THOUSANDS of people in Pakistan, led by mullahs, are now protesting against the recent acquittal of Asia Bibi, the Christian woman accused of blasphemy. Roads have been blocked, cars have been set alight and judges have been threatened. The clergy are promising death and destruction if the accused is not hanged.

The allegation against Bibi stemmed from claims she had a drink of water from a cup reserved for Muslim women, thus making the cup impure. This led to an argument and Asia is then said to have insulted Prophet Muhammad.

READ MORE: Islamist protests halt release of Bibi, calls for public hanging

It is not uncommon for minorities in Pakistan to be mistreated but the rising number of accusations of blasphemy against them, a crime that carries the death penalty, is worrying.

There is often a fundamental misunderstanding or misinterpretation of what is in the Quran as opposed to laws that are rooted in the hadith, a corpus of supplementary rulings written some 200 years after Muhammad, yet attributed to him.

It seems that the majority of ordinary Pakistani people believe that blasphemy laws stem from the Quran and that they are following Islam by supporting those blasphemy laws.

It is estimated that around 1000 people in Pakistan have been charged with blasphemy since 1987 and, while individual cases against minority Christian communities are already common, what is particularly worrying is that blasphemy laws are being applied to anyone with whom the mullahs do not agree. People can accuse neighbours or friends and an arrest will be made before questions are asked or explanations given.

In November 2014, 40 people were arrested and accused of killing a Christian couple in Punjab. A mob, declaring that the couple were guilty of desecrating the Quran, beat them and pushed them into a burning kiln. In another incident, a mother was charged with blasphemy for calling her son, Mohammed, a devil, for misbehaving.

The history of blasphemy law can be traced back to British colonisers who deemed it a criminal offence to “commit deliberate and malicious acts intended to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting religious belief” with the intent of protecting the diverse faith groups in pre-partitioned India.

In the 1970s, Pakistan’s Islamist military leadership introduced life imprisonment for the crime of blasphemy and, in 1986, the death penalty was introduced.

While many believe supporting apostasy and blasphemy laws to be following Islam, there is nothing in the Quran that decrees punishment for those who speak against the Quran or the messenger.

The Quran says that the Prophet was mocked and ridiculed like the messengers before him. Yet, not once does God decree that these accusers, these blasphemers, should be punished let alone killed.

Not only does the Quran forbid aggression, it also decrees that “not equal are the good response and the bad response. You shall resort with the best possible response. Thus, the one who used to be your enemy may become your close friend” [Quran 41:34].

If the mullahs and those that follow them are believers in the Quran and profess themselves to be Muslims, why then don’t they behave like Muslims?

While the case is attracting worldwide attention, it is interesting to note that ‘moderate’ Muslim clergy in Scotland have not voiced support for the court’s decision that the accusations against Bibi were false.

The calls to kill Bibi go against Quranic values and are a disgrace to humanity. Anyone who has a voice must speak out to support the court’s aquittal and to prevent others like her from suffering the same fate.

Paigham Mustafa
Aberdeen