Federal Shariat Court as a Vehicle of Progressive Trends in Islamic Scholarship in Pakistan
Al-Adwa January-June 2013
12 Pages Posted: 2 Feb 2014 Last revised: 11 Feb 2017
Date Written: June 30, 2013
Abstract
Generally when an image of Federal Shariat Court (hereafter referred to as FSC) as established under the Constitution of Pakistan, 1973, emerges in one’s mind he/she is disposed to assume as if it is an unnecessary intervention into the legislative process of the country. This image of the FSC is founded on the powers conferred on it by the Constitution. The FSC has been granted power to declare the laws enacted by the legislature as unislamic if they do not conform to the dictates of the Quran and Sunnah of the Prophet; hence liable to be amended by the legislature or replaced by the decision of the FSC. This image of the FSC is further deteriorated by dominant narratives about its role in academia. This paper contends that the over-emphasis on such portrayal of the FSC would be misplaced and likely to distort the other side of the picture. As a matter of fact, the FSC has pronounced a number of judgments which are progressive in nature and contributive to the reformist trends in Islamic scholarship. This paper intends to catalogue such judgments to assert that the FSC should not always be viewed as a retrogressive institution.
Keywords: Federal Shariat Court; Islamic Scholarship; Sharia Court; Pakistan; Judicial System; Quran and Sunnah; Judgments; Constitution; Progressive Trends
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