PUC concerned at division of Afghan society into different categories ‘in the name of Shariah’

ISLAMABAD: Chairman Pakistan Ulema Council (PUC) Hafiz Muhammad Tahir Mahmood Ashrafi on Sunday expressed grave concern over reports suggesting that Afghan society was being divided into different social categories under the name of Shariah, warning that such practices are contrary to the teachings of Islam, the Holy Quran and the Sunnah of the Prophet Muhammad (Peace Be Upon Him).

The Pakistan Ulema Council said that any attempt to divide society into so-called “free” and “enslaved” classes in the name of Islam has no basis in Quranic injunctions or Prophetic traditions and is completely alien to Islamic teachings, said a press release here.

The Council stressed that such classifications resemble pre-Islamic and non-Islamic social systems in which people were divided on the basis of birth, ethnicity or social status. It said Islam, following the advent of the Prophet Muhammad (Peace Be Upon Him), categorically abolished all forms of slavery and social hierarchy permanently.

Referring to the situation in Afghanistan, the Pakistan Ulema Council urged the Afghan Taliban authorities — who describe themselves as an Islamic and Shariah-based government — to immediately clarify their position before the international community. The Council also cautioned against reviving custom associated with the era of ignorance (Jahiliyyah) under the banner of Islam.

“Islam put an end to all such practices of Jahiliyyah in which human beings were enslaved, women were deprived of their rights and societies were divided into rigid classes,” the statement said, recalling the Prophet’s historic declaration that no Arab holds superiority over a non-Arab, no white over black and no black over white, except on the basis of piety and righteousness.

The Council warned that the reported approach undermines Islamic principles of equality and justice and amounts to a violation of human dignity. Such practices, it said, cannot be termed Shariah-compliant and instead reflect a form of “modern-day ignorance”.

The Pakistan Ulema Council appealed to Afghan authorities to uphold the true spirit of Islam, rooted in equality, justice and respect for human dignity, and to ensure that no policy or directive contradicts the universal and timeless teachings of the Quran and Sunnah.

The joint statement was issued under the leadership of Chairman PUC Hafiz Muhammad Tahir Mahmood Ashrafi and was endorsed by senior religious scholars including Maulana Nauman Hashir, Maulana Muhammad Shafi Qasmi, Maulana Hafiz Maqbool Ahmed, Allama Tahir-ul-Hassan, Maulana Tahir Aqeel Awan, Maulana Aziz Akbar Qasmi, Maulana Muhammad Ashfaq Pittafi and others.