The Blasphemous Act

By Amjed Ashraf

QURAN, the holy book of Muslims, is an unassailable Islamic scripture that sets out the principles, codes, doctrines and rules for its believers and governs their conduct, behavior and contours, in all facets of life. The Quran is an axiomatic catalogue of laws that serves as the primary source of Shari’ah (Islamic Legal System), henceforth, holds the stature of the highest degree, and accordingly is held in the highest esteem by its devotees.

In short, it serves as a comprehensive code of life for all the people who subscribe to Monotheism and submit to the belief that “There is no God but Allah and Prophet Muhammad(PBUH) is His last messenger”. Nonetheless, there are many schools of thought in Islam, which differ on various grounds, but what unifies them concomitantly, is the belief that the Quran is the divine text and it was revealed by Allah upon His final messenger in Mecca and Madina, through Angel Gabriel. This well-established conception brings all these Islamic Schools of thought unanimously on the same page.

However, this quintessential and intrinsic bond of amicability–in this part of the world like the rest part–has incessantly been under severe attacks of all sorts, from myriad quarters, for decades. One such example that mirrors this fact has recently unfolded itself before us in the form of a petition filed by a person masquerading as a disciple of one of the Islamic schools of thought, before the Supreme Court of India, seeking thereby removal of 26 verses from the Holy Quran. According to the said person, these verses promote terrorism and violence and were inserted by the first three caliphs after the demise of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH). In the light of facts, this statement is highly outrageous and uncalled for. It does not stand a moment’s investigation. Thus demands condemnation on several counts. Consequently, these blasphemous remarks triggered widespread protests promptly across the country and reverberated every nook and corner with a conglomeration of slogans against the said individual. The same has been in place hitherto.

Meanwhile, while gazing into the past of the said individual it can be handily figured out that he had immensely been a catalyst for controversies. The conflict is the foremost factor that centralises his role throughout. His conduct in the past speaks volumes about his stance and answers all the questions that are presently emerging in our minds, in the superlative degree. Oftentimes in the past, his role has been a catastrophic one, for his community at significant junctures. For that matter, he was defenestrated long ago. Now, the current act certainly draws a large circle of incredulity around him, which is clearer than crystal and is almost, almost perpetual. The below-enumerated couplet of the Poet of East, Dr Allama Iqbal r.a in this context appears appropriate:

Agar ho Ishq tou hai kuffar bhi musalmaani

Na ho tou mard-e-musalmaan bhi kaafir-o-zindeeq

Interestingly, for a vast section of the Muslim community–be it the Islamic Scholars or commoners–it was not an uphill task to envisage what kind of nebulous scheme was interwoven around this move. They very well knew what is on the cards. They foresaw it as an attack aimed at the edifice of harmony. So, they stood together and condemned this irreverent move in full swing and demanded the arrest of this person, as per the law of the land for outrageous and insulting remarks against their religion and religious beliefs. But there have been a few others who fell prey to this trickery and jumped on the bandwagon to make acrimonious and primitive statements and started chastising a particular community. These people have entirely been ignorant of the fact that they are indeed fortifying the fictitious and malafide viewpoints of such fringe elements against Islam, and in a way helping them to appear relevant. For the time being, they must realize that such fringe elements have no religious identity. They are just the pawns in the hands of their masters and are meant to create conflict in the society and therefore cause disequilibrium within the social structures. The need of the hour is to come out of the identity dilemma and fathom out the skullduggery and then let the best sense prevail for the welfare and interest of the community at large. That would certainly work as an antidote.

In addition to that, the government has the highest responsibility in times like these. Given the nature and gravity of the issue, it must invoke the relevant provisions of law against such individuals, who under the garb of the right to freedom of speech and expression target a particular community or class by insulting and offending their deities and religious beliefs which then fans the flames of that community and leads to the disruption in the public order. The law should take its due course and not let the situation exacerbate at any cost. Because that is what precisely lies behind such wicked ploys

Views expressed in the article are the author’s own and do not necessarily represent the editorial stance of Kashmir Observer

• The author is a law student and can be reached at [email protected]

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