Tawhenay Resalat!

muhammad alamzeb khan · #1 Friday, November 26, 2010

What the Quran, sunnah and Hadith says about!
''Tawhenay Resalat''

1) Is there any punishment?

2) If 'YES' what is the ultimate sentencing for this kind of act under the light of QURAN, SUNNAH AND HADITH & ALL THE OTHER ISLAMIC TEACHINGS?

a) If it is committed by a Muslim?
b) If it is committed by a non -Muslim?

I will greatly appreciate your thought on the above as this is one of the most important matter and it might appear in the upcoming CSS/PCS interveiw.

sara soomro · #2 Saturday, November 27, 2010

Invincible · #3 Saturday, November 27, 2010

Pakistan’s controversial “Blasphemy Laws” and persecution of Religious Minorities

(i) Section 295-A of the blasphemy laws prohibits injuring or defiling places of worship and “acts intended to outrage religious feelings of any class of citizens.”
(ii) Section 295-B makes willful desecration of the Quran or a use of its extract in a derogatory manner punishable with life imprisonment.
(iii) Section 295-C states that “whoever by words, either spoken or written, or by visible representation, or by imputation, innuendo, or insinuation, directly or indirectly, defiles the sacred name of the Holy Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) shall be punishable with death, or imprisonment for life, and shall be liable to fine.”

Although there is hardly a state in the world that doesn’t restrict political activities considered inimical to the interests of the state, in Pakistan, such considerations have led to very severe restrictions on a variety of intellectual activities and human interactions. For instance, Pakistan’s Constitution prohibits the ridicule of Islam, of the armed forces, or of the judiciary, and such provisions have gone a long way in preserving the power of conservative clerical elements, the military and military-appointed judges.

Especially egregious are Pakistan’s blasphemy laws that have been variously used not only to stifle political dissent, but also to intimidate intellectuals and social scientists, and Pakistan’s non-Sunni minorities. They have also been a convenient tool for personal vendettas in the hands of the politically better-connected. Pakistan’s Penal Code allows for the death penalty for directly or indirectly defiling “the sacred name of the holy Prophet Mohammed.”

It also stipulates a 10-year sentence for insulting the religion of any class of citizens, and provides for a sentence of life imprisonment for “whoever willfully defiles, damages, or desecrates a copy of the holy Koran.”

Sadly, the recent violence against the Ahmadi community, which left 80 worshippers dead at an Ahmadi mosque in Lahore, is not a new phenomenon. Religious minorities in Pakistan – particularly Ahmadis, Christians, Shi’ites and Hindus – have been increasingly persecuted in Pakistan in recent decades. Their rights are routinely violated on the premise that they are non-Muslims and therefore second-class citizens. This is what happens in an Islamic country.

According to its constitution, Pakistan’s government and any changes to the constitution must comply with Islamic tenets.In 1974, under pressure from religious political parties, former President Zulfikar Ali Bhutto introduced a constitutional amendment that declared Ahmadis to be non-Muslims on the basis of ideological differences on theological issues.

For instance, Ahmadis regard their 19th century founder, Mirza Ghulam Ahmad as a prophet, whereas Muslims affirm the Prophet Muhammad as the last prophet. This act set a precedent for constitutionally stripping Pakistan’s religious minorities of their rights to freedom of belief and expression.

During military dictator General Zia ul Haq’s reign from 1977 to 1988, further anti-minority constitutional changes were introduced. In 1982, additions to the Pakistan Penal Code made committing blasphemy a penal offense and anyone found to be critical of the Prophet Muhammad or disrespectful towards the Qur’an could now face a jail term or, thanks to a 1986 amendment, the death penalty.

Not surprisingly, these provisions – or “blasphemy laws”, as they are commonly known – have facilitated discrimination against religious minorities over the years. Human rights groups have routinely documented how anti-blasphemy legislation has been exploited by some members of Pakistan’s Sunni majority to justify censorship, settle personal vendettas and even effect land grabs – with Muslims accusing non-Muslim land owners of blasphemy.

In a more troubling trend, religious political parties and extremist groups – emboldened by the constitutional decision to punish blasphemers with the death penalty – have been known to take the law into their own hand when allegations of blasphemy circulate.

As recently as July 2009, dozens of members of Sipah-e-Sahaba (SSP), a banned sectarian organization, torched homes in the Christian community in Gojra, a city in the province of Punjab, leaving seven dead. The SSP was able to rally the mob within a matter of hours by falsely alleging that a Christian had defiled the Qur’an during a wedding ceremony.Law-enforcement officers have consistently failed to stem violence against minorities.

High-ranking police officials have since been arrested for standing idly by while the SSP broadcast anti-Christian propaganda from mosque loudspeakers in Gojra before the riots. And the Punjab police have been lambasted for failing to provide adequate security in the wake of the Lahore attacks against Ahmadis.

What is more troubling, however, is that successive democratically elected governments have failed to respond to the nationwide persecution of minorities. Since coming to power in 2008, the current Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) government has announced on three occasions that the blasphemy laws will be reformed. It was only after the Lahore attacks against Ahmadis that PPP politicians began drafting legislation that called for harsh punitive measures against those who accuse others of blasphemy without sound proof.

Though welcome, such legislation is a disappointing reminder that more radical changes to the constitution, which are needed, will not be effected in the foreseeable future.

Pakistan’s laws were not always meant to be this way.Soon after the country’s partition from India in 1947, its founder, Muhammad Ali Jinnah, announced his vision for a secular Pakistan: “In course of time Hindus would cease to be Hindus and Muslims would cease to be Muslims, not in the religious sense – because that is the personal faith of each individual – but in the political sense as citizens of the State.”

Justices Muhammad Munir and M.R. Kiyani reiterated this vision in 1953. In the wake of the first agitations against the Ahmadi community in Lahore in which their members became the victims of rioting, they issued a landmark report warning against bringing religious matters into the realm of the state and law.

The consequences of failing to heed this advice over the years are now apparent: anti-minority sentiment is widespread, deep-seated and state-sanctioned.It is essential that the Pakistan government repeal the blasphemy laws as a first step towards truly protecting the rights of religious minorities. A complete overhaul of the national educational curriculum, which was tampered with during the Zia years to perpetuate misconceptions about minority beliefs and foster a culture of discrimination, is then needed to address the growing intolerance of Pakistani society.

Often such laws have been invoked in what might normally be perceived as routine and innocuous conversations between neighbors or acquaintances. In November of 1992, Gul Masih, a Christian, was sentenced to death after having remarked innocently about Mohammed’s marriages. His neighbor Mohammad Sajjad, a Muslim, had made a comment stating that the Virgin Mary must have been a prostitute. Masih, in turn, replied he had read “that Mohammed had 11 wives, including a minor.” Sajjad decided to file charges against Gul Masih who was then sentenced to death.

It is notable that Gul Masih had made these remarks in a private conversation, without premeditation or any deep-seated malice, clearly without any political intent, yet received the death penalty. Gul Masih’s comment had merely followed the remarks of Mohammed Sajjad, and were in keeping with the tone set by Sajjad. But while Sajjad was never charged with ‘insulting’ Gul Masih’s Christian religion, Gul Masih’s seemingly harmless and perhaps factually correct rejoinder had led him to a death sentence.

Words can hardly describe the shocking injustice of this case, but this hasn’t been the only such case. WLUML (Women Living Under Muslim Laws) has described the tragic case of Ayub Masih who has charged with blasphemy in 1996. A neighbor at his Arifabad village had complained that he had made the statement: “If you want to know the truth about Islam, then read Salman Rushdie.” But Ayub Masih has always held that he made no such statement, and several sources indicate that the charges were deliberate fabrications designed to forcibly evict Ayub Masih, his family, and other poor Christians from their village lands. The case was registered with little investigation, and based entirely on a statement made by the complainant, Muhammad Akram. At his 1997 trial in Sahiwal, Ayub Masih was shot at, but his attempted killer was never charged with any crime. Ayub Masih’s family home was also arbitrarily transferred to Muhammad Akram, who has benefited considerably after the eviction of the entire Christian populace (14 families) of the village.

Throughout the entire legal proceedings, the case was heavily influenced by intense pressure from Islamic extremists who gathered outside the court to intimidate the judge and the defense lawyers. At a closed prison trial in April 1998, where Ayub Masih was denied the right to a defense, the Sessions Court judge of Sahiwal district sentencing Ayub to death by hanging.

In protest of the sentence, Bishop John Joseph of Faisalabad shot himself in the head in public. On 25 July 2001, the Multan High Court rejected Ayub Masih’s appeal against the death sentence. What is worse, protestors have threatened to kill Ayub Masih and his lawyer, Syed Sajjad Haider Zaidi, if Ayub is acquitted.

In a letter from prison Ayub Masih has written: “I am sick with various diseases and have not been allowed any medicines – my condition is getting worse all the time. Being a prisoner charged with blasphemy, I have been kept alone in a darkened cell where there is no light, no toilet, and no fan to cool me from the heat. I have to tell other prisoners I am here for theft or I would be beaten for being a Christian. I have been tortured many times.”

In another case, on September 8 1996, a Shi’a Muslim, Ghulam Akbar, was convicted of blasphemy in Rahimyar Khan, Punjab, for allegedly making derogatory remarks about the Prophet Mohammed in 1995. Chandigarh’s Tribune reported on Sept 10, 1998 that the 25 year old laborer had been subsequently sentenced to death “for taking the Prophet Muhammad’s name in vain”

It is evident that the law is deliberately vague, almost designed for wanton misuse. The relevant legal code (Section 295C) states: “Whoever by words, either spoken or written, or by visible representation, or by imputation, innuendo, or insinuation, directly or indirectly defiles the sacred name of the Holy Prophet Mohammed…shall be punished with death and shall be liable to a fine.”

A person can be charged with blasphemy on testimony alone, and be immediately and arbitrarily detained without opportunity for bail. Under this law, the only evidence needed is one ‘reliable’ man’s word. The political and societal clout of Islamic extremists and clerics makes it unsafe for lawyers to represent the accused and for courts to acquit them. It also puts great pressure on local police officers to file phony blasphemy charges.

For instance, in another case, Shafiq Masih, a Faisalabad Christian, was charged with blasphemy following a dispute with a neighbor. A crowd of over 1,000 persons soon converged on Shafiq’s home and were prepared to lynch him. Although police intervention saved his life, the local police chief charged Shafiq with blasphemy to calm the sentiments of the mob.

In 1997, Lahore High Court justice Arif Iqbal Hussain Bhatti (who in 1995 had ruled to acquit accused Christian blasphemers Salamat and Rehmat Masih) was killed after a spate of death threats.

Some years back, Dr Younus Shaikh (a noted scholar), was convicted for blasphemy and handed a death sentence for simply stating the obvious: “that Mohammed became a practicing Muslim after receiving his revelation.” The IHEU (International Humanist and Ethical Union) noted that none of the complainants to the police were eyewitnesses to the alleged offence: the complaint was lodged by leaders of the Majlis Tahaffuz Khatm-i-Nabuwat (Committee for the Protection of the Finality of the Prophethood), a conservative organization that is known to have harassed and attacked non-orthodox Muslims in the past. In the course of the trial, one of the witnesses to the prosecution was completely discredited, as it was shown that he was not present in class on the day Dr. Shaikh supposedly made his ‘blasphemous remarks’.

Even more horrific than the blasphemy charges against Dr. Yunis Shaikh (founder of the Progressive group ‘Enlightenment’) have been some of the reactions to his sentence:
“I had heard from the sermons in the mosques that those who blaspheme deserve to be killed immediately. It was a weakness of faith that we did not do it” – Asghar Ali Afridi (while relating his alleged response to Dr. Shaikh’s teaching, quoted from Barry Bearak, “Death to Blasphemers: Islam’s Grip on Pakistan,” New York Times, May 12, 2001).”

Only out of respect, because he was our teacher, did we not beat him to death on the spot.” – Syed Bilal (also from the New York Times).

“Even if someone is only half-conscious when speaking against the Prophet, he must die. In Dr. Shaikh’s case, his relatives have come to see us, saying the man is sorry and that he repents. But to be sorry now is not enough. Even if a man is sorry, he must die.”- Abdul Wahid Qasmi (also from the New York Times)

Naturally, such views can have an extremely chilling effect on all serious academicians, even those trying very hard to remain within the bounds of Pakistan’s blasphemy laws. All Dr Shaikh had said was that neither Prophet Mohammed nor his Parents could logically have been Muslims before Islam was revealed to the Prophet. That a mere statement of fact, even of one that contradicts no aspect of Quranic teachings or the Hadith could lead to a death sentence is not only amazing, it indicates how Pakistan’s cultural and intellectual environment has so degraded since it’s bloody inauguration in 1947.

In addition, the blasphemy laws are used fairly routinely to harass those considered “improper Muslims such as the Ahmadis who are subject to onerous restrictions under law, as mentioned earlier.

Although Ahmadis regard themselves as Muslims and observe Islamic practices, a 1974 Constitutional amendment declared Ahmadis to be a non-Muslim minority because, according to the Government, they do not accept Mohammed as the last prophet of Islam. In 1984 the Government passed an amendement prohibiting Ahmadis from calling themselves Muslim and banning them from using Islamic words, phrases, and greetings. The punishment for violation of this section is imprisonment for up to 3 years and a fine.

In the land of Islamic “purity” Ahmadis suffer from a variety of restrictions of religious freedom and widespread societal discrimination, including violations of their places of worship, being barred from burial in Muslim graveyards, denial of freedom of speech and assembly, and restrictions on their press. Several Ahmadi mosques remain closed.

Hundreds of Ahmadis await trial or sentencing on blasphemy charges. Sunni converts are especially targeted. According to Pakistan’s Human Rigths Commission, Muhammad Akram was threatened with death by an influential local religious organization after he joined the Ahmadiyya community. The threat was published on the organization’s own letterhead, but no legal action was taken against the group.

Five decades after having eliminated almost it’s entire Hindu and Sikh populations, the ‘Islamic’ state of Pakistan is now turning on it’s own Muslims – Shias, Ahmedis and other supposedly non-compliant Muslim sects. Non-muslims in Pakistan have always faced discrimination since under it’s constitution, elements of Quranic law are imposed on Muslims and non-Muslims alike.

While there is no law establishing the Quranic death penalty for apostates (those who convert from Islam), social pressure against such an action is so powerful that most such conversions take place in secret. Reprisals and threats of reprisals against suspected converts are common. “Islamiyyat” (Islamic studies) is compulsory for all Muslim students in state-run schools. Although students of other faiths are not required to study Islam by law, in practice, many non-Muslim students are compelled by teachers to complete the “Islamiyyat” studies. In recent years, there has been a trend towards increased mandatory Islamic instruction in public schools.

But for progressive activists in Pakistan, fighting to change things is compounded by military rule, and a press core that is repressed and inhibited in several ways from reporting the truth. The Government (and other powerful societal elites) use a variety of means to subjugate the press.

The government of Pakistan uses its large advertising budget to influence content, largely ensuring that most journalists practice self-censorship, and the broadcast media remains a closely controlled government monopoly. It is common knowledge that journalists, who are mostly underpaid, are on the unofficial payrolls of many competing interests, and the military (or elements within it) is presumed to be no exception.

Police and other law and order agencies, the ISI, political parties, extremist religious and other sectarian groups, militant student organizations, and commercial entities frequently pressure newspapers to carry stories favorable to their point of view, in utter disregard of truth or propriety. While such practices occur throughout the world, in Pakistan, the pressure is much harder to evade or ignore since it can include physical violence, the sacking or torching of offices, and blatant interference with the distribution of newspapers.

What is interesting is that the problem of the law against blasphemy worsened dramatically in 2001, when anti-Western feeling increased in Pakistan, reaching its peak with recent American interventions in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Meanwhile, the French section of Aid to the Church in Need is urging people worldwide to sign a petition denouncing a “blasphemy law” that allows for grave injustices in Pakistan.

The aid agency explained on its Web site that 1,000 Pakistanis have been condemned because of their faith due to this law, such as a 5-year-old child who was burned alive for being a Christian, and is calling for support and worldwide prayer for the victims of this law as well as their families.

The petition, which was launched June 7, gathered more than 4,600 signatures in the first week. Supporters can add their signatures to the appeal against the blasphemy law and send messages of support, prayers and donations to the Catholic Church in Pakistan through the Web site.

The petition states: “We appeal to the government of Pakistan to repeal immediately the law on blasphemy, in particular paragraph 295 C of the criminal code, which establishes the death penalty for the offenders; we appeal to the government to guarantee the rights of all religious minorities of the country.”

However, we could see some at the end of the tunnel very soon as the eminent new agency reported at the end of this year that; “The Pakistani government plans to change its blasphemy law to check its misuse by extremist groups.”

Reuter, reports liberal and secular groups have called for the repeal of the blasphemy law altogether, which they say discriminates against religious minorities.

However, the U.S.-allied government of President Asif Ali Zardari, which is fighting an Islamist insurgency, says it plans to reform the law instead.

Although death sentence has never been carried out due to this draconian law as most convictions are thrown out on appeal or because of lack of evidence. However, angry mobs have killed many people, mostly members of religious minorities. Last year, eight Christians were killed in central Punjab by a mob after blasphemy accusations, which officials said were spread by Islamist extremist groups linked to al Qaeda and the Taliban. Seven of the victims were burned to death. Religious minorities, mostly Christians, account for roughly four percent of Pakistan’s 170 million people.

What is shocking is that Islamic parties have opposed changes in the law because of suspicions that pro-Western, liberal groups seek to dilute Pakistan’s Islamic identity.

The law was introduced by Pakistan’s former military ruler General Mohammad Zia-ul-Haq in the 1980s in an effort to bring Pakistani law more in line with Islamic principles.Another military ruler, General Pervez Musharraf, tried to reform these laws in 2000, months after he seized power in a coup, but backed down after widespread protests from hard-line Islamic groups.

Saad Qaisrani · #4 Saturday, November 27, 2010

In easier words, death sentence is mandatory if supposedly proven. However, misuse is rampant and has given impetus to our growing intolerance.

Invincible · #5 Saturday, November 27, 2010

Quote:

Originally Posted by Saad Qaisrani

In easier words, death sentence is mandatory if supposedly proven. However, misuse is rampant and has given impetus to our growing intolerance.

“The weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong.”

Let the Allah(SWA) decide their fate,we are nobody to give verdict of capital punishment to other human beings.

Part:2

Part:3

Regards

khanbaba512 · #6 Wednesday, January 12, 2011

http://www.cssforum.com.pk/general/d...extremism.html

kindly check this too

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hafiz ishtiaq ahmad (Saturday, November 27, 2010), khanbaba512 (Wednesday, January 26, 2011), qayym (Saturday, November 27, 2010), Rehan Mehmood (Saturday, November 27, 2010)