How would you respond to radical Muslim clerics in northwest Pakistan -- now under Islamic law -- who are calling for expansion of Islamic law across the entire federal republic of Pakistan. Should any nation be governed by religious rules.
Throughout the week, I have been receiving calls from my Pakistani friends expressing their profound nervousness and fear. They are frightened for their country, for the spread of the Taliban in Pakistan, and how Taliban rule could contribute to the disintegration of the "Land of the Pure."
I too am frightened for Pakistan. Not because Shari'a is coming to town, but because of those who are bringing it. Let's look at the record of the Taliban: shattered sacred monuments, destroyed schools, paralyzed societal development, revenge killings, and the shocking oppression of women. These are absolute corruptions of our scripture and the Shari'a, which is defined by 6 major protections: life, family, wealth, intellect, property and dignity. This is the brand of Islam that gave rise to the Golden Age of Islam, the translation of Aristotle and Plato into Arabic (then, later into the European languages), the development of the first degree-granting university (University of Al Karaouine in Fez, Morocco), and the astrolabe, among others.
Yet contemporary realities in NW Pakistan betray this legacy. Three years ago, I recall reading the 1838 statement issued by the Anti-Slavery Convention of American Women, a number of whose participants went on to lead the women's suffrage movement in the United States. It read: "The time has come for woman to move in that sphere where Providence has assigned her, and no longer remain satisfied with the circumscribed limits with which corrupt custom and a perverse application of Scripture have encircled her [emphasis added]." This perfectly describes what extremists like the Taliban have done to Islam.
Women must enter this sphere of religious interpretation - in Pakistan or elsewhere - especially as we are the first to suffer from this oppression. On this blog, I have mentioned the Women's Islamic Initiative in Spirituality and Equality (WISE) and our "Jihad against Violence" project, to be launched this July in Kuala Lumpur, which will take a strong position against violent extremism in all its forms. We ask all of you to rally around us and with us. We do not need you to simply criticize Islam and Islamic law, but rather, to understand it and call out those who manipulate it. The Taliban's actions in NW Pakistan are such a case.
By Daisy Khan | April 24, 2009; 4:39 PM ETExecutive Director of American Society for Muslim Advancement
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