“Pakistan: Muslim Retired Teacher Arrested for Offending the Prophet’s Companions”, Bitter Winter, July 11, 2023:
“On June 26 in Battagram, in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan, a retired Muslim teacher was arrested by the police to the great surprise of himself and his family. A certain Momin Shah had filed a FIR (First Information Report) against him claiming that he and two friends had seen on social media material disrespectful to the companions of Prophet Muhammad posted by the former teacher.
The police acted promptly, although the teacher insisted that he did not post anything disrespectful to Islam, his own religion, and perhaps his profile had been hacked.
This was a comparatively rare example of enforcement of Article 298-A of the Pakistani Criminal Code, reading as follows: “Whoever by words, either spoken or written, or by visible representation, or by any imputation, innuendo or insinuation, directly or indirectly, defiles the sacred name of any wife (Ummul-Mumudeen), or members of the family (Ahle-bait) of the Holy Prophet (peace be upon him), or any of the righteous Caliphs (Khulafa Raashideen) or companions (Sahaaba) of the Holy Prophet (peace be upon him) shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to three years, or with fine, or with both……”
Read the full article at Bitterwinter.org
