The real blasphemers

It is indeed true that the punishment for those committing blasphemy have been mentioned in the Qur’an, but it is, at the same time, also true that it is the authority of Prophet Muhammad (SAW) to interpret what that is in the Qu’ran. The Hadith of Prophet of (SAW) clearly state how and what should be done with the blasphemous, which is, in all clear terms ‘death’.Recommend

Great article. More insight from Dr Khalid Zaheer in this interview:
http://bit.ly/gedxe9Recommend

i agree with the writer’s views and add further that blasphemy or TOHEEN is a subjective subject which varies according to the personal interpretation of religion.

For example ,for a muslim like me all the non believers or non Muslims are committing blasphemy by not accepting the true religion but should I announce that all those people are liable to capital punishment.

What Quarn has directed us is to spread message of Islam in an attractive way by using he best available technology.

Imagine if every religion keeps a wall of blasphemy around it, how can it be spread.Recommend

Very enlightening article, and a testimony to the fact that saner voices haven’t been silenced thru the so-called nationwide protests. The Blasphemy law needs to be amended, and brought in accordance with the teachings of the Quran. Love for the Prophet (P.B.U.H) can certainly be demonstrated in more positive and pro-developmental ways.Recommend

Excellent piece of writing…I was also thinking of these line after listening to Juma address of Imam who proved through examples that, punishment of blasphemy should be death..I totally agree that Islam is religion of love and peace and extremism and bigotry has nothing to do with Islam.Recommend

Excellent article!! Thank you Express Tribune for publishing this!!Recommend

In reply to the quotes from Christian bible about blasphemous speech. Our laws in west sit above religion specifically to allow multiple faiths to exist with a common system fair to all. Nobody has been killed for blasphemy in west for hundreds of years. Except by Jihadists killing civilians by intention.

Islamists are killing the idea of coexistence in western world. If Islam cannot live with Christian, Jew, Hindu, atheist, Buddhist, etc We shall just decide to live without you.

In 10 years Jihadists have turned Islam from a religious choice of our ethnic immigrants to no.1 problem of defense.

Everyday another reason to remove Islam from western world explodes on our TV news only targeting women, children, shoppers, commuters. Never targeting military.

When 9/11 happened we were all shocked and look at the response, trying to police Iraq & Afghanistan costing billions and thousands of lives.

We are now angry the next response will not be trying to control problem, it will be to eradicate problem. Do not fool yourself that a few missile launchers and AK47s will destroy USA. They do not even feel threatened but when they do it will be no more humanitarian mission and become defensive. The last time the USA felt threatened was by Japan in world war 2.

Religion is a personal choice for each persons soul. Let us not fill our respective heavens so quickly.
You do not make peace with people who agree with everything otherwise their would be no conflict, we all must compromise before a global war erupts.Recommend

Mister Noor Loodi. You are absolutely correct. Majority of Ahadees are treated like amendments to the already complete book. This is absolutely not true. These were politically motivated statements that were compiled in a book going down through history. Many people would disagree but I would disagree with them when they try to defend it. I will not sanction them to die, but I would just disagree.Recommend

Very well article .congratulations to the writer and also to Tribune.keep up the good work
Ata ur RahmanRecommend

Pathetic. Muslims killing people for nothing other than verbal offenses which they find offensive – they can’t find justification for this absurd behavior in the Quran so they did up references in the Bible.Recommend

There is nothing that says Dog is haram to eat in the Quran. So go and eat Dog and say the same thing you said in this article. Not every thing is mentioned in Quran because its not an ordinary book written by some one like you. always remember Its Kalamullah, and Allah does not go in details. for details you have to reference the hadith. One example of that is the constitution made by the kings and the presidents, it lists every thing at highlevel, but you to go in the bylaws book to reference it.Recommend

A much needed article that needs to be read by every single person who has the ability to alter this barbaric law.Recommend

sir a very insightful article indeed.Recommend

You are right on the money!! I wish the mullahs could read this!Recommend

In my opinion the action of this woman should be judged on her intentions, she should be given a chance to reject her actions and if she does so, she should be set free with a condition that she should refrain from contacting the media, who create all these non issues.Recommend

The definition of blasphemy according to a dictionary is as follows;

n. pl. blas·phe·mies
1.
a. A contemptuous or profane act, utterance, or writing concerning God or a sacred entity.
b. The act of claiming for oneself the attributes and rights of God.
2. An irreverent or impious act, attitude, or utterance in regard to something considered inviolable or sacrosanct.

These laws obviously need amending so that innocent people are not convicted, but removing death penalty in a conservative Muslim country like Pakistan won’t happen.Recommend

The Nation of Pakistan has clearly stated that there would be only Death Punishment of blasphemers in last Friday’s strike, after such a strenght responce, this type of column is a Extremeism Towards the Wishes of your fathers.

What happend to the Muslims? I recall the history of Islam where the Friends of Prophet Peace Be Upon Him was arount Him with their Sould and Bodies. They were the people who set the trend to Die for the sake of Muhammad Peace Be Upon Him. I recall a Blind Sahabi, who killed a man of often made some blesphamy statements against Muhammad Peace be upon him.

No Doubt, Islam is the relegious of peice, but on the name of peiece we do not allow anyone to talk any thing about our Prophet.

If one is trying to search the Quran for the punishment of the Blasphemy, they must also search the Quran for the prayer times, prayers styles, Hajj Style, Zakat Rates, and so many other things. They will come to say the we have decide these things from the LIfe of Our Beloved Muhammad Peace Be Upon Him.Recommend

Dear Syeda Shah and Junaid

Thanks for your comments. I respect them, but please read my article carefully again. I am not denying anything mentioned in ahadith. All I have done is an attempt to bring them in line with the Qur’an. When we find an apparent conflict between and hadith, there are three ways to deal with the problem: We reject hadith; we allow hadith to override the Qur’an; or we interpret hadith in the light of the Qur’an. My understanding as indeed that of most Muslims is the last one. What I have mentioned in the article is exactly in line with that approach.

We don’t eat dogs, Junaid, because our nature abhors it. The prophet, alaihissalam, condemned it because he not only explained the Qur’an but human nature as well. Islam wants us to follow our God-given nature as well as the Islamic Shari’ah.

Khalid ZaheerRecommend

Even if there is a slight suspicion or just an accusation of Aasiya Bibi’s blasphemy, then according to Pakistani laws she would be killed. The religious parties in Pak would of course love it and 97% of Pak Muslims including Ahmaddiyya will have to support it. And the best thing after that is – Paki Muslims can stop immigrating to Christian countries and stay and practise Sharia at homeRecommend

Mr. Khalid Zaheer, PLEASE LET THE ELIGIBLE / QUALIFIED PEOPLE Which Includes (ULMA, Sheikh-ul-Tafseer, Sheikh-ul-Hadees, Mufti Hazrat) give Verdict on Such sensitive Issues, You have NO Proven Research on Islamic History. My Dear Brother IF I Abuse You Father or Mother the minimum thing You would do is have Hatred Feeling for me and You will ensure to cut off all possible contacts with me….. Imagine Some one doing simillar or even worst thing for Our Beloved Prophet, or Holy Quran… What and How will you react to that….!!!! Trust Me NO ONE can Tolerate Abuse or simillar for their Parents, than how can we TOLERATE or IGNORE Blasphemy against our Religion, Quran or Holy Prophet who is more beloved and respectful to us than our Parents… THIS IS THE IMAAN OF MUSLIM.Recommend

Regarding punishment for blashphemy, Imam Abu Hanifa clearly differenciated between muslims and non-muslims. He argued that a muslim who commits blashphemy becomes an apostate so he should be killed. But a non-muslim can never become an apostate so he cannot be killed for blasphemy.

Death is the highest form of punishment and Quran prescribes no punishment for insulting the Prophet (PBUH). There is no punishment even for insulting the God.

@Hasan
Quran asked us to offer prayers; Prophet (PBUH) explained how prayers are offered. Did Quran ask us to kill blasphemers? No.Recommend

We are demanding final punishment for AASEYA because ‘the sayings of Mohammed (peace be upon him) has clearly signified that the consequence of blasphemy is only ‘death’ without any objection over the issue.Recommend

Dear Shakil Ahmed, Ehtisham Rizvi, Hasan, and Kashif

The strike in favour of Blasphemy law was a success. I don’t know if this claim is correct. But I take it on its face value. I know people who were forced to go on strike. Don’t forget that the issue of blasphemy is all about threats and fears. If I am disagreeing with the majority view I am not being an extremist in doing so. I am exercising my right to disagree on the basis of the arguments of Qur’an and Sunnah. Is it being an extremist?

Salat wasn’t learnt through hadith. It was said by first generation Muslims by looking at the companions of the prophet, alaihissalam. Hadith wasn’t even available to everyone in the first few generations of Muslims.

If people react at the insulting statements against their revered personalities, it is understandable. What I am claiming is that God has taught us to control our emotions in such situations. The love of our prophet, alaihissalam, demands that we behave according to the message he brought. What I am pleading is that the message requires us to be tolerant and not react on the occasions when someone is making negative remarks about our religion. Great Muslims like Umer and Khalid, Allah’s mercy be on them, were converted to Islam after they were staunch enemies of it as a consequence of the tolerant behaviour of prophet, alaihissalam, and his companions.

Those who want the head of blasphemers are following the opinion of Imam Ibn Taimiyya and rejecting the opinion of Imam Abu Hanifa.

Finally, are the people who study in institutions where their religious point of view is decided for all times to come even before they enter their premises qualified to speak for Islam and those who have decided to not be biased about any one view disqualified? Are not the Qur’an and Sunnah the ultimate authority in Islam? Does God demand from us blind acquiescence (taqlid) of those who are described as ulama, no matter whatever they say? And what should one do if the very same ulama keep saying things which contradict each other.

Khalid ZaheerRecommend

Salam Sohaib

What happens to Aasia is not my immediate concern. My concern is that my faith is not after the lives of people; instead, it is after their hearts and minds. So long as I am convinced about it, I would like have the right to speak it out. Of course, others have an equal right to say and write what they think is correct.

Khalid ZaheerRecommend

Khalid sahib- I fully endorse your point of view. I think “Blasphemy Law” should have provisions to punish those who come up with wrong interpretetion of Quarn and Hadith just to spread hatered and chaos in the society. For me this is the “real blasphemy” against our beloved prophet Muhammad (SAW) who is “Rahmatalil Aalimeen”.Recommend

Islam was completed when the Koran was revealed in its entirety and with the death of our Holy Prophet (PBUH). The rest is in actuality the history of our religion. While we all revere the four Khalifas, they are in fact a part of our history and not our religion. And we should not forget that three of them were assassinated by brother Muslims – which may suggest that acrimonious politics had entered our Muslim history not soon after the death of our Holy Prophet (PBUH).

The Hadiths were compliled by the four imams after a gap of many years. The Divine Koran supercedes any thing that was a creation of men, no matter how learned they were and no mater how much trouble they took to compile the Hadiths.

Please correect me if I am wrong!Recommend

When I was a child, I was told a story about the Prophet Mohammad (SAW) and since then there have been many occasions when this story was repeated to me by many people. This is how it goes: The Prophet (SAW) used to pass through a street everyday and an old woman would wait for the Prophet (SAW) to pass by so that she can throw her garbage on him…everyday. One day when the Prophet (SAW) was passing through the same street and the garbage was not thrown, the Prophet (SAW) asked where the old lady is today? The Prophet (SAW) was told that the old lady is very sick and in bed. The Prophet (SAW) immediately went to her bedside, and the old lady was shocked to see him. The Prophet (SAW) prayed to God for her recovery and soon enough she not only completely recovered from her illness, but also accepted Islam as her religion.
I would like to know how many of you Muslims have heard this story and secondly…can anyone please tell me what am I suppose to learn from this story? Does this in anyway describe the blasphemy law?Recommend

Sir Try to Understand Muslims with
True Believe in Islam are the MOST
TOLERANT People on Earth.
(Allhamdulillah)

…and Gojra incident with burning of churches, bibles and Christians, with no prosecution for perpetrator is a testimony to that. Where is the respect for bibles and all the prophets whose names are mentioned in it?

It’s easy to make up something; it’s difficult to substantiate it with evidence.Recommend

Dear khalid zaheer. I raed ur article and comments. Very good and pious thoughts. Hope majority underdtands meanings of tolerance. Ignorance and lack of exposer to other religions is the cause, I think.Recommend

Dear Hassan,
Quran is Deen and Hadith is the narrated record of what other people said about the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) and his companions.Quran is complete, comprehensive and detailed about what Allah wants us to do. Therefore criminal is the one who says Quran is short of this and that. Are you ready to say that ‘ Quran is not complete and detailed’ as claimed by Quran itself?Recommend

Salam Naz

We must decide first whether we are giving religious arguments or expressing our fears and desires. If it’s a debate involving the latter, I am not interested in it. However, if we are making a religious point, we must come forth with arguments from the text. Let’s not mix the two.

Contrary to your apprehension, my understanding is that many people in the West resort to such acts of foolishness because they know that no sooner they would do it, a large number of Muslims would start destroying their own assets in reaction and protestation. That is exactly what pleases them.

Khalid ZaheerRecommend

if the govt reduce the punishment the people will do this by self as its the duty of every Muslim to obey Quran and do what is directed by the God, no matter what the states decision is… what if the govt pass the law to bann all the mosques….. and stop people going to the mosque.. what people will do, do they stop… no way… the Authority of God is Absolute…. Obey is our duty, Govt must have to stop doing this sort of mistake..Recommend

Salam Pervaiz and Abu Abdullah Sahiban

Killing is not allowed to anyone except the state, according to the Qur’an, and that too for two reasons only. Killing a blasphemer hasn’t been allowed by God despite the fact that He has mentioned them in the Qur’an. If an individual is going to kill another, he will take the blame on himself of killing the entire mankind. In that case the killer will not follow God’s law; he will follow the opinion of the present-day scholars who are following Ibn Taimiyya’s point of view.

Qur’an gave important information needed for the time when it was revealed. What historians have done is not God’s revelation. It is their efforts which need to be accepted or rejected on merit. The most important criterion while deciding that merit is the question whether the information is consistent with the Qur’anic text or not.

Khalid ZaheerRecommend

Is the Dean a Mufti too?Recommend

Dear Khalid Zaheer saheb and others:

I read all the comments and noticed that the similar points were appearing from both sides…. and this confusion and lack of clear direction is very understandable. There are many things contributing in hunderance of rectifying the situation. Here are only few:

The overall literacy rate: People are bound to follow (taqleed) even in matters where Islam wants them to think (words like Illa-talamoon, la-tafakroon, illa-la-taqaloon – invite people to initiate thinking). Tauheed, Prohethood, Day of Judgement, Justice (adl) etc. are only few examples. This lack of ability to think natually ripe the ground for corrupted minds to lead the rotten minds.
Various mazahibs (sects) – The differences in the interpretations of the islamic laws based on different shariats: As there is no single large majority of shariah followers (as there is in Iran or in Saudi Arabia) no specific sharia can be implemented in Pakistan, and you can not have a single amalgamated Islam to impose as a unified consented shariah.
Our own immoral ways to live our lives: Our immorality is the hinderance in looking the things clearly. Zulm (injustice) is part of our lives and we cannot survive without becoming a zalim (cruel). For example, we have to pull the water from the main line to get the water for our house, or use the kunda to get the electricity for our kids, and argue with shopkeepers (plain thalaywalas) to get a good deal otherwise we would feel as cheated.

All of these things has distorted (muskh) the real face of humanity – let alone the Islam – in us.

The faces of the tyrants mullahs are our real face now. How loathsome we feel about their faces – we are like them from inside.

AsimRecommend

If there was a punishment for blasphemy in Islam, it should have been clearly mentioned in the Quran, especially in the passages where occurrences of it during the prophet’s lifetime are mentioned

If the Quran does not sanction specific punishment for blasphemy, why then are Muslims bent upon demanding death for blasphemy?

that is stupid logic my friend. Shariah Law is not derived solely from Quran. By your logic, I can also now say, that if Quran wanted us to offer Salat, then it should have clearly mentioned the method of offering Salah. Does that sound right to you? I hope not.Recommend

@maitre

you should read 48:2 and 49:2 again. where does it mention the punishment? it says its better to forgive.Recommend

We are not to be judges of others. God tells us he is “Master of the Day of Judgement” we are not. For us to presume to judge what is in another’s heart is absurd and truly blasphemous. We do not have that power. God tells us in his Quran that we are to forgive those who repent, and to be merciful. How does this case give either the opportunity for repentance, or show the court’s mercy?

Regardless what punishment may have been defined in Quran and Hadith for blasphemy, we are in no position to judge it, unlike the prophet who had the benefit of divine guidance.Recommend

@ Syeda Shah

PROVE IT, if you are truthful.!Recommend

the blasphemy law in Pakistan needs to be repealed!!Recommend

I believe its a very senstive issue and not as simple as many people talking about.
My openion regarding this issue is, we muslims should have unanimious decesion about the person who does blasphemy act (muslim or non-muslim). The decision must be very clear so that no innocent person becomes its culprit.

All the examples mentioned are related to Prophets life. When he ws alive then its up to him, weather forgive or give punishment. we have both examples in hadith books.

If i agree with general openion about no punishment to blasphemr then what do think about Denmark Caricatures……????? Why whole muslim world is bycotting it???? It mean they are innocent????

If we let the blasphamers as such then very hallerious picture may come in future. I believe every body has seen caricatures (which is normal in west) of Hazrat Issa and hazrat Marium and some times poeple make their caricatures in very vulgar manners. They also behave in simialr fashion in poetry.

I believe no one can bear such type of things about Prophet Muhammad (PBUH). Quran and hadith has given us the flexiblity of “ijetehaad” . I think current law requires little review but if “Ulema” are not satisfied then go for Ijethehhad. But in my point of view there must be punishment for it so no body muslim or non muslim do it deliberately.Recommend

Those who believe a blasphemy law should exist would they care to explain how killing salman taseer is justified with in the scope of that argument. For however sane your argument there are some who have made you all nothing but blood mongers. he who shalt kill one innocent human it is as if he killed the whole of humanity. ( Innocent until proven guilty before a Qazi). who is the blasphemer here i guess those who flaunt the Law of God to create strife and misery. The day we muslims started using our hearts more then our heads was the day we started losing them, as history is witness. we who claim to love our Prophet (p.b.u.h) , we who would die for his honor , we who would kill for his honor have forgotten the first rule to love, which is to follow in His footsteps.Recommend

“کسے خبر تھی کہ لے کر چراغے مصطفوی
جہاں میں آگ لگاتی پھرے گی بولہبی”

Allama Iqbal

In my view killing in the name of ‘hurmat-e-rasool’ the human beings to save whom from the fire the Prophet, Rehmatulaalimin, was

sent by God, is the worst kind of blasphemy. Our nation has now proved to be the

nation of Nooh, Loot or Yazid which deserve to be punished by God himself.

What else we can expect from a huge number of students coming out of Mad-

rissahs fired with Ilam Dini lynch culture to unleash ‘fassaad-fil-arz’ (rampage on the earth)

and that too in the sacred name of the Prophet, called ‘Rehamatul-Aalimin’

(Mercy for all the worlds), which is no doubt the worst kind of blasphemy.

I think we, have no alternative left now, but to appeal to the UN to save the

mankind from the scourge of the mad mullahs who want to turn Islam, a religion

of peace, into a lynching cult of the Kali Devi.Recommend

I’m afraid for all those capable of reading this, this is a case of preaching to the choir.Recommend

A very enlightening piece and comments by Khalid Zaheer.

It is interesting to note that from 1928 till 1980 — the time when Zia incorporated the Blasphemy law — there was not a single FIR lodged against any such blasphemy offence (neither before partition nor after it took place).

People started misuing the law once sections 295(B) and 295(C) in the PPC were introduced by Zia. Then, there were around 118 cases reported out of which 90 suspected offenders, the non-Muslims, were actually innocents and who had wasted 9 years of their lives behind the bars for no darn reason!

Mullah lobby and emotional awaam with discriminatory behavior against the minorities have always misused the blasphemy law — the law that is actually deduced by the theekedaaran-e-Islam in Pakistan.

Today I see that the same theekedaaran-e-Islam have made Malik Mumtaz, the murderer, a hero.
Ask those emotional fools about “any” Jihaad they are doing honestly except Jihad-e-Bera Gharq-e-Islam!!Recommend

Can someone please enlighten the readers that when was the first Hadith recorded? After how long the Prophets (PBUH) death? No one is arguing that we should not follow Hadith. What is in question is how many hadith’s are actual vs. not?Recommend

I love this stateent of Kahlid Zaheer

“Salat wasn’t learnt through hadith. It was said by first generation Muslims by looking at the companions of the prophet, alaihissalam. Hadith wasn’t even available to everyone in the first few generations of Muslims.”Recommend

Completely disagree what you have said right in the beginning ///// Completely Ignore ///// If u look at the life of Holy Prophet (S.A.W)/// It has two phases //// The life of Mecca and the Life of Madina. In the life of Mecca, he completely ignored any act of personal disgrace but things were not that simple in Madina. History shows Prophet Muhammad (S.A.W) send troops and army to kill and brought the man to justice who acted in a way that may falls into Blasphamy. Islam do promotes peace and harmony but when it comes to Quran and Holy Prophet or any of the 124,000 messengers, its an emotional issue and should be dealt with emotions but should never lost ones own mind.Recommend

Someone quoted the Bible, the first text is about when God’s people were preparing to enter a pagan land and also on their journey from Egypt. There are innumerable laws about lepers not being allowed in the community, women being unclean in the time of the period, what to eat, dealing with adultery. These laws were given to safeguard the Israelites from falling into sin and turning like the pagans they were going to live among.
What happened next? They over a period of time turned away from God and worshipped false gods and blasphemed -God punished them by sending enemies to conquer them.
The next text you’ve conveniently quoted deals with King David’s greatest sin- he saw a woman , who was married to his officer, took her had sex with her, she becane pregnant and then when he found out he tried to get her husband to go home to her, to cover up, the loyal man refused. Next see what he did he had this man Uriah the Hittite killed in battle to make it look as if it was not by his hands and then took the woman as his wife. You would do well to read how God opened his eyes through Nathan a lovely story.
David realised his wrong and repented, he prayed to God for the son to live but the child died, he then had another son by the woman Baathsheba, who became Solomon.

You’ve quoted the Bible but there’s other passages in the Old and New Testament that talk about peace, love and forgiveness and sin etc why not quote those? One where Jesus tells the Jews that the old rule of an eye for an eye is no longer valid, and also about adultery- “If a man looks at a woman longinly he has committed adultery with her in his heart”
Then there’s the very famous song on Love in St Paul’s letter to the Corinthians.
If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.
And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing.
If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned,a but have not love, I gain nothing.

‘Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful;it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth.
Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

I would advise you not to quote from texts of which you don’t know the context or the background. You make the mistake many Christians make of quoting at random to prove a point.Recommend

Salam Waqar

If you read the Qur’an carefully, God has already decided the issue for us: When people make fun of our religion, we are expected not to be a part of them and when they stop doing it, we can rejoin them. Unfortunately, people are not interested to know what the Qur’an says. They want to base their religious opinions about life and death either on incidents reported by individuals or opinions of scholars. Even in case of incidents and scholars they are partial and make false statements confidently. What is going to happen to the image of God’s religion is not their concern.Recommend

As a Muslim, truly speaking, blasphemous acts will hurt me because i love my religion, i love Allah and i love Muhammad PBUH, So, if anyone talks against any of these listed above, simply it will hurt me very badly and also i know that it will hurt everyone who believes in islam, so there are much chances that will lead to bloodshed. so to avoid such types of bloodshedding events, one should take care while commenting for religious matters, and also to avoid such incidents blasphemy law is well and good in it’s present shape and should not be amended

AND ALSO IF SOMEONE WANTS THAT BLASPHEMY LAW SHOULD BE AMENDED, SIMPLY HE WANTS THE INSTABILITY IN PAKISTAN

THNXRecommend

I am glad to see that the overwhelming majority of people who read this article are sane and logical Muslims…makes me feel we still have hope. Still we do have a serious problem on our hands and that is how to deal with the so called scholars who preach intolerance and rigidity. How do we get rid of the mullahs?

I was tempted to use this same blasphemy law against a mullah last Friday when while giving his sermon at the Kh-e-Mujahid mosque in Defence he claimed that Hazrat Omar once killed a woman over blasphemy and that Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) said he did the right thing. These are the kind of dangerous and false hadiths used by the mullahs to further their cause. A week before the same mullah was trying to say that the Quran cannot be understood by laymen and one needed a scholar’s guidance. In the Quran Allah clearly states that He has made the Quran easy for us to understand and here is this mullah contradicting Him.

I am ready to fight a jihad against such mullahs but we need a good, honest, learned leader to lead us to so we can get rid of this mullah culture before it ends up destroying Islam. Mullahs are a cancer and we need to find the right cure very soon.Recommend

Salam

It really hurts when someone blasphemes against our prophet, alaihissalam. We love him. However, we must understand what are our obligations as his followers. One of the things the message he brought expects from us is that we be fair to all under all circumstances. I know that many Muslims of my country who are eager to demand the head if blasphemers find it a part of their moral obligation to use insulting language against a revered personality of a minority group. This is clear contradiction in behaviour.

We don’t want to get rid of conventional scholars by force. If we desire that we too are going to fall into the same evil ways as some of them are doing. Instead, we want to offer to Muslims the alternative point of view which is both moderate and genuine. It is genuine in that it is based on the Qur’an and Sunnah.Recommend

Well If you are living in Pakistan you have to obey the Law of Pakistan, and Blasphemy act is part of Law in Pakistan.
Why Mr Late Taseer indulge himself into this issue, is he a scholar? He want popularity and gave such statements for the sake of his popularity. I am not Defending the Assasin, but I’ll defend the Law of Blasphemy, whatever West think of us, it is part of Our Religion. And you can’t ammend your religion with passage of time.Recommend

GH: I am not aware of what Salman Taseer said or did. The laws of Pakistan are not carved in stone. Laws are there to help people with different opinions co-exist peacefully. If the laws are not working for people or they are misused, then they need to be amended. The blasphemy law, just like hudood ordinance is misused often and creates more chaos in the society (you may have a different opinion here). If significant part of the population thinks it is time to review the law, the legislature should by all means review the law.

Now, about the law of blasphemy being based on Shariah. It is perhaps time to gather ulemas of Pakistan and let them review the punishment for blasphemy. I am sure we have very well-educated ulemas in Pakistan that can review the shariah law and make recommendations for the law in light of today’s circumstances. Based on ulemas’ opinion, the legislature can amend the law. This way, we’ll bring the nation together and not stand divided.

Many things in Shariah law are based on opinions and interpretation. With changing times, we can take a less hard-lined approach with the help of the Quran and Sunnah.Recommend

How does it hurt us if someone blasphemes the prophet? How does it hurt our faith? Really, do you need the respect of the unbelievers to have steady faith? That is the most ridiculous commment I have ever heard. Look to the example of the Prophet and his companions, were the unbelievers in Mecca respectful to them? No, they were not, they harassed them, ridiculed them, tortured and killed them, but was their faith shaken? No. Are we so weak in our Din that we cannot abide the meaningless and empty taunts of non-believers? Did any of you hear “sticks and stones can break my bones but words can never hurt me.” when you were children?Recommend

@ Ash meer

True. When a religion is for the rest of the time and will end at the day of judgement, then that religion must have the ability to mould and change with the changing times.

Again, this is for the ulemas and mujtahids to guide the ummat in the absence of the Prophet. This is our supreme responsibility as a muslim to make our channels right to get the correct interpretations. This is what we are not doing and that is why we have so many mullahs and so many preachers.

Identifying the correct channel becomes easy if we raise our own level of mazhab related teaching (by reading, comphrension and logical approach) we will be far more better of. Islam proclaims to be a muzhab of fitrat. So if we go back to our nature (not the distorted nature but the innocent nature) we will find Islam within us. And as human nature adapts with changing times, our religion will adapt too.Recommend

thanx for this excellent piece of writing..this kind of law is really not only against islam but also against humanity..islam is a religion of peace and harmony..v should always remember this..this law should really be amended..we are nobody to kill anybodyRecommend

Very Good.Recommend

Just to avoid any confusion. I am truely in the openion of keeping this law, As without Mohammad (pbuh) and his Sanctity there is no meaning of religion Islam. So keep this law but make better amendments in the procedure of this law as it should not be missued by anybody for anybody. No distinctions of muslim or non-muslims for this law. It is the procedures of this law and the propoganda of western world that is creating this issue. Otherwise there is no big deal in this law, that peopel are making hue and cry.Recommend

xcellentRecommend

Agreed.

Thanks for having the guts to do this, I hope to follow in your footsteps one day.Recommend

I’ve asked this question to many people and I’ll Quote their Exact responses.

If someone abuses your parents in front of you, what would you do ?

Reply was and would be:

scream and shout! might hit
would hit!

Our beloved Prophet s.a.w.w said:
“No one can claim Eemaan unless s/he loves Allah and his Messenger more than his/her Parents and anything else in this world”.

So do you think we can claim Eemaan by ignoring Blasphemy ?

I don’t say you should hit or kill them, but at least gain that much knowledge to out speak them, Gain knowledge to give them a shut Up call. Gain knowledge to defend you Prophet s.w.w. Raise your voice.
May Allah Guide us all to the Truth.Recommend

Very insightful article!Recommend

Dear Khalid Zaheer sb,

Your discussions and writings are always very informative and insightful. I have read this article and your comments thoroughly and understand that Quran provides the guidelines to interpret various concepts of shari’ah and one can never get a true understanding of Islam with the help of Quran only. We need sunnah to have a complete understanding of deen. While you have quoted various verses in the support of your point of view, those who favor the death penalty for blasphemy do have reference of various other verses from Quran. Since, these verses (from both point of views) do not explicitly allow or disallow the death penalty for the blasphemy, there is room to differ in the interpretations of respective verses. Of course, the next thing is sunnah i.e. how such cases were dealt during the life of the Prophet SAW. There again, we find difference of opinion about the underlying reasons of specific incidents e.g. At the time of Fatah e Makkah or the reaction to the behavior of Abdullah bin Ubai etc. The confusion prevails as to how blasphemy should be dealt with, if we limit ourselves till that time. Then, we will have to go through the conduct of Khulafa e Rashideen, Aimma i Kiram and Mufassirin. There, we again find two kinds of opinion and the majority of the Aimma e Kiram and Mufassirin were in favor of death penalty for blasphemy. Now, if we challenge the death penalty, that means we are challenging the intellect of Imam Malik, Imam Shafa’i, Imam Ibn e Humbal and many other great Mujtahideen of their times, which, I believe, is not an easy thing. So, it will not be prudent to establish that Blasphemy law (with death penalty) is against the principles of Islam, and also to label it as the exploitation of present day mullahs.

Both points of view carry weight and have their respective arguments, and difference of opinion should be respected, but when it comes to legislation, only one point of view can be adopted and that will be the one which is according to the wishes and sentiments of the majority of the population of the country.

Here, I would also like to give the example of Ghazi Ilam Din Shaheed who is undoubtedly a hero of muslims of the subcontinent. Quaid e Azam, Allama Iqbal and all the muslim leaders of that time were supporting him although it was his individual act in the absence of Blasphemy law.

In a way, this law is not only a deterrence against blasphemous acts, but also a law to safeguard the life of blasphemers who would otherwise have been killed by anyone in rage. No doubt, this law has been misused in past and there is dire need to take measures to stop its misuse. I also lament the approach of those people who are condemning this law in harsh and inappropriate language and terming it a heinours craft of religious fanatics. I reckon that they are no different from religious fanatics as they are having the same mindset but with the opposite extreme. Tolerance is the thing this is required the most in this society.Recommend

Hazrat Mohammad peace be upon him is rahamutul allameen. we should learn from the practices of prophet what he behaved with his enemies. for instance , the story is about the prophet which i read in my primary class at school that once the women who always threw garbage over him one day she remained absence and the prophet found that she was ill , the prophet went to her home and behaved with her friendly and fulfilled her needs. the infidel women accepted Islam because of prophet’s attitudes and behavior. now we have zero toleration in our society. killing or assassinating someone is becoming our culture, in such situation , how we expect peace and development. all the ignorance is because of lack of knowledge with respect to religion. the debate on blasphemy should be encouraged and everyone should have right to have different point of views.Recommend

For me, the question to ponder is that what makes those people say blasphemous stuff about Islam and Prophet Muhammad (SAW)? They misunderstand our religion and our Prophet (SAW). Is it not so that all around them they see men with long beards wearing Kurta Shalwar and a cap on the head cursing, taking bribes, being dishonest in their talk and business engagements, littering the place around them; in short doing everything that’s ethically not right. And yet they claim to be great Muslims. Pakistan is one of the most corrupt nations in the world and yet it was created in the name of Islam. Doesn’t that make them believe that if these people are “good Muslims”, then all the “bad” stuff that they do must be coming from their religion? If somebody says something blasphemous, shouldn’t we try to educate him through our speech, conduct and writing, and be such a good example that he wants to convert to Islam? Isn’t spreading the word of Allah one of the major responsibilities of every Muslim? If we kill all those who mis-understand our religion, how will we be able to fulfill this duty?Recommend

I am in opinion that no doubt the punishment of “blasphemy” should be capital punishment with out any pardon by any authority but this should be amended to stop misuse of this law by our * > so called Islami thekedars” *. Being a muslim we can not compromise on the holy respect of Muhammad SAW. But keep in mind that Muhammad SAW forgive all his opponents even the man who eat the heart of Hazrat Hamza and the women who throw dust of Muhammad SAW. There are many examples where Hazrat Muhammad SAW forgive the peoples who committed serious crimes. Islam does not teach us this to kill peoples without any reasons and evidences. Even this job is reserved for the courts who decides who will be hanged, cut hands, and sangsar. * > These maulvis have no right or power > to decide on their own. * We should support this if Govt amend this law but I again said if one is proved of blasphemy he should be hanged no mercy. but investigate first. There are many examples that peoples killed innocent peoples on provoking by so called maulvis as it happed in 1994 when a maulvi blame on his rival maulvi, who was also an Imam and Hafiz, of blasphemy and peoples killed him by stones. terrible. WE SHOULD STOP MAULVIS TO MISUSE THIS LAW AND THE SAME PUNISHMENT SHOULD PROPOSE IF SOMEONE BLAME WRONGLY. GOD BLESS ON HAZRAT MUHAMMAD (SAW) AND ON ALL OF US.Recommend

thanks Khalid Sb., for quoting relevant signs from Quran about blasphemy and your perspective and context seems to be quite correct. it is my request to please write such essays in urdu language also to aware the masses.
thumbs up !Recommend

the point is what is tolerance leading to? A man throws a shoe at Bush and is jailed for GOD knows how many days … We have some minister or prime minister attending any of our events and all of us stand on both sides of the hallway with our hands folded to welcome him and honor him … strict protocols are to be followed .. bottom line is … for human beings who are our leaders in today’s world .. who we know are dirty and corrupt .. We put in our max to ensure their security, honor and safeguard their and we debate about Blashemy law make it a subjective matter? hah ! this is why there are events being held in the world today such as cartoon contest and draw Mohammad day because the world wants us to accept their hatred towards our religion with a broad smile towards our face. Today they are scared because they know that muslims got Zero Tolerance towards ALLAH & Rasool ALLAH S.A.W and this 1 point is the only thing that can reunite the entire Ummah .. hence they are working on this agenda via using tools like “freedom of speech” .. Democrasy … Dialouge … bla bla bla which even sounds right to you because your so called perfect brought up and education has been on the syllabus they drafted for your kids. The theory you read was written by them, hence their crap makes sense to you.Recommend

The depressing incident of the killing of the governor of Punjab, Salman Taseer, has increased the gravity of the issue of blasphemy which has already been a hot issue of debate in Pakistan for quite some time. This trend of events is a great threat to the meaning of Islam, Pakistan and the sacredness of human life. There is a dire need to stand up against the ignorance and tyranny by clearly addressing the issue that what is blasphemy and what does Islam says about it? And before everything the ‘Muslims’ must start learning what is Islam. Because there is no greater misunderstanding than if you do not even know and understand what Islam is. I agree with Dr. Khalid Zaheer’s views and further add that blasphemy is a subjective subject which varies according to the personal interpretation of religion. For example, for a Muslim like me may believe that all the non-believers or non-Muslims are committing blasphemy by not accepting the true religious teachings and path prescribed for Islam by the Holy Quran. But am I justified in announcing that all those people are liable to capital punishment? I found this article to be very enlightening and the Blasphemy law needs to be amended, and brought in accordance with the teachings of the Quran. Love for the Holy Prophet can certainly only be demonstrated in more positive and pro-developmental ways opposed to condemning the so-called “blasphemers”. I disagree with extremists who say that the punishment of blasphemy should be death. Islam is religion of love and peace and extremism and bigotry has nothing to do with Islam. The Quran has directed us to spread the message of Islam in an attractive way by using the best available methods. Imagine if every religion kept a wall of blasphemy around it, it would never be able to be spread. I think that the time has come for a major overhaul of our understanding of Islam and how God intended it to be. We must revisit the compliation of the Hadith and validate or reject, purely based on Quran and logic and intellect. I have suspicions that a very large of number of Hadith are simple not true, twisted or do not apply in the current time period that we live in today.It is time that the educated Muslims take the lead on research of the true Islamic spirit and lead the way. Islam as it stands is very dangerous in the hands of a typical ‘Mullah’. We have to protect our religion from our own people who are twisting and exploiting it.Recommend

@Aly Sarmad

You are comparing apples and bananas….. take some rational please…..Recommend

@Aly Sarmad
It is not the fault of Islam or Prophit Muhammad PBUH, that our molvis are not good n thier actions. The teaching of islam are for the whole world and for all ages. You can condem molvis actions, but you should not say that since they are doing wrong on the name of Islam so Islam is wrong as well. All people who are favouring this law does not mean that they are favouring these molvs actions. These peoples are favouring the Sanctitiy of Hazrat Muhammad.
I strongly condem the actions of Salman Taseer and also of Mumtaz Qadri. But I will not favour for the change of this law, Yes it needs legal procedural changes to make it more effective and it should not be misused by anybody no matter he is a common man or a big molvi.Recommend

Can you plz make changes in my first msg 28 minutes ago
it needs to be address @ Urooj and not @Aly SarmadRecommend

@Imtiaz Ahmed Its not like that. Courts and Laws are essential part of society. What i meant was that Who gave the right to individuals to decided killing anyone. These issues should be settled in courts.Recommend