History of the Hudood Ordinance:

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Shahrukh Khan

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The Hudood consists of 5 Ordinances namely
The Offence of Zina Ordinance
Prohibition Ordinance
The Offence Against Property Ordinance
Offence of Qazf Ordinance
Execution of Punishment of Whipping Ordinance

The Hudood Ordinances were promulgated by Gen Zia ul Haq in 1979 with an aim to bring the existing laws in conjunction with the teachings of the Quran and Sunnah. The Ordinance was a result of homework of some leading legal experts and religious scholars of the time. The main area of contention with the law is how the Quran and Sunnah have been interpreted. Since their inception, the Hudood Ordinance has come under fire not only from human rights activists but also from religious scholars who deem it to be skewed representation of the Islamic texts
    
With the passing of the 8th Amendment in the Constitution in 1985, the Hudood Ordinance are now protected by the Constitution and changes in the law can only be made with a two third majority in the Parliament
    
The case that highlighted national and international protest against the Zina Ordinance was the Safia Bibi case in 1983. Safia Bibi, a 13 year old blind girl alleged rape by her employer and his son but was charged for adultery under the Zina Ordinance whilst the rapists were acquitted. Upon national and international pressure the Federal Shariat Court called for the records of the case and released Safia Bibi from prison
    
In 1994 the Commission of Inquiry for Women was set up to review the laws and in 1997, under the chairperson Justice Nasir Aslam Zahid, the report recommended repeal of the Hudood Laws
    
Again in the year 2000 a permanent National Commission on the Status of Women was established to review all laws and policies affecting women. Under the chairperson Justice Majida Rizvi a 15 member special committee reviewed the Hudood Ordinances and recommended repeal of these laws
    
Posted 22 Jun 2006

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