Enforcement of Shari'ah Act, 1991

The Enforcement of Shari'ah Act, 1991 declares Islamic law (Shari'ah) the supreme law of Pakistan and directs the state to bring various areas of national life into conformity with it, while also including specific protections for non-Muslims and women. Section 3 states that the Shari'ah — defined in Section 2 as the Injunctions of Islam laid down in the Holy Quran and Sunnah — is the supreme law of the country, but the same section also protects Pakistan's existing political and parliamentary system from being challenged in any court, including the Supreme Court or the Federal Shariat Court, on the basis of this supremacy clause. Section 4 requires courts to interpret ambiguous statute law in line with Islamic principles and constitutional Islamic provisions where more than one interpretation is possible.

Several sections direct government action rather than creating directly enforceable rights: Section 7 requires the Federal Government to appoint a Commission within thirty days of the Act coming into force to examine and recommend Islamization of the education system; Section 8 similarly requires a Commission on Islamization of the economy, tasked among other things with overseeing the elimination of riba (interest) "in the shortest possible time" and reviewing fiscal, banking and insurance laws for consistency with Shari'ah. Section 9 directs the state to use mass media to promote Islamic values and forbids publishing material that derogates from the Shari'ah, including obscene material. Sections 10 to 17 direct the state to take legislative and administrative steps on a range of matters: protecting life, liberty and property (Section 10); eliminating bribery and corruption (Section 11); eradicating obscenity and vulgarity (Section 12); addressing broader social evils (Section 13); Islamizing the judicial system to reduce delays (Section 14, described as "Nizam-i-adl"); establishing a Bait-ul-Mal welfare fund for the poor, disabled, widows and orphans (Section 15); and protecting citizens against false accusations and defamation (Section 17).

Importantly, Section 20 explicitly states that nothing in the Act affects the constitutional rights of women, and Section 1(4) says the Act does not affect the personal laws, religious freedom, traditions or way of life of non-Muslims. Section 21 requires that all laws continue to be made only by Parliament (Majlis-e-Shoora) and the Provincial Assemblies, through the normal constitutional process, meaning this Act does not create an alternative Islamic law-making body with power to bypass Parliament. Sections 18 and 19 preserve existing international financial obligations and contracts (including with foreign lenders) as valid and binding until an alternative Islamic economic system is put in place.

This Act does not create specific offences or set out fines or prison terms in the extracted text — it functions mainly as a framework and policy-direction statute rather than one with detailed operative penalties, so it should not be read as itself criminalizing conduct beyond what it directs other laws or commissions to eventually address.