western interests can be better served by an efficient military regime than by a lame government like that of the ousted prime minister. It is unlikely, however, that Gen Musharraf can satisfy the demands of both militant Islam and the secular West at the same time. The time of reckoning could soon be at hand.
Pakistan's military rulers yesterday named seven civilians, including the central bank governor Mr Mohammad Yaqub, to run the country in conjunction with the army. Four were appointed to a National Security Council. A further three civilians were appointed to the ministries of foreign affairs, finance and the office of the attorney-general.