Muslim Countries Should Repeal Black Anti-Blasphemy Laws: Exaggeration In Exalting The Status Of Prophet Mohammad Leads To Extremist Beliefs And Violence
By
New Age Islam Staff Writer
4 July 2022
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It's time Pakistan and other countries that
have anti-blasphemy laws, rethink and repeal such black laws. Quran tells us in
a number of verses how the Prophet was insulted, humiliated and persecuted
almost every day for years in Makkah after he announced that God had appointed
him a messenger and his job was to bring God's messages to humanity. But
nowhere are we told that either the Prophet or his companions reacted violently
or we Muslims should punish those who insult his memory now. Some seemingly
concocted ahadith (alleged sayings of the Prophet or his companions) do talk
about blasphemy and its punishment. But
it is for God to punish blasphemers on the Day of Judgement. Muslims have
nowhere in Quran been assigned the task of giving punishment in this world on
account of blasphemy.
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Blasphemy
is one of the issues on which the opinion of Muslims is divided. One section of
the Muslims, largely the liberal Muslims who are educated in modern schools and
colleges have a moderate approach to blasphemy. They, like the film actor
Naseeruddin Shah, criticise and condemn blasphemy against the prophet but seek
legal recourse to it. They do not go to the extent of seeking the head of the
accused. Even some Islamic scholars and exegetes do not support death sentence
for the blasphemer.
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Also Read: Can Islamism Be Regarded as The Root Cause of
Extremism?
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But on the
other hand, a section of the Islamic scholars, mostly in Muslim majority
countries believe that a blasphemer does not deserve to live because an insult
to the prophet is unpardonable. Therefore, if the court of the country acquits
the accused, any Muslim can execute his death sentence to compensate the
non-commitment of the judges to the Shariah.
This is
what happens mainly in Pakistan where blasphemy accused are extrajudicially
executed after they are acquitted by the Shariah court.
The
Christian lady of Pakistan, Asia Bibi was compelled to leave her homeland
Pakistan to settle in Canada after the courts acquitted her of the blasphemy
charges. There are others who were not so lucky and were either shot dead or
lynched.
Recently, a
Sri Lankan man was lynched and then set on fire by some Muslims in Pakistan.
The Sri Lankan was a manager in a factory in Pakistan. He had objected to the
stickers and posters containing Quranic verses and hadiths and Islamic slogans
put up on the walls of the factory. His position was that religious stickers
should not be pasted on the walls of the factory. Therefore, one day he tore
off the stickers and posters from the walls. His motive was not to insult the
prophet or the Quran. He simply expressed his annoyance and disapproval. He did
not know that his act was an act of blasphemy in Pakistan. The angry workers
lynched him and then set his dead body on fire.
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But the
death punishment for blasphemy does not apply only to non-Muslims. Even Muslims
are declared blasphemer in Pakistan. In Pakistan, definition of blasphemy
includes Muslims who purportedly show insult to the prophet of Islam. Any
unintentional statement or word or act by a Muslim that can be interpreted as
blasphemy can lead one to jail or to death by an unruly mob. A few months ago a
mentally deranged Muslim man was killed by a mob of Muslims in Pakistan. An
interesting incident of the issue of blasphemy being turned into a joke
happened in a Pakistani police station. A Muslim man went to a police station
regarding some complaint. The SHO misbehaved with him and abused him. The man
lodged a complaint against the SHO alleging that he committed blasphemy against
the prophet because his name was MUSTAFA, which is one of the names the Prophet
is known by.
Another
incident of blasphemy involves an Ismaili Shia doctor and a Sunni Muslim
medical representative. The MR visited the Doctor's clinic and wanted to talk
to him. The doctor made him wait for long. Irritated, the MR entered the
doctor's chamber and put his visiting card on his table saying that he could
not wait any longer and so the doctor could call him whenever he got free.
Annoyed at the behaviour of the MR, the doctor threw his visiting card on the
floor. The MR picked up his visiting card and lodged a complaint with the
police under the blasphemy law. The reason was that his name on the visiting
card had the prefix Mohammad.
Last year,
the Punjab government in Pakistan passed a law that makes it mandatory to say Khatamun
Nabiyeen (the seal of prophets or the last prophet) before pronouncing the
name of the prophet in writing or in speech. So anyone can lodge a case of
blasphemy against anyone who forgets to add the prefix.
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In another
incident, workers of an Islamic organisation pasted a poster of a religious
programme Meelad-un-Nabi, (celebrated to commemorate the Prophet's life) on the
walls of the house of an Aalim (religious scholar) of the other sect (Maslak).
The Aalim tore off the poster because he took it as a mischief by the other
sect. The Islamic organisation filed a case against him under the blasphemy
laws of Pakistan. The Aalim and his son were sent to jail.
Similar
bizarre incidents of the misapplication of blasphemy laws are galore in
Pakistan. Renowned Islamic scholar of Pakistan Mufti Tarique Masood says that a
large number of muftis and Aalim are languishing in jails because of the
exaggerated emotionalism in the name of Tahaffuz-e-Namoos-e-Rasool
(Protection of the honour of the prophet). Those Aalim who spent their life
following the path of the prophet pbuh were declared Gustakh-E-Rasool (blasphemer
of the Prophet). A slip of tongue can lead to an insult and one may be bombed
or lynched. He says that this emotionalism should be discouraged.
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A new trend
of slitting the throat of the blasphemer has been started and this tradition
owes its origin to the method of execution adopted by the ISIS. During the
Syrian civil war, the ISIS slit the throat of its victims with cleavers, machetes
and knives. A slogan, 'Gustakh-e-Rasool ki ek hi saza, Sar tan se juda, sar tan
se juda'(There is only one punishment for the blasphemer of the Prophet, and
that is his head should be severed from his body') has become very popular in
Pakistan. (This slogan is being popularised in India as well.) Recently, a lady
teacher's neck was brutally slit with a knife by two lady teachers of the same
madrasa in Pakistan. The victim and the killers all were Muslims but the victim
only had different or liberal views on some religious issues. She was
considered a 'Gustakh' and was killed in cold blood.
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It's time
Pakistan and other countries that have anti-blasphemy laws, rethink and repeal
such black laws. Quran tells us in a number of verses how the Prophet was insulted,
humiliated and persecuted almost every day for years in Makkah after he
announced that God had appointed him a messenger and his job was to bring God's
messages to humanity. But nowhere are we told that either the Prophet or his
companions reacted violently or we Muslims should punish those who insult his
memory now. Some seemingly concocted Ahadith (alleged sayings of the Prophet or
his companions) do talk about blasphemy and its punishment. But it is for God to punish blasphemers on
the Day of Judgement. Muslims have nowhere in Quran been assigned the task of
giving punishment in this world on account of blasphemy.
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