( CNN ) -- Walking into the Khatmul Nabeen Masjid ( mosque ) , you can for a moment forget that you 're in Afghanistan . Beautiful buildings , walkways , flowerbeds and even a grass soccer pitch . Mohammed Asif Mohseni is said to be behind the law . Young men and women , dressed in Muslim attire , walk around freely and with smiles . Smiles are a bit of a rarity in today 's Kabul , a polluted city of survival and despair , so this was both shocking and refreshing to me . We did n't have an appointment but we were hoping to interview Mohammed Asif Mohseni , a conservative Shia cleric . He is said to be the man behind the controversial Shia state law , a law critics say strips Afghan Shia women of many rights . While security was checking our bags , one guard said that Mohseni had been waiting for us . I tried explaining that we did not have an appointment . Nonetheless , we were sent back to where Mohseni was waiting . Before entering the room I was cautioned by a guard to make sure none of my hair was showing below my headscarf . They were apologetic ; one even asked me to zip up my sweater higher because too much of my neck was exposed . I complied , tucking in my hair and zipping my sweater as high as it could go . Now paranoid about the design holes in my scarf that exposed parts of my hair , I took off my shoes to enter . As we walked in , Mohseni , an older man with a white beard wearing a Shia-style turban called a `` dulband '' was sitting on a brown couch . He looked at the two men who brought us in and said , `` These are n't the two I was waiting for . '' I explained that we just showed up for an interview because we did not have a number to reach him . He smiled and said , `` I guess you are in luck . '' Mohseni welcomed us and asked me to translate his warm welcome to our Scottish cameraman . As the interview started , I noticed that Mohseni avoided my eyes . I wondered if it was because I was female . I was also prepared for verbal attacks ; a journalist friend told me that when he brought a western journalist to interview Mohseni a few days ago , the journalist ended up having more questions thrown at him than he was able to ask . But it did n't take long for Mohseni to warm up and explain why Shia state law is just and a part of Islam . Those who do n't agree do n't understand it , he said . `` The law ... which I created I see as correct for both men and women , '' he said . `` We have given rights to both men and women , even better than rights given to women in the West . We give women more in this law . '' I asked him about reports that if a woman does not comply in having sexual relations with her husband , then the husband can refuse to feed her . `` Yes , I said that , '' Mohseni said looking me in the eye . `` When a couple marries , sex is a part of marriage , and they agree to that . '' He went on to explain that a woman is n't obliged to have sexual relations every single night or if she is told by her doctor to refrain . But otherwise it is her obligation and something she signed up for when she got married . He calls it the wife 's duty . Mohseni added that a wife wearing makeup `` prevents a man from thinking about other women on the streets and he can just think of his wife . '' He continued : `` It is natural that women ( wear makeup ) . Do n't they in the West ? Their women wear it on the streets and in shops . Women should put make-up on for their husbands as it will increase the love and attraction between the two . '' The cleric also explained that a woman is not required to ask the permission of a man to leave the house if she has a job and needs to go to work . But they do need to get permission if they are leaving for other reasons . More importantly , he said , a couple needs to make clear the day they marry whether or not she will need permission to leave the home . If they disagree then they should not get married . `` Like , you are working for CNN , '' he said . `` If your boss tells you , you 'll be working for 8 hours a day , then you 're responsible for that . It 's the same here . They both have to agree on it . '' According to Mohseni , the West is imposing its beliefs on the Muslim world because they do n't understand . However , it 's not just people in the West who are opposed to this law . Many Afghans , men and women , have vehemently resisted it . They fear it will set women back after the progress that has been made in the last seven years . Sima Samar , head of Afghanistan 's Independent Human Rights Commission , has been working for a year now , trying to amend certain articles within the law . `` I feel discriminated . Clear-cut . I do n't feel equal in this country , '' she told us . Samar said the law does not represent Islam . It blatantly contradicts the constitution of Afghanistan , which states that men and women are equal . Critics have labeled the law as `` Talibanistic , '' but Samar says even many of the Taliban 's actions were not enshrined in law . She admitted that a law for Shias is necessary but that it should be what is stated in Sharia or Islamic Law . `` One of the very important pillars in Islam is justice , there is no justice in this law , '' she said . Samar also pointed out the absurdities in the law , such as the edict on makeup . `` If she does n't ( put on make-up ) , will the husband go complain to the police that she did n't put ( on ) the lipstick ? Or , ' I like red but she put on pink . ' '' However , Samar did n't blame the clerics alone for creating the new law ; she blamed various parts of the government for allowing it to pass . `` I think they -- all of them -- took the whole issue very superficially . And none of the state institutions , ministry of justice , parliament , senate and the office of the president , really did n't look at the law as serious as they should , '' she said .
Samar is said to be man behind Islam . Critics say the law strips Shia Afghan women of rights . Mohseni : `` Law ... which I created I see as correct for both men and women '' Afghan human rights campaigner says law does not represent Shia State Law .