Another headline grabs top spot on the BBC News website. However, this one I had a premonition of a couple of days ago, or you could say access into some insider insight about.
As someone concerned with Islamic terrorism and interested in South Asian affairs, I’m a member of various yahoogroups which cover these issues. One such yahoogroup is called Socialist Pakistan News and has many interesting discussions largely from the left-progressive side of Pakistani politics.
 Salman Taseer |
Sherry Rahman, a famous Pakistani politician belonging to the PPP (Peoples Party of Pakistan), posted a message regarding efforts undergone by a few brave members to limit the damage done to hapless people booked under the blasphemy laws. Recently, a Christian woman was sentenced to death under these laws and Islamic parties are clamoring for her execution. Every year, many people are killed by Islamic religious fanatics in Pakistan for blasphemy.
Sherry Rahman wrote the following:
The mullahs have announced a million man march and given me a public deadline of 6th Jan to take back the amendments bill, or else. They said they will stop at "nothing then to protect namoos I risalat". (honour of the prophet)
I do not have state security but am quite clear that I will not take the bill "back" as demanded by some extremists, most recently on Meher Bokhari's program, where they openly declared myself and Taseer waajibul qatl. (necessary to be slaughtered – Arabic but used in Islamic ‘religious’ sense)
So, reading this I was struck by the courage of this woman, but also felt unease and premonition at the prospect that these idealistic and brave human beings might very likely be slaughtered by religious Muslims acting under incitement from religious leaders.
As the BBC now reports:
The governor of Pakistan's Punjab province, Salman Taseer, has died after being shot in the Pakistani capital Islamabad.
Interior Minister Rehman Malik said: "The police guard who killed him says he did this because Mr Taseer recently defended the proposed amendments to the blasphemy law."
I can only praise and admire Salman Taseer, another martyr murdered by Islamic terrorists (like Benazir Bhutto and her father before her) for his great courage and his ultimate sacrifice. As it turned out, it was the very same guard tasked with defending him who betrayed him for the sake of fealty to Islamic duty.
Previously, I wrote an article trying to explain the motivation behind killings and threats to blasphemers like Taslima Nasreen, which remains relevant in understanding the origin of this Islamic tradition of murdering blasphemers:
To quote from that article:
When Prophet Muhammad started putting together his poetic revelations reworking Biblical stories and threatening burning in hell for those who refused to accept him as a prophet of Allah as the pagan Arabs faced such criticisms they often responded in kind by writing poetic rhymes that criticized the actions and claims of Muhammad.
Once the Prophet Muhammad had gained political power in Medina he no longer had patience to bear such impudence on the part of others and moved to incite his brainwashed followers to murder his critics.
Abu Afak an elderly Jewish man who petitioned the Medinans to leave Muhammad got on the nerves of the Prophet who said to some of his followers "Who will deal with this rascal for me?"
Salim Ibn Umayr who was one of the great weepers and who had participated in Badr, said, "I take a vow that I shall either kill Abu Afak or die before him. He waited for an opportunity until a hot night came, and Abu Afak slept in an open place. Salim Ibn Umayr knew it, so he placed the sword on his liver and pressed it till it reached his bed. The enemy of Allah screamed and the people who were his followers, rushed to him, took him to his house and interred him.
Later Asma Bint Marwan a woman who composed verses ridiculing the prophet for his barbarity came under the radar of Muhammad. He said "Who will rid me of Marwan's daughter?" `Umayr b. `Adiy al-Khatmi who was with him heard him, and that very night he went to her house and killed her. In the morning he came to the apostle and told him what he had done and he [Muhammad] said, "You have helped God and His apostle, O `Umayr!" When he asked if he would have to bear any evil consequences the apostle said, "Two goats won't butt their heads about her", so `Umayr went back to his people.
This set a precedent of action for believing Muslims seeing their perfect prophet murdering any who dared to criticise him (for more examples of Muhammad assassinations of opponents, ridiculers read this).
It became a standardised practice to kill anyone who might criticise Muhammad from then on.
The following sahih hadith gives another example of this:
Book 38, Number 4349:
Narrated Ali ibn AbuTalib: A Jewess used to abuse the Prophet (peace_be_upon_him) and disparage him. A man strangled her till she died. The Apostle of Allah (peace_be_upon_him) declared that no recompense was payable for her blood.
As readers can see: the founder of the Islam himself started the tradition of inciting his followers to butcher his critics. Trying to protect those, accused of blasphemy, also counts as complicity in the minds of devout and pious Muslims, thus making such people waajibul qatl or necessary to be slaughtered as Salman Taseer was.
I only hope his death does not go in vain and that people wake up to the threat of Islamically inspired terrorism, and punish those, who such assassinations by declaring people waajibul qatl.
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