About four hundred ulema on Sunday signed a fatwa (edict) against the Women’s Protection Bill (WPB), terming it “un-Islamic, immoral and unconstitutional”.
| "We will fatwah yore ass!" |
Addressing a convention under the aegis of Jamaat-e-Ahl-e-Sunnat at the Karachi Press Club, the ulema declared the bill repugnant to holy Quran and Sunnah and announced a protest march against it on December 3. They pledged to wage a struggle against the bill, give every sacrifice to “protect hudoodullah” and stop the government from “intervening in hudoodullah”. They said the government was trying to project a new culture of obscenity and vulgarity through the Women’s Protection Bill, and vowed to resist “this move of the government at every cost”.
The edict, prepared by Ruet-e-Hilal Committee Chairman Mufti Muneebur Rehman and signed by 400 ulema, says the WomenÂ’s Protection Bill is against the teachings of holy Quran and Sunnah. It says that no law would be allowed in Pakistan in violation of the 1973 Constitution. It says zina (rape) is a serious offence in Islam and its punishment has been clearly mentioned in holy Quran.
The ulema said the edict would also be sent to President General Pervez Musharraf, Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz, Pakistan Muslim League President Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain and Muttahida Qaumi Movement chief Altaf Hussain. Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal leader Sahibzada Shah Ans Noorani, Allama Mohammad Hassan Haqqani and Mufti Muhammad Naeemi were also present. |