The Review
April 12, 2007

There are some religious scholars who have condemned the Jamia Hafsa episode, including Maulana Fazlur Rehman, Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly. Mufti Muneebur Rehman, head of the Madressah Federation has denounced it as creating ‘fitna’ within society

In muted tones the once placid people of the federal capital are talking about the creeping Talibanisation of their city. In retrospect, their fears are not totally unfounded, neither should this wave of extremism be under-estimated, especially in the wake of what has happened recently in Islamabad’s G-6 area and the events that followed.

It all happened when a brigade of burqa-clad, baton-wielding vigilante women of Jamia Hafsa (JH) raided a house, which they alleged was a brothel. They forcibly entered the house and abducted the inmates, which included three women and a six-month old child.

Two days later, a chastened Shamim Akhtar, the owner of the house was brought in front of the media to whom she confessed to her involvement in “immoral activities” and promised to repent.

If not nipped now, many fear, these self-appointed vice and virtue force will expand their area of operation, or fuel others to take similar action elsewhere across the country.

However, I.A. Rehman, director of the independent Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP), is worried that it may take time before all this simmers down as the “holy trouble-makers” enjoy patronage among the army as well as the government.

“This is not Talibanisation, it’s Islamisation,” corrects Ume Hassan, the principal of JH over the phone from Islamabad.

“We have not broken any law. There is no other law except the Shariah that we have to follow and the government has failed to do so. If it cannot enforce that, somebody has to do it,” insists Abdul Rashid Ghazi, one of the two chief clerics of Lal Masjid (LM), to which the female seminary belongs.

Situated just a couple of hundred metres away from Pakistan’s premier intelligence agency, the ISI and the Prime Minister’s Secretariat, it is also the largest for women, accommodating at least 6,500.

President Pervez Musharraf’s plea to civil society and religious forces to persuade the women and the LM administration to relent does nothing to abate the rising fear among the masses.

“Who in their right mind will touch this hornet’s nest?” asks Anees Haroon of Aurat Foundation, a women’s group, terming it a very “irresponsible statement” coming from the general. “We cannot enforce the writ of the state; it is the job of the government.” She fears the situation if not handled well will create further polarisation among the masses.

The same is endorsed by a channel’s news director, Syed Talat Hussain. “Who will take on the mullahs?” He believes the “state is still powerful enough to tackle it, if it wants to.”

There are some religious scholars who have condemned the JH episode, including Maulana Fazlur Rehman, opposition parliamentarian. Mufti Muneebur Rehman, head of the Madressah Federation has denounced it as creating fitna within society.

“We oppose their act completely. From the point of view of the Shariah, they are wrong in taking the law into their own hands,” said Mufti Mohammad Naeem of Jamia Binoria, Karachi. He suggests the government should engage in a dialogue with the clerics. “They have to negotiate and there has to be a give and take to break the standoff.”

“JH should have not have taken this militant stand, but to be fair, we do know that often going through the government is basically a futile effort. Look at the list of things that are totally haraam, and not just from our religious point of view. Some are detrimental to humanity and society as well, that are flourishing, including black magic, sex trade, pornography, corruption, alcohol, drugs...” says Farahnaz Moazzam, a student of and teacher of Quranic tafseer from the Al-Huda school. She suggests formation of an organisation that addresses these evils, in a more peaceful manner.

As for whether Islam allows women to take such militant action, she says that Prophet Mohammad (PBUH) said that a woman’s jihad is in Haj. “The word jihad signifies not just militancy but the very word means utmost struggle to please Allah and fight evil, may it even be evil within one’s self. For a woman, raising good children and teaching those around her religious values or any form of education can be jihad, too.”

Adding further, she says, “We do not see it in the Sunnah of our prophet kidnapping people if we disagree with what they are doing.”

While there has been countrywide condemnation from human rights groups as well as religious scholars, the political leaders from the opposition have come out strongest and accused the government of succumbing to religious extremism.

The rhetoric of finding an ‘amicable solution’ has received a lot of flak from the people who want a firmer handling of the female militant brigade and the masterminds behind them.

Raids were carried out on LM and the attached seminaries, after the London bombing in July 2005, but for some inexplicable reason, they were left off the hook.

They first made headlines in 2004 when they issued a decree against the Pakistani armed forces fighting with the Muslims ––– the Al-Qaeeda in South Waziristan. Their edict was signed by 500 other religious scholars from across the country. Many military personnel then refused to fight the militants.

Little wonder then that people begin to question the government’s stance.

“There is no weakness or absence of governance here. After all, the law enforcers could, without hesitation manhandle the Chief Justice in front of TV cameras; brutally beat protesting lawyers and break the glass panes of a TV station,” expresses A.H. Nayyar, a physcist and a rights activist.

“Why is it then that not a single FIR against the illegal occupiers of a public property has been registered? There is no action taken against those who abduct citizens in a vigilante style. There is no action against the vigilantes who pull in and beat up a police officer. Why is the federal law minister –– unabashedly abusive as he is –– terming the veiled activists of JH on a private channel as pardonable young innocent girls? Why it that the mullahs holed inside the masjid and the madressah are allowed to run an illegal FM radio from inside the premises?” he asks. For now, the LM website has been blocked.

While not quite supporting the call for their version of Islamisation by the moral police clad in black from top to toe, the area people are relieved. “I am happy with what has happened. We have been purged of this filth. These students have done what none of us had the gall to do,” said M.A. Khan, 33, who has been living in the same neighbourhood for over 20 years. His remarks are telling of an absence of governance and the feeble law enforcing agencies.

“Akhtar enjoyed complete impunity because her clients are important figures of Islamabad. She had been arrested once, two years ago, but was released soon after,” he said.

That’s correct,” says Syed Farrukh Sear, who is heading the neighbourhood committee. All of us observe a social boycott with the family. We have complained to the police many times and even her son, who says he cannot do anything.”

For the students of Jamia Hafsa who have challenged the writ of the government, this is their second victory against the president.

Their first triumph was in January, when thousands of women students, armed with bamboo sticks occupied a children’s library next to their

seminary as a protest against the demolition of a mosque. The occupation continues.

“The girls were very worked up and were thinking of how best to stop this. It was they who thought of taking this radical step of occupying the library. We just supported them,” said the principal, not quite taking the blame for this kind of indoctrination.

Back in January the students had also threatened to carry out suicide attacks if there was an attempt on their seminary. Ume Hassan concedes. “These are young and sentimental students, but if their demands are not met, yes, they may rise to the occasion,” she says, a veiled threat apparent in her tone.

And the demands are: “Reconstruction of all the mosques razed, Musharraf to apologise publicly for the misdeed and also repent to Allah for his sin; to enforce the Shariah in letter and spirit and to stop terming people who fight in the way of Islam as ‘terrorists’ and ‘militants’” according to Ume Hassan.

Encouraged by their successes and a complete absence of so much as censure from the government to the recent revolt, the LM clerics have announced the establishment of a Shariat Court, a parallel judicial system inside the mosque premises.

They have given the government a month’s ultimatum to enforce the Shariah, in the absence of which, they will start purging society themselves. “And if the government starts an operation against us, we have our youths ready to carry out suicide attacks,” said hard-line Aziz during last Friday’s sermon.

Meanwhile, the moral brigade has expanded and expedited their process of work. They have been visiting various video shops and demanding their closure and asking the shopkeepers to find alternate businesses.

According to Tariq Azeem, Minister of State for Information, “I’ve been informed that these women are going around town asking women to dress according to the norms of Islam. We have zero tolerance for such people and their views.”

This has fuelled other religious groups in other parts of the country to enforce their own moral code. Civil society groups have expressed concern over letters being issued to owners of cyber cafes, video and audio cassette shops demanding they close their business in Peshawar. Letters have also been issued to girls’ schools in other cities of the province asking them to adopt the veil. There have also been announcements on FM channels against sending girls to schools.