Faith and Inter-faith: Churches in Muslim countries

I always find it very discomforting reading about sanctions on building places of worship or attacks on such places. I feel a lot of sorrow whenever I read about a place of worship being attacked, damaged, demolished and disrespected.

Sacred Heart Church, Lahore, Pakistan has be repeatedly threatened.

Ahmadiyya Times | News Watch | Article
Source/Credit: Times of Malta
By Laiq Ahmed Atif | November 20, 2010

Churches, synago­gues and mosques are all places of worship where the name of God the creator and lord of the entire universe is oft-commemorated. Thus, they all are very sacred and holy and deserve to be respected and honoured fully, irrespective of the denomination to which they belong.

But, unfortunately, there are some countries that do not allow the building of churches, mosques or other places of worship on their territory. Also, there are some people who are not paying full respect to the places of worship that do not belong to them or which are not the symbols of their religion. However, I believe all places of worship, whatever the religion they belong to, whoever the worshipers, whatever the way they worship God, are sacred and holy and must be respected fully, in every country, in every part of the world and by all people.

Pakistan: Zardari stays execution of blasphemy accused Christian woman

The case has drawn huge attention in the media, and there is deep sympathy for Aasia Bibi. Several NGOs have called for repealing the blasphemy law because it was “being used by illiterate masses in rural areas to hoodwink the minorities”.

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Source/Credit: Daily India | Asian News International
By  ANI | November 18, 2010


Islamabad, Nov 20: Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari has stayed the execution of a Christian mother sentenced to death on charges of blasphemy.

http://www.dailyindia.com/show/409687.php
On Friday, Zardari directed the federal minister for minorities, Shahbaz Bhatti, to submit a report in this regard within three days, The News reported.

The lawyer for the accused, SK Shahid, has already challenged the verdict in the Lahore High Court.

Earlier, a religious leader of the local mosque, Qari Saleem, had lodged an FIR against her for allegedly passing derogatory remarks against the Holy Prophet.

Eye on Extremism: An instrument of revenge

We move to 1973 and the insertion of the Objectives Resolution as the preamble to the constitution, and on to the second amendment of 1974 when an entire community which had been part of the majority since the country’s birth was declared a minority.

Ahmadiyya Times | News Watch | Int'l Desk
Source/Credit: The Express Tribune
By Amina Jilani | November 20, 2010

When Founder-Maker Mohammad Ali Jinnah told the future legislators of his country-to-be that “religion is not the business of the state” he knew what he was saying. He spelt out some of the reasons why it should not be, stressing the point that bigotry and intolerance should have no place in a new country about to take its place in the democratic and civilised world.

His warning went unheeded. It took only six months after his death for those same legislators to come up with the objectionable Objectives Resolution which firmly set Pakistan on its path towards complete intolerance of anything outside the state-defined religion, opening up the scope for the legislating of laws inherently at odds with accepted international fundamental human rights.

The first ominous signs came with the 1953 state-cum-mullah inspired Punjab riots involving the Ahmadis. In 1956, the authors of the first of the three constitutions with which we have been unblessed decreed that the Republic of Pakistan should be an Islamic republic. We move to 1973 and the insertion of the Objectives Resolution as the preamble to the constitution, and on to the second amendment of 1974 when an entire community which had been part of the majority since the country’s birth was declared a minority.

Pakistan: Blasphemy laws -- Stopping the rot

The pattern involves one party targeting another, alleging blasphemy while the real motives are personal enmity or economic rivalry...

Photo: Reuters

Ahmadiyya Times | News Watch | Int'l Desk
Source/Credit: Asian Human Rights Commission
By Beena Sarwar | November 16, 2010

An article by Ms. Beena Sarwar published by the Asian Human Rights Commission

The introspection, debate and outrage generated a month ago by the attacks on two villages in Gojra on July 31 and Aug 1 may be out of public sight, as happened all too often in the past, but the nine people murdered and the homes and churches gutted are not out of mind. Neither is Najeeb Zafar, the young factory owner in Sheikhupura, Punjab, killed on August 4 for allegedly desecrating Quranic verses when he removed a calendar from a wall. The following day, police in Sanghar, Sindh, saved a similarly accused 60-year old woman, Akhtari Malkani by taking her in protective custody.

On the surface, these incidents were motivated by passions aroused by allegations of blasphemy or disrespect to the holy Quran. These criminal charges can be punishable by death – but this is a punishment for the state to administer, not private citizens. The real motivation remains settling scores, a pattern identified over twenty years ago when the first 'blasphemy murder' took place; that of the Punjabi poet and teacher Naiamat Ahmar in Faisalabad in 1992.