Sir: No newspaper dare tell our people that blasphemy laws were made in haste during General Zia’s time by a team of religious scholars to meet the requirements of the president. After all, they were not perfect and they could err. The new law was not debated clause by clause in parliament to remove contradictions and shortcomings in the law. For instance, even the Holy Quran asks for four witnesses to prove a case of adultery whereas the blasphemy law accepts the word of a single accuser, and that too a Muslim, that a blasphemy has been committed. What if it is done out of malice?
Secondly, instances have arisen where an underage student was asked by his religious teacher to drop the Quran in a well because it had become illegible and undecipherable. The people of the village were about to lynch the boy because he had committed a blasphemy. Therefore, such laws need to be looked into.
Recently, there was a telephonic discussion on a TV channel in which Javed Ghamadi and another likeminded scholar of Islam asked Maulana Munibur Rehman to give one reference from the Holy Quran wherein God permits the punishment of death, except in the case of murder or war. Munibur Rehman had no answer; he evaded giving a direct answer and insisted that the president cannot pardon a blasphemy criminal on death row.
We all talk of Shariah, yet conveniently forget what Shariah stands for, namely, the life and sayings of the Holy Prophet (PBUH), which we call the Hadith.
I suggest that our politicians keep in mind the example of the Holy Prophet (PBUH), when a non-Muslim woman waited for the Prophet (PBUH) to pass by her street so that she could throw the dirt of her house on him, but the day she did not, the Prophet (PBUH) asked her neighbours about her wellbeing. When he was told that she was ill, our Prophet (PBUH) went to her house, inquired about her health and said he would pray for her rapid recovery. The woman was so impressed by the character and magnanimous nature of the Prophet (PBUH) that she converted to Islam soon after.
This is what Islam is all about.
In the Quran, God repeatedly talks of ‘mercy and forgiveness’. God in the Quran repeatedly tells the Prophet (PBUH) that the unbelievers will ridicule you but your task is only to convey My message. Sadly, it appears that some of our religious leaders have lost the very essence of Islam and nothing short of death for Aasia Bibi will satisfy them.
They must not be allowed to comment on Islamic jurisprudence unless they are ‘mujtahid’ imams. In order to satisfy our fire-spewing maulanas, the case must be reviewed by the Supreme Court in which ‘mujtahid’ imams should sit and bring this thorny issue to an end. Media must educate the nation according to the Quran and Hadith so that people are not misled by half-educated clerics.
SARDAR AHMED SHAH JAN
Peshawar