In Deffence of Islamic Laws

In Deffence of Islamic Laws

In 1964, Tanganyika parliament passed the "Islamic Law (Restatement) Act", which empowered the minister responsible for legal affairs to prepare and publish a statement of Islamic Law after consultation with learned persons in the Islamic schools of law According to the Standard Tanzania (13.7.67), "It is understood that Tanganyika is the first country to have undertaken the exercise of codifying the Islamic Law in a statutory form. These statements will greatly assist the courts who have to rely on text books"The Khoja Shia Ithna‐asheri Territorial Council of Tanzania took keen interest in this matter. Mr. Mohamed G. Dhirani. then President of the said Council, took me to the Attorney Generals Chambers, where I met the lawyer incharge of that project He was a Zanzibarian Muslim. He advised me to write in English the detailed Shi'a law on related matters, for use by his office. Thus I wrote "Islamic Laws, concerning marriage, dissolution of marriage, acknowledgement, will, inheritance and waqf', Mr. Fidahussein Abdallah Hameer, then Secretary of the said Council, arranged for secretarial help. The papers finally reached Mr. Bashir Rahim, then Senior Parliamentary Draftsman, who finalized four chapters of marriage as accepted by three principal schools of Islami Law ‐ Shafi'i, Hanafi and Shi'a). It was published, under authority of Mr. Rashidi Kawawa, then Second Vice‐President of Tanzania, who was also responsible for Legal Deptt. It appeared as the Subsidiary Legislation under the Restatement of Islamic Law Act (No. 56 of 1964), the Gazette Supplement No. 34 of 27 June, 1967. It was understood that remaining chapters relating to custody of children and divorce etc. would be published by end of the year, and then the laws would come into force.