00:00A women's rights group has warned that the proposed Mufti Bill 2024 could facilitate
00:07the creation of backdoor laws through a misuse of fatwas.
00:13Wahida Rafin from Sisters in Islam said this process could be used to indirectly criminalize
00:18certain acts, bypassing altogether the legislative process.
00:24She said a fatwa, once gazetted, cannot be questioned and may be prosecuted under Section
00:3012 of the Sharia Criminal Offences Act, 1997.
00:35Wahida said the Mufti Bill would criminalize the act of defying the fatwa and not the action
00:40itself.
00:43She said this process allows a law to be made outside of parliament and the state assemblies.
00:49SIS Communications Manager Amina Siddiqui said the administration of Islamic Law Act
00:551993 presently allows for Islamic law and practice to be interpreted according to any
01:01recognized mazhab.
01:04However, Section 3 of the Mufti Bill seeks to restrict the practice of Islam to only
01:09the four major Sunni schools – Hanafi, Maliki, Shafi'i and Hanbali.
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