COTABATO CITY – The regional government, through the Bangsamoro Darul Ifta (BDI) and Women Commission (BWC), is set to launch five (5) fatwa or Islamic rulings on gender-based violence (GBV).
On Thursday, March 3, BDI Executive Director Mufti Abu Hurairah Udasan, assisted by BWC Chairperson Bainon Karon, officially signed the religious rulings which focused on violence against women, wife desertion and abandonment, husband forcing sexual relations with his wife, rape, and human trafficking.
BWC will launch the fatwas during the Women’s Month celebration in the region this coming March 8.
According to Mufti Udasan, the fatwas were organized and thoroughly reviewed by several ulama or Muslim scholars from across the Bangsamoro region.
“Woman, in Islam, is highly respected and highly regarded,” said Udasan, further stressing that the rulings will be of big help to women to address their concerns on incidents of violence.
On the other hand, Karon emphasized that one of the most effective interventions to treating gender-based violence is through values transformation.
“(GBV) continues to happen precisely because perpetrators have surrendered their moral values and have allowed themselves to be influenced by evil,” said Karon, who is also a Member of Parliament.
“The khutbas (Islamic sermons) and the fatwa as religious guidance are important medicines in our prescription for treating the ill. To prevent GBV, we have to strike at the moral fiber of every man by spreading the words of the Holy Qur’an and making them realized the consequences of their act, both in their lifetime and in the hereafter,” she further said.
On December 12, 2021, BWC also launched the five (5) khutbas on GBV.
In her speech, Karon also thanked the University Research Company (URC) for their support in the development of the khutbas and fatwas.
Citing the project as a significant milestone of the regional government, URC representative Cecilia Lantican said that the university is dedicated to support the project for the next two years and more.
“We have committed in the project to provide assistance in the dissemination of values—values that will save the honor of our women, our mothers, and girls,” Lantican said.
The project was also supported by the United Nations Population Fund. (Myrna Tepadan/BIO)
