Maulana Fazlur Rehman, JUI-F chief. Photo: Archive
ISLAMABAD:
JUI-F chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman on Tuesday warned the government and its coalition partners, saying that he would not accept or obey any legislation that contradicts the Quran and Sunnah, even if such laws are passed by a parliamentary majority.
In a speech at a meeting in Islamabad, the JUI-F emir said that obedience to laws based on disobedience to the Creator was neither permissible nor binding.
“Our position is very clear,” he said, adding that imprisonment or even execution did not deter him. “Prison is something very minor, and hanging is too. If there is something beyond that, we are willing to accept it.”
Maulana said he was repeatedly told that politics was no longer the domain of “decent people” and questioned why, as a “respectable man”, he was still in politics.
Rejecting this notion, he argued that politics was, in fact, the management of national and collective life and an open field.
He said politics was the heritage and mission of the prophets, lamenting that it had been reduced to a race for power through fraud and manipulation. “Those who come to power through fraud are called great politicians.”
Recalling his party’s ideological roots, the JUI-F chief said academics from across the subcontinent, without sectarian discrimination, were part of the movement, and that his party had historically led struggles for both the caliphate and freedom. He emphasized that religious scholars were heirs of the prophets and that just as no one except the scholars could ascend to the pulpit of the Prophet, no one else deserved the position of politics.
Fazl, criticizing opportunism in politics, stated that in the current environment individuals abandon their parties if they do not receive electoral tickets. He added that while there were no idol worshipers or Jews in society, their negative habits had seeped into political culture.
Referring to the Quran, he said it also talks about workers who are sincere, while others feel satisfied when they are given benefits and resentful when they are denied them. He emphasized the need to recognize and confront this selfish mentality.
He noted that politicians often claim to have personal piety, such as offering prayers, but questioned the nature of the political systems and laws they were imposing on the country. “We have no objection to anyone’s prayers or fasting,” he said, adding that the problem lies with laws and governance, not individual worship.
The JUI-F emir said that laws contrary to the Quran and Sunnah were often passed by a majority vote, and that his refusal to accept such legislation was presented as a challenge to the law itself.
