Spectre Of Blasphemy: Don't Wear Anything with Arabic Inscriptions and Calligraphy!
By
Sumit Paul, New Age Islam
28 February
2024
Kabhi Poochha Tha Khuda Se, Bata Tera Mazhab
Kya Hai
Aaj Tak Uss Ka Koi Jawab Hi Nahin Aaya
Dr Navroze Kotwal
(I once asked god, what's your religion? / I've
not received any reply thus far)
Kabhi Quran, Kabhi Gita, Toh Kabhi Bible Mein
Dikhta Hai
Mazhabi Insaan Ko Khuda Sirf Kitabon Mein Nazar
Aata Hai
Unknown
(God is found in the Quran, Gita or Bible / A
zealot finds God only in the scriptures)
A woman in Pakistan
recently found herself at the centre of a dangerous situation due to a
misunderstanding surrounding her clothing. While wearing a dress with the
Arabic word "Halwa," which translates to "beautiful," she
was confronted by an angry mob in Lahore.
The crowd,
mistaking the Arabic calligraphy for verses from the Quran, accused the woman
of blasphemy, a serious offence in Pakistan. The situation quickly escalated,
with hundreds of people gathering outside a restaurant, yelling and some even
demanding her execution.
This is not
fanaticism. This is something else. This is stone-age primitivism. Arabic, a
language that's tailor-made for calligraphy (Khattati / Fun-e-Tahreer
/ Qalam-Kaari in Arabic) because of the cursive loops of Arabic
alphabet, is not limited to writing Quranic verses in an exquisite calligraphic
form. General Arabic can also be written cursively. In Arabic, non-religious
and non-scriptural words are also calligraphed. But these fools think that the Quranic
verses can only be calligraphed. See the level of ignorance. None from the
marauding mob could read a word of Arabic and they read the Quran, which's
written in Arabic! What do these yokels and bosthoons read?
The spectre
of blasphemy has already taken a heavy toll in Pakistan. Giving inordinate
importance to the Quran, Muhammad and Deen (faith) has blocked the
progress of Islam and birthed blockheads like the Muslims of Pakistan and
Talibanised Afghanistan. Hindus are at least a trifle better on this count. You
can still wear clothes with the names of deities inscribed on them. You won't
be lynched.
However,
they've also lynched many Muslims in the name of cow vigilantism, carrying beef
etc. A few years ago, I saw a man in Cork (Ireland) wearing a T-shirt with
Psalms (book of the Old Testament composed of sacred songs, or of sacred poems
meant to be sung) written on it. He wasn't lynched and booed by anyone.
I'm happy,
the young woman in Pakistan was saved in the nick of time by a couple of alert
cops. That such things are still happening in a 'civilized' world is all the
more shocking. Humans are still slaves to antediluvian religions and their
countless shibboleths. When will we come out of this morass to live and behave
like sane humans?
------
A regular columnist for New Age Islam, Sumit Paul
is a researcher in comparative religions, with special reference to Islam. He
has contributed articles to the world's premier publications in several
languages including Persian.
New Age Islam, Islam Online, Islamic Website, African Muslim News, Arab World News, South Asia News, Indian Muslim News, World Muslim News, Women in Islam, Islamic Feminism, Arab Women, Women In Arab, Islamophobia in
America, Muslim Women in West, Islam Women and
Feminism