A popular Islamic cleric in Pakistan, Tariq Masood, known for his fiery videos defending ‘Sar Tan Se Juda‘ calls over blasphemy, including against former BJP leader Nupur Sharma, and puritanical preachings of Islam, has become the object of Islamist ire after he called the Islamic prophet “illiterate” and asserted that Allah didn’t bother to correct numerous grammatical errors in the ‘Holy’ Quran.
“Prophet Muhammad was illiterate, the Quran contains faulty text, & Allah did not correct it either. So, why do we follow him, as he was neither educated nor do his culture or language align with ours,” Mufti Tariq Masood said in a video that went viral on social media almost immediately, attracting calls for his beheading from the faithful for what they consider the unpardonable sin of committing “blasphemy”.
"Prophet Muhammad was illiterate, the Quran contains faulty text, & Allah did not correct it either. So, why do we follow him, as he was neither educated nor do his culture or language align with ours."
— Pakistan Untold (@pakistan_untold) September 22, 2024
– Pak Mufti Tariq Masoodpic.twitter.com/6VkfoARmZ9
Scores of Islamists on X, formerly known as Twitter, raised ‘Sar Tan Se Juda’ demands against the Mufti for what they claimed was an insult to their beloved Prophet and disrespect for the ‘Holy’ Quran.
A social media user referred to Mufti’s remarks on Prophet Muhammad as “gustakh” and proclaimed that the Muslim cleric had crossed all the limits. The user further claimed that such people are deviating from the Ummah and there is a need to fix accountability.
Absolutely unacceptable! This gustakh Khinzir Tariq Masood has crossed all limits. Disrespecting our beloved Prophet ﷺ and the Quran is a line that cannot be crossed. Such people are deviating the Ummah. Accountability is a must.#muftitariqmasood @GovtofPakistan pic.twitter.com/X0aIvMJB5u
— Jashne Ali Kazmi🇮🇳 (@jashne_ali) September 22, 2024
Shia activists in Gilgit-Baltistan called for a blasphemy case against Tariq Masood for calling Prophet Muhammad illiterate and stating that the Quran is replete with grammatical errors.
#Shia activists in #Gilgit–#Baltistan demand #blasphemy case against #Deobandi cleric Mufti Tariq Masood for allegedly saying that the Quran has grammatical errors.https://t.co/8TPJ2y4211 pic.twitter.com/NPp06cZLHV
— SAMRIBackup (@SamriBackup) September 22, 2024
Riots erupted in the mosque of Mufti Tariq Masood, an unverified video of which was shared by a social media user on X. The video shows an angry mob pelting stones.
نارتھ کراچی میں Tariq Masood کی مسجد میں ہلڑ بازی کے مناظر ۔۔۔ مولویوں کے دو گروہ (ایک طارق مسعود کا حامی دوسرا مخالف ) ایک دوسرے پر قرآن و حدیث کی کتب اور دیگر اسلامی کتب پھینک پھینک کر اپنے گندے عقائد کا اعلان کر رہے ہیں
— Eye of Eagle (@of_eagle18655) September 22, 2024
جو تیرے در سے یار پھرتے ہیں
دربدر یونہی خوار پھرتے ہیں pic.twitter.com/WDH07oAkfa
Masood promptly went into hiding as outrage swept over his comments on Prophet Muhammad and the Quran and in the wake of death threats he received from Islamists who believed he had committed the “unpardonable sin” of blasphemy, which, according to them, has only one punishment: death.
Desperate to save himself from the ire of extremists, Masood has issued four frantic apologies to date, trying to distance himself from the comments by building a “context” around it.
Mai mazrat chahta hon #muftitariqmasood pic.twitter.com/IsFLtzKsCu
— Mufti Tariq Masood (@Muftitm) September 22, 2024
However, his apologies have fallen on deaf ears as those who are outraged at his remarks share his past videos where he dismisses apologies tendered by so-called ‘blasphemers’ and advocates the death penalty for them.
In one of the old videos that is doing the rounds on the internet, Tariq Masood can be seen preaching and advocating that only blasphemy laws that have the death penalty can stop blasphemy as it is easy to apologise after committing a mistake.
As ye sow, so shall ye reap
— Swati Goel Sharma (@swati_gs) September 24, 2024
Pakistan’s Mufti Tariq Masood, now in hiding after his own ‘blasphemous’ lecture, has put out four frantic apology videos
But as you can watch, he has always preached that only blasphemy laws (that have death penalty) can stop blasphemy because it’s… pic.twitter.com/E6Ewl2L98J
Maulana Tariq Masood had previously been in the spotlight for his controversial statements about marriage. Now, he faces blasphemy accusations in Pakistan, at a time when two people have been killed on similar charges in recent days.
Recently, a man accused of blasphemy was killed in police custody by an officer. In another case, a doctor accused of blasphemy was shot dead by the police in an encounter, with authorities claiming he was trying to escape. The police officers involved in these incidents have been honoured in Pakistan.
