A woman participant addressing the conference. PHOTO: EXPRESS
LAHORE:
Participants of a Sheikhatul Hadith Conference on Sunday agreed that women scholars could issue fatwas (religious decrees) on all matters.
The conference organised by scholars from Barelvi school of thought demanded that the government make it punishable for a man to divorce his wife thrice in one go.
They said it was undesirable for a Muslim man to divorce his wife but if he decided to do so he must wait for at least a month before divorcing her another time.
They passed a resolution in this regard at the Sheikhatul Hadith Conference organised by Tanzim Ittihad-i-Ummat Conference.
Jamia Sirajia Naeemia Lahore nazima Ume Abdullah Naeemi presided over the session attended by 200 women scholars from various seminaries across Pakistan.
Dr Raghib Hussain Naeemi of the same seminary was the chief guest.
The scholars said education was necessary for women just as it was necessary for men.
They said anti-polio campaigns were not violation of Islam and killing lady health workers was a great sin.
The resolution said Islam had specified an inheritance share for women. It said those who deprived women of their inheritance committed a sin and that the government should take solid steps to ensure women were given their share in inheritance.
According to Sharia, the resolution said, a girl could not be married to the Holy Quran.
It said a woman could do a business or take up a job under special circumstances. The scholars said it was a sin to attack women with acid. Islam forbids hitting a woman in her face, they noted.
The resolution condemned the recent attack on Ismaili community in Karachi declaring it un-Islamic.
It said it was unfair to stop women from casting their votes.
The resolution appealed to Muslim women across the world to stop their sons, brothers and husbands from joining any terrorist organisation.
Tanzim Ittihad-i-Ummat Conference chairman Ziaul Haq Naqshbandi read out the resolutions at the end of the conference. He said Islam did not allow killing a woman in the name of honour.
“It is un-Islamic to taunt a woman for giving birth to a baby girl,” he said. He said marrying a divorced woman should not be a matter of concern for men.
Zia said vani was an un-Islamic tradition and should be discouraged.
The participants called upon the government to make an effective policy against harassment of women at work places. They said a woman driving a vehicle was not an un-Islamic act.
The participants also favoured Operation Zarb-i-Azb. They said the country’s armed forces should be praised for rendering sacrificing in the fight against terrorists.
They condemned recent terrorist attacks in Saudi Arabia. They said, however, that Pakistan should not send its troops to Saudi Arabia.
Published in The Express Tribune, June 1st, 2015.
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