Islam does not sanction honour killings, says PUC

Conference on interfaith harmony requests Hindu, Sikh leaders to resolve their disputes.

ISLAMABAD:

Honour killing is a criminal act of brutality forbidden in Islam, the Pakistan Ulema Council (PUC) declared on Thursday, urging the government to conduct unbiased investigations into cases of violence reported against different sects and religions.

The PUC issued this decree at a conference on Thursday which was aimed at answering the question, ‘why is inter-faith and inter-sectarian dialogue necessary?’ The conference was attended by hundreds of religious scholars from different sects, representatives of non-Muslim communities and ambassadors of more than 15 countries.

In his opening speech, the PUC’s central chairman, Hafiz Muhammad Tahir Mahmood Ashrafi said that thousands of scholars, clerics, mosques and seminaries, students and philosophers affiliated with the PUC are of the opinion that dialogue is the only way to resolve issues.

A comprehensive three-page ‘fatwa’ issued by the PUC on honour killings stated that the murders that are being committed in the name of honour or dignity neither fulfil legal conditions nor abide by Islamic values.

Hence, such murders are to be considered as criminal acts and atrocities that are forbidden in Islam and such elements are enemies of both Islam and humanity, said the decree. It’s the responsibility of the government and courts to take action against the perpetrators, it added.

The joint declaration expressed grave concern over growing violence and intolerant attitudes in Pakistani society and stressed that all Muslims and non-Muslims should disassociate themselves from any action causing harm to anyone.

The conference also asked the government to conduct unbiased investigations into acts of violence against followers of different religions and sects. With particular reference made to the attacks on Hindu temples and desecration of the Sikhs’ holy books, the conference requested the Hindu and Sikh leaders to sit together and resolve their disputes. The declaration further said that those who commit blasphemy against the Prophet [PBUH] cannot be the followers or representatives of any religion. Therefore, anyone accused of blasphemy should not be released. Likewise, no innocent person should be punished for blasphemy.

Also present at the conference, Federal Minister for Law Justice and Human Rights Pervaiz Rashid, accompanied by Federal Minister for Religious Affairs Sardar Mohammad Yousuf, assured that the government was serious in resolving the issue at hand and would make efforts to control the violence as well as carry out legislation wherever required.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 6^th, 2014.