Jamia Hafsa

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Jamia Hafsa (A Movement Towards Islamic Revolution) is a madrassa in Islamabad, the capital of Pakistan. Known for its anti-government stance and fringe conservatism, the seminary was among the first to be raided by authorities following the 7 July 2005 London bombings. The seminary, and the adjoining Lal Mosque, is owned by two brothers and clerics, Abdul Aaziz and Abdul Rashid Ghazi.

[edit] Controversies

The foundation stone of Jamia Hafsa was laid down by Maulana Muhammad Abdullah Shaheed in 1992. Now there are about 6500 students in Jamia Hafsa.

The school attained international notoriety in February 2007 when the school's female students staged protests against the Musharraf government's planned demolition of the edifice, which was built illegally upon government property and had no right to be there.

On March 28, 2007, a local brothel was raided and shut down forcibly by female students from the madrassa; the owner of the brothel, her daughter and her daughter-in-law were abducted by the students and held hostage at the madrassa. Two police were also abducted after two female madrassa teachers were arrested in connection with the raid; the policemen were later released in return for the teachers. These women took the law into their own hands and did not go through the original channels of a peaceful understanding. They held sticks and weapons to hit anyone that came in their way without consulting the local authority to enter private property.

In April 2007 Maulana Abdul Aziz announced that a "Qazi court" comprised of 10 Jamia Hafsa "judges" will henceforth enforce sharia over the area under its control, and he threatened suicide attacks in the event of government intervention against his madrassa.^[1]