You cannot quote from Quran in Pakistan!!!!

[Awesome]

So long as the judges in Pakistan are allowed to be influenced and threatened by the hardliners in Pakistan. No Judge is going to side with a Christian especially in such a public case as this.

That is only a myth, not even the PM was able to escape the punishment under the law and several cases of the ISI were overturned as well.

Please speak with references, since the judges are considered honorable and your accusations should not be blind firing.

Safriz,

I am of the opinion Blasphemy is a cry babies' charge and in this case there wasn't any blasphemy at all.

To say there should be no blasphemy, is to say there shouldn't be any other religion than Islam.

As a Muslim it is my right to propagate Islam in the same way it is the Church pastor's right to spread Christianity.

As a Muslim I like to point out hey look the Christians are lying saying Jesus was God, he's a man, the entire story of Jesus as a God may be void and I may choose to make fun of it to entice more people towards Islam by pointing out their ridiculous belief.

In the same way they may call ours ridiculous. Then the question just comes on who is right and who is wrong. They keep continue to put their arguments forth, I will continue to put my arguments, the one with the better arguments, wins over the converts.

Why cry over Blasphemy? I come back - its a cry baby's charge.

And if we are good with each other you will win over the most converts and more importantly people will exercise self-restraint out of the goodness of their hearts.

 

[Safriz]

So long as the judges in Pakistan are allowed to be influenced and threatened by the hardliners. No Judge is going to side with a Christian especially in such a public case as this.

oh thank you..
finally somebody takes the thread back on track..

Although the recent cases do indicate that Judiciary is now widely respected in Pakistan and has an upper hand as it should...
But there can be Public order situation as a result of a quick judgement by court against the Qari in favor of the Pastor.
The pastor being a Pakistani who is aware of our social system and understands the people,has done the right thing by issuing an apology directed at the Qari,and has involved community peers in the matter..
No physical harm has been done here,just bad mouthing.So hopefully both parties will resolve the matter outside the court.

 

[Safriz]

Safriz,

I am of the opinion Blasphemy is a cry babies' charge and in this case there wasn't any blasphemy at all.
The term

To say there should be no blasphemy, is to say there shouldn't be any other religion than Islam.

As a Muslim it is my right to propagate Islam in the same way it is the Church pastor's right to spread Christianity.

As a Muslim I like to point out hey look the Christians are lying saying Jesus was God, he's a man, the entire story of Jesus as a God may be void and I may choose to make fun of it to entice more people towards Islam by pointing out their ridiculous belief.

In the same way they may call ours ridiculous. Then the question just comes on who is right and who is wrong. They keep continue to put their arguments forth, I will continue to put my arguments, the one with the better arguments, wins over the converts.

Why cry over Blasphemy? I come back - its a cry baby's charge.

And if we are good with each other you will win over the most converts and more importantly people will exercise self-restraint out of the goodness of their hearts.

blas·phe·my
   [blas-fuh-mee] Show IPA
noun, plural blas·phe·mies.
1.
impious utterance or action concerning God or sacred things.
2.
Judaism .
a.
an act of cursing or reviling God.
b.
pronunciation of the Tetragrammaton (YHVH) in the original, now forbidden manner instead of using a substitute pronunciation such as Adonai.
3.
Theology . the crime of assuming to oneself the rights or qualities of God.
4.
irreverent behavior toward anything held sacred, priceless,


This is a "Free dictionary" definition of Blasphemy..Its not only Islam,but most faiths wont like this..

In this particular case there are 99% chances that blasphemy wasn't done and the pastor may only be referring to verses of Quran trying to prove his point,but we don't know the details.

I am assuming that Pakistani Blasphemy laws are well defined as any other law,and should be decided in the court not outside court...
and as far as i know it is for protection against about mockery of religion/religious icons,and unwanted and deliberate insults being said or written against Islamic Icons/Personalities.
Libel / Defamation laws are similar or same and so are copyright laws..So Blasphamy laws are not as bonkers as they may seem...
Where it goes wrong is when people themselves become judge and jury..

In this case the Qari has asked police to file an FIR which is the right thing to do if he has grounds to suspect that laws had been broken..Let him file an FIR and prove it in the court..Nothing wrong with that...

while the christian / Non muslim Members of assembly have the right of raising the matter of Blasphemy laws in National assembly and point out the flaws in the law.

But until the day it is the law of the land every Pakistani citizen is duty bound to follow it,they like it or not.

 

[airmarshal]

Why such stupid, nonsensical isolated incidents become headlines in Pakistan?

 

[Speaker]

Versions of Ramayana - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Depending on the methods of counting, as many as three hundred versions of the Indian epic poem, the Ramayana, are known to exist.



But Hindus have a monkey god called Hanuman and the Monkeys are allowed to run in the city due to religious reasons not Animal rights.
Off topic but since you mentioned,i had to reply.

The Ramayana is not a religious book - it is a mythological story. We learn morals from it, not rules and regulations - which thankfully we are not subjugated by.

Also, no one treats street Monkeys as gods. Even in temples, Monkeys are considered as a nuisance because they steal fruits and Prasad.

 

[Skallagrim]

Reminds me you can't say Allah in Malaysia.

Here in Bangladesh I saw plenty of literature published by the Bangladesh Biblical Society targeted to Muslims for proselytization. They say Allah, Isa (A) instead of Ishwar (the Bangla word for Allah used by all others except Muslims), Jesus etc to instill non-Islamic beliefs into half-educated/ uneducated people. The name of the publisher is not even mentioned fully, only BBS (for Bangladesh Biblical Society). Even Christian society, Christianity etc words are not mentioned, instead they say 'Masihi Jamaat'.

 

[Speaker]

That is only a myth, not even the PM was able to escape the punishment under the law and several cases of the ISI were overturned as well.

The issue is not with the authority or process of law. When the law itself is convoluted, twisted and self-serving to one religion, the judges have to come up with an unfair ruling by following it. Judges don't make laws, they execute them.

 

[OrionHunter]

If really pastor was trying to do this than he should face a trail but under Law and should have a fair trail and court should decide what punishment he should get under Islamic Laws

The mullahs seem to be running riot in Pakistan. They seem to think they are a law unto themselves.

Not only Pakistan, but we have some yahoos here too who think that the best way to get publicity and recognition is by issuing bizarre fatwas that are both amusing as well as idiotic. Can't they be given a fatwa to stop spouting crap all the time?

 

[haviZsultan]

These mullahs seriously need to be punished for their crimes.

Mullahs are a class of people who are almost never punished for their actions. Everyone fears them and no one can do anything against them. Mullahs are never held accountable for their crimes.

 

[Peregrine]

These Maulvi hazrat think that they are the custodians of Islam and one must abide by their rules to lead their lives. Whenever i go to Jumma Prayers, the imam always says few things, which really infuriate me, like in his last Jumma surmon, he delivered a lecture on ''Why people should bring children to mosques and how it's a good act'' and two weeks before, he ranted for 5 minutes, telling people to not allow their kids to be in first row........... I had this strong impetus to confront him over his hypocrisy, but i decided to keep it to my self, until now.

 

[miss]

These Maulvi hazrat think that they are the custodians of Islam and one must abide by their rules to lead their lives. Whenever i go to Jumma Prayers, the imam always says few things, which really infuriate me, like in his last Jumma surmon, he delivered a lecture on ''Why people should bring children to mosques and how it's a good act'' and two weeks before, he ranted for 5 minutes, telling people to not allow their kids to be in first row........... I had this strong impetus to confront him over his hypocrisy, but i decided to keep it to my self, until now.

if you did you will be in prison under blasphemy law ??

 

[Pfpilot]

The reaction of the common man is what is so worrying about the increasingly Islamic leanings of our nation. While most of us forum members, with our generally educated backgrounds, agree this is a miscarriage of justice, the reaction of those it concerns is to the contrary. According to the article, it the was the cleric, who was being apologized to. Not the pastor who was threatened with death and will never again feel any semblance of normality...it was the cleric's opinion, which was of highest value; not the pastor, who was being apologized for as if he was some nonsensical nonentity.
I always found it interesting while in Pakistan, when the maulvis give their emotional speeches on the perils of western society and the need for a more hardcore islamic nation, everyone respectfully sits and listens. No one is able to or expected to or in a position to call out the complete hypocrisy of these hardliners. For a religion that is meant to signify peace above all else, it has been betrayed by those entrusted with the privilege of spreading the message. When hardliners misuse their power to use that very same religion to spin large groups of people into a frenzy to fight against causes that are completely political and unrelated to the enlightening purpose of religion, they are opening Islam up to justifiable ridicule.
Ironically, clerics of all types are able to justify their messages of hate by preying on the insecurities of many muslims; in a nation that is 95% muslim, I ask, who are we fearing?

 

[Icarus]

The story lacks numerous details:

1) What exactly was the Pastor doing quoting those sources?
2) What was a bigot doing in a Church Mass in the first place?
3) Quoting Quranic verses is not a crime under the Pakistan Penal Code, so the pastor cannot be prosecuted under the given charges.

So I'd say the pastor is in the clear. As for non-muslims quoting Quranic verses, I have studied under Christian teachers for a significant portion of my life. I had English, Math and Urdu teachers that were fluent in Quranic Verses and often used them in general discussion as is the norm. For example, when commenting about the death of Alexander, our English teacher would say:

'Qul un Nafsin Zaiqat-al Mot'

'And every soul would have a taste of death'

It was absolutely fine, no problem. Nobody objected or was put off. I don't think we can generalize one such incident as the norm, when the nation in question has over 180 million residents.

 

[Thomas]

That is only a myth, not even the PM was able to escape the punishment under the law and several cases of the ISI were overturned as well.

Please speak with references, since the judges are considered honorable and your accusations should not be blind firing.

I'm not firing blind, did not the judge who convicted Malik Mumtaz Hussain Qadri end up having to flee Pakistan because of death threats? did not even other lawyers put garlands around around Qadri's neck and shower him with rose petals in court? There are Christians sitting in jail now charged with blasphemy who hang in limbo becuase even though the judiciary knows the evidence is lacking. They are afraid to go agianst the extremists.

Pakistan's blasphemy laws have left even judges in fear of their lives


Here is a article written by a professor at the University of Punjab That nails part of the reality of Pakistan today.

http://www.ijbssnet.com/journals/Vol._2_No._7;_Special_Issue_April_2011/30.pdf

 

[KS]

Ironically, clerics of all types are able to justify their messages of hate by preying on the insecurities of many muslims; in a nation that is 95% muslim, I ask, who are we fearing?

Are you sure they look only as 96% muslm vs 5% non-muslim or as A% Sunnis vs B% Shiahs, X% Barelvi vs Y% Deobandi and so on..?