1.
D.N Pritt, an eminent lawyer of United Kingdom, appeared in Pakistan in 1951 in the Rawalpindi Conspiracy case and later in 1954 in the constitutional case of Tamizuddin Khan. In part three of his autobiography at page 48 he mentions “I had an admirable junior, Syed Sharifuddin”.
In late 1980s, Syed Sharifuddin went to United Kingdom, had an interview with the Law Lords and was permitted to practice in British Courts. I asked him about that interview. His reply was that they at first objected to his bringing mullahs judges (as Justice A. Scalia of US Supreme Court calls them) on superior courts. To this, Sharifuddin replied that he had ensured that on the Bench the Anglo-Saxon law trained judges will always be in a majority, which reply satisfied them.
As a Supreme Court judge, I was appointed a member of the Shariat Bench. The case that came before us was about charging of interest in Islam. I suggested to the members of the Bench that as the matter was important, we should look into the practices in Muslim countries and others, and also the various sects for their views, reasoning and practices. I was summarily overruled by telling me that our neighboring country is enforcing its own fiqh so we should do the same. The door to every research was closed, and closed for ever, by Anglo Saxon law trained judges. I kept my interest in the subject alive all the time. In the newspapers I read that in the year 2020 that case is still pending.
2.
Imam Abu Hanifa in his lifetime (5th September 699 to 14th June 767)
Abu Hanifa is known for using reason in his legal rulings and even in his theology. In 763 Al Mansur, the Abbasid monarch, put him in jail for refusing to take up the appointment of the chief judge of the State. He was tortured there. He was never fed or cared for. In 767 he died in prison, cause still unknown.
Because of large attendance his funeral service was repeated six times. The tomb of Abu Hanifa and that of Abdul Qadir Gilani were destroyed by Shah Ismail of Safavi empire in 1508. In 1533 Ottomans conquered Baghdad and rebuilt the tomb of Abu Hanifa and other Sunni sites.
3.
Eye opener – all from news media: In our neighboring country an incident took place, a father in law raped his daughter in law. A fatwa was issued by the oldest orthodox school there that the marriage of the son stood annulled and one of the courses for the raped was to marry the rapist.What a reward for the misdeed!
4.
Eye opener -all from news media, also from the neighboring country. A very successful lawyer, say earning Rs. One hundred thousand a month, divorced his wife after 30 years of marriage. The divorced wife, in a state of destitution, moved the court for maintenance which was granted life time. Again came the fatwa that she was not entitled to anything beyond four months. The Prime Minister there was put under such pressure, a law had to be passed to negate the courts order.
5.
Talaq (divorce) obtained by force, deceit or coercion has been made valid.
6.
In Muslim countries elsewhere:Rapist and the victim’ . Economist weekly London 26th August 2017 page 41.
“On August 16 Lebanon abolished a law that let rapists dodge the punishment if they married their victims. Jordan did the same this month and closed a separate loophole that allowed lighter sentence for Honor killings. Tunisia scrapped its marry your rapist law in July. Similar laws are still on the books in half a dozen in other Arab countries, from Algeria to Kuwait. They often have wide support. A survey released in May 2017 by the UN and Promundo advocacy group, found that even relatively liberal Morocco 60% of men and 48% of women-believe a rape victim should marry her attacker but Morocco nonetheless did away with its own law in 2014, after the suicide of a teenager who was forced to such a marriage.
Experiences of a Lifetime 