IslamicLawBlog

The 18th Hole: Pakistan's Futile Constitutional Amendment The Pakistan People's Party (PPP) will soon propose to the Parliament the 18th amendment to the 1973 Constitution. The proposed amendment would reportedly abolish Article 58 (2)(b) of the Constitution, which empowers the President, in his sole discretion, to dissolve the National Assembly. The amendment would also strengthen Article 6 of the Constitution to punish judges who would in future support military coups and constitutional subversions. This essay argues that the proposed 18th amendment is an exercise in futility. Unfortunately, no constitutional amendment will prevent future military adventurism unless the political and military leadership is committed to honor the Constitution. As discussed below, however, the culture of the ruling elites has no respect for the rule of law. Read More

The Establishment is a quasi-pejorative label to describe the combined forces of Pakistan Army generals, intelligence chiefs, and top bureaucrats. In reality, the Establishment is a group of powerful government officials who pool their resources to checkmate policies and persons that cross their path or wish to weaken their grip on power. Founded on vertical hierarchy, the Establishment effectively demands that human resources in the armed forces, intelligence agencies, and bureaucracy take an oath "to discharge their duties, and perform their functions, to the best of their ability, faithfully and always in the interest of the sovereignty, integrity, solidarity, well-being and prosperity of the Establishment." Read more

"Pakistan’s ruling Coalition has less than forty-eight hours left to fulfill their pre-election promise with the nation to restore the high court judges that General Musharraf fired by means of the 2007 Emergency Proclamation last November, an action contrary to the Constitution. The country's lawyers are likely to protest hard and refuse to cooperate with the new government if the Coalition fails to deliver the promise. The Pakistan Peoples Party, the chief party of the Coalition, appears to be uncertain about the modalities of restoration even though it had previously agreed that the judges would be restored through a Parliamentary resolution followed by an executive order. Since the sacking of the judges was unconstitutional per se, the cumbersome constitutional procedures were deemed unnecessary for the restoration. More pressing problems await the Coalition. The shortage of food items and electricity frustrates the common people on a daily basis. The court system is less ...

Divine texts are the common heritage of human beings. They cultivate human spirituality. Too much time is spent finding faults with divine text and too little attention is paid to understanding their unity of purpose. While doubters question the authenticity of divine texts and while factions set one divine text against the other, divine texts are munificent in establishing the truth. The Hebrew Bible warns that among nations gone astray from the path of God, “the prophet is considered a fool, the inspired man a maniac.” The Qur’an affirms: “We have sent thee revelation, as We sent it to Noah and the Messengers after him: We sent revelation to Abraham, Ishmael, Isaac, Jacob and the Tribes, to Jesus, Job, Jonah, Aaron, and Solomon, and to David We gave the Psalms.” The New Testament declares, “All scripture is God-breathed.” The Buddhist Dhammapada proclaims, “Blessed is the devotion of those who dwell in unity.” The Bhagavad Gita’s call to unity is no less vivid when Krishna procla...

The film "Fitna" is an assault on the religion of Islam. It wounds deeply-held spiritual feelings of millions of Muslims around the world. It is a call for hatred and discrimination aginst Muslims in the Netherlands and elsewhere in Europe. Made by a race-supremacist Dutch parliamentarian, the film argues that the Quran incites violence. The Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance, and other UN experts, have condemned the film in the following words: "While on the one hand, freedom of expression is a fundamental human right that must be respected, it does not extend to include incitement to racial or religious hatred which is itself clearly a violation of human rights. Public expressions that paint adherents of a particular religion as a threat to peace or global stability are irresponsible." The European Union (EU), however, has drawn an opposite conclusion from that of the UN experts. While co...

Pakistan's newly-elected Parliament meets on Monday, March 17, to form a new government. Monday is "democracy day" ending the eight years of military rule. Former Army Chief Pervez Musharraf, however, refuses to step down and claims to be the nation's lawful President. Close to a two-thirds majority of the Parliament and an overwhelming majority of lawyers of Pakistan see Musharraf as a usurper. Facing a hostile Parliament and an uncompromising Bar, Musharraf would offer to make a deal. He would relinquish power if he could safely leave the country (and perhaps fly away to the United States). This essay argues that Pakistan's Parliament must not pardon Musharraf, openly or secretly. The people of Pakistan want their day in court. Read More

If the winning parties in Pakistan will fight the American war on terror, they will be welcome as moderate parties. If the new government will say no to "the war on terror" and make an effort to bring peace to the nation, it will come under economic and military pressure to change. Unfortunately, some (not all) US policymakers prefer that Muslim governments fight and kill "extremists and radicals." This is a recipe for internal strife and civil war. Pakistan needs to wake up, as must all Muslim nations, to say NO to the genocidal "war on terror." Consultation, negotiation, conciliation, and arbitration are the Islamic methods of dispute resolution. These are also the methods of international law. These methods are mandatory when disputes are among Muslims. Hopefully, the winning political parties in Pakistan will use these methods to resolve internal disputes. Read More