Why Did Islamic Women Decide to Risk their Lives to Defy General Musharraf in his Stronghold?

Interview with Umm Hasan Principal of Jamia Hafsa, Islamabad, Pakistan

New Trend: Sis. Umm Hasan, I decided to interview you after I saw that the forces opposed to Islam are busy trying to discredit Jamia Hafsa on the Internet. It is obvious that your Islamic university is having a tremendous impact on the situation in Pakistan, located as you are in the capital of Pakistan. BBC interviewed you ....

Umm Hasan: BBC gave a totally distorted picture of our struggle. It said that we wanted to use violence and throw acid on the faces of women who do not wear Islamic covering. That would be totally unislamic and against Shari’a [Islamic Law]. BBC tried to defame us.

New Trend: I have also heard that your university [Jamia] is facing a threat of military action by General Musharraf which could happen at any time. Is that true?
Umm: Yes, Musharraf has prepared a strike force known as Triple One. It is heavily armed. We only have lathis [wooden staves] to defend ourselves, but we will defend ourselves. We have heard that a special gas has been prepared by Musharraf's forces which would put people to sleep.

NT: I don’t think that will be easy for Musharraf. I have read that Islamic volunteers from all over the country are coming to your defense and many have assembled in Lal Masjid which is in the same complex as Jamia Hafsa. But how did all this start? Why are the young women in your care coming out to fight?

UH: Women of Islam have been terrorized by General Musharraf for much too long. We won’t take it any longer. We are sick and tired of his anti-Islam policies and actions. To give you some idea, our university was attacked first by Musharraf in the year 2004 during the night of August 16-17. In the police rampage, our young women were terrorized and attacked by the SWAT teams of Musharraf.

NT: That is indeed shameful!
UH: Then in 2005, in the aftermath of the London bombing of 7/7, after 11 days, Tony Blair called on Musharraf to attack the Madrassas. Hardly had Blair spoken, then on the very next day, July 19, Musharraf’s Special Forces raided Jamia Hafsa. They were shelling us with tear gas and firing plastic bullets at the girls.

NT: You mean right there in Islamabad? What a dastardly act! The general is a bloody coward!
UH: In this attack, Musharraf’s forces injured 150 of our girls. One of them had to spend three months in a clinic. When Musharraf learned that a number of our students were in hospital and were being given oxygen, he ordered that the oxygen be turned off.

NT: What an accursed coward!
UH: The raids of 2004 and 2005 emboldened Musharraf so much, he decided to start demolishing mosques in Islamabad. Hamza masjid was actually demolished along with 8 others. We received notice that Jamia Hafsa, along with another 80 [eighty] mosques and religious schools and establishments, were to be demolished and that we should leave. This was the immediate cause of the uprising of our young women and the occupation of a small library as the symbol of our resistance.

NT: I have read that the occupation of the library and the young women’s open defiance of the regime had good results. The government announced that it would rebuild Masjid Hamza and stop the demolition process. Then why did your struggle continue? I have heard that the young women kidnapped a "madam" who was running a prostitution den.
UH: Let me explain!

NT: Isn’t that a violation of law and due process of law? [Benazir Bhutto's] Peoples Party is making a big noise, calling on Musharraf to crack down on Jamia Hafsa for this "violation of law."
UH: There is no "rule of law" in this country. No woman can appeal to the police for help. Any woman who falls into the hands of the police is liable to be raped or at least assaulted.

NT: What happened in the case of this "madam?" I read somewhere that her name is "Shamim Naqvi" [a Shi'ite].
UH: She is known as "Auntie Shamim." Our girls had been watching her activities for over a month. The neighbors are sick and tired of her procurement of women for men in the government and the crime and noise which goes along with it. She was very confident of her power. She told anyone who objected to the presence of thugs in her area and the activities related to procuring women that she has protection right from the top and that no one will dare to touch her and survive. She was openly working as a procuress. She was increasing her business with government support, even sending girls to other cities.

NT: Then what happened?
UH: Our Islamic girls went to talk to her and begged her to stop her activities, gave her the teachings of Allah and His messenger, pbuh. The Islamic girls reminded her of the Hereafter. Instead of relenting, at this advice she became very angry and took out a knife. She cut one of our Islamic girls. Then the young women picked her up and brought her over. She was kicking and screaming and used her mouth to bite two of the girls. She left tooth marks. She was not hurt and was brought without injury,

NT: All praise belongs to Allah! And then?
UH: She was told that Islamic women mean her no harm and only want to stop her shameful and sinful activities of procurement of women for government officials. At first she threatened and said that she has "long hands" and we will not survive. However, when she realized that the Islamic women were not going to let go easily, she repented and wrote a full confession of her misdeeds.

NT: Who were her clients?
UH: She did indeed have long hands. She gave us the list of her "customers." Among her clients or customers are Shaikh Rasheed and his nephew Rasheed Shafiq.

NT: You mean the Shaikh Rasheed who is the closest publicist of Musharraf? He is Railway Minister perhaps, isn't he? The one who keeps giving press statements about how great Musharraf is ? Are you sure?
UH: The very same. Top government women are also involved in this corruption.

NT: Such as?
UH: Nilofar Bakhtiar and Zubaidah Jalal.

NT: You might get into a lot of trouble. You are mentioning top people including Shaikh Rasheed by name. He is a powerful man, very close to Musharraf. Aren't you afraid?
UH: We have been taking names right from the time "Auntie Shamim" confessed. We want the people of Pakistan to know how corrupt and degraded this government is. Thus when Musharraf tries to get these people "elected," Pakistanis will know who is being "voted" into power. Musharraf is going for new "elections."

NT: You are challenging the power structure. Your girls have long sticks [lathis]; the government has machine guns and tanks. Why do you feel so strong? Who is on your side?
UH: Allah and His messenger, sal Allaho alaihi wassalam, and the believers.

NT: How many young Islamic women are holding on to the library?
UH: 150

NT: What's the total enrollment of Jamia Hafsa?
UH: We have a total of 6,000 female students. Of these, 3,000 are at the middle school and matric level. The rest are at the university level. In addition to regular courses, we teach Hifz Qur'an and at the senior level we teach Fiqh [Islamic Jurisprudence\ and Study of Hadith.

NT: How many of the students are on campus at this time?
UH: About 1,500.

NT: How many teachers?
UH: 175.

NT: Since when have you been the Principal?
UH: Since we began in 1991.

NT: Thank you for the interview. I'll come back to you with more questions. May Allah keep you safe and strong in Islam.