Press release: Muslim intellectuals, activists condemn Paris beheading, demand abolition of apostasy and blasphemy laws

Muslim intellectuals and activists speaking at a webinar on Sunday condemned the Paris beheading of a school teacher, Samuel Paty, by an 18-year-old Muslim fanatic, Abdullakh Anzorov. The webinar was organised by the Indian Muslims for Secular Democracy (IMSD). Moderated by its convener, Javed Anand, all four panelists are office bearers and prominent members of IMSD.

In his introductory remarks Anand stated: “We are here to condemn in unequivocal terms, no ifs and buts, not only the man responsible for this barbaric act but all those who had any role in the instigation of the crime as also all those who seek to justify it. We are here not just to condemn the slaying of Mr Paty, but also to demand the abolishing of apostasy and banishing of blasphemy anywhere and everywhere across the world”. 

Islamic Scholar Dr Zeenat Shaukat Ali, Mumbai-based, argued that killing people for blasphemy or apostasy is not permissible in Islam. The Qur’an never mentioned such punishments. The Qur’an has stood for peace and justice in a non-violent way. It will be very fruitful if scholars and ulema scrutinised and sifted through Hadith literature which has been pending over the years. The confirmation of a Hadith has to be in consonance with the verses of the Qur’an, she said. 

“Respectfully, the Paris beheading is a wake-up call to the ulema and leaders of the Muslim world. It is time for both the clergy and the parents to instruct children that such acts of violence are not only detested and abhorred by Islam but are in total contradiction to Islam’s reverence for peace, explicit recognition of tolerance, compassion, social equality, high moral order and spiritual depth, Ali added.

Columnist, New Age Islam, Arshad Alam, Delhi-based, in his presentation contextualised the Islamist beheading of the teacher. Pointing out that it was planned and pre-meditated, he argued the prime objective of such acts of terror is to silence any critique of Islam. Alam added that Charlie Hebdo cartoons must be seen within a European tradition which has for long satirised religious traditions, particularly Christianity. Since Islam is also now a European religion, the same yardstick must be applied to this religion also. Those who want to retain blasphemy laws on the statute are basically the same forces which are opposed to the liberal secular tradition and therefore should be rightly understood as indulging in right wing politics, he said.

Alam argued that it is incumbent on Muslims to raise their voice against the laws of blasphemy and apostasy as worldwide they are the worst victims of such laws. Moreover, these laws serve to control and intimidate the minds of Muslims and till the time they are not abrogated, Muslims and others will not have the freedom to discuss, debate and critique, something which is cardinal in order to develop a free and open society.   

Advocate and mediator, A. J. Jawad, Chennai-based, spoke about the similarities between blasphemy and sedition as weapons of power and control used by theocracies and autocracies to suppress dissent and to whip up mob frenzy. He said that religion and nationalism are excuses used to charge up emotions. The anti-blasphemy laws and anti-sedition laws are used to attack detractors and dissenters by theocratic and autocratic (far right) rulers. He pointed out how in the 11th century AD, Sunni scholars of law and theology, called the “ulema,” began working closely with political rulers to challenge what they considered to be the sacrilegious influence of Muslim philosophers on society.

The most prominent in consolidating Sunni orthodoxy, said Jawad, was the brilliant and highly regarded Islamic scholar Ghazali, who died in the year 1111. In several influential books still widely read today, Ghazali declared two long-dead leading Muslim philosophers, Farabi and Ibn Sina, apostates for their unorthodox views on God’s power and the nature of resurrection. Their followers, Ghazali wrote, could be punished with death. Ghazali’s declaration provided justification to Muslim sultans from the 12th century onward who wished to persecute– even execute – thinkers seen as threats to conservative religious rule. The trend continues today, said Jawad.

Activist and writer Feroze Mithiborwala, Mumbai-based, said essentially the basic argument against the cartoon controversy is that they “mock” and “offend my religious sensibilities” and thus should be banned. The cartoons of Prophet Muhammad, which undoubtedly hurt the feelings of ordinary Muslims actually required a non-violent response, which would have been far more effective. On one hand, we have a murder committed by a religious fanatic in the name of blasphemy. On the other hand, there is a secular French tradition of absolute freedom of expression, which includes the right to offend all religions, Mithiborwala added. 

He said it's high time religious people realised one basic truth: every religious text and tradition is ‘offensive, blasphemous and heretical’ to the followers of other sects and religions. The very concepts of blasphemy and heresy are essentially anti-people and anti-democratic, as their agenda is to stymie any theological and intellectual debate and discussion on the issue of religious oppression and violence, both ideological and structural. Therefore concepts such as blasphemy and heresy have no place in any conscientious civilised society and must go, Mithiborwala concluded.

A 2-minute silence was observed at the beginning of the webinar as a mark of respect for the slain teacher whom Hassen Chalghoumi, an imam who leads prayers at a mosque in a Paris suburb described as “a martyr for freedom of expression, and a wise man who has taught tolerance, civilisation and respect for others." The imam added: “This is not Islam, sorry, it's not religion, its Islamism, it's the poison of Islam.” 

For further information, please contact Javed Anand: javedanand@gmail.com

Javed Anand - Convener, Indian Muslims for Secular Democracy (IMSD)

www.imsd.in -Trustee, Citizens for Justice and Peace

Co-editor, Sabrang India Online - www.sabrangindia.in

+919870402556; +91-22-26602288
Address: Nirant, Juhu Tara Road, Juhu
Mumbai 400049, India

see also

Marieme Helie Lucas: Stand and Be Counted

No spring for Arab women - Interview with Marieme Helie Lucas

Manifesto for a Secular Middle East and North Africa

On 'terrorism' & the recent killings in the UK - by Margaret Kimberley + comment by Marieme Helie Lucas

Karima Bennoune - Charlie Hebdo: "There is no way they will make us put down our pens."

Warwick Student's Union apologises, Maryam Namazie to speak on campus

Charlie Hebdo - Letter to the Left Leaning

Interview with Karima Bennoune, author of 'Your Fatwa Does Not Apply Here'

Woman filmmaker in Iran sentenced to 18 months in prison 

Ruqia Hassan, murdered by ISIS

The Daoud Affair By Paul Berman and Michael Walzer

Saoussen Ben Cheikh: Middle East Governments are using Covid-19 as a Pretext to Crush Human Rights // Palestinians to be “subjects,” not Citizens in Israeli Annexation

Leading Saudi activist dies in detention, say campaigners

Bethan McKernan - Ayasofya: the mosque-turned-museum at the heart of an ideological battle

Michael Walzer: Islamism and the Left - including a reply & debate with Andrew March

The religious persecution of Nasr Hamid Abu Zayd (1945-2010)/ Interview: My life fighting intolerance/ Mahmoud Mohammed Taha & the Second Message of Islam

The religious persecution of Nasr Hamid Abu Zayd

God resigns over situation in Middle East (from Karl reMarks) // Saudi Arabia Announces Historic Decision to Ban Everything

APPRAISAL Of British Officers / extracts from ACRs

Charlie Hebdo - Letter to the Left Leaning

Arshia Malik-The Nation

Arshia Malik-Times of India

Alberuni's Tarikh Al-Hind

Mahmoud Mohammed Taha (Author of Second Message of Islam); also known as Ustaz Mahmoud Mohammed Taha, was a Sudanese religious thinker, leader, and trained engineer. He was executed for apostasy at the age of 76 by the regime of Gaafar Nimeiry. (See his Court statement)

THE MODERATE MARTYR - A radically peaceful vision of Islam

The St. Petersburg Declaration (2007)

Khaled Ahmed - Rollback nations (NEWSWEEK PAKISTAN)

David Bergman - As Bangladesh court reaffirms Islam as state religion, secularism hangs on to a contradiction

Defend this reporter! Case over Paris cartoon forces Mumbai editor to go behind a veil

Aarefa Johari - Six months since she published Charlie Hebdo cover, Urdu editor struggles for work and money

Sandip Roy: Harassment of Urdu editor proves our own hypocrisy

Mohd Asim - Congratulations. We've Forced an Editor Into a Burqa

 Shirin Dalvi case: The tyranny of hurt sentiment

The hounding of Shirin Dalvi: 'These people are doing all this to damage my career'

People’s Alliance for Democracy and Secularism: Statement on the harrassment of Shirin Dalvi

PRESS CLUB CONDEMNS WITCH-HUNT OF URDU DAILY EDITOR // Statement on arrest of Shirin Dalvi, Editor, Awadhnama

Peter Dale Scott - Islam, a Forgotten Holocaust, and American Historical Amnesia - Indonesia's massacre of communists in 1965

Sharia law in operation: Indonesian couple flogged in public // Kate Lamb: Indonesia still fighting ghosts of communism

MAX REGUS - The state of silence: Indonesia’s religious discrimination


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