The
Sole Redemption
Umar ibn Al-Khattab
was busy burying his young daughter
alive, following the custom of the day.
She reached out to brush the dirt away
from his beard. He paused momentarily,
though still snuffed her out. And how
he cried in memory! Pakistani society
today essentially buries thousands of
women alive, some as young as 12, throws
them in jail for years or lifetimes
for the crime of being raped and the
ironic inability to provide evidence,
beyond reasonable doubt, which would
lead to conviction of the accused. The
light of Islam had not reached Umar
ibn Al-Khattab. Pakistan perpetuates
this travesty with the stolid self-deception
that it is abiding by Islamic law. This
is cause to more than pause for we are
implicated in a dual crime: the first
of collective condemnation of the innocent
and the second, the grievous sin of
defaming Islam as being cruel and inhuman.
The worst legacy of Ziaul Haq’s
rule by far was the introduction in
1979 of the heinous Hudood Ordinance.
This saw a sudden spike in the number
of women filling an already bursting-at-the-seams
prison system, with many delivering
children there, the child remaining
incarcerated with the mother. One Safia
Bibi, blind from birth, was charged
with adultery, for she was unable to
identify her rapist.
The Quran enjoins us to be just even
if it goes against ourselves, our parents
or our kin (Surah Nisa 4:135). I count
myself as one of the harshest critics
of General Musharraf, but it is disingenuous
to rob credit when kudos is due. The
Hisba Bill was passed in 2005 by the
MMA dominated NWFP Assembly. The decision
of General Musharraf to challenge it
in the Supreme Court and the opinion
of the Court declaring it unconstitutional
was a first in Pakistan's history. The
Court stated that no one had the monopoly
over interpretation of faith, especially
not the obscurantist mullah. This proclamation
will serve as a much needed jolt to
Pakistan’s appalling human rights
record.
In the same vein as the Hisba Bill,
comes the Protection of Women Bill.
But before that discussion, an important
aside is instructive: the genesis of
the mullah. Even non-Muslim parents
don’t celebrate when their child
decides to pursue religious studies
as a career. Muslim parents in general,
and Pakistani parents in particular,
carve out more material paths for their
children, and almost invariably the
gifted become doctors, lawyers, architects
and accountants. Some of the rest become
mullahs and part of that mullah pool
is obtained from orphanage-madrassas.
The socio-emotional perspective of these
religious graduates is thus self-explanatory.
That in a nation of 170 million people,
there is a handful of Islamic scholars
such as Muhammad Khalid Masud and Javed
Ahmed Ghamdi is testimony to my theory
above. America does not have to bomb
us into the Stone Age, the mullahs and
feudals left alone will do it faster.
The concept of individual and collective
sin here is very instructive. No Muslim
shall escape individual accountability.
The onus on imams, shuyookh, muftis
and mullahs is much greater. Akin to
sadaqa-e-jariah, if they promote the
good to their congregants, they get
a double bonus, if they misguide, they
shall be interred with the burden of
the sin of all those that followed them.
They specialize in fire and brimstone
rhetoric so here is some for them: beware
the Day when men and stones shall be
the fuel of that Fire (Surah Baqarah
2: 24).
Jinnah in 1929 in the case against child
marriages made an eerily predictive
speech: “I cannot believe that
there can be a Divine sanction for such
evil practices as are prevailing in
India.” As though clairvoyant
of the mire Pakistan is in now, he continued:
“public opinion is not so fully
developed in this country, and if we
are going to allow ourselves to be influenced
by the public opinion that can be created
in the name of religion when we know
that religion has nothing whatever to
do with the matter, - I think we must
have the courage to say, “No,
we are not going to be frightened by
that”.
The MMA opposes the Protection of Women
Bill on the grounds that it changes
the Quran. And by this very approach,
they immediately give credence to the
claim that theirs is a blinded, convoluted
approach that deliberately misses the
forest for the trees. The premise of
Islam is equity. Let alone practice,
to even believe that Islam would promote,
that Prophet Muhammad (pbuh), the one
sent as a Mercy to all mankind would
condone this torture and collective
condemnation of women is, in and of
itself, a lie attributed to Islam. In
myriad verses in the Quran, God demands
to know “do they attribute a lie
to God?” (Sajdah 32:3)
Utopia would be repeal of the Hudood
Ordinance. The realistic is its amendment
in the Protection of Women Bill. In
this Bill the aim is to retain what
is in the Qur’an, delete what
is not in the Quran and move the extraneous
to the Pakistan Penal Code. It will
go very far in providing relief in the
current national predicament. Most importantly
the offence of rape will be taken out
of the Hudood Ordinance and moved to
the Pakistan Penal Code where all criminal
and evidentiary procedures will apply.
Thus in rape cases the danger of a woman
being convicted for not being able to
prove the crime will be eliminated.
That there is an essential abdication
of vital social responsibility is evidenced
by the role of various groups in the
country. The choke-hold of the Hudood
Ordinance is perpetuated by the mullahs
and the feudals. In practice the MMA,
a six party religious alliance, the
PML (N) and PML(Q) leaders Chaudhary
Shujaat and Pervez Illahi the last two
in, perhaps, individual capacity and
for personal political power. Garnering
and growing a political fiefdom is quite
the Pakistani trademark.
Another significant reason for Pakistan’s
struggle with democracy is the perpetuation
of feudalism, something India abolished
at partition. It is the feudal landlord
that often marries his sister to the
Quran to retain property (top PPP leaders
like Makhdoom Amin Fahim equally culpable
in this respect), that abuses power,
gender and patriarchy to rape and intimidate
women, leaving them the choice of prison
or silent submission. Where there are
thousands languishing in jails, there
are countless suffering this virtual
prison, tortured by monsters of their
sordid past.
The PPP backs the Protection of Women
Bill, but human rights advocates are
sadly laboring under the all or none
premise. They want repeal of the Hudood
Ordinance, not realizing that we must
toddle before we sprint. The greater
rigidity is on the part of those who
do not give even tepid support to the
Bill, for it is sponsored by Musharraf,
who, they say, is a dictator and usurper
of the constitution. Here the importance
of being just and appreciating the critical
importance of this Bill is very important.
The MQM, to its credit, wishes to do
all it can “to protect the rights
of women”.
Pakistanis need reminding that the mullahs
were against the creation of Pakistan.
Why have they been allowed to arrogate
to themselves the vital task of shaping
its future? The mullah dominated parties
do not hold majority in parliament,
but it is very worrisome that the nation
is held in a state of suspended animation
by their obscurantist views. When challenged
in their myopic interpretation by well
respected, ijtehad-practicing modern
day Islamic scholars, they are unable
to respond or sensibly debate. They
resort to kindergarten tactics: either
the school yard bully or the coward
that always threatens then runs.
The debate on the Protection of Women
Bill is set for the end of October.
Pakistan must have this national conversation
here and now. Every woman in Pakistan
currently runs the risk of lifetime
incarceration, if caught at the wrong
place at the wrong time. The influential
can wheedle out their compromised daughters
but is our national conscience so moribund
that we are entirely blind?
In the 99 names of God about 90 describe
His love, mercy and forgiveness. We
are enjoined to adopt those characteristics.
His justice is finer than the weight
of an atom (Al-Zalzalah 99:7). And here
as a nation created in His name, and
faced with such a gross injustice in
the Hudood Ordinance, we look the other
way.
Musharraf is implicated in peccadilloes
and many more substantive errors since
his coup in 1999. The threat by the
MMA to resign from parliament should
not cause him to capitulate again. The
Protection of Women Bill is his sole
redemption. And actually another barometer
for the soul of Pakistan.
(Mahjabeen Islam is a physician and
freelance columnist residing in Toledo
Ohio. Her email is mahjabeenislam@hotmail.com)
The
Usual Tirade and a Fitting Reply
Dear
Mahjabeen,
It’s
been a long time.
Some times I wonder whether religious
people like you, and I mean from all
religions ever
doubt that they could be all dreadfully
mistaken.
Can one believe in Christ being born
of a virgin Mary. Curing the lepers
and the blind, when you must know how
difficult all this is.
Same goes for Mohammed the prophet.
Do you ever question all the wonderful
things said about him. He said travel
to China to learn. But he remained illiterate.
He was all for good morals, and yet
took a large number of women, some as
spoils of war. And married a nine-year-old
girl child , when he was 55 years old.
How can you be so forgiving.
Imagine if this girl child was some
close relation.
Krishnamurty, the Indian philosopher
said, “Don’t believe in
anything, unless you can find a rational
explanation. Muslims reject reason,
and cling to faith, myths and superstition.
That is why there are so few Muslim
thinkers, scientists, inventors, writers,
poets, painters etc. Life in Pakistan
is all gray and black. Culture is taboo.
Schools for girls are burnt and the
teachers killed. You have some of the
most barbaric laws for women,
And yet you have no thanks to the liberal
world to which you owe your freedom.
I bet you will never go back to Pakistan,
unless you meet awful hostility.
I am amazed at your devotion to a religion
which gives you so little, and demands
so much from you, in the pretext of
what Mohammed said 1400 years ago.
Please remember that there are a majority
of people who disagree with Islam. And
most of us are more knowledgeable, and
rational than the believers.
I hope you are well, and I am sorry
if I have put you off in any way.
But I am always intrigued at the devotion
of religious people.
Best
regards
Lalit
Bagai
Denmark
**********
Namaskar Lalitji,
I am not
a born Muslim alone, but a convinced
one. I have read the translation and
commentary of the Qur’an and believe
it to be the unadulterated word of God.
Additionally, I believe that Muhammad
(peace be upon him) was the perfect
human being. He was the epitome of morals
and principle. Ayesha was not nine but
fourteen at the time of her marriage.
Muslims believe that all of Muhammad’s
(peace be upon him) actions were Divinely
guided.
The Qur’an speaks of the Virgin
birth and all the miracles of Christ
(peace be upon him); it was not difficult
at all. After all, believers, meaning
the Jews, Christians and Muslims believe
in miracles, for they are actions of
God, and not of human beings. For He
is capable of all things.
Islam rejects superstition totally.
Hinduism is steeped in it. Islam promotes
the acquisition of knowledge, Muhammad
(peace be upon him) was unlettered for
it was the intention of God to prove
that the Qur’an is the word of
God, for an unlettered man would be
wholly incapable of producing the amazing
literary document that the Qur’an
is.
The Qur’an talks in detail about
embryology, reproduction, astronomy,
oceanography etc . It is only ignoramuses
that would state that Islam does not
promote scientific inquiry.
It is your myopia that makes you make
wholly ignorant statements that there
are few Muslim scientists, thinkers,
inventors, writers, poets etc. Among
the last five Nobel Peace Prize winners,
four were Muslim, Muslims have been
writing the scripts and songs of your
Bollywood for eons (Muslims were the
intellectuals and writers, while the
Hindus sang and danced!) Muslims have
won the Nobel in Physics, the contribution
of Muslims to Medicine and mathematics
are well known to all the world, but
not to Mr. Lalit Bagai for he is blinded
with the prejudice that typifies his
faith. After all, Hinduism is all about
superiority and stratification, with
worldly material advancement as its
primary premise.
Islam preaches absolute equality among
all human beings. It is Hinduism that
stratifies people in the caste system
and calls them the unthinkable: “Untouchables”.
In Islam the king and the slave all
pray to that same God standing shoulder
to shoulder.
I, as a modern woman, say with great
pride that I was liberated by my Islam
before I was liberated by the West.
My Islam gave me the right to divorce,
to own property (and not be chattel
like Hindu women are, until recently
they were made to throw themselves on
the funeral pyre of their husbands,
(sati), to keep my own earnings and
my own property and investments, for
it is the job of the husband to support
the family.
It is my glorious Islam that recognized
me as a definite independent entity
1400 years ago when I voted, not like
the American woman that was able to
only in 1920, less than a hundred years
ago. It is my wonderful faith that allows
me to divorce the brute that abuses
me or neglects me or who I just have
grown apart from. And then it recognizes
my sexuality and allows me to remarry
after I am divorced or widowed, unlike
Hinduism, where a woman is the property
of men, and can even be made to sleep
with a bunch of brothers and her father-in-law!
Buddy it is not Islam that condemns
a widow to the existence of worse than
that of an animal, when her head is
shaved and she cannot be touched by
anything human and water is given to
her like one would give a dog! And you
have the nerve to call Islam barbaric?!!!!
At least the three monotheistic faiths
worship God and not money. At least
the believers do not worship a woman
with seven hands or a variety of animals.
Life in Pakistan is not gray or black,
quite colorful I assure you. I had the
greatest time in my vacation in June
this year. We still have our culture,
unlike the women of India that ape the
West and wear next to nothing.
My Islam has given me the greatest fortune
there is: a relationship with God which
in turn has made me the richest woman
alive, phenomenally wealthy in the most
valuable commodity in the world: contentment
and deep inner peace.
It is not rationalism or wealth or supposed
liberty that should be our goal. It
should be to submit oneself completely
to the One True God.
You should be intrigued with the devotion
of religious people. It is a wonderful
devotion, a complete devotion and one
that gives meaning to my life in a way
that no money and no man, no position
and no power ever could.
You have put me off in a big way: by
insulting my religion in an ignorant
manner and by demeaning my Prophet (peace
be upon him) in the ill-informed manner
that you have. And then again I tell
myself what that great man, Jesus Christ
(peace be upon him) said: “Forgive
them Lord, for they know not what they
do”
Mahjabeen
Islam
Ohio, US
