From Pakistan To Nigeria Mob Violence To Protect The Honour Of The Prophet Defames Islam

By New Age Islam Staff Writer 23 March 2024 Two Female Madrasa Students Sentenced To Death And The Third To Life Imprisonment For Killing Their Teacher For Blasphemy In Pakistan. Main Points: 1. The three students studied in Jamia Islamia Falahul Binat in Dera Ismail Khan of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa of Pakistan. 2. The madrasa teacher Safoora Bibi was accused of insulting the prophet. 3. Blasphemy killings have become rampant in Pakistan. 4. Nigeria and Bangladesh are also the countries where blasphemy killings are common. 5. Extremist clerics in these countries are responsible for mob violence over the accusations of blasphemy. ----- Photo: The Dawn, Pakistan ---- A district court in Pakistan has sentenced two female madrasa students to death and the third to life imprisonment for the murder of their female madrasa teacher Safoora Bibi, 18, for allegedly committing blasphemy against the holy prophet in March 2022. The convicts are Razia Hanfi, Ayesha Naumani and Umra Aman. Reportedly, a minor girl among their relatives was told in her dream that the teacher had committed blasphemy against the prophet and that if they killed her, they would be rewarded with Paradise. Upon being told about the dream the three decided to kill Safoora Bibi for winning God's blessings. The sentence has brought to focus the rampant killings of Muslims by Muslims in the name of protecting the honour of the prophet or of the Quran or of Islam in Pakistan. According to Human Rights Watch, at least 65 people have been killed in Pakistan since 1990 for alleged blasphemy. Most of the victims are Muslims. In February this year, a woman was surrounded by an illiterate mob in Ichhra market in Lahore for wearing a shirt with the word Halwa in Arabic calligraphy printed on it. The mob accused her of blasphemy against the Quran and were bent on lynching her. Fortunately, a brave lady police officer saved her. This violent approach to blasphemy is only the result of an intolerant and extremist view on blasphemy by the prominent clerics of Pakistan and other Islamic countries. There have been dozens of cases of lynching of blasphemy accused in Pakistan. Some of the accused were mentally deranged while some were Hafiz-e-Quran and Aalim-e-Deen. The Quran says that the blasphemy accused should be dealt with restraint. The Quran does not prescribe any punishment for blasphemy though it foresees that the People of the Book and the Polytheists would use hurtful words directed towards Muslims. The Quran says: "...and you will certainly hear many hurtful words from those who were given the Scripture before you and from the polytheists. But if you are patient and mindful of Allah, surely this is a resolve to aspire for."(Al-e-Imran:186) Hurtful words may include blasphemous remarks about the prophet, the Quran and Islam. The Quran asks Muslims to observe restraint in face of blasphemy by the followers of other religions. The Quran does not anticipate Muslims to commit blasphemy against the prophet, the Quran or other sacred and respected figures of Islam. No Muslim was punished to death for blasphemy or showing insult or disrespect to the prophet pbuh. There is one example of showing disrespect to the prophet pbuh by a Muslim but the prophet did not order any punishment for him. After one of the battles, the holy prophet pbuh was distributing the spoils of the war among the warriors. One of the Muslims accused the prophet of distributing the spoils of the war unjustly. The prophet pbuh became angry and said, 'If I do not do justice then who will?" Hadhrat Umar took out his sword and said to the prophet pbuh, "O prophet of Allah, if you permit me, I will severe his head.' The prophet pbuh replied, "Leave him as he has his companions," He suggested that killing him would create differences among Muslims. Therefore, insult to the prophet pbuh by a Muslim is out of the question and even if someone makes a remark that can be interpreted as an act of blasphemy, Islam asks Muslims to ignore it. In Pakistan, comprehensive books have been written to prove that even Muslims can be killed for blasphemy and the verses of the Quran have been presented in support of this theory. These books have provided the argument in favour of mob lynching of the accused of blasphemy. Today, blasphemy has been made a crime punishable by death thanks to extremist interpretations of the Quran by some prominent Islamic scholars of the Arab and the Indian sub-continent. Since blasphemy has not been made punishable by the Quran under 'hurtful words', the clerics have applied the verses that prescribe death punishment for causing 'Fasad'(mischief) on earth to cases of blasphemy. In Iran, blasphemy is made a punishable crime under 'Fasad Fil Arz' and criticism of the religious leaders or the government or criticism of misinterpretation of Quranic verses comes under blasphemy. A number of blasphemy cases have appeared in Iran in the last two decades. However, in Iran there is no history of mob violence or lynching as a punishment for blasphemy. In Iran, the blasphemy laws are used against those who criticise theocracy. In May 2023, two men were hanged in Iran for alleged blasphemy. In 2014, a psychologist Mohsin Amir Aslani was hanged for blasphemy. In Afghanistan too, blasphemy is a crime that can invite death and blasphemy can include even translating the Quran without the permission of the clergy .In November 2007, Ghaus Zalmay was charged with blasphemy for translating the Quran into Dari language without authorisation from the Afghan clergy. He was sentenced to 20 years of imprisonment. A journalist Pervez Kambaksh was sentenced to death for writing on the mistreatment of women in Islamic society. Later his punishment was reduced to 20 years of imprisonment. However, during the tenure of President Hamid Karzai, he was granted amnesty and he chose to leave Afghanistan. The brutal mob lynching and burning of a 27 year old girl Farkhundah Malikzadeh in Kabul in March 2015 sent shock waves around the world. A mob of unruly men beat her to death, tore her clothes and burnt down her dead body for allegedly burning the Quran. In fact she had launched a campaign against the peddlers about their practice of selling charms to women as remedy for their diseases. Some one spread the rumour that she had burned the Quran. Since Afghans share their borders and religious ideology with Pakistan, they have the same approach to blasphemy as Pakistanis. Nigeria is another country where Muslims commit lynching of Muslims and Christians for alleged blasphemy. There have been a number of riots due to reports of blasphemy. In 1999, a mob beheaded a Muslim man named Abdullah Umaru for allegedly insulting the prophet. In March 2007, a Christian lady teacher was beaten to death for touching a bag that contained a copy of the Quran. The Muslims believed that by touching the bag, she defiled or desecrated the Quran. In April 2008, a mob beat a Muslim man to death in Kano state of Nigeria for allegedly insulting the prophet. Even a 13 year old boy named Umar Farouque was sentenced to 10 years of imprisonment for blasphemy. Another youth Yahya Sharif was sentenced to death for circulating a song on WhatsApp allegedly defaming the prophet in 2020. Bangladesh is also one of the countries where the definition of blasphemy is quite broad and a number of men both Hindu and Muslim have been lynched during the last two decades. The reason for this is that the Muslims of Bangladesh follow the same clerics of the Arab and the Indian sub-continent. However, the Muslims of Indonesia and Malaysia do not follow a violent definition of blasphemy though the use of blasphemy is catching up with the politicians of Indonesia and Malaysia. They use the issues of alleged blasphemy for political purposes. In Saudi Arabia too, blasphemy is a tool to repress dissent. There is no history of mob lynching for blasphemy there as is rampant in Pakistan, Bangladesh and Nigeria. A couple of killing for blasphemy have also occurred in India. The killings for blasphemy occur because of the misinterpretation of the Quranic verses. To the Muslims of these countries, even touching the Quran by a Christian, translating the Quran into another language without the permission of the clergy, criticising the religious leadership and the government, criticising the mistreatment of women etc. comes under blasphemy. Therefore, the violence and bloodshed in the name of protecting the honour of the prophet and of Islam, the exegetes, preachers and extremist scholars of Islam are responsible. This trend of violence in the name of blasphemy cannot be curbed unless the mob violence of any kind is declared against Sharia and brought under 'Fasad Fil Arz' and the need for the laws dealing with blasphemy are reviewed in the light of the Quran. URL: https://newageislam.com/islam-sectarianism/pakistan-nigeria-mob-violence-honour-prophet/d/131981 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