According to The Encyclopedia of Islam, a fatwa is an "opinion on a point of law, the term "law" applying, in Islam, to all civil or religious matters. ... Fatwas may be given to private individuals, to magistrates in the exercise of their profession, and to any other authorities." (1991, 866).

The Encyclopaedia of the Orient adds that

It is vital that a fatwa is not based upon the mufti's or lawyer's own will and ideas, he must render it in accordance with fixed precedent. Today, fatwas have limited importance in most Muslim societies, and are normally used only in cases of marriage, inheritance and divorce. The importance of a fatwa depends on its acceptance among most people, and if people don't care about it, it is in reality powerless (n.d).

In 1998 media sources reported several instances in which fatwas were "issued" but never explained whether the fatwas were published or publicly broadcast:

Following the much-reported 6 April 1998 killing of Samia Sarwar (that was ordered by her parents because she was seeking a divorce) in the Lahore office of her lawyer, Hina Jilani, local ulama accused Jilani and her sister Asma Jahangir, both well-known human rights lawyers, of "misguiding women", declared them to be "kafirs" (non-believers), and issued a fatwa, calling on "believers" to kill them (AI USA 15 Apr. 1999). According to the Karachi-based English language monthly journal The Herald, on 8 April 1998 Maulana Amanullah, the provincial amir of the Muslim fundamentalist party, the Jamiat-e-Ulema-e-Islam (JUI), issued a fatwa against Jahangir, and organized a demonstration against her for the following day (May 1999, 45). The Herald reported that the following day, local and regional press "carried advertisements urging attendance at the demonstration that evening along with prominently placed news items announcing the 'decision' to offer headmoney" (ibid., 45-46).

On 14 May 1998, in Karachi, Maulana Akhtar Mohammadi, a "leading Pakistani Islamic scholar" and the senior deputy chief of the Jamaat Ahle Hadith Pakistan (JAHP), issued a fatwa stating that, following India's nuclear testing, a nuclear test by Pakistan had become an Islamic duty (fard) under Islamic law (India Post 22 May 1998). The fatwa was reportedly "endorsed" by other Muslim scholars including the "leading scholar" Maulana Asad Thanvi (ibid.).

In June 1998, The Herald reported that Carol Shakeel, a 14-year old female student from Sukkur, was accused of blasphemy and then forced to convert to Islam after 225 maulvis had issued a fatwa ordering her death (69).

Following the announcement of the Shariat bill (CA-15), Soofi Muhammad, leader of the Malakand-based militant Tanzeem-e-Nivaz-Shariate-e-Mohammadi (TNSM) "declared before a rally of about 10,000 followers in Peshawar that 'those opposing Shariah were wajib-ul-qatl (deserving of death).' The audience appeared convinced that the Soofi's men were quite capable of implementing his 'fatwa'" (The Herald Sept. 1998, 27).

In September 1998 when Nawaz Sharif was trying to gauge public reaction to the possible signing of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) that would ban nuclear testing within the following year (Rediff on the Net 16 Sept. 1998), a petitioner wrote to Maulana Sami-ul-Haq, an "influential senator in Pakistan's upper house of Parliament" (ibid.) and leader of Dar-ul-Ulum Haqqania University (The Herald Sept. 1998, 26). The university has been described as "one of the most influential Deobandi madrassahs in the country" (The Herald Sept. 1998, 26) and the "alma mater of many of the Afghan religious-turned-guerrilla fighters [the Taliban] now ruling in neighbouring Afghanistan" (Rediff on the Net 16 Sept. 1998). The petitioner reportedly asked whether the Sharif government had the right to sign the CTBT, arguing that if it did so, the government would be "selling out to the Jewish, Christian and Hindu powers and dealing a fatal blow to the forces of jihad" (The Herald Sept. 1998, 26). In response to this query, the university ostensibly issued a fatwa against Sharif's government saying it would be a "suicidal step" to sign it, and allegedly threatened to wage jihad against Sharif's government if it did so (Rediff on the Net 16 Sept. 1998; ibid. 24 Sept. 1999). A week later Rediff on the Net reported that Pakistan had signed the CTBT, reminding readers that that an Islamic leader in Pakistan had "delivered" a fatwa against the government if it were to do so (ibid.).

Please consult PAK32443.E of 20 August 1999 for information on whether local imams issue fatwas that call on believers to kill someone and promise the killer a place in heaven.

This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the Research Directorate within time constraints. This Response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim to refugee status or asylum. Please find below the list of additional sources consulted in researching this Information Request.

References

Amnesty International USA (AI USA). 15 April 1999. "Government Indifference as Lawyers Defending Women's Rights are Threatened With Death." http://amnestyusa.org/new/1999 [Accessed 19 Aug. 1999]

The Encyclopaedia of Islam. 1991. Vol. 11. New Edition. Edited by B. Lewis et al. Leiden: E.J. Brill.

Encyclopaedia of the Orient. n.d. Tore Kjeilen, "Fatwa." http://i-cias.com/cgi-bin/eo-direct-frame.pl?http://i-cias.com/e.o/fatwa.htm [Accessed 20 Aug. 1999]

The Herald [Karachi]. May 1999. Vol. 30, No. 5. Syed Ali Dayan Hasan. "The Murder of Reason?"

_____. September 1998. Vol. 29, No. 9. Zaigham Khan. "Playing With Fire."

_____. June 1998. Vol. 29, No. 6. "Sitting Targets: Recent Victims of the Blasphemy Laws... ."

India Post. 22 May 1998. "Pak Scholar Issues 'Fatwa' For Nuclear Test." http://www.indiapost.com [Accessed 19 Aug. 1999]

Rediff on the Net. 24 September 1998. "Pak Agrees to Sign CTBT." http://www.rediff.com [Accessed 19 Aug. 1999]

_____. 16 September 1998. "Taliban's Alma Mater Threatens Jehad Against Sharief." http://www.rediff.com [Accessed 19 Aug. 1999]

Additional Sources Consulted

Amnesty International. June 1997.

Pakistan: Time to Take Human Rights Seriously.

_____. March 1997.

Pakistan: Women's Human Rights Remain a Dead Letter.

Amnesty International Report. Yearly. 1998, 1999.

Comparative Studies of South Asia, Africa and the Middle East [Duke University]. Bi-annually. 1995-1998.

The Herald [Karachi]. Monthly. January 1998-July 1999.

Human Rights Solidarity: The Newsletter of the Asian Human Rights Commission [Hong Kong]. Monthly. January 1998-April 1999.

Human Rights Watch World Report. Yearly. December 1997, December 1998.
Immigration and Nationality Directorate, Home Office, London. November 1998. Version 2.

Pakistan Country Assessment.

Jane's Intelligence Review [Surrey]. Monthly. January 1998-January 1999, August 1999.
Jilani, Hina. 1998.

Human Rights and Democratic Development in Pakistan.

Journal of South Asian and Middle Eastern Studies (JSAMA) [Villanova]. Quarterly. Winter 1998-winter 1999.
Reporters Sans Frontières. 1998. Fr

eedom of the Press Throughout the World.

Research Directorate. January 1999.

Human Rights Information Package: Pakistan. Supplement.

_____. July 1998.

Human Rights Information Package: Pakistan.

Resource Centre. "Pakistan" country file. January 1998-present.
UNHCR. May 1998.

Background paper on Refugees and Asylum Seekers From Pakistan.

WIN News [Lexington, Mass.]. Quarterly. Winter 1998-winter 1999.

Women Living Under Muslim Laws (WLUML). Various dates. 1994-present.

Electronic sources: Internet, NEXIS.

The Research Directorate was unable to obtain a copy from Amnesty International of the 1998 communiqué reportedly written by Justice (Retd.) Mohd (Mohammad) Akram, President of the Jammu and Kashmir Human Rights Movement (JKHRM) to Amnesty International.

This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the Research Directorate within time constraints. This Response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim to refugee status or asylum. Please find below the source contacted in researching this Information Request.

Source Contacted

Amnesty International, London.