What s the jurisdiction of fatwa in a democratic western constitutional system?Except in Pakistan,which claims to be Islamic Republic,non muslim countries having muslim citzens would never implement fatwas,& even moderae ,liberal &democratic developing countries would go the Bangladesh way than Pakistan???On an individual level Fatwas are not unanimous ibn the first place ,.how can they be enforced without totally islamic rules???
India/Pakistan
‘Fatwa’ ban aids Bangladeshi women, imperils judges
By Tabibul Islam
DHAKA - A landmark New Year’s ruling by a Bangladesh court has struck a
blow for women’s rights and pitted the judiciary and rights groups
against religious radicals in this Muslim-majority nation.
The Jan 1 order of the Bangladesh High Court banning Muslim clerics from
issuing a “fatwa” (Islamic edict), has been widely hailed as one that
will save millions of women in the country from harassment in the name
of religion.
The international human rights watchdog Amnesty International
“congratulated” the two judges, one of them Bangladesh’s first woman
judge. “This is a significant and most welcome development which sends a
clear message that discriminatory practices against women, particularly
in rural areas, are unacceptable and must stop,” Amnesty said in a press
release. Amnesty said the ruling showed “the failure of the government
to provide protection to women against the practice of fatwa”, and
advised the government to “follow the example of the judges and take
action to bring to justice any person who issues a fatwa”.
The two judges ruled that Islamic law can only be interpreted by the
country’s courts and that the government must enact a law to punish
those who issue such edicts, which are usually aimed at women.
Dozens of Islamic edicts are issued every year by rural clerics, acting
on complaints against women who are accused of asserting themselves in
family life in a male-dominant society. These can involve flogging,
stoning, shaving of heads and beatings. The Bangla language daily
Jugantar reported early in January that 17 women died in Bangladesh in
the last four years as a result of fatwas. They either killed themselves
in shame or died while trying to terminate a pregnancy, after being
beaten or publicly stoned, following a fatwa issued against them by
clerics.
Leading Bangladesh human rights group, “Ain-o-Salish Kendra”, recorded
136 cases of fatwa across the country since 1997. But hundreds of fatwas
go unreported by the media.
“The legal system in Bangladesh empowers only the courts to decide all
questions relating to legal opinion on the Muslim and other laws. We,
therefore, hold that any fatwa, including the instant one, is
unauthorized and illegal,” the court said.
Amnesty also said it was “concerned” that the judges who gave the
verdict would be “targeted by Islamist groups” and asked the government
to ensure their safety. The two judges have, indeed, received verbal
threats from radical Islamic groups in the country.
Leaders of religious political parties have denounced the high court
judgement as a direct interference in the Muslim faith. The ruling has
put the courts and Islam on a collision course, they declared.
Fazlul Huq Amini, general secretary of the Islamic party, Islami Oikkya
Jot, said no court could declare as illegal a fatwa issued by an Islamic
cleric. Amini branded the two judges “murtad”, or infidels. The new
chief of the religious party, Jamaat-e-Islami, Maulana Matiur Rahman
Nizami, used strong words to criticize the judges.
The court ruling came in a case involving a village housewife in Naogoan
district, some 280 kilometers west of Dhaka. Given a “talaq”, or verbal
divorce under Islamic law, by her husband during a fit of anger, the
woman Shahida was forced to undergo a “hilla” (interim marriage) with
another person. The remarriage was ordered by a fatwa issued by a local
cleric. Shahida’s plight was reported by national newspapers and women
rights groups took up her case before the court.
Members of the legal profession and academics too have hailed the
judgement as a “turning point” in ending the repression of village women
in the mainly rural nation. “The hapless and illiterate women of
Bangladesh are often subjected to repression and harassment, such as
lashing and throwing of stones on flimsy pretexts, in the name of
fatwa,” said eminent jurist Kamal Hossain.
The legal scholar said those who perpetuate such repression on
illiterate women by misinterpreting the injunctions of Islam, do not
believe in the fundamentals of religion and human rights.
Ayesha Khanam, general secretary of the Bangladesh Women’s Council,
called the judgement a big victory for the movement to preserve and
protect the rights of women in the country. ‘‘The judgement has given a
legal foundation to the movement of women’s groups struggling to protect
their human rights,’’ she said.
More than two dozen political and human rights groups issued statements,
welcoming the court ruling. This would usher in a new era of social
justice for the neglected and oppressed women of Bangladesh, they said.
Several clerics of the Bangladesh Jatiya Ulema Parishad too welcomed the
verdict and criticized Islamic radicals who have hit out at the
judgement.
(Inter Press Service)
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