You can add high-ranking Islamic clerics and Pakistani feminist groups to Pakistan’s president Asif Zardari’s to his opposition. Not only did Zardari’s inappropriate comments towards Governor Palin during their meeting last week get him in hot water with the Pakistani feminists, he was also issued Fatwa (an Islamic edict) regarding the meeting. What is most peculiar about the Fatwa is that it was not issued until last Thursday, more than a week after the meeting took place. Most of the media including Time magazine thought the whole incidence would blow over, but the Fatwa has made the meeting even more controversial. While the feminists accused the president of sexism and impropriety, the Fatwa was issued because the president shamed the nation with his "indecent gestures, filthy remarks, and repeated praise of a non-Muslim lady wearing a short skirt" according to an article in The Guardian. While the incident is likely soon be forgotten because of the much more pressing issues in Pakistan like the failing economy and militancy on the rise. Zardari has got to be a little nervous though because many Fatwa’s have led to the assinations of Islamic rulers like the Egyptian president Anwar el-Sadat in October 1981. “Keep your friends close and your enemies closer” seems like fitting advice for Zardari.
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