Islamization in Pakistan

File:General Zia announcing that Islamic laws would be enforced in the country.jpg

General Zia announcing that Islamic laws would be enforced in the country

On December 2, 1978, on the occasion of the first day of the Hijra calendar to enforce the Islamic system in Pakistan in a nationwide address, General Zia accused politicians of exploiting the name of Islam saying: many a ruler did what they pleased in the name of Islam.

After assuming power the task that the government set to was its public commitment to enforce Nizam-e-Islam. As a preliminary measure to establish an Islamic society in Pakistan, General Zia announced the establishment of Shariah Benches. Speaking about the jurisdiction of the Shariah Benches he said,

Every citizen will have the right to present any law enforced by the government before the "Shariah Bench" and obtain its verdict whether the law is wholly or partly Islamic or un-Islamic.

But General Zia did not mention that the Shariah Benches jurisdiction was curtailed by the following overriding clause: " (Any) law does not include the constitution, Muslim personal law, any law relating to the procedure of any court or tribunal or, until the expiration of three years, any fiscal law, or any law relating to the collection of taxes and fees or insurance practice and procedure." It meant that all important laws which affect each and every individual directly remained outside the purview of the Shariah Benches. However, he did not have a smooth sailing even with the clipped Shariah Benches. The Federal Shariah Bench declared rajm, lapidation, to be un-Islamic, Ziaul Haq reconstituted that court which declared rajm as Islamic.

Hudood Ordinance

Under Offenses Against Property (Enforcement of Hudood Ordinance 1979), the punishment of imprisonment or fine, or both, as provided in the existing Pakistan Penal Code for theft, was substituted by the amputation of the right hand of the offender from the joint of the wrist by a surgeon. For robbery, the right hand of the offender from the wrist and his left foot from the ankle should be amputated by a surgeon.

Prohibition Order

Drinking of wine (i.e. all alcoholic drinks) was not a crime at all under the Pakistan Penal Code.In 1977, however, the drinking and selling of wine by Muslims was banned in Pakistan and the sentence of imprisonment of six months or a fine of Rs. 5000/-, or both, was provided in that law. Under Prohibition Order these provisions of law were replaced by punishment of eighty (80) stripes for which an ijma of the companions of the Holy Prophet ever since the period of the Second Caliph Umar, was cited.

Zina (Adultery) Ordinance

Under the Zina Ordinance the provisions relating to adultery were replaced as that the women and the man guilty will be flogged, each of them, with hundred stripes, if unmarried. And if they are married they shall be stoned to death. It was argued that the section 497 of the Pakistan Penal Code dealing with the offence of adultery provided certain safeguards to the offender in as much as if the adultery is with the consent or connivance of the husband, no offence of adultery was deemed to have been committed in the eye of law. The wife, under the prevailing law, was also not to be punished as abettor. Islamic law knows no such exception.

Blasphemy Laws

The Pakistan Penal Code and the Criminal Procedure Code were amended ,through ordinances in 1980, 1982 and 1986 to declare anything implying disrespect to the Holy Prophet, Ahle Bait (family of the prophet), Sahaba (companion of the prophet) and Sha'ar-i-Islam (Islamic symbols), a cognizable offence, punishable with imprisonment or fine, or with both.

Prayer Timings

Instructions were issued for regular observance of prayers and made arrangements for performing noon prayer (Salat Al Zuhur) in the government and semi-government offices and educational institutions, during office hours, and official functions, and at the airports, railway stations and bus stops.

Reverence for fasting Ordinance

An "Ehtram-i-Ramazan" (reverence for fasting) Ordinance was issued providing that complete sanctity be observed during the Islamic month of Ramazan, including the closure of cinema houses three hours after the Maghreb (sunset) prayers.

Definition of Muslim

By amending the constitution, General Zia also provided the following definition of a Muslim and a non-Muslim:

• (a) "Muslim" means a person who believes in the unity and oneness of Almighty Allah, in the absolute and unqualified finality of the Prophet hood of Mohammed (peace be upon him), the last of the prophets, and does not believe in, or recognize as a prophet or religious reformer, any person who claimed to be a prophet in any sense of the word or of any description, whatsoever, after Mohammed.
• (b) "Non-Muslim" means a person who is not a Muslim and includes a person belonging to the Christian, Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, or Parsi community, a person of the Qadiani Group or the Lahori Group (who call themselves Ahmadis), or a Bahai, or a person belonging to any of the scheduled castes.

Zia's Islamization of Economy

Within the framework of Islamization of economy, the National Investment Trust and the Investment Corporation of Pakistan were asked to operate on equity basis instead of interest as of July 1, 1979. Interest-free counters were opened at all the 7,000 branches of the nationalized commercial banks on January 1, 1980. But interest-bearing National Savings Schemes were allowed to operate in parallel.

Zakat and Ushr Ordinance

The Zakat and Ushr Ordinance was promulgated on June 20, 1980 to empower the government to deduct 2.5% Zakat annually from mainly interest-bearing savings and shares held in the National Investment Trust, the Investment Corporation of Pakistan and other companies of which the majority of shares are owned by the Muslims. Foreign Exchange Bearer Certificate scheme that offered fixed interest was exempted from the compulsory Zakat deduction. This ordinance drew sharp criticism from the Shia sect which was later exempted from the compulsory deduction of Zakat. Even Sunnis were critical of the compulsory deduction and the way Zakat was distributed.

Land Reforms

On December 13, 1980, to the surprise of General Zia, the Federal Shariah Court declared the land reforms of 1972 and 1977 as eminently in consonance with Islamic injunctions. Then the so-called Ulema were brought in who traditionally supported the landlord class. Three Ulema were inducted into the Federal Shariah Court and two into the Shariah Appellate Bench of the Supreme Court which reversed the FSC judgment in 1990. After the imposition of martial law, many landlords were reported to have told their tenants to seek the protection of their benefactor, namely, Bhutto. Thousands of tenants were forcibly evicted from the land in various districts. The martial law regime made it clear that it was not committed to redistributive agrarian policies and described the land reforms as ordinary politics to reward supporters and punish enemies.

General Zia's advice to the deprived and the dispossessed was that "It is not for the employers to provide roti, kapra aur makan (obviously a jibe at Bhutto). It was for God Almighty who is the provider of livelihood to his people. Any increase or decrease in your sustenance comes from Him. Trust in God and He will bestow upon you an abundance of good things in life."

Demands for higher wages, better working conditions, social security, old age benefits and compensation for accidents, were no justification for protests and strikes. Industrialists were assured that any kind of industrial unrest resulting from strikes or any other trade union activity would be suppressed. Maximum punishment to the offenders was three years rigorous imprisonment and/or whipping. On January 2, 1978 police mercilessly killed 19 workers as the management of the Colony Textile Mill in Multan sought assistance from the police in its dispute with the striking workers.