The Supreme Court (SC) on Tuesday pronounced that no judiciary or jirgas can alter the Islamic Law of Inheritance regarding the distribution of property as the matter has been decided about 1,400 years ago, and there is no room for further alterations.
The statement surfaced during a hearing of a plea filed against a decision of the Peshawar High Court (PHC) regarding the distribution of the property among the heirs of the deceased named Habibullah.
As per the details, the heirs of the deceased, belonging to Swat had called for equal distribution of their property after a jirga allowed them to distribute property among the heirs.
Justice Qazi Faez Isa and Justice Yahya Afridi heard the case over a property dispute in Swat.
On the matter, Justice Isa stated that the law given by Islam for inheritance is final and no one, including courts, could alter that. He said the decision of jirga can not be “greater than the divine religion”.
Justice Isa went on to say that “A seven-year-old child cannot be hanged in a murder case,” while adding that such documents made a mockery of the law.
On the contrary, the petitioner requested the court to consider the “ground realities” on regional basis.
Justice Isa stated such “ground realities” have been used to impose martial laws in Pakistan, and for coercing judges into signing documents. “But, still we are asked to consider ‘ground realities’.”
The SC judge went on to reveal that in Saudi Arabian courts, cases pertaining to property are settled with in one month, whereas in Pakistan, such cases take decades. “Islam has decided the inheritance laws 1,450 years ago,” he added.
As for the verdict, the court has directed to distribute the property of late Habibulla in accordance with the shariah law.
