Pakistan’s Blasphemy Laws: From Islamic Empires to the Taliban

Contents

contents Preface. The Ethnography of a Military State xi Acknowledgments xv chapter 1. Pakistan’s Military State and Civil Society 1 chapter 2. Muhammad, the Messenger 29 chapter 3. Blasphemy Laws’ Evolution 47 chapter 4. Colonial Origins, Ambiguities, and Execution of the Blasphemy Laws 73 chapter 5. Risky Knowledge, Perilous Times: History’s Martyr Mansur Hallaj 87 chapter 6. Blasphemy Cultures and Islamic Empires 109 Conclusion. The Affiliates: Where To? 133 appendices 1. Fieldwork 147 2. Text of Pakistan’s Blasphemy Laws 149 3. A Statement by the Asian Human Rights Commission 151 4. The Hudood Ordinance; Qanun-e Shahadat or the Law of Evidence 153 5. Fate of a Teacher Accused of Blasphemy to Be Decided Today 155 Notes 157 Bibliography 181 Index 195 THIS PAGE INTENTIONALLY LEFT BLANK Paradise is only at a place where no mulla lives, Where no uproar and clamor from a mulla is heard. May the world rid itself of the terror of a mulla, May no one pay heed to his fatwas. In a city where a mulla dwells, No wise man is ever found. diwan-e dara shikoh In the name of God, the Merciful. Dara Shikoh, a great Sufi mystic and intellectual (1615–1659), executed by his brother Aurengzeb for heresy in trying to create an interfaith dialogue with the Hindus. ...