Pakistan ministry rejects age bar on Islamic conversion
Pakistan’s Ministry of Religious Affairs and Interfaith Harmony has rejected a bill that proposed regulations on conversions to Islam.
“Clauses related to the 18-year age bar on religion conversion, appearance before a judge, and a 90-day waiting period in the proposed bill are anti-Sharia, illegal and in violation of the fundamental constitutional rights,” Religious Affairs Minister Pir Noor ul Haq Qadri said in a Sept. 23 press statement.
“The draft Anti-Forced Conversion Bill has been returned to the federal Ministry for Human Rights. The proposed law in its present form clashes with Islamic Sharia. There is a fear that this bill can be used to stop embracing Islam. It will cause hatred among Muslim and non-Muslim communities. Islam rejects forced conversions and it is after all necessary to stop this. Such cases are very few in Pakistan but they cause notoriety.” read more
