We reject ‘Toheen Sahaba’ amendment bill, Allama Shafqat Shirazi

Shiite News: The head of Majlis Ulema Imamia and Secretary of Foreign Affairs of MWM Pakistan in a statement rejected the blasphemy bill as malicious and said: Before any change in religious laws, take all the stakeholders on board.

Reasons for Bill Rejection:

There is no clear definition of the word “insult” and “derogation” in this bill, due to which the scope for disagreement has ended.

It is necessary to see who are the people whose insult and denigration should be declared a crime according to the Qur’an and Sunnah.

Are all the people who accompanied the Holy Prophet (PBUH) at such a level of sanctity that legislation should be made about them? There is no restriction under this heading in this bill.

In this bill, the uncles, parents and other relatives of the Holy Prophet of Islam were ignored and they were not considered as part of the Muslim holy personalities.

Our position:

Shia jurists and ulama, declare insulting the basic sanctities of other religions to be haram. But we do not have any respect for the enemies of the Holy Prophet (SAW) and the Ahl al-Bayt Athar (AS). Through this bill, the enemies of the Ahl al-Bayt (AS) are being protected by wearing the cloak of the Companions.

Misuse of religious laws is a common practice in Pakistan, instead of fixing the flaws in the blasphemy laws, the punishments have been toughened, which is by no means a serious practice.

Our recommendation:

The crime of insulting religious figures should be limited to the Imams of Ahl al-Bayt (A), Mothers of the Faithful (A.S.), previous Prophets and the Fourth Caliphate and there should be no such legislation regarding other historical figures.

The offense mentioned in this law should remain bailable so that innocent persons can be spared from the long ordeal of imprisonment in case of false accusation.