There is so much that needs to be
done in Pakistan that one does not know where to start. The country is
suffering the worst energy crisis of its history; it is food insecure like
never before and almost half the children in the country are malnourished and
stunted. In short, we are teeming millions who cannot feed themselves, have
limited access to energy and will be dumber and weaker in future because of
stunted mental and physical growth of our children. At such a juncture of
history, what is it that we do most? We issue fatwas promoting misogyny and
obscurantism; against hygiene, education, health and progress.
The latest in the line of outrageous fatwas is issued by a former legislator. Maulana Abdul Haleem, of Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazlur Rehman, came up with a
series of misogynist fatwas, clearly detailing what should be the priorities of
his political and religious followers. For starters, the fatwa declares
formal education for women to be unIslamic. As just declaring the act of going
to school and getting some education irreligious was not enough, he also had to
reprimand the parents who send their girls to schools in Kohistan and asked
them to terminate their education. He told them, in no uncertain terms, that
failure to do so will earn them a spot in eternal hellfire.
The fatwa does not end here. It goes
on to declare all the non-governmental organizations (NGOs) working in the region
as ‘hubs of immodesty’. He first blames the women working in those NGOs for
mobilizing local women on health and hygiene issues and then calls on the local
men to marry the unmarried NGO workers – forcefully if they have to – to make
them stay at home. Maulana Haleem’s religious credentials are dubious at best
as this is the guy who thinks growing poppy for heroine production is shariah
compliant.
In short, a former legislator issues
random fatwas during a Friday sermon inciting hatred against a group of people
(NGO workers) and declaring the constitutional rights of getting education for
half the population haram and no one barring a few bloggers and tweeters raised
an eye brow. A non issue like memogate which does not affect the life of any
Pakistani other than our former ambassador to USA, gets yards of column space
and thousands of minutes of airtime. A religious decree that can affect life
and livelihood and future of many Pakistani is not worth pondering or
protesting.
Had it been just one fatwa from one
cleric in one remote corner, we would have had the luxury to ignore it.
Unfortunately we churn out one religious edict after another for most ludicrous
of purposes. If declaring vegetarian items like potato chips and hair implant
services halal is considered viable marketing gimmick, then abduction of minor
girls from minority communities also get a sanction in a fatwa (and a court
judgment). Fatwas are so commonplace than even KESC had to resort to seek a fatwa a few years back to get people pay for the
electricity. As KESC is still laden with hundreds and thousands of unpaid
bills, we all know how effective that fatwa turned out to be.
A country like ours can ill afford
adventurism of any kind, but most dangerous is the practice of resorting to
fatwa to get a point across. Not only it breeds a narrow and rigid view of the
things, it does not leave any room for dialogue, debate and consultation,
making us an even more intolerant bunch.
Written for Express Tribune, this is the unedited version.
