According to the Hudood Ordinance, if someone falsely accuses another, then the court does not automatically charge the one making a wrong accusation with Qazf (Offense of making a false accusation). In fact, the accused has to file a separate case against the one who has made a false accusation. Can this be Islamic?

Justice (retd.) Nasir Aslam Zahid
Former Chief Justice Sindh High Court

I would like to say that if the law is to be made in accordance with the verses of Surah Noor, then parts of the Qazf Ordinance should be included in the Zina Ordinance. If a person accuses someone and cannot bring four witnesses then he should immediately be punished with 80 lashes and his evidence should never be accepted in a court of law in the future. He should be called a transgressor.

Dr. Fazal Ahmed
Former Director
Sheikh Zayed Islamic Centre

I would like to highlight the fact that according to the Hudood Ordinance, when a woman is tried under a Zina case, and the accuser is unable to produce four witnesses, (and the woman is found not guilty) then, (according to the Ordinance) this woman is now responsible for filing a case of Qazf (false accusation) herself. In my opinion, the Zina case has, in fact, turned into a Qazf case as the accuser was unable to provide evidence and therefore, the court should be responsible to automatically make a case for Qazf and give a sentence on it.

Maulana Hasan Jan
Sheikh-ul-Hadith
Jaama-e-Imdad-ul-Uloom Islamia, Peshawar

Shariat disallows every Muslim from slandering anyone or falsely accusing them. Before doing so, one should know that he will have to produce four witnesses who are just, pure, reliable and honest. If you do not have four witnesses, then do not accuse anyone. Even if you bring three witnesses or the fourth person’s evidence is a bit weak, then you will be punished. But the Shariat does give a woman the right to forgive. At the same time, the victim also has the right to ask the judge to demand four witnesses from the accuser and if they are not presented in court, then to ask the judge to punish the accuser. In my point of view, his (false accuser’s) evidence will also not be accepted for the rest of his life. The victim can make these demands.

Dr. Muhammed Farooq Khan
Islamic Scholar

The law of Qazf in the Quran states that if someone wrongly accuses a woman, then the court should punish the accuser and the witnesses. In complete contradiction to this, Pakistan’s Hudood Ordinance says that if a woman is wrongly accused and this accusation cannot be proved in a court and if the evidence shows that it was a false accusation, then the accusers will not be automatically punished. In fact, the victim will have to, once again, register a case, make her claim, prove her claim, and only then will the accuser be punished. This goes totally against the principles of justice. Those people accused this woman in a courtroom, and the witnesses gave false evidence. Therefore, it is incumbent upon the court that without any further investigation, it should punish these people. This is the only way that the practice of slandering women is ever going to stop.

Hafiz Ibtesam Elahi Zaheer
Director
Idara-e- Tarjuman Sunnah

Qazf Ordinance says that until the woman files a claim herself, the culprit will not be punished. I think that there is a need for refinement here. As an Islamic principle, if you accuse a woman and cannot provide four witnesses then in the light of the Quran (though not under the Qazf Ordinance) you should be punished with 80 lashes. Therefore, the need for refinement and change is necessary here.

Ahmed Javed
Deputy Director, Iqbal Academy

The Ordinance says a very strange thing about those who falsely accuse – something that worries me and leaves me with a feeling of guilt. And that is, that the woman who has been wrongly accused, is kept in jail for two or four years, although later it is decided that the accusation against this woman was false and she is respectfully pardoned. When this happens, then the law that works under the Hudood Ordinance does not automatically come into motion against the person who has made the false accusation. Strangely, it is necessary for the victim to register another complaint against this person and initiate a new trial. In my opinion, this law should be activated automatically and when it is proved that the accusation was false then the accuser should be immediately punished.

Shah Turab ul Haq Qadri
President, Ahl-e-Sunnat al Jamaat

There is a false accusation against a woman and she is jailed for say, five or seven years. First of all, it is the problem with the process itself that she is imprisoned for five years. This is, in no way, correct. In Islam, the conditions of justice need to be met. There could be a rudimentary trial so that she does not have to undergo this procedure. In that, it should be decided within four to ten days whether she is innocent or not. Once her innocence is proved, and if you think that victims and poor women are being oppressed by this law, then ulemas and judges should take note of it. There is nothing wrong with the view that the judge should summon the false accuser to the court and give him the punishment of Hudd Qazf as opposed to the Hudood Ordinance where the perpetrator will not be called into court unless a case is filed against him. When the Shariat judges are assured that the woman is innocent, then the court should take note of this and summon the accuser. This particular clause in the Hudood Ordinance should be reconsidered so that the oppressor can be punished.

Dr. Mehmood Ghazi
President, International Islamic University

The laws of the Hudood Ordinance are silent on what the procedure of Qazf should be – should there be a separate case and if so, then at what level of the on-going case can this new case be filed. The Hudood Laws have explained the necessary requirements of Qazf. Now it is the work of those who lay down the procedure and as far as the Hudood Laws are concerned, this responsibility lies with the government. If the government does not deliver, then the high level courts should fill this vacuum by case laws or judgment laws. They should clarify the procedure through which an automatic case should be registered against the one who has falsely accused once it is proved that the witnesses of the case were dishonest, or that the accusation was baseless. These accusers should be punished. If even four people had been punished till now, then no person would have dared to file a wrong case.

Maulana Muhammed Yousuf Qureshi
Advisor, Federal Shariat Court, Pakistan

If a person files or registers an FIR against someone saying that such and such person had committed a crime, then an investigation follows, there is a trial, and if a judge gives a sentence saying that the accusation was totally false, then it is essential that the person who has filed a false case should be given the Qazf punishment. This is because one Muslim has, for no reason, put another Muslim’s life in trouble, getting him/her involved in a legal mess and soiled his/her reputation. Islamic Shariat has determined a punishment for such a person which is 80 lashes. So if there is anything in the Hudood Ordinance to the effect of prolonging this case, then it should be changed and amended.

Allama Syed Razi Jaffer Naqvi
Sarparast-e-Aala
Tanzeem ul Mukatib, Pakistan

Hudood Ordinance has made this very clear. If a person accuses someone else of Zina and cannot prove his accusation according to the principles of Shariat, then the mere fact that he was unable to prove his accusation will be reason enough for the accuser to be liable to punishment. This does not require a separate case. The fact that he cannot prove his accusation is evidence enough that the accusation he made was false. If the person who hears the case feels that the accuser has not been able to provide evidence to support his accusation, then this would be reason for this the accusation to be called false and the accuser to be guilty of Qazf. Therefore, he should be punished for Qazf.

Dr. Tufail Hashmi
Islamic Scholar

According to the Hudood Ordinance, if a woman is accused of Zina and the following investigation proves that this accusation was wrong, and was, in fact, a case of Qazf (false accusation), then when she is released after serving her time in prison, and if she wants the person who wrongly accused her to be punished, she will have to file a new case against him. Islamic law, however, says that if the person accused her in court, and could not bring four witnesses, then the court will automatically give a Hudd Qazf sentence to the accuser and punish him accordingly. This is why, the clause that states that a woman will have to file a separate case, is, in itself against the Quran, Sunnah and the traditions of the Companions of the Holy Prophet (P.B.U.H).

Abdul Sattar Salfi
Mudeer Jaama-e-Sattaria

In the case of Qazf, naturally, the punishment of Qazf is applied on a person who is unable to prove an accusation. If this does not happen in our court laws, then to bring them closer to Shariat, the court should automatically give the punishment of Qazf.

Mufti Usman Yar Khan
Mudeer Jaama-e- Darul Khair
Karachi

As far as the Hudood Ordinance is concerned, the clause regarding Hudd Qazf seems incomplete. A woman can be put in jail for 3, 4 or 5 years on the basis of a false accusation. When it is proved that the accusation against her was wrong, then she has to file another case. She does not have the strength to undergo this procedure again. So, I find this to be a weakness in the Hudood Ordinance. Actually the Hudd Qazf should apply on the person who has wronged and those who have given false witness. So, there will be a Hudd Qazf on lying and secondly, there must be a compensation for the time that the woman has spent in jail. I think this should be looked at again and this clause should be corrected.

Javed Ahmed Ghamdi
Director, Idara-al-Mawrid

Of the many flaws of the Hudood Ordinance, one is that once a woman has suffered a punishment based on a false accusation, she has to file another case against the accuser. This is totally wrong. When a person has falsely accused someone in a court of law, then it is the job of the court to lodge a Qazf case against the accuser. A woman should not be made to take the trouble to do so. And if someone thinks that it (filing a new Qazf case) is in the Quran or in the Sunnah, then that is totally wrong. There is no such thing in the Quran or the Sunnah or in the traditions of the Holy Prophet (P.B.U.H).

Abdul Qayyum Haqqani
Saparast Jaama-e-Abu Hurraira
Akora Khattak

In the Hudood Ordinance, when a woman is wrongly accused and that accusation is not proved, then, the woman is, without any requisition or appeal, acquitted. Now, the person who accused her should be punished. This is where the Ordinance should be amended so that the one who has made a false accusation be treated as a criminal and the woman who is now pardoned is not required to provide a certificate of her purity.

Justice (retd.) K.M.A Samdani
Former Law Secretary
Government of Pakistan (1978 - 80)

It is not correct that if a person accuses a woman and it is later proved that the accusation was false, then the woman will have to fight yet another case. When a court accepts the accusation to be false and pardons the woman, then whether it is the Appellate court or a trial court, they should hold a trial against the witnesses of the case. There could be one problem though. Maybe the woman was acquitted on the basis of a benefit of doubt. In such a case it is difficult to say whether the accusation was true or false, it has just not been proved. And every time an accusation cannot be proved, it doesn’t mean that the statements of witnesses were necessarily false.

Qari Roohallah
Chief Khateeb
Government of N.W.F.P

I do not know whether the Hudood Ordinance accommodates for this or not. But if it doesn’t then it is the responsibility of the government and the courts that when it is proved that a person has accused another purely out of bad will and with ill intention, they can take appropriate action. They can punish such a person and this is not limited to Hudood cases alone, it should be applicable to all laws in the country. If the court thinks that these laws are being used for the wrong reasons and false cases are being filed against people then the court should take an action against this. If this has not happened till now, then it should happen in the future.

Dr. Muhammed Yousuf Farooq
Dean Faculty Shariat Law
International Islamic University

The entire law of Qazf is to protect the honor of women. Keeping this as the real basis, a person accuses another and because of that accusation someone has to spend, say, 5 years in jail. That itself is the biggest mistake. This needs to be looked into and without any proof nobody should be punished for all this time. Anyway, it is important for us to give our courts more authority. If it is proved that the woman is innocent and respectable, and that she did not commit any crime then it means that the person who accused her was a liar. Our courts should have the authority to then proceed against the liar. I don’t think there is a need for a woman to register a new complaint and then restart the procedure from the beginning. In fact, the court should automatically take note of it and this would resolve many issues.

Prof. Khalid Zaheer
Social Sciences Dept. LUMS

In the Quran, the real purpose of the punishment of Qazf is that respectable persons’ reputation and honor should be protected. As a result of the Hudood Ordinance, if an innocent woman has been wrongly accused and she serves time in jail and is then found to be ‘not guilty’ by the court, then she bears the responsibility to file yet another case against the person who accused her. Actually, it is the responsibility of the system to protect honest and upright men and women and the system should itself make a case against those who have made wrong accusations.