Write your abstract here. Zina the most unforgivable sins categorized among gunah e kabira ,which God never mercy .zina can be further categorized into two categories adultery and fornication. How ever the Hudood
ordinance promulgated by a dictator Zia H in 1979.Hudood is the plural of hadd which means “limit” or “maximum punishment”. Zina Ordinance is also part of Hudood Ordinance and since then thousand of Pakistani
women have charged and incarcerated under Zina Ordinance which governs illicit sex both adultery and fornication in general. Although most of these women are released for lack of evidence, they spend month or in some cases years in
jail before trail .The jail are filled up with poor women , migrants from rural areas to urban centers .In 2004 eighty eight of two hundred and sixty four women were held under Hudood Ordinance .Almost all were of working class, factory and domestic workers and were there because their family members filed complaint against them, saying that they had committed Zina.Although Gen.Zia died in an Air crash in 1989 .The democratic government including Benazir Bhuto could not dare to touch the Hudood Ordinance. Women right Organizations, both national and international had run campaigns against this
law ever since its promulgations. Zina,Transnational ,Feminism and the
Moral Regulation of Pakistani women is a remarkable
research by Shahnaz Khan a Professor in the women studies. However ,she thinks if this Ordinance remains unchanged it threaten to reinforce stereotype of Muslims and third world people as uncivilized.Her research and the thesis is well organized and divided into six chapters. First chapter is the introduction of what is Hudood Ordinance and controversies and oppressive nature of this law. In chapter two, the Ordinance is examined in its social historical and political context. According to her that in Pakistan Islam has been used by various regimes to legitimize them selves .She says that setting boundary walls on women mobility through Zina Ordinance has been part of the nation building project. She added that Zina Ordinance and other so called Islamic laws are just to keep women vulnerable to exploitation. According to her this serves many purposes as to keep public attention diverted from the serious issues, it certainly creates cheap female labor force to produce goods at cheaper rates to compete western market and freedom of lower class women is sacrificed for the moral health of the nation.Chapter three and four are devoted to interviewing the women incarcerated in Kot Lakhpat Prison Lahore, Dar ul Aman Lahore and Karachi Central Jail. She narrates the horrible stories of some of these women and discloses variety of reasons for this exploitation including Zina Ordinance. She Identifies the circumstances under which she was given access to women in prison or state run Dar ul Amans The Women in Dar ul Aman being interviewed ,many of them found jail less oppressive than the abuse and mistreatement from their husbands and families which they had to face at home. According to Shahnaz "The victims range in age is from children to elderly women can spend up to five years in jail before they were released .Other cite poverty, family violence and police corruption for their plight. Impoverished and illiterate women who are unaware of the process of law and / or unable to mount legal defense are particularly affected. Moreover stories identify deeper issues such as corruption, poverty, drug abuse, alcohol abuse, male violence and point to the women’s commodification by more powerful member of their families.”
According to Shahnaz, the general lack of awareness about the ordinance, the stories of the women interviewed are a testimony to their endurance in the face of tremendous odds. They attempt to reconcile these tensions by maintaining their faith in Islam, still Women reject the interpretation of Islam that subject toabuse at their head of families and bring them into contact with a corrupt and inefficient criminal justice system. Khan thinks that her research work can’t be taken seriously by the authorities as she no long live in Pakistan and feels that her book cannot make an impact to bring about a change in the local attitudes or effect legislation or the surrounding circumstances in which it being implemented .On the contrary the effect of her book and other Pakistani researchers abroad ,when taken collectively contributed to create an effect which shook the government out of its coma.Khan emphasis on reading the Zina laws within a larger politicized context, her problematisation of the role of native informant and her argument to transcend binary thinking gives a cutting edge to this important work. When I first saw this , I thought that it’s a research book and it must be very boring, but without any reason I bought it .When I started reading I find this book very interesting and very informative. Khan’s innovative approach coupled with thorough information make the book a must read for NGOs and students of Muslim Law and gender studies.
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