Hudud Ordinances

For the divine laws relating to this topic as stipulated in Islam in general, see Hudud.
Flogging of a man who seduced a woman in Islamabad, Pakistan (late 1970s)
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The Hudud Ordinances are laws in Pakistan enacted in 1979 as part of the Islamization of Pakistan by Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq, the sixth president of Pakistan. It replaced parts of the British-era Pakistan Penal Code, adding new criminal offences of adultery and fornication, and new punishments of whipping, amputation, and stoning to death.[1][2] After much controversy and criticism parts of the law were extensively revised in 2006 by the Women's Protection Bill.

The Hudood Law was intended to implement Shari'a law or bring Pakistani law into "conformity with the injunctions of Islam", by enforcing punishments mentioned in the Quran and sunnah for zina (extramarital sex),[3] qazf (false accusation of zina), theft, and consumption of alcohol. The system provided for two kinds of offences — hadd and tazir — with different punishments to go with them. Hadd offences (fixed punishment) require a higher standard of proof than tazir (discretionary punishment) and their punishments are more severe.[4]

The zina provisions of the law were particularly controversial[5] and critics alleged that there were "hundreds of incidents where a woman subjected to rape, or even gang rape, was eventually accused of zina" and incarcerated. In 2006 the laws were updated, excusing such women who failed to prove the rape.[6][7]

  1. ^ Lau, "Twenty-Five Years of Hudood Ordinances", 2007: p.1296
  2. ^ Lau, "Twenty-Five Years of Hudood Ordinances", 2007: p.1292
  3. ^ The Offence of Zina (Enforcement Of Hudood) Ordinance, 1979 Archived 2005-05-29 at the Wayback Machine: English text of the law
  4. ^ "The Hudood Ordinances". Dawn.com. InpaperMagazine. May 7, 2011. Archived from the original on 2014-11-29. Retrieved 18 November 2014.
  5. ^ Cite error: The named reference ML252007: 1302 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  6. ^ "NATIONAL COMMISSION ON THE STATUS OF WOMEN'S REPORT ON HUDOOD ORDINANCES 1979". Archived from the original on 29 December 2007. Retrieved 5 May 2017.
  7. ^ Cite error: The named reference :0 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).