Enforcement of historic law ignored by media

ISLAMABAD: On August 31, 2017 the government issued a gazette notification announcing the enactment and enforcement of a historic law recently unanimously passed by parliament but generally ignored by the media.

The legislation called “The Compulsory Teaching of theHoly Quran Act, 2017”, stands enforced in the federal government’s jurisdiction and thus partially fulfills the commitment made in the 1973 Constitution by its authors after a lapse of almost 44 years.

Under this Act, Muslim students of all the federal government educational institutions, private and public, shall be taught a) the Naazrah Quran in classes, grades, as the case may be, levels I to V in prescribed manner, and b) the translation of the Holy Quran in classes, grades or, as the case may be, levels VI to XII in such prescribed manner so that the entire Holy Quran is completed up to class, grade or, as the case may be, level XII.

According to the law, it shall apply to only Muslim students in all educational institutions in the Islamabad Capital Territory and in those institutions owned and controlled by the federal government wherever they may be.

Although, the media ignored this momentous legislation, there was not even a single vote either in the National Assembly or in the Senate opposing this enactment. It was passed unanimously initially by the National Assembly and later by the Senate.

The Article 31 of the 1973 Constitution, which deals with “Islamic way of life”, was pledged in 1973. It states: “(1) Steps shall be taken to enable the Muslims of Pakistan, individually and collectively, to order their lives in accordance with the fundamental principles and basic concepts of Islam and to provide facilities whereby they may be enabled to understand the meaning of life according to the Holy Quran and Sunnah.

“(2) The State shall endeavor as respects the Muslims of Pakistan,-

(a) To make the teaching of Holy Quran and Islamiat compulsory to encourage and facilitate the learning of Arabic language and to secure correct and exact printing and publishing of the Holty Quran;

(b) To promote unity and the observance of the Islamic moral standards; and…..” 

The latest enactment is a partial implementation of Article 31 of the Constitution because the compulsory teaching of Holy Quran through this law is enforced in the federal government’s jurisdiction only and does not cover the provinces and other regions.

Amongst the provinces, the PTI government in KPK had announced to implement the compulsory teaching of Holy Quran with translation.

None of the other provinces has yet taken any decision. However, in only one division of Punjab -- Bahawalpur -- this scheme has been introduced in all public and private schools.

The part (2)(b) of the Article 31 of the Constitution, which pledges to promote unity and observance of the Islamic moral standards, stands ignored as yet because there is no emphasis on part of the government for the promotion of “Islamic moral standards”.