Re: Terrible news from NWFP...
I really don't see why people are complaining about the law.
I see the issue as being very simple. A truly Islamic system would be accepted by a Muslim people. If the MMA's law is truly Islamic, then the overwhelmingly Muslim population of the NWFP will be happy with it and will re-elect the MMA at the next election, due in the next 2-3 years.
If the Hisba Bill establishes a system that is not truly Islamic and which instead oppresses the people, then the overwhelming Muslim population of the NWFP will reject the MMA and bring into power a party that will repeal the law.
The Hisba Bill represents the first time for many, many centuries, that Muslims have chosen thorugh their elected representatives to live under their representatives' interpretation of Islamic law.
I view this as being an extremely important litmus test for assessing whether or not the MMA's version of Islamic law is a correct enough interpretation to be successfully applicable to a developed province.
If the people of the NWFP end up being oppressed by this law, then what we will have discovered is that the MMA have an incorrect and oppressive version of Islam, one that the rest of Pakistan would then be likely to reject.
If the MMA are successful and can be seen to bring about an improvement in society through this law, then a lesson will be learnt there too.