Like every other reform proposed in the Women’s Protection Bill currently under heated debate in Pakistan, the National Assembly committee member’s proposal for criminalizing marital rape is up against the dictates of the Qur’an, ahadith, and Sunnah, and those who follow them as the immutable word of Allah, and his prophet, whom they believe to be uswa hasana and al-insan al-kamil — the “perfect example”, and the “best of men.”
The proposed reforms, from the Daily Times: “Sex without wife’s consent rape: Kashmala”
ISLAMABAD: Kashmala Tariq, a member of the NA Select Committee on Women’s Protection Bill, proposed that a husband having sex with his wife without her consent should be tried under rape charges. Kashmala said at a Select Committee meeting that men should not have sex with their wives against their will. She said that married women should not be treated like “buffaloes”. Kashmala told Daily Times that committee members Mehnaz Rafi, Zahid Hamid and Wasim Sajjad had endorsed her viewpoint.
And the rebuttal, also from the Daily Times: “No, it is unIslamic to stop husbands: Aamir”
ISLAMABAD: Dr Aamir Liaqat Hussain, minister of state for religious affairs, opposed Kashmala’s proposal that men having sex with their wives be tried under rape charges, saying that it was “un-Islamic to stop husbands from having sex with their wives even if they were doing so without their consent”, sources told Daily Times. Aamir quoted Surah Nisah to defend his contention.
Sura 4, “an-Nisah” (“Women”), deals with rules for marriage and inheritance, and contains the verse:
Men are in charge of women, because Allah hath made the one of them to excel the other, and because they spend of their property (for the support of women). So good women are the obedient, guarding in secret that which Allah hath guarded. As for those from whom ye fear rebellion, admonish them and banish them to beds apart, and scourge them. Then if they obey you, seek not a way against them. Lo! Allah is ever High, Exalted, Great. (4:34)
And confirming the incredibly long odds faced by those who would change the minimum age at which girls can be married (as reported in this story), the article concludes by noting:
Noorul Haq Qadri and Sher Afgan Niazi defended girls” marriages at an early age. Niazi referred to marriage of Prophet (PBUH) to Hazrat Ayesha (RA), the sources added.