It was bound to happen. When you have a vaguely worded law with so many loopholes, and a clergy hell bent on

defining religion in asphyxiating, rigid boundaries, its supporters and enablers were bound to get scorched

themselves. The law was eventually going to come and bite them in the back and that is exactly what happened

two weeks ago.

According to the news story, a student of a religious seminary in Chakwal, Junaid Ahmad was arrested for

being blasphemous. He was apparently seen burning pages of Quran a week ago, was beaten by a crowd and handed

over to the police. Ironically, however, a shaken and frightened Junaid claimed that he was in reality

disposing off Quran’s loose pages to save them from desecration.

The story behind Junaid’s action was simple enough. His teacher, who belongs to Tehrik Khuddam Ahl-i-Sunnat,

had told him that burning Quranic pages was a legitimate way of disposing them along with putting them in

flowing water (stream etc) and burying them. As he was unable to find the other two options, Junaid resorted

to the third one. It was just his luck that the man who saw him as he set the pages on fire had heard from

another cleric that burning the Quran amounted to desecrating it. What followed is an ominous reminder of

sharply converging, and rigid, interpretations among various schools of religious thought.

Diversity, whether religious or cultural, is always a good thing. But here, this diversity of belief within

sects and sub-sects is stamped with unflinching righteousness, intolerance, and violent knee-jerk reactions.

Leaving the organised sectarianism between Shias and Sunnis aside, these widely varying interpretations in

such an environment result in friction and veiled hatred towards other sects within one’s circle. In such a

situation, incidents like the one in Chakwal are in reality a mere prelude to what can follow. One of the

most obvious possibilities, while remaining within the ambit of law, is the misuse of the blasphemy law

against those who are fanatically in favour of it.

This misuse has already started albeit it is infrequent at the moment. In January this year, an imam and his

son from Dera Ghazi Khan were convicted for life for committing blasphemy. They were accused of ripping

posters from outside their grocery shop which advertised an event to observe Eid Milad un Nabi (the birth and

death anniversary of Prophet Muhammad). There was strong speculation that the issue was not of blasphemy but

difference of belief. The Deobandi philosophy, to which the imam and his son prescribed, do not believe in

commemorating such days. So where the incident might have simply been that of removing a poster from their

personal property, it was forcefully catapulted in the sphere of intentional blasphemy.

The problem, boiled down to its essence, is this: In all this ritualistic madness, this manic obsession with

the act rather than the intention behind it, these “men of faith” have lost the plot. And that is an under-

statement. Here school girls are ostracised for misplacing a dot in a word. Doctors are locked up for

throwing away a person’s visiting card who shared the prophet’s name. People are persecuted for greeting

others in Arabic language. Supporters of blasphemy laws obsessively defend its need to deter people from

taking the law in their own hands; but when a man defies this very logic and kills a sitting governor whom he

had taken an oath to protect, they cheer and holler themselves hoarse in his support.

So far, most of the victims of these laws are minorities and those belonging to lower and lower-middle income

groups. But it won’t remain the same forever. With ferocious intolerance being allowed to breed unchecked in

our country, it was only a matter of time before the factions started using this law to target religious

rivals at will.

Right now a broad spectrum of religious right is united in its defence of murderer Mumtaz Qadri. Their

slogans, demonstrative of their tunnel-minded support for his actions, should be deafening alarm bells for

the rest of us.

It is a matter of time before these stout believers, momentarily united in their hate against “liberal

fascists”, turn on each other. With such varied interpretations of religion, how will the courts interpret

criteria of blasphemy? Will they take the easiest way out and just continue sentencing people in the hope the

High Courts will correct the injustice? Will these cowardly actions really serve as a long-term pre-emptive

solution or will the religious factions soon interlock horns?

If there is a legal or public showdown between people of different beliefs, the result will be more bloody,

brutal and long drawn out than we can imagine. With all sides equally sure of their virtue and willing to die

or kill for it, there might not be anyone standing at the end.

On a sardonic note, that will work out just right for the rest of the country.

Bushra S is an editor based in Lahore.

Source: The Dawn, Karachi

URL: http://www.newageislam.com/NewAgeIslamIslamicShariaLaws_1.aspx?ArticleID=5729
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COMMENTS

10/20/2011 9:33:59 PM

Aiman Reyaz

The basic reason for the intra sect conflict is that each sect thinks that their version of Islam is the

correct one. As the author gave the instance of an Imam and his son being considered blasphemous because they

teared the poster of Eid Milad un Nabi, i guess this Imam was from the Ahle- Hadidth sect. According to their

version of Islam it is satanic to celebrate the birth or mourn the death anniversary of Muhammad(pbuh). Each

sect has its own philosophy, and in each ones philosophy there is a stong emphasis of intolearance i.e.,

rebuke those who do not follow their philosophy.

According to me the major reason for this type of conflict is Hadidth, do not take me as an anti Hadidth

person. What I mean is that there are so many voluminous hadidths: sahi Bukhari, sahi  Muslim, Tirmizi etc.

If we critically analyse each and every line then we will come to know that there are a lot of

inconsistencies and contradictons within and among Hadidhs. For example in Bukhari it is said in one place to

do rafadaen( take your hand to the ear) and just a few lines later it contradicts. If anybody does not

believe me then check out the 'Actions While Praying' chapter in Bukhari. Similarly in other Hadidths there

are contradictons.

Having so many hadidths is no problem, but by having so many versions of hadidths creates confusion and

contradictions. Why don't we just limit our self to strictly follow the Quran, with taking the present time

in mind. Or collect those sayings of the Prophet which are common in all the hadidths. By doing this we

remove much of the doubt, but there will still remain doubt as they are not the word of God, rather they are

the sayings collected after almost 2 centuries later.

Islamic Sharia Laws

19 Oct 2011, NewAgeIslam.Com

Oct. 14, 2011

10/19/2011 12:03:43 PM

Ghulam Mohiyuddin
What one Islamic sect considers proper may be considered blasphemous by another Islamic sect. Trying to

enforce blasphemy laws under these circumstances would be like a dog chasing its own tail. There are no

substitutes for well meaning attempts to understand the belief systems of others and for having greater

tolerance to such differences.