Fatwa, ruling or edict

How clergy provoke cultural intolerance against women

About 1000 women are killed in Pakistan every year in the name of honor. According to the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, the actual figure of such incidents may be far higher as a large number of cases go unreported – particularly in remote areas.

The Women Protection Act passed by the PML-N’s provincial government in Punjab, was never going to become a successful preemption as far as violence against women is concerned. However, it did entail symbolic significance against the country’s powerful religious lobby; but to no avail as the government eventually gave in to the clergy’s pressure by agreeing to make amends into the law.

The recently passed Women protection Act was reportedly termed un-islamic by the clergy and a reflection of a liberal Pakistan which is against the constitution and the vision of the country’s founding fathers. “Removing Islamic laws shall never be tolerated as this country came in to being in the name of Islam,” leader of an Islamist party said.

In such cases, clergy’s understanding of religion even transcends religion itself. While Islam ensures equability in the form of justice for man and women, the clergy’s acceptance of this notion begins with the rejection of this very definition: “Husband and wife are considered partners in the West, but it is not the case in Pakistan,” said the Jamiat-i-Ulema Islam chief.

While clearly refuting the ‘equality and justice status’, the Council for Islamic Ideology (CII) in its own model Women Protection Bill has even suggested that ‘light beating’ of women is in accordance with Islam and Sunnah. The bill further issues number of other edicts that ensures women’s subjectively to men. In a recent interview given to the BBC, the chief of CII claimed that his recommendations of beating wives ‘lightly’ should not be taken as violence: “Do not try to relate our proposal (on beating women) with violence. Light beating does not mean violence,” he said.

In a way, clergy’s eagerness to find traces of man’s domination over women in religion has cultural and social motivations. On the other hand, while cultural and social factors have imprints on this cruel norm, fatwas and religious justifications, offering motivations to these acts, only makes the problem worse.  The chief of Jamiat-i-Ulema Islam while condemning the Women Protection Act reportedly said that “this law makes a man insecure.” In a patriarchal society – like Pakistan – passivity is expected from women while aggression and violence against women is commonly accepted as a norm. Clergy’s concerns about “man’s insecurity” points towards a cultural problem rather than religious.

Also, such cultures connect sexuality with violence. The recent spate of killings cannot be directly termed a response to the CII’s rulings; rather it’s a continuation of a deeper cultural problem whose roots go beyond the faith: a mother’s burning of her daughter can hardly be called a religious motivation; parents’ killing of a pregnant daughter was in no way driven by the religious edicts; and the death of a Christian girl by her brother for marrying a man of her liking, was not the aftermath of the CII’s decrees.

However, the questionable rulings of religious bodies such as the CII, in this regard, have further helped in consolidation of these primordial practices. The recent cautious declaration of honor killing as a “un-islamic” act by the chairman of CII, has, at the same time, been justified as a “natural act” triggered in response to a sin: majority of the deaths happened in the last few weeks were the result of a marriage of personal choice which is rightfully allowed in Islam.

The CII has never tried to do a press conference on how a marriage without the girl’s consent is unlawful and illegitimate; the consent of a girl to marriage is rarely sought in Pakistan. Moreover, the CII has never tried to assemble a conference on how a personal choice of marriage partner should not be considered a disrespect of family honor.

The interests of dominant political and conservative groups have resisted women options in Pakistan.  The fear of a religious backlash has long prevented Pakistan’s political leaders from brining any comprehensive legislation to confront the issue. The PML-N’s federal government after fearing political fallout has left the issue alone; the Prime Minister’s promise to eradicate Pakistan from honor killings is not even a back burner issue now. The KP Government, on the other hand, has announced a special budget of Rs. 300 million for Madrassah’s run by Sami-ul-Haq – a right wing cleric with known links to extremist groups.

While strict legislation to hold people accountable in such issues is important, reining in the freefall of clergy edicts is also essential to address the problem of violence against women. The government needs to bring legislation to end the CII’s de facto control over legislature (the CII has struck down many laws terming them un-islamic) and – off course – defining women’s rights and place in society and household.