Opinion: Preventing a Blasphemy Pandemic

Who cares if neither Bibi nor the governor actually committed blasphemy? One was accused and the other killed simply because of a difference of opinion. And ironically, it was Prophet Muhammad who said, "Differences of opinion in my community are a blessing."

File photo: A rally protesting proposed changes to blasphemy law

Ahmadiyya Times | News Watch | US Desk.
Source/Credit: AOL News | Opinion
By Faheem Younus | January 12, 2010

Pandemics have two key components: a novel and infectious agent and an oblivious populace.

This week's rally in which more than 40,000 Pakistani citizens declared their support for blasphemy laws makes one wonder: Do Pakistan's blasphemy laws have the potential to turn into a pandemic for the Islamic world?

These laws sprung into the limelight in November 2010 when Asia Bibi, a Christian mother of five, was sentenced to death after she was accused of blaspheming Prophet Muhammad.


The stakes were raised when Salman Taseer, the governor of Pakistan's largest province, Punjab, publicly called for Bibi's release and an amendment to what he called a "black law." Taseer's bodyguard shot him 27 times on Jan. 4 for his opposition to Pakistan's blasphemy laws, creating a perfect storm for a pandemic.

Who cares if neither Bibi nor the governor actually committed blasphemy? One was accused and the other killed simply because of a difference of opinion. And ironically, it was Prophet Muhammad who said, "Differences of opinion in my community are a blessing."

Let me emphasize that as a "Muslimerican," I do not condone brazen insults of the Prophet Muhammad (or any prophet, for that matter). But like most moderate Muslims, I condemn Pakistan's mechanism for dealing with such insults.

So let's see if Pakistan's blasphemy laws manifest all the key elements of a pandemic.

Take novelty first. While the idea of the "rights of the sacred" is frequent in the history of religion, providing strict punishments for violating such rights, in Islam, is a rarity at best. The Koran prescribes absolutely no punishment for blasphemy, and goes further to say, "And if thy Lord had enforced His will, surely, all who are on the earth would have believed together. Wilt thou, then, force men to become believers?" [10:100].

Prophet Muhammad himself pardoned his bitter opponents on more than a dozen occasions. That is precisely why one would be hard-pressed to find similar state-sponsored atrocities committed under the guise of blasphemy laws over the past 1,400 years of Islam. Using a country's penal code to settle personal vendettas in the name of religion is a dangerous yet novel concept.

Is it infectious? You bet.

Pakistan's clerics celebrated New Year's Eve by holding nationwide rallies in support of Pakistan's blasphemy laws. Newspaper columnists, talk show hosts, college students and even street vendors are dyed-in-the-wool supporters of these clerics. More than 500 religious leaders hailed Mumtaz Qadri, the coldblooded guard who murdered the governor, as a hero. As Pakistan's clerics urged the masses not to offer funeral prayers for the late governor, hundreds glorified his assassin on a Facebook fan page. And when Qadri was brought to a court in Islamabad for his first hearing, a group of lawyers showered rose petals on him.

Just how poisonous were those rose petals is a question for the oblivious Muslim world, which is incapable of seeing that these laws could be a prelude for terrorism in its own backyard. Many American-Muslim groups were swift to issue statements condemning New Year's Eve bombing attacks at a Nigerian army barracks and a Coptic church in Alexandria, Egypt. But the majority of those same groups have been silent since the assassination of Taseer, who valiantly shed his own blood to protect the life of one innocent Christian woman.

A heralding sign of this pandemic appeared last year when Indonesia's Supreme Court declared blasphemy laws to be constitutional.

Now the Muslim scholars around the world could help by answering one simple question: Does Islam seek to honor Prophet Muhammad by killing in his name? If the answer is no, then the time is ripe to develop a "vaccine" against this infectious agent within the Muslim world.

But what if the answer is yes?

Then America should be worried. A potentially lethal infectious agent of extreme religious intolerance may have been unleashed globally.

Remain oblivious and soon this pandemic, loaded with guns and fatwas, might be coming to a church, synagogue or temple near you.

Faheem Younus, M.D., is a clinical associate professor of medicine/infectious diseases at the University of Maryland School of Medicine and a former national youth president of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community, USA.


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