(RNS) Some right-wing Islamist leaders in Pakistan are denouncing a newly passed law criminalizing violence against women in Punjab province, saying it contradicts the Quran and will increase divorce rates.

“This law is in conflict with the Holy Quran, the life of [Muhammad], Constitution of Pakistan and values of our country,” Maulana Fazlur Rehman, chief of the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl party, told media Tuesday (March 1). “We are with all those who want to end violence against women but by this law the country is going from one extreme position to another.”

The Protection of Women Against Violence Bill passed unanimously Feb. 24 in Pakistan’s largest province after about nine months of opposition.

The legislation criminalizes domestic, emotional, psychological, verbal and economic abuse, as well as stalking and cybercrime.

Activists hailed the law, which establishes a toll-free help line, protection centers, residential shelters, financial relief, penalties for offenders and a system for registering complaints, as a historic step.

“The bill is aimed at upholding the principles of kindness, justice and equality enunciated by Islam,” said Fauzia Viqar, chairwoman of the Punjab Commission on the Status of Women, in a statement.

Rehman, an influential cleric who has previously made statements in support of the Pakistani Taliban, said the women’s right protection bill was a secular move in direct conflict with Sharia law, going as far as to call it a western conspiracy.

“The bill [demonstrates] the blind following of American and European cultures,” he said. “It goes against Sharia and the norms of our society . . . Today we are again being made a colony of the Americans and the British.”