Help Educate Girls in Pakistan - Zarina Shamim Scholarship Program (ZSSP)

A recent report on state of education in Pakistan titled “25 Million Broken Promises” highlights that there are currently 25 million boys and girls between the ages of 5 and 16 who are not in school. Girls make up more than half of all out of school children.

Education is one of the most critical areas of empowerment for women. It is also an area that offers some of the clearest examples of discrimination women suffer. An educated woman has the skills, information and self-confidence that she needs to be a better parent, worker and citizen. Cost of education and poverty are two key reasons among many barriers to girls education.

While the State has failed to provide universal education facilities to all its citizens, private and charitable educational institutions are doing sterling work to fill the gap. One such great example is the Ala-ud-Din Academy Girls High School and the Zarina Shamim Scholarship Programme. I reproduce below an email from Zareen Niazi, Executive Director of the school highlighting the achievements so far and inviting everyone to join in and help.

Dear Family and Friends,

I am writing to request your support and active participation in our Zarina Shamim Scholarship Program (ZSSP) http://www.zsscholarships.org/ to help young women in Pakistan attain higher, as well as professional education. 

Since ZSSP’s inception in 2007, we have grown to successfully fund 81 scholarships for young women to attend college, university and even professional education.  This has been a wonderful journey for me personally, and I have seen first-hand the benefits that education can bring to young women with so much potential.   Yet, while we are making a small difference in our country, the number of young women who cannot afford higher education in Pakistan continues to increase.

 

I am pleased to inform you that our very first two scholarship holders from the first batch of ZSSP have completed their medical degrees.  First young woman is Umm e Rubab, who graduated fromKing Edward Medical College, Lahore and second is Hira Nasser who has graduated from Alama Iqbal Medical College, Lahore.  Both have now started their house jobs. 

Several other scholarship holders have now completed their B.Sc. (Honors) degrees and are working and helping their families financially. 

Currently, we are paying 81 (eighty one) girls for their college, university and professional education.  In addition, there are about 80 students of our school and 15 (fifteen) students of Computer Technology Center are being supported by ZSSP. 

I have seen first-hand that young women have much more meaningful lives once they are empowered financially, physically and emotionally. We believe that ZSSP has the great opportunity to empower many more women to achieve their potential in making a profound difference in their lives and communities.

The Matric result for the year 2014-15 is due at the end of July 2015.  Currently, we are interviewing girls who have been short-listed and recommended by our Scholarship Committee.  Final selection of winners will be made after the Matric result.  There is huge potential and we hope that the number of students, with college education scholarships, will further go up with your generous support. 

We are thankful for your continued support and hope that your contributions will keep flowing.  You can help by:

1. Sponsoring a school student by donating Rs.2500/- (U$ 25/-) per month.  This includes tuition fee, books and stationery expenses.

1. Sponsoring a school student by donating Rs.3000/- (U$ 30/-) per month.  This includes tuition fee, books, stationery and a bag.

1. Sponsoring a school student by donating Rs.3500/- (U$ 35/-) per month.  This includes tuition fee, books, stationery, bag and two uniforms.

1. Sponsoring a girl for college education by donating Rs.6000/- (U$ 60/-) per month or Rs 72,000/- (U$ 720/-) per year.  This includes tuition fee, books and stationery expenses.  

1. Contributing any amount to ZSSF for girls' school, college and / or university education.

1. Creating a scholarship in the name of someone whom you want to recognize and honor.  This will be one time payment as seed money.  The money to start such a scholarship is Rs. 500,000/- (U$ 5000/-)  

• Donating through our website via PayPal and Major Credit Cards.

• Making donations via cross checks - in the name of "ALDA - Zarina Shamim Scholarships Fund"

• Depositing your donations directly in the following accounts: 

• Mailing your donation checks to Ala-ud-Din Academy, 114 Danyal Street, Pakistani Bazaar, Baghbanpura, Lahore, Pakistan; Tel:  +92-42-36848061, +92-42-36841594

Payments can be made by:

Bank Al Habib Ltd., G.T. Road, Baghbanpura, Lahore, Pakistan

Account Name: ALDA - Zarina Shamim Scholarship Fund

Account #:  0047 0081 000355 01 4 

BOP, G.T Road, Baghbanpura, Lahore, Pakistan   

Account Name: Ala-ud-Din Academy - Scholarship Endowment Fund 

Account #: 4294126-0830047: 0060180008

Please visit our website for further information on ALDA and ZSSP; http://alauddinacademy.edu.pk/ & http://www.zsscholarships.org/  

To view photos of Scholarship Function - September 2014, please click the link below; http://www.zsscholarships.org/gallery.php

Please share this information with your friends, family, colleagues and supporters who may want to contribute to this cause.

I look forward to your help, time and financial support. It will make a huge difference!

Best regards,

Zareen Niazi

Executive Director

Ala-ud-Din Academy, Girls' High School

Cell; +92 333 4672177

This is a worthy cause so please join in and contribute as much as you can.

The Hijaab - a matter of choice or religious compulsion

In response to an article on this blog by Aisha Alvi "The Hijaab: 20 years on" a reader posted a comment attempting an intellectual discourse on whether the Hijaab is a matter of personal choice or religious compulsion on Muslim women - a view promoted by western media and traditional religious establishment across the Islamic world alike. I personally could not let their views hide among the comments section and have decided to post them here.

I would like to apologise in advance if any of my arguments below seem to challenge some of the convictions that have been so profoundly inculcated in the subconscience of a majority of the Muslims including almost all my family - my mother wore a burqa all her life. I’m no expert in Islamic law and my knowledge is only superficial. Generally I agree to the point that Aisha has raised, however, I’m not comfortable with one point that I would like to highlight here.

Historically, the term Islamic Law has not been as crystal clear as we might like to think it is. Generally Muslim scholars of later centuries have considered that there are 3 sources of Islamic Law, in the following order of precedence:

1. Qur’an
2. Sayings and traditions of the prophet (Hadith); and
3. Codification of Islamic Law as evolved from the works of jurisconsults (Fiqh)

Starting with the first source, the Qur’an is essentially a book of theology. Its main objective is to establish beyond any doubt the oneness of God; He alone is sustainer of this universe and from time to time He has sent his messengers to guide human beings of whom Muhammad (saw) is the last one. However, it has given some clear injunctions regarding personal law, e.g. marriage, divorce etc.

Without going into any further details, I will come to the issue of hijab. The Quran refers to the issue of hijab at three places: 33:53, 33:59 and 24:31. These are often referred to as ayat al hijab. The first of these is generally regarded as exclusively concerned with the household of the Prophet (saw):

“And whenever you ask them (i.e. his wives) for anything, ask them from behind a curtain (hijab) ...” (33:53)

In Medina, when the Prophet became a head of the state, it was deemed necessary to protect his household from direct and easy access by everyone. It is not regarded as a clear ruling to make hijab mandatory for Muslim women.

The second verse is:

“O Prophet! Tell your wives and your daughters as well as all believing women that they should draw over themselves some of their outer garments (min jalabibihinna); this will help to assure that they will be recognised and not be annoyed.” (33:59)

It is significant that this regulation does not require that the women should first wear a headscarf and then pull it down to cover her body. They should wear an article of clothing that should cover their bosoms. In olden times, this article of clothing would generally consist of a large head covering that could be used for this purpose.

The last of the ayat al hijab discusses the reason and is often cited as conclusive evidence:

“And tell the believing women to lower their gaze and guard their private parts and not to display their charms (zinatahunna) beyond what may (decently) be apparent thereof (illa ma zahara minha). So let them draw their head coverings (khumar) over their bosoms.” (24:31)

A casual reading would inform us that the focus is on covering the bosoms and hiding those parts which one may class as having physical charms. The Qur'an does not clearly define what these physical charms precisely consist of. It is very sensible regulation because it takes into account that from period to period and culture to culture what constitutes physical charms varies greatly. A teacher of mine in Pakistan used to say that if a red shawl is wrapped around a thorny bush, the college students will circumambulate it indefinitely. On the other hand a women's face and hair might not be as seductive in certain cultures.

A clear injunction is not available and the interpreters have never failed to play their favourite game. Saudi version favours imposing far more stringent measures than some other interpretations.

Sahih Bukhari describes in some detail the historic occasion of ayat al hijab (hadith 6315). A tradition related by Aisha (ra) in Sunan Abu Dawud is often cited by pro-hijab scholars but some others have not considered it sufficient enough evidence. Seeking to follow or emulate the wives of the Prophet (saw) is of course good practice but I have issues accepting it as an obligation. Some scholars think that the rationale of the clothing regulations can be served without covering the hair.

A vast amount of what is considered Islamic Law comes from Fiqh. Scholars when they did not find clear rules in either the Qur'an or the Hadith literature, set out to compile Fiqh using Usool Fiqh (jurisprudence). Now it is very important to consider that Usool Fiqh varied considerably and hence there are different schools of thought in Fiqh.

A few elements of Usool Fiqh were 'ilm al qayas (deductive reasoning), ijma' (consensus) and ijtihad (analogy). The scope and acceptability of these principles varied greatly, e.g. Hanafi School was relatively liberal. It allowed the scholar to use 'ilm al qayas but the Maliki and Shaf’i schools were very strict. They allowed ijtehad in a restrictive framework. So did Hanbali school. Shi'ia scholars believed in the concept of imamate and no consensus is acceptable unless it is endorsed by the imam. Some of the sayings of imam were given the weight equivalent to that of Hadith. Mind you imam is infallible interpreter of Islam in Shi'ism. Due to the differences in Usool fqh, the codification carried out by the different schools had considerable differences. The issue of hijab is not an exception.

The problem if that an ordinary Muslim faces a large body of Fiqh and considers it as infallible interpretation of Islam.

With this detailed background, I come straight to the issue that caused me discomfort - to say that hijab is indispensible for a Muslim woman is actually imposing the opinion of one group (albeit a large one) upon all Muslims. It would be more accurate to say that ‘according to the interpretation of a large number of Muslim scholars, hijab is an essential part of a Muslim women’s dress but many scholars have differed with this from the beginning’.

This approach does not consider Mu’tazila view point at all. There was only one human being whose understanding of the Qur’an was infallible. Unfortunately he died in 632 A.D. and now there is no way to decide which interpretation is correct or otherwise. There may be different shades of truth. Of course those interpretations that violate the clear injunctions of the Qur'an and Hadith are easier to make judgements on but unfortunately we face a situation where things are rather complicated.

Having said that if you believe that hijab is mandatory for Muslim women, you have the right to maintain that and should be allowed to wear one. For me, it is not an essential part of a Muslim woman's dress code but everyone should be free to choose what they want to wear. I do respect those women who wear hijab for the simple reason that they are going an extra step to remain compatible with Islam. I will fight for their right to wear hijab but would not be able to accept that this is mandatory.

Actually Islam does not conform to the zeitgeist. That’s fine Islam is not a fashion, it can wait, as stated by Dr Murad Hofmann. Why all this to Islam? Europe’s first encounter to Islam was one of enemy and that has not completely disappeared from the collective memory of Europeans. A few good readings on the topic are Albert Hourani’s Islam in European Thought; Professor Edward Said’s Orientalism; and Covering Islam. Even those publications that first appeared in the early part of the 20th century or before and highlighted favourably the Muslims’ literary contributions have been gradually replaced with those which look down upon Muslims as barbarians. Jack Goody’s The Theft of History is another good read.

It is ironical that women showing their body are only exercising the personal freedom that the great civilisation has conferred upon them but those who want to cover their hair violate the very value. Why does personal freedom is cherished in one case and frowned upon in the other?

A nation in a state of denial

In response to my artcile on "Battlefront Swat" Rashid Chaudhry, a reader from Karachi, sent me a copy of an article from Athar Hashmi, a Pakistani columnist commenting on the barbaric episode of flogging of 17 year old girl in Swat.

Mr. Hashmi is as shocked as any civilised person in the world would be at the atrocious treatment of this young girl while highlighting that the incidence is not only against all Islamic values but does not conform to local Swati traditions or practices as well. Athar's thoery is that this incidence happened three months ago - well before the signing of Swat accord with Taleban and implementation of Nizam-e-Adl ordinance and is an attempt to discredit the peace agreement and to single out and malign the Taleban movement. He points out other examples of mal treatment of women in Paksitan, some of them involving sitting ministers in the current democratic government - see my earlier article on Plight of women in Muslim countries.

Though I respect and agree with some of the views expressed in the article to the extent that problem of defning a very localised form of Sharia as Islamic and the rampant mal-treatment of women right across the uneducated social setup of Pakistan is not simply because of Taleban phenomenon. I do, however, refuse to accept that this is also simply because of international conspiracies against a nuclear Pakistan. I refuse to accept that the American drones and agents of Indian RAW give anyone on the Taleban side the right to begin killing spree against Shia Muslims across the country using the suicide bombers. I do not subscribe to the notion that since the incidence happened three months ago it somehow reduces its significance. Treatment of this young girl is unacceptable whether it happened three month ago or last week. Whether the perpetrators were local Taleban or imported ones (of whom we have many). They did no justice to Islam or people of Swat and should be brought before the established law of the land of Pakistan.

We are a nation in a state of denial. Though we have always been our best critics and can surgically disect the problems we face - but we have also developed a tendency to blame it all on someone from outside. The concept of "Bae-runi Haath" (literally meaning external hands) in everything bad that goes on in Pakistan needs to go for us to get out of this abyss of terrorism.
In the spirit of openness I am reproducing it below for those who can read Urdu:

Battlefront Swat

"For God's sake, stop it ... hang on, hang on," the 17 year old girl cries as the beast continue to flog her. Another voice can be heard giving orders as the girl squirms and whimpers under the blows: "Hold her feet tightly, hold her hands tightly." Most of the world has seen these grainy mobile phone images from Swat and shocked at the brutality. So have these been seen by those in Pakistan who can do something about it and will or might not do anything about it.

I will not go into the details of this incidence as much has been written on conflicting stories that are emerging describing the reasons for public humiliation of this young women - none of them justify her ordeal. She was being punished under the so called sharia law - "what is being presented as sharia [by Taleban and their feudal supporters] is in reality a system that protects the unquestioned power of those who have monopoly over violence and resources in the society."

Dr. Ayesha Siddiqa an eminent Pakistani research scholar recently wrote "The application of Sharia is extremely complex as it entails a stringent mechanism for evidence. For instance, a witness has to meet certain conditions. The witness has to be one: (a) who has never been punished for any crime, (b) has always said all his prayers in time, (c) never urinated standing up, (d) never eaten from a market place, (e) never committed any major sin, (f) never committed any minor sin, and (g) never failed to carry out obligations prescribed by Quran and Sunnah. These conditions are so stringent that according to Pakistan's former Chief Justice Sajjad Ali Shah even he would not qualify to be a witness." Syed Sajjad Ali Shah, ex Chief Justice of Pakistan once said that under Sharia Law even he wouldn't qualify to be a witness in such a case.

Islamic history records that Mulsim armies invaded the Indian Subcontinent in 711 AD when similar cries of help from widows of Muslim traders reached the Islamic Caliphate. Will there be a similar response to cry for help from this desparate girl - difference this time is that perpetrators of crime against women are self appointed representatives of Islam themselves. Who will play the role of Hijaj Bin Yusuf! Who are those who can do something:

Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP), Iftikhar Chaudhry - among those who can do something he is the only one who have moved and done so immediately. "In his suo-moto notice, the CJP said the matter was a serious violation of fundamental rights, guaranteed under the Constitution. The CJP observed that the exact place/venue of the incident and the circumstances under which the punishment by whipping was administered was not known, it certainly constituted a serious violation of law and fundamental rights of the citizens of the country." The victim and the perpetrators of this punishment have been asked to be brought before the apex court. With a crumbling administrative insfrastructure in Swat how these instructions from the CJP will becarried out is a question that will be answered over the coming days.

Government of Pakistan - President Zardari and Prime Minister Gilani - are hard core feudal landlords themselves and representatives of the ruling feudal class. They have, in reality, given up the writ of the government to the local Taleban leadership through the promulgation of Nizam-e-Adl Regulation on February 16 2009. By virtue of their feudal heritage it is in their interest to defend feudal traditions and practices of subjugating their people by denying them access to justice.

Government infrastructure appears to be in a state of denial as evident from the satement of the most incompetent Minister of Interior we have ever had. His statement "we are investigating the matter. But sometimes anti-state elements make fake or artificial footage or images to bring disrepute to Pakistan" is a typical of example of the governments state of mind.

Political opposition - is in disarray and in a state of denial like the government and ruling class. I am particularly disappointed by the worldly wise politicians like Imran Khan, a reformed playboy and a leadership hope for right wing intellectuals who try to link everything wrong in Pakistan with the American drone attacks in North West of Pakistan. Rather than take moral stands at what's wrong with Teleban way of life they always try to blame it all on the Americans. I never expected a strong personality like Imran Khan to bury his head in the sand and hope that if the Americans stopped the drone attacks perhaps the Taleban beast will change its colours.

Face of political hypocrisy in Pakistan Leader of Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam Maulana Fazlur Rehman who without any shame has sat on the fence at key junctures in our chequered political history and swung whichever way money can be made by political wheeling dealing, has said the protest against flogging of a girl in Swat is legitimate but the people should also recognize the brutalities of drone attacks in which several innocent people including women and children have been brutally killed. How do you justify two totally unrelated brutalities against each other.

People of Pakistan - there in lies the problem. People of Pakistan are sitting on the fence. A vast majority do not want the Taleban style of governance - the way relegious parties were booted out of government from North West Frontier Province in the last elections is clear indicator. Majority also do not want to openly speak out against the Taleban way of life - some out of fear that somehow speaking out against Taleban is equivalent to speaking out against Sharia or Islam, some out of fear for their lives because Taleban way of dealing with dissent is capital punishment. Battle lines for Pakistan are being drawn in the North of Pakistan.

Plight of woman in Muslim countries - Is Islam responsible?

I am angry at the atrocious conduct of the Afghan president Hamid Karzai and his government that led me to write my last post about violation of fundamental human rights for woman in Afghanistan - legalising some a ancient traditions and practices and making already suffering woman legally subservient to male dominance. I ended my last post on a note that what happens in many predominantly Muslim countries has got nothing do with Islam but is a continuation of ancient barbaric pre-Islamic traditions and practices that were carried on after Islam came to these regions later. These were later adopted by local uneducated religious hierarchy to promote their own interests.Unlike common media promoted western perceptions Islamic laws make no demand that women should confine themselves to just household duties and hide behind walls and veils. “In a truly Islamic society women have the following rights:

• The right and duty to obtain education;
• The right to have their own independent property;
• The right to work to earn money if they need it or want it;
• Equality of reward for equal deeds;
• The right to participate fully in public life and have their voices heard by those in power;
• The right to provisions from the husband for all her needs and more;
• The right to negotiate marriage terms of her choice;
• The right to obtain divorce from her husband, even on the grounds that she simply can't stand him;
• The right to keep all her own money (she is not responsible to maintain any relations);
• The right to get sexual satisfaction from her husband.
• and more... “ Source

In fact the early Muslim women were out and about in all walks of life. I have always used the example of Khadija-tul-Kubra, the first wife of the Prophet and mother of all his surviving children, was a known and respected businesswoman who recruited him as an employee, and proposed marriage to him through a third party. In Islamic times women traded in the marketplace, took part in battles not just carrying water and nursing the wounded, but some even fought and killed the enemies to protect themselves and the Prophet.

Although the conduct of president Karzai of Afghanistan forced me to write on this but in my own homeland Pakistan, that gave the world the first democratically elected woman Prime Minister in an Islamic country, woman still face all sorts of problems including obstacles in employment, low wages, sexual harassment, draconian laws (wrapped under the sacred packages of Sharia), glass ceiling for those who wish to take part in mainstream politics, social differences, unpaid domestic labour, honour killings, etc. None of these problems is sanctioned in Islam - but since these happen in a muslim society these are considered as acceptable by Islam.

In the Indian subcontinent and Afghanistan women perform some of the heaviest and most labour intensive work, much of their effort remains invisible as it occurs either within the household or in the unregulated informal sector. A large number of women are subjected to different forms of domestic violence in their lives including physical violence, sexual, psychological and emotional abuse. Honour killings, female infanticide, sexual violence includes marital rape, custodial rape, gang rape, incest, and harassment through language, gesture and trafficking and forced prostitution. None of these are in anyway condoned by Islam, and are as illegal as these would be in any modern civilised society.

In feudal systems of these countries women are also sometimes used for revenge against enemies – one well know example is that of Mukhtaran Mai, a rural woman of poor economic background, who was gang-raped in 2002 for a supposed transgression by her family member. She refused to give in to the ‘shame' of her position and fought an embarrassing, for the government, court case against her rapists.

These discriminative practices have been a part of culture in these countries from prehistoric times but have unfortunately carried on till today. Respective governments, especially under military dictator General Zia-ul-Haq, tried to formalise these as laws of the land in Pakistan under the umbrella of Sharia laws. Religious bigots introduced Hadood law and Zina ordinance in Pakistan under which cases of rape have often been converted into sexual relations outside marriage which are considered offences under the ordinance. In a society where there is an extreme reluctance to report rape because of social stigmas, women are further threatened by the laws themselves.

Despite the struggle by civil society in Pakistan these ancient and barbaric practices continue in vast areas of the country and are still unchallenged. Its pains me all the more when these heinous acts are promoted to be Islamic equally by those who commit these and those who watch and do nothing.

"It is legal to rape your wife" - Women's emancipation Afghan style

A shocking development in Afghanistan that should not go un-noticed and without a response from the civilised world is the recent approval of a law by the Afghan government that makes it legal to rape your wife. According to daily Telegraph "The law, which has not been publicly released, is believed to state women can only seek work, education or doctor's appointments with their husband's permission... Only fathers and grandfathers are granted custody of children under the law, according to the United Nations Development Fund for Women." I wonder whether the plight of women was easier under the Taliban or is it under Mr. Karzai. Is this the free and democratic Afghanistan for which American and British lives and resources are committed to.

Passing of this law is a desparate attempt by Afghan president Karzai to appease the hard core fundamentalists in the country ahead of the forthcoming presidential elections. He has also successfully managed to go a step ahead in political opportunisim from president Zardari of Pakistan who last year slapped the women's rights movement in Pakistan in the face by appointing to senior political positions Senator Israrullah Zehri, who made headlines when he publicly supported in the parliament the barbaric custom of honour killing as being "part of our custom" and declared that he would defend it, and Mir Hazar Khan Bijarani who headed a jirga that gave away five girls, aged between two and five, as compensation to the family of a murdered man.

I must remind readers that these traditions and practices do not have any link to Sharia and Islamic laws but are deep rooted ancient barbaric practices which some political leaders, who despite having spent lives overseas in western democracies, are finding hard to let go.