The recent judicial verdict of sentencing a Pakistani Christian woman, Asia Bibi, to death over an alleged insult to Islam by a Pakistani court departs from the merciful teachings of Islam both in letter and spirit. “The blasphemy laws in Pakistan needs some deep soul searching as its current form is aberrant from the values of freedom of belief, forgiveness and mercy which are highly emphasized throughout both the Quran and the prophetic Sunnah”, said Dr. Ibrahim Negm, the Senior Advisor to the Grand Mufti.

Dar al- Iftaa emphasizes that blasphemy laws should never be used as a weapon to silence those who criticize Islam because both freedom of belief and freedom of expression are two well-established values within the Islamic paradigm and jeopardizing these two values lead to committing injustice, oppression and persecution against others.

Islam in essence granted people the freedom of belief because God aims at the surrender of hearts and not the mere submission of bodies. Our job as Muslims both institutions and people should not revolve around preventing people from criticism directed to faith or any other topic as this is part of the intellectual ability that is a God given gift. Creating an atmosphere of tolerance and amicability where the intellectual religious debates thrive and open interfaith discussion forums flourish is a religious requirement and a human tendency which benefits the intellectual discourse and serves as an open channel among world faiths.