On 21 July 2022 in a live radio show on Radio Pakistan’s FM 101, Dr Ziaullah Rahmani, ICRC Regional Advisor for Islamic Law and Jurisprudence, answered questions on humanitarian law, its compatibility with Islamic law and the activities of the ICRC in Pakistan. He discussed the basic principles of international humanitarian law (IHL) as they apply to the conduct of hostilities, such as distinction, precaution and proportionality, and highlighted that similar principles were practiced by the Prophet of Islam and his Companions, and therefore in Islamic law. Muslim jurists have inferred rules from those early practices over the past thirteen centuries, and continue to revisit them in the light of new developments.

Perhaps less well known is the fact that Muslim diplomats from many Islamic countries were also actively involved in the formulation and ratification of core IHL instruments such as the four Geneva Conventions of 1949 and their Additional Protocols, and Dr Zia also explained about the Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement, and its work in Pakistan and around the world.

Please listen to the recording of the interview in Urdu here: