The mason and the mechanic

Will: I was invited to take part in a shura this week. One of our masons had been hit around the head with an iron bar by a local mechanic. Shura is taken from an Arabic word meaning ‘consultation’ and describes a traditional Islamic approach towards socio-political organisation. An elderly alim (religious scholar) sat next to a younger Mullah at the head of the room. The mullah’s name was Qari Abdul Ahad. He is a well known local mullah and also happens to be the brother of the mason. I took my place beside the alim having greeted the other fifteen reesh safed (white beards) who sat cross-legged around the room. Our senior engineer Hedayatullah Ahmedzai conducted the meeting from his knees in the middle of the room. The wounded mason sat meekly in the corner by the door, sporting a large dressing on the side of his head. Next to him sat the mechanic’s father, looking perplexed, as the elders set about deciding his son’s fate.

 

The mullah spoke with restrained anger, appealing both to the Qur’an and the alim beside him as he sought justice for his family. It was difficult to see what his eyes were doing behind his gold rimmed aviator sunglasses but his words came in a torrent of Qur’anic recitation. His anger boiled and his demands on the community grew increasingly unrealistic. He was allowed to continue in this fashion for a good fifteen minutes until interrupted by an elder sitting to his left. Pleas for restraint came from the floor and the mullah retreated once again to the Qur’an for a just penalty. Nobody, it seemed to me, really knew what the Qur’an had to say in this particular case. It was enough apparently, simply to refer to its inherent authority as if it was the word made flesh with us in the room. At this point, the mechanic was brought in. He greeted the mullah kissing him on both cheeks before shaking hands with the rest of the elders. He took his place between the wounded mason and his father.

 

The engineer took the mullah by the hand and dragged him outside. The room collapsed into a frenzy of argument and counter-argument as the remaining elders offered their opinions. I heard a sheep offered as a sufficient penalty, then two, but the discussion soon settled on an appropriate sum of blood money to be paid in compensation to the mason’s family. The engineer and mullah returned to be told that 15,000 Afghanis should be paid as blood money. The mullah stroked his long black beard.  He was indignant and pressed for more with the engineer in support. They settled on 30,000 Afghanis ($600) despite pleas for leniency from most of the elders. The engineer wasted no time in scribbling down the agreement. The mason and mechanic were thrust forward and were made to sign the agreement. The engineer grabbed the mechanic’s hand and forcefully pressed his thumb into the inkpad and then on to the paper document. The money was produced and thrown into the centre of the room. The engineer took the mechanic and beat him around the head and body in a show of rage, turning as he did so to let us see the mischievous smile which had crept across his face. Afterwards, he privately encouraged the mullah to return half of the money to the mechanic’s family. The shame of receiving such a heavy fine in public would be enough to deter others from repeating the same offence. Too harsh a penalty would kindle resentment.

 

There are a number of important lessons in all this. State intervention was seen as ineffective and unnecessary. The community’s instinctive response was to overlook the local police, as an instrument of state, in favour of the traditional shura. Justice was administered according to a consensus amongst the community’s elders, which emphasises their authority within the community and denies any opportunity for private revenge. The consensual element in this procedure works because of the non-confrontational way in which the shura is conducted. The mechanic and mason were sat side by side as their elders discussed their fate. The decrepit alim who sat in the corner was unable to say much, but his mere presence, as the most senior member of the community, commanded everyone’s respect. The mullah was allowed to vent his anger and the community were able to participate in deciding the final penalty. Consequently, they have a responsibility to make sure that the penalty is enforced. The mechanic was humiliated in front of all the elders by being beaten and thrown out of the room. However, this was done in such a way that he remained part of the community due to the engineer’s quasi-comical beating.

 

The contrast with our own legal system is striking. It is likely that the mechanic would have been arrested, charged with aggravated assault, perhaps awarded an ASBO, bailed, and released back into the community. This whole process removes him from the community and identifies him as a criminal. It deprives the mason and his family the opportunity to express their anger and to participate in the administering of justice. Ultimately, it weakens the community. The mechanic is not held accountable to anyone in the community, allowing him to continue whacking people around the head. The community is powerless to impose their authority. The mason remains a victim and is unlikely to benefit from any penalty imposed on the mechanic by the government. Whilst consensual and consultative governance is preferable to authoritarian decree, it is only possible in the Afghan context because of the authoritarian influence of the community’s elders.