Open Letter: Scrutiny of Election Candidates under Article 62, 63 is Perfectly Sensible

“In the name of Allah, the Compassionate, the Merciful”


Open Letter
To, Honorable Justice Fakhruddin G. Ibrahim
Election Commission of Pakistan Secretariat, Constitution Avenue, Islamabad 44000, Pakistan

Subject: Scrutiny of Election Candidates Under Article 62-63 is Perfectly Sensible

Respected Sir,

Asalamo Alykum. I must congratulate you on your performance of implementation of Article 62-63 of the Constitution. It was certainly a challenging task to take it up and the ECP would now need to hold out all of its guts to see it through. For it is bound to meet a fiery resistance by those who are very ignorant Muslims but thought they could become politicians and lead the Muslim nation into the 21st century.

I am not supporting the implementation of Article 62-63 because I am a religious bigot, but because I give religion its due place, that is, the basis of any political, social or religious infrastructure as was the Sunnah of the Holy Prophet Pbuh. And I would have supported Article 62-63 had I been a Christian, Jew, Hindu, or of any religion, for religion is the supreme guidance from God to man. People are welcome to choose their religion, but some religion they must choose and behave by it. Yes, I am strictly against secularism and atheism. It is the height of being insensible should any human being believe that there exists a world but no god and that a social creature was created but no guidance was given to it or was given guidance in the personal sphere of life but not in the public sphere.

The in statement circulating against Article 62-63 these days is that, ‘How can one judge a person’s Faith by a set of questions or memory-based questions?’ Perhaps they do not know that the first examination of Faith in the grave will also be a viva session conducted by the two Angels, Munkar and Nakeer. Will they ridicule them too? I would certainly not like to be in their grave then to face the consequences.

Questions about Salah, Zakah, Fasting, their constituents and practice are not personal. These practices are the pillars of Islam and the election nominees are presenting themselves for public offices. They are answerable to us about their practice of Islam. A Muslim who does not practice the five basic pillars of Islam is like a building with broken pillars. No sane person would like to stand by it.

Bureaucracy candidates sit the CSS exam without grunting or grumbling. Nobody objects to the questions of general knowledge, IQ questions and memory-based questions. Thereby, every Muslim must have some basic, compulsory knowledge of his/her religion. I am quite sure that the questions posed were as simple which any five-grader Muslim could have answered, but our godforsaken politicians have become so intoxicated with corruption, greed and lustful lives that their memory has failed them on the basics.

How can any Muslim not know how many compulsory prayers are there in a day? Or how many Rakas are there in each prayer? Or how many compulsory Fasts are there in a year? Or the percentage of Zakah? Or the recitation of Surah-Fateha, the small surahs at the end of the Holy Quran and Ayat Al-Kursi from memory?

In the time of the Holy Prophet Pbuh, even the hypocrite Muslims dared not skip Salah and other obligatory rituals because it was considered an out an out rebellion to Islam. Today, it would come as a total surprise to us if any politician is found to say five time daily prayers in the mosque.
Complimenting this basic knowledge and practice of Islam, the election candidate must have a clean financial record which would prove his honesty in public matters.

It is reported about Imam Bukhari that once he travelled a long distance to hear a Hadith narration. However, upon reaching the person’s house he witnessed something; he saw that the person was beckoning his horse to come towards him with a dish which was actually empty. Imam Bukhari thought to himself, ‘How can I trust a person who lies to his dependant animals?’ So he chose not to trust the Hadith narration of this person and returned home.

Further, it would be good if the election candidate has apt education and/or experience of political science, public affairs, international relations and any other required field. Perhaps there could be an aptitude test prior to acceptance of the nomination papers.

Every job position of the world has some prerequisites to it. Is the work of a politician non-existing or so worthless that no educational criteria or aptitude is required for it? Even in prehistoric times, aptitude was a prerequisite to any job position. Recall,

“The king said: ‘Bring him to me; I will take him for my special service.’ When Yousuf had a talk with the King, he said: ‘From now on, you have an honorable place with us, and you will enjoy our full confidence.’ Yousuf said: ‘Place me over all the resources of the land. Certainly I know how to manage; I have the necessary knowledge.’” [The Holy Quran, (12) Surah Yousuf, Verses 54-55]

Last but not the least, yes certain matters of a person’s life are personal. However, we must draw a line as to how much of it can be ignored and how much of it must be taken notice of. For example, do you think it is fair to allow such people to hold public offices who conduct hidden marriages and then later do away with the woman? People do not know whether that woman is dead or alive and the poor woman’s father is bewildered and hunting around for his daughter. I do not think so.

The nonsense of objecting to Article 62-63 is historical as when Prophet Musa AS and Prophet Haroon AS presented the message of Allah Almighty’s sovereignty to Pharoah and requested him to let go the enslaved Bani Israel with them, he accused them two of trying to become the new leaders of his land. [The Holy Quran, 7:110, 10:78] Today, application of Article 62-63 is being accused of selective filtering and pre-poll rigging or that somebody is trying to play God. Nobody is trying to play God, but it is the collective duty of Muslims to see that Allah Almighty’s Commandments are not being violated. While the religious scholars, being scholars have the academic right to pass moral judgments just like a doctor has the right to pronounce a human being sick.

In the Urdu literature, the situation can be put analogue to the proverb, Naach na janae, Aangan tera. It means, if there is some fault in someone’s capability, s/he will instead turn to accuse the circumstances.

Never mind and carry on, Sir. Article 62-63 of the constitution must be implemented in letter and spirit and must never be abolished. Allama Tahir-ul-Qadri may not have entered politics yet, but he certainly has the feather in his cap of changing the face of Pakistan’s politics for good starting from this year as many of us never even knew about this constitution clause. May Allah Almighty give the Election Commission of Pakistan and the Supreme Court of Pakistan the will, determination and power to implement Article 62, 63 of the Constitution squarely in these elections and always, and bless them for it, Ameen. Wsalam.

From,
[Name/Initials], [Location], [Date].

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To,
Honorable Justice Fakhruddin G. Ibrahim
Election Commission of Pakistan Secretariat,
Constitution Avenue,
Islamabad 44000, Pakistan

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