The news stories of different national dailies clearly show that crime especially the sexual crimes are on the increase in our country. As reported by the daily Inqilab in its 18th June 1998 issue, the number of rape cases perpetrated throughout the country during the last April and May is 212 and the shocking fact is that out of these cases 93 cases were of gang-rape.
This alarming tendency of sexual crime prevailing in our society has definitely appalled us and made the people panic-stricken. The principal reasons for this frequency of rape cases as have been identified in different seminars held for the last few months on the issue are as follows:
These are the main causes as pointed out in different seminars held in the capital city for the last few months in 1998 on the contention. And the speakers of these seminars have opined that the solution to the problem of rape cases lies in giving proper attention to the above mentioned matters.
It sounds odd and absurd that few intellectuals have given their opinion that the eviction of brothels is the main cause of the spread of rape cases (Ref. The Holiday 22nd May 1998) and they have suggested that Govt. should restore the brothels. In fact, making such assessment of the issue by some intellectuals is really unfortunate.
Such assessment and suggestion of a section of people as well as some newspapers is completely untenable and is detrimental to ethical values of the nation. It is not only repugnant to the basic teachings of all religions but also irrational. Let us examine the situation of the USA where the occurrences of rape cases are approximately 2 lakhs in a year as is known from different reports though there is no dearth of prostitutes or brothels in that country. Whereas the number of rape cases in two months (April and May 1998) is 212 in our country, which means the total yearly occurrences are approximately 1500. Taking the matter of demography into account we can draw a conclusion that the rate of rape case is 80 to 100 times greater in the USA than it is in our country despite a limitless number of prostitutes there. It proves that there is no direct relation between the occurrence of rape and the eviction of brothels.
I am surprised how can a sensible man make such proposal to solve the problem of rape cases. If the establishment of brothels is the remedy for this social disease then it will require setting up brothels in large number of places in the country because sometimes in the villages also rape cases take place. If brothels are established in large numbers, the victims will be the defenseless poor women who will be abducted and be coerced to become prostitutes to satisfy the demand of that great number of brothels. So making such proposal seems unbecoming of any conscientious man.
To give sincere attention to the four points mentioned before is essentially the demand of the situation. The authority should seriously think about it if they want to check this increasing tendency of rape cases in real sense. In addition, the authority concerned should proceed with a long-term well-thought plan of a 'social engineering' so that everyone can get married and live with family easily and can satisfy his physical urge through family life. So the matter of social engineering should be taken seriously and be included in our national plan.
A professor of a university has written in a national daily that Shariah law does not help in checking sexual crime as it makes a provision of four witnesses to prove the occurrence of rape which is very difficult to fulfil. His accusation against Islam is that Islam does not play the proper role to stop rape. It is because of his inadequate knowledge of Islam that the professor has thought like that. The fact is that whereas the modern law terms only the intimate contact between two married man and woman as punishable crime, Islam defines any intimate contact outside marriage as sexual crime and makes provision of punishment for this. So his arraignment against Islam is not justified. I am sorry to say that the professor bears a wrong notion about the Islamic law of witness. As far as Islamic law is concerned, if four witnesses prove the crime then the imposition of 'Hadd' or death penalty will be applied on the accused. But if a less number of witnesses prove it, it does not mean that the guilty person will be exempted from punishment rather the punitive measures will be determined by 'Ta'jir'. 'Ta'jir' is the punishment which is not determined by the text of the holy Qur'an or Sunnah but by the court of an Islamic country or by the parliament in modern days on the basis of Shariah. The provision of Ta'jir has been prevalent in Islamic tradition since the time of the Prophet (SAWS). In Pakistan's Hudud law, punishment for rape not proved by four witnesses is 25 years of rigorous imprisonment. Ref. Offence of Zina (Enforcement of Hodood) Ordinance, 1979, Section 10.
In this regard it should be mentioned here that the idea that all the four witnesses must be from amongst the male is not unanimously agreed upon as far as the opinions of different Islamic scholars are concerned. To a number of scholars they may be females also. (Ref. 'Islami Samaje Nari' by Mawlana Jalaluddin Ansar; 'Islamic Teaching Course Vol. 3, by Dr Jamal Al-Badawi.). Imam Juhri, Imam Awzai, Ibn Hajm and some other scholars have given such opinion. According to Allama Jamal Badawi, not only women witness are admissible, there is no difference in the number of male and female witness in this respect (Islamic Teachings Course; Vol. 3). The reason of this difference of opinion among the scholars is the contention that whether the witnesses will be male or female is a matter of interpretation and not settled by the Qur'an or Hadeeth definitively. Thus it is firmly established that in Islam no one can escape the consequence of the crime of rape or adultery; he will face the punishment of Hadd or Ta'jir depending on the nature of the proof.
Islam is that noble ideology that negates and strictly prohibits any sexual contact outside marriage and it is against all sorts of sensual relation outside marriage and it is against any idea of living together. What Islam wants is to present a society free of all kinds of immorality and illegal sexual indulgence. The moral responsibility of the Muslims is to establish a sound and well disciplined society through various means including moral uplift.
by Shah Abdul
Hannan
Translated by: Md. Mahmudul Hasan