On Thursday (July 27), a video of a Pakistani man refusing to wear a helmet, in place of his Islamic headgear (Imama Sharif), while driving went viral on social media.
In the video, the man was heard saying, “You ask me to pay a penalty of PKR 1001 but I will not remove my Imama Sharif and wear a helmet in its place. If necessary, I will pay a daily fine but I will not remove my Islamic headgear.”
“I will not wear a helmet. It is extremely clear to me,” he insisted on driving without a helmet. At that point, the reporter interjected him and asked, “Do you wear your Imama Sharif while taking bath?”
I will not wear helmet as it's not prescribed in Shariah 🤷♀️😂 pic.twitter.com/NI3h4UQVFg
— Mona Farooq Ahmad (@MonaChaudhryy) July 27, 2023
The question rattled the Pakistani man, who vehemently insisted, “Did Sahaaba Karam, Anbiya Karaam (Prophet Muhammad and his companions) wear the headgear (while taking a bath)? Of course, they wore it when they went outdoors. What is this line of questioning?”
“You are talking like a retard. Atleast say something that makes sense,” the man reprimanded the reporter.
The video was originally uploaded on the official TikTok channel of a Pakistani organisation named ‘News 24 HD’ on July 22, 2023. This is not the first time that Pakistanis resorted to bizarre acts in the name of Islam.
Blasphemous QR Code in Pakistan
Earlier in July last year, dozens of Islamists belonging to the extremist Barelvi organisation Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) unleashed mayhem in the mobile market of Karachi, Pakistan, after rumours of an alleged blasphemy against the company.
The protestors tore down the billboards of Samsung in the mobile market in the city and indulged in vandalism after they heard that the company has committed ‘blasphemy’ against Islam.
The protests were not limited to the mobile market as billboards in several locations across the city faced the ire of angry TLP members. Initial rumours circulating about the incident said that Samsung had introduced a QR code on its devices which is blasphemous.
Severe protest against #samsung in Saddar mobile market #Karachi avoid the area #Pakistan pic.twitter.com/6aqh9ZVsQb
— One Security Pvt Ltd (@1secalert) July 1, 2022
Following this, the Islamists took to the streets of Karachi and started attacking the company’s billboards. In December 2021, a Pakistani man threatened American behemoth Pepsi for printing a QR code with the name of Prophet Muhammad on its 7UP bottles.
The man threatened a Pepsi company truck driver with dire consequences if the QR Code on a 7 UP soft drink bottle was not removed by the company. On enquiring, the man, who identified himself as Mulla, insisted that the QR code is actually the name of Prophet Muhammad and that if the company did not remove the logo he would burn the truck.
