Realpolitik Illegalities of Shari?ah courts
Friday, July 1, 2022
  • Circulation
  • Advertise
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
Organiser
  • ‌
  • Bharat
  • World
  • Editorial
  • Analysis
  • Opinion
  • Defence
  • Sports
  • Business
  • More
    • RSS in News
    • Special Report
    • Culture
    • Sci & Tech
    • Entertainment
    • Education
    • Books
    • Interviews
    • Travel
    • Health
    • Obituary
SUBSCRIBE
No Result
View All Result
Organiser
  • ‌
  • Bharat
  • World
  • Editorial
  • Analysis
  • Opinion
  • Defence
  • Sports
  • Business
  • More
    • RSS in News
    • Special Report
    • Culture
    • Sci & Tech
    • Entertainment
    • Education
    • Books
    • Interviews
    • Travel
    • Health
    • Obituary
No Result
View All Result
Organiser
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Bharat
  • World
  • Editorial
  • Opinion
  • Analysis
  • Culture
  • Defence
  • RSS in News
  • Subscribe
Home General

Realpolitik Illegalities of Shari?ah courts

Archive Manager by WEB DESK
Aug 28, 2005, 12:00 am IST
in General
Jeay Sindh Freedom Movement chairman Sohail Abro

Jeay Sindh Freedom Movement chairman Sohail Abro

Share on FacebookShare on TwitterTelegramEmail


Realpolitik
Illegalities of Shari?ah courts

By Balbir K. Punj

It was natural for Supreme Court to express alarm at the proliferation of Shari?ah courts across India. It is an affront and challenge to judiciary and the Constitution of India.

A Supreme Court bench of Y.K. Sabharwal and C.K. Thakker based on a PIL issued notices to the Union Government, All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) and States of Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Assam, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, West Bengal and Delhi. It has come to light that AIMPLB has already established Darul Qaza or Shari?ah courts in Thane (Maharashtra), Akola Dholiya (Rajasthan), Indore (Madhya Pradesh), Delhi, Asansol and Purulia (West Bengal), Lucknow and Sitapur (Uttar Pradesh). Radiance, the official organ of Jamaat-e-Islami Hind, has argued in favour of Shariah courts. According to Mohammed Abdur Rahim Quaraishi, Secretary of AIMPLB, ?In whatever part of the world they live, whether they are rulers or the ruled? Muslims should settle their mutual disputes in accordance with Shariah laws.?

Download Organiser App

India is having a wearisome experience of Islam in ways different from its terrorist variety. It is not merely the gun- touting Jihadis in Kashmir Valley or suicide bombers attacking Parliament that bother us. The demographic explosion of Muslims coupled with uninterrupted infiltration from Bangladesh is straining the fabric of India. The madrasas, churning out ?Arabised? Quranic robots in tens of thousands, jeopardises the future of civil society. The Wakf boards are meticulously pushing ahead their agenda of grabbing more lands/buildings that are ?tiny Islamistans? under the jurisdiction of Allah and Allah alone. The buck won'tstop at Taj Mahal, but perhaps at India itself that had been Dar-ul-Islam for six hundred years plus. Much of this vicious agenda is being pursued peacefully for ?Islam is a religion of peace?!

India is having a wearisome experience of Islam in ways different from its terrorist variety. It is not merely the gun-touting killers in Kashmir Valley or suicide bombers attacking Parliament that bother us. The demographic explosion of Muslims is straining the fabric of India.

The Dar-ul-Ulam'sfatwa on Imrana episode brought into fore another wearisome facet of Islam. Shariat law penalises a victim of rape by dissolving her marriage with her husband and counsels her remarriage with rapist but ironically it spares rapist of Shariat punishment of stoning by death. It was a poignant picture of human tragedy when the victim, in front of Chairman of National Commission for Women, agreed to abide by dictates of Dar-ul-Ulam. In such a situation, high talks of women'sliberation appear as remote as in moon. It revealed how much influence the clerics wield in Muslim society, and in what direction they are taking it. All this has already begun to encroach upon the sedulously cultivated secular space.

Muslims are not far too wrong when they call Islam a complete system. Islam as a religion (mazhab) is utterly incomplete without its jurisprudence (Shari?ah) and Sunna (praxis) of its Prophet. Thus Islam is not just another religion that is limited to spiritual life of a person and leaves him to participate as a normal social being in society. It also means that civil society will not be able to normalise its relationship with followers of Islam by acknowledging Allah or presenting chadars at tomb of Moinuddin Chisti. For many things pertaining to Islam lie outside the ambit of religion like its education, Wakf, and its judiciary.

Law is not merely a set of acts, provisions, precedents etc. There is a philosophy associated with law. The philosophy is that law must retain cause-and-effect principle. The most famous code of antiquity was Hamurabbi'slaw code in Babylon formulated in the 18th century BC. Ancient Greeks and Romans codified criminal, civil and commercial laws that became foundation of modern day laws made universal by Western powers. These are works of human intellect based on cause-and-effect principle and open to evolution. These might also vary from country to country viz. USA has capital punishment but the UK does not although both acknowledge Greeko-Roman origin of their laws. The ancient Jews on the other hand claimed to receive their laws (Torah) from God. Thus for ancient Jews law was another branch of theology?every sin was a crime and every crime was a sin. The Islamic law follows this pattern.

For, many things pertaining to Islam lie outside the ambit of religion like its education, Wakf, and its judiciary.

Islam claims a divine origin for its laws. It matters little whether the cause-and-effect principle holds good or not. For instance, witness of two women is equal to witness of one man. This might be irrational but it must be followed since Prophet Mohammed promulgated it. It is a shameful story why adoption of a child/orphan is forbidden in Islam, adoption can'ttake place since Mohammed had forbidden it. A thief'shand must be cut off; an adulterer must be stoned to death; and one who leaves Islam must also be stoned to death. But any crime committed against a kafir (non-Muslim) should attract no punishment. Killing of kafir, looting his property including livestock and womenfolk is legitimate. These are divine inspired laws of Islam although one might find them incredulous.

But except for a handful of countries like Saudi Arabia, Muslim countries don'tfollow Shari?ah in toto. Most follow modern laws in criminal and commercial matters keeping Shari?ah in personal matters. Since colonial era, Muslims follow modern laws in criminal and commercial matters because they are at an advantage in doing so. Ask a Muslim thief whether he will like to lose his hands as a tribute to Allah'sintelligence or serve three months imprisonment as tribute to human intelligence. The answer is any body'sguess. But do they have Allah'spermission?

In India also Muslims like to submit to IPC and Cr.PC when it comes to criminal justice. But when it comes to personal matters like matrimony they claim that Allah'sunalterable law should reign supreme. This while Tunisia, an Arab country, might abolish polygamy in 1956, India'sMuslims are deadly against it. Similarly, in debate over Census 2001. AIMPLB adopted its official position that family planning is against Islam. Marriage is a contract in Islam while sacrament in all other religions. Thus while a Hindu or Christian might have to go through painful and protracted process of law for getting divorce, a Muslim can finish the business by uttering the words talaq, talaq, talaq without even approaching a cleric, let alone a judge.

It is a shameful story why adoption of a child/orphan is forbidden in Islam, adoption can'ttake place since Mohammed had forbidden it. A thief'shand must be cut off; an adulterer must be stoned to death; and one who leaves Islam must also be stoned to death. But any crime committed against a kafir (non-Muslim) should attract no punishment.

The other important feature is that Shari?ah implies individually not territorially. Daniel Pipes has elucidated the issue in an article in 1995 ?The Western Mind of Radical Islam??In traditional Islam (as in Judaism), laws apply to the individual, not (as in the West) to the territory. It matters not whether a Muslim lives here or there, in the homeland or in the diaspora; he must follow the Shari?ah. Conversely, a non-Muslim living in a Muslim country need not follow its directives. For example, a Muslim may not drink whisky whether he lives in Tehran or Los Angeles; and a non-Muslim may imbibe in either place. This leads to complex situations whereby one set of rules applies to a Muslim thief who robs a Muslim, another to a Christian who robs a Christian, and so forth. The key is who you are, not where you are.

(The writer, a Rajya Sabha MP and Convener of BJP Think Tank, can be contacted at [email protected])

ShareTweetSendShareSend
Previous News

Worldwatch The way to meet the Bangladeshi threat

Next News

Statescan Pakistan puts a spoke in J&K's Baglihar power project

Related News

Tamil Nadu: HC orders status quo on move to seal an illegal Mosque-cum-Madrasa in Tiruppur after DMK Protest

Tamil Nadu: HC orders status quo on move to seal an illegal Mosque-cum-Madrasa in Tiruppur after DMK Protest

Amid growing public outrage, plea filed to CJI seeking withdrawal of judges’ controversial remarks against Nupur Sharma

Amid growing public outrage, plea filed to CJI seeking withdrawal of judges’ controversial remarks against Nupur Sharma

Assam Police busted human trafficking wing in Guwahati; Mastermind Jahirul Haque arrested

Assam Police busted human trafficking wing in Guwahati; Mastermind Jahirul Haque arrested

Hul Diwas, a Symbol of Valor & Sacrifice

Hul Diwas, a Symbol of Valor & Sacrifice

Travancore royal family writes to Pope over canonisation of Devasahayam Pillai, says Church’s narrative is baseless

Travancore royal family writes to Pope over canonisation of Devasahayam Pillai, says Church’s narrative is baseless

Udaipur Terrorist Attack: BJP’s Kapil Mishra raises Rs 1.35 Crore for victim Kanhaiya Lal’s family

Udaipur Terrorist Attack: BJP’s Kapil Mishra raises Rs 1.35 Crore for victim Kanhaiya Lal’s family

Comments

The comments posted here/below/in the given space are not on behalf of Organiser. The person posting the comment will be in sole ownership of its responsibility. According to the central government's IT rules, obscene or offensive statement made against a person, religion, community or nation is a punishable offense, and legal action would be taken against people who indulge in such activities.

Latest News

Tamil Nadu: HC orders status quo on move to seal an illegal Mosque-cum-Madrasa in Tiruppur after DMK Protest

Tamil Nadu: HC orders status quo on move to seal an illegal Mosque-cum-Madrasa in Tiruppur after DMK Protest

Amid growing public outrage, plea filed to CJI seeking withdrawal of judges’ controversial remarks against Nupur Sharma

Amid growing public outrage, plea filed to CJI seeking withdrawal of judges’ controversial remarks against Nupur Sharma

Assam Police busted human trafficking wing in Guwahati; Mastermind Jahirul Haque arrested

Assam Police busted human trafficking wing in Guwahati; Mastermind Jahirul Haque arrested

Hul Diwas, a Symbol of Valor & Sacrifice

Hul Diwas, a Symbol of Valor & Sacrifice

Travancore royal family writes to Pope over canonisation of Devasahayam Pillai, says Church’s narrative is baseless

Travancore royal family writes to Pope over canonisation of Devasahayam Pillai, says Church’s narrative is baseless

Udaipur Terrorist Attack: BJP’s Kapil Mishra raises Rs 1.35 Crore for victim Kanhaiya Lal’s family

Udaipur Terrorist Attack: BJP’s Kapil Mishra raises Rs 1.35 Crore for victim Kanhaiya Lal’s family

“She should have gone to the TV and apologised to the nation”: Supreme Court blames Nupur Sharma for Udaipur beheading

“She should have gone to the TV and apologised to the nation”: Supreme Court blames Nupur Sharma for Udaipur beheading

Delhi Court sends Satyendar Jain to ED custody till June 9

Money laundering case: ED arrests two more aides of Delhi Minister Satyendar Jain

National Doctor’s Day 2022: History, significance behind celebrating noble profession of doctors

National Doctor’s Day 2022: History, significance behind celebrating noble profession of doctors

“Killers hired to malign Islam, plot to target Muslim businesses”: Left leader sees conspiracy behind Udaipur Beheading

“Killers hired to malign Islam, plot to target Muslim businesses”: Left leader sees conspiracy behind Udaipur Beheading

  • Privacy
  • Terms
  • Cookie Policy
  • Refund and Cancellation
  • Delivery and Shipping Policy

© Bharat Prakashan (Delhi) Limited.
Tech-enabled by Ananthapuri Technologies

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Bharat
  • World
  • Editorial
  • Analysis
  • Opinion
  • Defence
  • Culture
  • Sports
  • Business
  • RSS in News
  • Special Report
  • Sci & Tech
  • Entertainment
  • Education
  • Books
  • Interviews
  • Travel
  • Health
  • Obituary
  • Subscribe
  • Advertise
  • Circulation
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Privacy Policy
  • Cookie Policy
  • Terms of Use
  • Refund and Cancellation

© Bharat Prakashan (Delhi) Limited.
Tech-enabled by Ananthapuri Technologies