Hudood laws need to be revisited: CII Chief
Staff Report

ISLAMABAD—The Chairman of the Council of Islamic Ideology, Dr. Khalid Masood has said that prior to tabling of the Women Protection Bill, President Musharraf sought the opinion of three Ulema only rather than the entire bench of the Council of Islamic Ideology (CII).
Dr. Khalid Masood said that President Musharraf consulted, him, Javed Ghazi and Rasheed. A. Jalandhari only in personal capacity, while according to constitution, the President and Provincial Governor have prerogatives to accept or reject any bill according to their wishes.
He refuted the Hudood Ordinance as a divine law, while The Holy Quran mentions the word Hudood, which pertains to law or mode (of promulgation) and said that all the Ulema including Taqi Usmani who are strongly against the Ordinance were equally involved in drafting the Hudood Ordinance.
While briefing the media about the Hudood Ordinance, he said that Ulema were only consulted about the parameters and were not entitled to recommendations, since authority of legislation solely lies with the Parliament, as opposed to earlier Qazis, who had the authority to interpret jurisprudence as well as implement it as opposed to the authority of judges who have to take care about prevalent laws.
He deplored the lesser literate Ulema of today as being the cause of wrong interpretation of true spirit of jurisprudence, and deplored the endeavor of politicization of the whole issue.
Replying to a question, he said that he had no intention of briefing about the women protection bill, rather the idea was about orientation of Hudood laws for media.
He said that Hudood Ordinance endeavors for punishment of liquor consumption, adultery, theft, etc, and Hudood, which ahs been used only four times in The Holy Quran, means that these have been derived from Quran. Whereas penal codes refer to punishments but are not mentioned or ordained by Quran.
Replying to another question, he said that it was imperative to understand the Hudood Ordinance thoroughly, and adhoc amendments would in no way solve the problems. He said that CII, has already submitted 73 reports to the government concerning 3000 recommendations about the issue, out of which only 9 recommendations!
... Chairman, Council of Islamic Ideology (CII), Dr. Khalid Masoud Thursday said there was nothing un-Islamic in the women protection bill passed in the National Assembly.
The suggestions of some members of the Council were included in it, he said in a press briefing here. The Chairman said a meeting of the Committee would be convened in this month to examine the bill passed by the lower house of the Parliament.
He expressed a need to create awareness for understanding the Hadood laws and said media could play a very important role for this purpose.
Khalid Masood informed that an international seminar was organized to review the Hadood laws by the Council. The Council prepared a report in this regard and sought the recommendations of the Ulema, lawyers, police officials and experts of various fields.
He explained in detail the Shariah, Fiqah, Islamic laws, Hadood, Tazeerat, Ijtehad and role of "Qazi" in the past. Several misunderstandings developed owing to a little knowledge of these terminologies, he added.
Responding to a question, he said the Constitution has given discretionary powers to the government whether it refers a law to the Council or pass it without consultation.
He said only the Parliament has a right of legislation and the Ulema Committee could not be considered over and above it. While throwing light on the constitutional obligations of the Council, he said it has so far prepared more than 73 reports and 3,000 recommendations.