Monday, July 24, 2006

a deobandi with a difference

Also from The American Muslim site is the article A Deobandi With A Difference: Waris Mazhari on the Imrana Affair by Yoginder Sikand.

This is an old story, but the piece is a good example of how one can interpret the Shairah in ways which take social realities into account while remaining orthodox and faithful to tradition. If you aren't familiar with Imrana's case, it has to do with a Muslim woman who was raped by her father-in-law. Subsequently the religious authorities, based on Hanafi legal principles, made the contraversial declaration that her marriage to her husband was dissolved (and thus she could no longer live with him). But Waris Mazhari, a Hanafi scholar, argues that the situation constitutes an unbearable hardship on Imrana and justifies following one of the other three sunni schools (where the marriage would not have been dissolved).

I found the piece especially interesting because I've recently been trying to get a better understanding of the Hanafi madhab (including the Deobandis, Barelwis, and certain Turkish movements as well)

See also:
HU: Imrana and the Shariah Controversy
Hardnews: a matter of opinion

No comments: