ISLAMABAD: “Religious outfits” manipulate Islamic laws to suit their likes and dislikes, the Council of Islamic Ideology (CII) chairman said on Thursday.

“No law carries the death penalty for desecration of Holy Quran, but religious elements resort to mob justice to kill suspects,” Dr Raghib Hussain Naimi said. “This is not only un-Islamic but also contrary to the law of the land.”

Talking to media here at the CII office, Dr Naimi said blasphemy laws had four different punishments. The punishment for desecration of the Holy Quran is life imprisonment while the punishment for insulting members of the Holy Prophet’s (Peace be upon him) household and his companions (Sahaba) is seven years imprisonment, the CII chief added.

The punishment for violation of the Prohibition of Qadianiyat Ordinance is three years.

The law envisages death penalty only for a person found guilty of blaspheming the Holy Prophet (PBUH)

The law envisages death penalty only for a person proven guilty of committing blasphemy against the Holy Prophet (peace be upon him), Dr Naimi said. “But religious groups believe that the punishment for all the four crimes is the same — death — and take the law into their own hands.

“No one has the authority to issue a Fatwa for killing an individual suspected of committing blasphemy,” Raghib Naimi said.

He criticised religious elements for “playing with the popular sentiment for political gains”.

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When his attention was drawn to a perception that the CII had failed to identify and isolate clerics who issue inflammatory statements or incite the public over blasphemy, the CII chairman recounted his own recent experience.

“I declared that the Fatwa for death of the Chief Justice of Pakistan was Haram. Soon after that I received up to 500 threatening messages, some of which were laced with abusive language,” Dr Naimi said.

He said the “saner elements among religious circles” were afraid of extremists.

The CII has repeatedly stated that giving Fatwa to kill or taking the law into one’s own hands is illegal, unconstitutional and against the principles of Sharia. “Sharia does not authorise any individual to take another person’s life,” the CII chairman said.

He expressed displeasure over growing intolerance in society, regretting that many people get “emotionally charged after receiving media messages”, but they are not ready to listen to religious matters in their true spirit.

“It is clear in all respects that only the state has the authority and the right to punish those found guilty of committing any blasphemy.”

Published in Dawn, August 30th, 2024