A good decision by Federal Shariat Court
Saturday, May 30, 2009
Second Editorial, Daily Times, Pakistan
Saturday, May 30, 2009
In contrast to the lashings and beheadings being meted out to innocent Pakistanis by the Taliban in the territories under their control, the Federal Shariat Court (FSC) on Thursday declared that the drinking of alcohol was a bail-able offence. The FSC has also changed the punishment meted out to drunks from whip-lashes to strokes by a stick of the date-palm tree. A petitioner had challenged the punishment for drinking, praying that flogging was an incorrect punishment. He had maintained that according to the Islamic law and the “fiqh”, a person accused of involvement in drinking could be given the right of bail.
This is a brilliant example of “ehsan” in Islamic jurisprudence, to look at the accused from a humane point of view, to take into account his social disabilities, his state of suffering in an unequal society, etc. When we look at the social matrix within which people drink we find both the poor and the rich taking alcohol. No one can deny the truth of how the law against drinking is enforced. The poor man drinking a low quality brew is caught; the rich man remains outside the reach of law. Another social aspect that no one can overlook is the use of far more lethal narcotics like heroin among the poor against which there is virtually no enforcement. There is no justice in keeping a poor man locked up for drinking while the rich man remains exempt and hundreds of heroin addicts called “jahaz” in Lahore remain sprawled on the streets of the inner city. Therefore the date-palm stick should be lightly applied. *
Source
Saturday, May 30, 2009
In contrast to the lashings and beheadings being meted out to innocent Pakistanis by the Taliban in the territories under their control, the Federal Shariat Court (FSC) on Thursday declared that the drinking of alcohol was a bail-able offence. The FSC has also changed the punishment meted out to drunks from whip-lashes to strokes by a stick of the date-palm tree. A petitioner had challenged the punishment for drinking, praying that flogging was an incorrect punishment. He had maintained that according to the Islamic law and the “fiqh”, a person accused of involvement in drinking could be given the right of bail.
This is a brilliant example of “ehsan” in Islamic jurisprudence, to look at the accused from a humane point of view, to take into account his social disabilities, his state of suffering in an unequal society, etc. When we look at the social matrix within which people drink we find both the poor and the rich taking alcohol. No one can deny the truth of how the law against drinking is enforced. The poor man drinking a low quality brew is caught; the rich man remains outside the reach of law. Another social aspect that no one can overlook is the use of far more lethal narcotics like heroin among the poor against which there is virtually no enforcement. There is no justice in keeping a poor man locked up for drinking while the rich man remains exempt and hundreds of heroin addicts called “jahaz” in Lahore remain sprawled on the streets of the inner city. Therefore the date-palm stick should be lightly applied. *
Source
Labels: Drinking, Federal Shariat Court, Judiciary
posted @ 11:14 AM,
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