Constitution & Shariah

Whereas almost all jurists, learned scholars, most ulema, mushaikh and muftis, politico religious parties and the parliamentarians are of the view that the Constitution of Pakistan is in conformity to the Islamic Shariah and that there is no law in it which is repugnant to Qura’n or Sunnah, a very few clerics and some Taliban type mullahs not numbering even one percent of the population think it to be otherwise.  Maulana Abdul Aziz – Khateeb Lal Masjid – is the most vocal advocate of such thinking about this issue.  He has appeared in a number tv talk shows and in spite of very logical, rational and cogent arguments of the panelists and the anchors the Maulana just sticks to his guns – mostly rhetorically and unconvincingly. His greatest argument is that our courts follow the Anglo Saxon laws and jurisprudence which do not offer quick relief and fair justice to the aggrieved party, which according to him the Qazi courts would be able to ensure promptly. The Maulana could be right to some extent but at the same time he doesn’t believe in the modern forensics  and laws of evidence, without which some of the offences might be hard to be proved in the Qazi courts.  For example; would a woman be able to prove having been raped under the pure Shariah laws? In the absence of four male and saleh eye witnesses to the actual act most certainly not, unless the rape is committed in the day light in a busy market or some other public place.  On the contrary, the woman herself shall be convicted and punished with 100 lashes for having committed adultery as her complaint would be treated as her confession  to the act.  Some of the Islamic laws perse would need to be amended/modified to conform to the demands of this asr (period or era).  This is already being done where required by the Islamic Ideological Council which is said to have amended hundreds of Anglo Saxons laws to conform to Shariah.  But would Maulana Abdul Aziz or the Taliban agree to allow such an amalgamation or modification of the Islamic Laws with the International laws and vice versa?  I have my serious doubts about it.

Col. Riaz Jafri (Retd)