Farhat Hashmi: Mentor to Pakistan’s Future Jihadist Mothers

Farhat Hashmi: Mentor to Pakistan’s Future Jihadist Mothers

Very few female Islamist preachers are as successful, popular and networked as Farhat Hashmi in Pakistan. Hashmi preaches an ideology not dissimilar from that of other contemporary Islamist preachers and ideologues in Pakistan; the vital difference is her approach and target audience. Hashmi’s audience is women and girls of influential urban upper middle- and upper-class families whom she proselytizes from the platform of her al-Huda Institute, which has well-attended Islamist schools in urban centers of Pakistan. [1] The Hashmi phenomenon is not something new in Pakistan, but it is unique because of the class of people she is targeting.

Born into a religious family in Punjab province’s Sarghoda district, Hashmi was raised in an Islamist environment as her father was a district leader of the Islamist political party Jamaat-e-Islami. [2] Hashmi attended the University of Punjab and received her master’s degree in Arabic. Later, she married Idress Zubair, who was also a member of Jamaat-e-Islami. While at university, both Hashimi and Zubair remained members of Jamaat’s student wing, Islami Jamiat Tulaba. She subsequently accompanied her husband to the UK, where she earned her doctorate in Shari’a law from the University of Glasgow (Express Tribune, August 21, 2010).

Hashmi founded al-Huda in 1994 after her return from the UK. All of its branches are located in urban centers, with its headquarters in an upper class area of Islamabad. Al Huda offers a wide range of courses for women of all age groups. Her dars (religious sessions) are mostly aimed at teenage girls and women in their 20s and 30s, but she has also started programs for younger girls, mostly about memorizing the Quran at schools established in different cities of Pakistan. For example, al-Huda offers a one-year diploma in Islamic education, a one-and-a-half year diploma in Islamic teachings for girls, a one year diploma in Quranic education and an advanced diploma on hadith (sayings attributed to Muhammad). [3]

In 2004, the Hashmi family immigrated to Canada. While keeping al-Huda Pakistan functional, Hashmi opened al-Huda centers in Canada to reach out to the South Asian population there. She was initially ignored by the Canadian government, but the situation changed when Hashmi called Osama bin Laden an Islamic warrior and a “soldier of Islam” (Express Tribune, August 21, 2010; Friday Times, September 16, 2011). Her work permit was first denied because of an error in her immigration application, and rejected again when her employer, the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA), was paying her an amount much higher than allowed for religious teachers invited to Canada. Finally, on September 30, 2005, Canadian Immigration Office issued a letter:

Hashmi then turned her focus back to Pakistan. The change after her Canadian sojourn was an emphasis on media appearances on Pakistani television channels, where she delivers sermons and answers questions on live TV.

Objectives and Practices

The raison d’etre for Hashmi, and al-Huda, is turning women from affluent families into “Islamic mothers” in order to raise “‘truly Muslim children.” [4] Like her parent organization Jamaat-e-Islami, Hashmi is influenced by the Salafist movement, and rejecting modernization and reverting back to Islamic traditions are fundamental principles of her al-Huda organization. Hashmi’s focus with the women at al-Huda is on changing their attitudes, which she terms reform, but is in fact very close to Salafist ways of thinking. For example, girls are first convinced to change their lifestyle by wearing an abaya, hijab, gloves and even sunglasses to cover their eyes.

Another important practice which Hashmi inculcates in her students is the rejection of such cultural practices as ceremonies at marriages (singing, dancing and other rituals), music and Western holidays like Valentine’s Day and Mother’s Day. The idea is that anything foreign may pollute the mind of a future Islamic mother, who should raise her children in a completely Islamic manner. Since many Indian cultural practices are still in fashion in Pakistan at weddings, funerals, functions and in everyday life, Hashmi calls for getting rid of these practices, which she terms “Hindu culture,” as the only way forward for Pakistani women and for purifying their households. [5] Unsurprisingly, Hashmi has been accused of promoting hatred against Christians, Hindus and Jews among Pakistani affluent women (Dawn, December 20, 2012).

Obedience to one’s husband is also taught as a fundamental practice that a wife must adopt. On her official website, Hashmi provides “Tips on how to be a successful wife.” The tips include being grateful to your husband; dressing nicely for him; being aware of his moods, feelings and needs; controlling your tongue and not challenging your husband’s authority; accepting his apologies graciously rather than holding grudges; and many other tips for appeasing the husbands in a subservient manner. [6]

Spreading the message of al-Huda is another important feature of Hashmi’s movement. The students are required to disseminate her ideology in their neighborhoods by organizing dars for local women with the methodology taught by Hashmi. To this end, special training sessions are organized for senior students.

Ideology

Hashmi’s followers call her a scholar of Islamic feminism, while critics dismiss her a just another Islamic fundamentalist. [7] Her Jamaat-e-Islami background also connects her to Islamist fundamentalism rather anything related to the emancipation of women. Hashmi herself says her mission “is to liberate and educate the Islamic women… listen to your husband—he’s your leader” (Macleans, July 17, 2006).

Hashmi terms herself as reformer whose goals are to impart authentic knowledge of the Quran and Islamic education. [8] By reform, Hashmi means to convince Muslim women to reject all kinds of biddahs (innovations), such as photography, festivals, birthdays and any other cultural practices unrelated to Islamic traditions and borrowed from other religions and cultures. Arabization of Pakistani households appears to be part and parcel of Hashmi’s movement, as most of her teachings are aimed at inculcating Arab customs, manners, speech and outlook.

When asked about her ideology, Hashmi said:

A former student of al-Huda described her experience:

Conclusion

Taken at face value, Hashmi’s movement appears harmless, but when analyzing terrorist incidents in Pakistan and the role of educated youth in these attacks, the situation looks murkier. Hashmi’s background in Jamaat-e-Islami, which has a history of links with Islamist terrorism, is too obvious to ignore. Hashmi’s curriculum is based on Islamist ideology concerning the role of subservient Muslim women in promoting jihad. The long-term objectives of Hashmi’s movement may come to fruition thanks to the presence of young, educated and affluent Pakistani youth raised by mothers trained by Hashmi and company.

Farhan Zahid writes on counter-terrorism, al-Qaeda, Pakistani al-Qaeda-linked groups, Islamist violent non-state actors in Pakistan, militant landscapes in Pakistan and the Afghan Taliban.

Notes

1. Discussions with former students of al-Huda.

2. Jamaat-e-Islami was founded by Abul Ala Maududi in 1942. The Islamist party was not very successful in elections but managed to send thousands of its followers to Afghanistan during Afghan War (1979-89). Jamaat has close relations with the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood, Tunisian Al-Nahda, Palestinian Hamas, and Islamic Conference of North America. Scores of Jamaat workers have been arrested in Pakistan and elsewhere for direct involvement in acts of terrorism. Khalid Shaykh Mohammad, the mastermind of September 11 attacks, was arrested at the residence of a local Jamaat-e-Islami leader in the Rawalpindi district of Punjab province in 2003.

3. Interview with former al-Huda student.

4. Discussions with former students of al-Huda.

5. Ibid.

6. These “tips” and many others can be found at https://www.farhathashmi.com.

7. Islamic feminism refers to women’s rights, gender equality and social justice within the fold of Islamic teachings.

8. John L. Esposito, The Future of Islam, (Oxford University Press 2010): 125.