Blasphemy: Taking law into own hands is against Shariah, constitution, humanity: CII chief

ISLAMABAD: Council of Islamic Ideology (CII) Chairman Dr Qibla Ayaz Wednesday said taking the law into own hands in the wake of blasphemy was against Shariah, Constitution and humanity.

Addressing a press conference after chairing the CII’s 227th session, he condemned the burgeoning incidents of taking the law into own hands in the wake of blasphemy of the Holy Prophet Muhammad (Peace Be Upon Him) and the Holy Quran.

Reading out the communique in the presence of the council’s members, Ulema and Mashaikh of various schools of thought, Dr Qibla said the culprits involved in Sialkot and Khanewal incidents should be brought to justice as soon as possible, as it would help build confidence of the people on law enforcement agencies and judicial system.

He said the main factor behind such disappointing incidents was delay in the dispensation of justice, adding the courts should expedite the judicial process against the blasphemy’s real culprits and those who took the law into their own hands.

He also urged the religious scholars to educate the people about human rights pertaining to their life and property in the religious broader perspectives.

He said Ulema and Mashaikh should display verses from the Holy Quran and sayings of the Holy Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) in their respective mosques, Imambargahs, Khanqahs and seminaries regarding the human rights. They had to avoid un-researched material to deliver in the public, he added.

Dr Qibla also proposed the media to telecast such programmes that could bring reforms in the social, political and religious spectrum of life of the people.

He appreciated the quarter concerned for making Paigham-e-Pakistan on the agenda of the Parliament and also stressed the need to present this doctrine on the floors of provincial assemblies.

He said due to certain national and international sources and reasons, the Eastern culture was being affected and there was a dire need to make efforts to get our past social and cultural glory.

He proposed the government to constitute a national commission comprised the experts of sociology, psychology, law and religion in a bid to devise short term and long term policies to cope with such incidents on permanent basis.

The CII’s members - Allama Muhammad Hussain Akbar, Pir Syed Ziaullah Bukhari, Pir Habib Arfani, Mufti Muhammad Zubair, Dr Umair Mehmood Siddiqui, Pirzada Junaid Ameen, Maulana Hamidul Haq Haqani, Maulana Naseem Ali Shah, Dr Pir Abbul Hassan Muhammad Shah and Sahibzada Muhammad Hassan Haseeb ur Rehman and besides Ulema and Mashaikh from various schools of thought including Maulana Abdul Khabir Azad, Allama Ali Raza Bukhari, Allama Arif Hussain Wahidi, Allama Syed Iftikhar, Hussain Naqvi, Maulana Syed Cheeragh Din Shah, Maulana Muhammad Tayyab Tahiri (Panj Pir) and Senator Prefessor Sajid Mir attended the meeting.