Islamic sermons motivated killer of politician who opposed Pakistani blasphemy law

While the mainstream media (and Hamas-linked CAIR) demonize conservatives for a shooting by a flag-burning Leftist, they -- predictably -- ignore the clear Islamic motivations of this murderer, and the continued victimizing of non-Muslims in Pakistan by the blasphemy law. "Sermons motivated killer of Pakistani politician," by Asif Shahzad for Associated Press, January 10:

ISLAMABAD - The confessed killer of a liberal Pakistani politician provided a judge Monday with the names of two men whose sermons allegedly sparked him to act, as YouTube footage emerged of the assassin chanting Islamic verses in police custody.
The slaying of Punjab province Gov. Salman Taseer nearly a week ago shocked many around the world, but tens of thousands of Pakistanis have expressed support for 26-year-old Mumtaz Qadri, who said he killed the governor for criticizing laws that carry the death penalty for insulting Islam....

Human rights activists have also said Pakistan's blasphemy laws are used to settle rivalries and persecute religious minorities.

Governor Taseer had called them "black" laws, but he wasn't demanding they be repealed. Instead, he wanted them reformed so they wouldn't be misused. Taseer became energized by the case of a Christian woman, Asia Bibi, who he said was wrongly sentenced to death for insulting Islam's prophet, Muhammad. The pope also called for her release.

Qadri told a judge Monday in written testimony that he decided to kill Taseer after he attended a gathering on Dec. 31 organized by Shahab-e-Islam, a small Islamist group that operated in his neighborhood in Rawalpindi, just outside the capital, Islamabad. He said speeches given by a cleric leading the group, Qari Hanif, and another member, Ishtiaq Shah, played a major role in his decision....

Police decided to present Qadri before the judge a day before he was scheduled to appear to avoid attracting the crowds of supporters who have shown up for his previous court appearances, said Islamabad police spokesman Naeem Iqbal.

In his previous appearances, supporters showered him with rose petals, kissed his cheek and shouted slogans in his favor.

The footage that appeared on YouTube showed Qadri chanting verses praising Islam's prophet as a police officer sits next to him. It is unclear who recorded the video. It was posted on Jan. 6, two days after Taseer was killed, and is accompanied by comments both for and against Qadri.

Tens of thousands of people marched through the southern port city of Karachi on Sunday to oppose any change to the blasphemy laws and many expressed support for Taseer's killer, chanting "Courage and bravery, Qadri, Qadri."...

Amid threats from groups defending the law, Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani ruled out any changes to the legislation.

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16 Comments

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katharina | January 10, 2011 7:46 AM | Reply

Imagine these crazy Muslim Pakistanis have NUCLEAR WEAPONS; and yet Hussein Obama wants to aid them with 2billions of weapon! Islam creates nutcase (Islam and its false god, which was created by the Arabic Pedophile rapist and mass murderer of the Jews, Mohammed) believers just like Nazism create the crazy Nazis!

See - Sharia Law for the Non-Muslim
Sunday, 07 November 2010 11:54 Bill Warner

"....In Medina, Mohammed sat all day long beside his 12-year-old wife while they watched as the heads of 800 Jews were removed by sword.[1] Their heads were cut off because they had said that Mohammed was not the prophet of Allah. ...Islam is 14% Allah and 86% Mohammed...." (At - http://europenews.dk/en: In - http://www.rightsidenews.com/2010110712066/us/islam-in-america/sharia-law-for-the-non-muslim.html

Zulu | January 10, 2011 8:10 AM | Reply

Tell Pakistan Not to Execute Asia Noreen Bibi
http://www.change.org/petitions/view/tell_pakistan_not_to_execute_asia_noreen_bibi

Zulu | January 10, 2011 8:11 AM | Reply

Pope urges Pakistan to scrap blasphemy law

VATICAN CITY: Pope Benedict XVI on Monday called on Pakistan to scrap a blasphemy law after the murder of the governor of Punjab, saying the legislation was a pretext for “acts of injustice and violence”.
http://www.dawn.com/2011/01/10/pope-urges-pakistan-to-scrap-blasphemy-law.html

desidude | January 10, 2011 8:22 AM | Reply

"He said speeches given by a cleric leading the group, Qari Hanif, and another member, Ishtiaq Shah, played a major role in his decision...."

I am shocked. This guy attended a gathering of muslims preaching islam and than filled with islamic ideals goes out to kill.
I always thought that islamic worship makes you peaceful, tolerant, filled with love, and after an islamic sermon your only thoughts are to hug the nearest infidal and than go play with kittens and puppy dogs.? Is Obowman, Pelosi, Hillery aware of this report?

Zulu | January 10, 2011 8:58 AM | Reply

Must watch video: British salafi Abu Mounisa - The Islamic Awakening Conference
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lT0_NyXdIoo&feature=player_embedded

salah | January 10, 2011 9:09 AM | Reply

These two men whose sermons allegedly sparked him to act are as, if not more, guilty as he is. Hate preachers should be targeted and killed one by one.
“As the essential principle of his [Muhammad’s] faith is the subjugation of others by the sword; it is only by force, that his false doctrines can be dispelled, and his power annihilated.” John Quincy Adams
http://crossmuslims.blogspot.com/2010/12/perfect-man-of-islam.html

Arafat | January 10, 2011 9:12 AM | Reply

In light of the many threads on Catholicism, atheism, etc…I thought the following article relevant.

http://www.hsuyun.org/chan/en/features/outreach/607-forgiveness.html

I wonder what Buddha would have done if his family, and his families' family was threatened with Jihad? I know I would do whatever I could to protect them.

gravenimage | January 10, 2011 9:15 AM | Reply

The footage that appeared on YouTube showed Qadri chanting verses praising Islam's prophet as a police officer sits next to him. It is unclear who recorded the video.
....................

You can see the footage here:

http://www.theblaze.com/stories/video-shows-pakistani-killer-chanting-islamic-verses-while-in-custody/

Qadri can be seen here smiling and very much playing for the camera. He is wearing his murderous religion on his sleeve, and is clearly proud to do so.

Truthseeker | January 10, 2011 10:22 AM | Reply

The thousands of demonstrators in Karachi (50,000 by one account) is a scary proposition. I am not sure I would have (more honestly, probably very sure I would not have) the courage to march in a counter demonstration on the same street as these folks. That said 99.7% of the city of Karachi (16 million) stayed home, some of whom might be open to other possibilities?

As to the reference to Buddha above, He might have turned to the authorities to strengthen their resolve to stand up to the hate and violence. This step is a key factor in turning the tide of KKK terror in the Southern US in the late 1960s. It took the FBI to first persuade and then give much encouragement and backbone to the local law enforcement to stand up to the Klan.

The power of the cleric's speeches is also noted. As per the US analogy above, it took a very powerful grassroots movement, in this case as embodied by Dr. Martin Luther King, to start a groundswell of different thinking in the South. Finding such powerful new ideas and movements is at the heart of the search for new possibilities in working with Islam?

wildjew | January 10, 2011 11:10 AM | Reply

OT: Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, speaking today in the UAE, compared deranged Arizona shooter, Jared Loughner, to Islamic jihadists.

"At a televised town hall-style meeting, Clinton was asked why U.S. opinion often appears to blame the entire Arab world for 9/11. Clinton said this was due to misperceptions and the media impact of political violence.

"We have extremists in my country. A wonderful, incredibly brave young woman Congress member, Congresswoman Giffords, was just shot by an extremist in our country," she added.

"We have the same kinds of problems. So rather than standing off from each other, we should work to try to prevent the extremists anywhere from being able to commit violence."

http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE7092G220110110

Buraq | January 10, 2011 11:11 AM | Reply

To add a comment to what Zulu posted (8:11am) the Pope's entreaty to scrap the blasphemy law puts him in the cross-hairs of Islam. By calling for the abrogation of a law that pumps the prophet of Islam up to the level of a deity, he is committing blasphemy himself - according to Islam, that is.

So, watch your back Papa Ratzi!

Eastview | January 10, 2011 12:53 PM | Reply

Given the insane death fatwas issued by Muslim clerics for anyone who challenges their stance on insulting Islam, I'm surprised that some brain damaged Leftist or Islamic moral equivocator hasn't yet pointed out that the Bible also calls for killing anyone who questions priests:

Deuteronomy 17:12 (New International Version) "Anyone who shows contempt for the judge or for the priest who stands ministering there to the LORD your God is to be put to death. You must purge the evil from Israel."

OK, waiting 3...2...1

dumbledoresarmy | January 10, 2011 1:49 PM | Reply

What is the difference between a Muslim 'cleric' and a crime gang boss or Mafia don?

Not much, as far as I can see.

Arafat replied to comment from dumbledoresarmy | January 10, 2011 1:57 PM | Reply

At the 1 minute mark of the following video Pat Condell also compares Islam to the mafia.

Speaking for myself I think the comparison to Nazism is more apt, but either one works.

http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=patcondell#p/a/u/0/5Ana9w3uSNA

gravenimage replied to comment from Truthseeker | January 10, 2011 4:07 PM | Reply

"Truthseeker" wrote:

Finding such powerful new ideas and movements is at the heart of the search for new possibilities in working with Islam?
...............................

Yeah—keep us posted on how that goes. We'll be waiting with bated breath...

Truthseeker replied to comment from gravenimage | January 10, 2011 11:08 PM | Reply

Greetings gravenimage,

(I believe we have chatted recently.)

Also I believe as previously discussed, the most powerful new ideas would be embodied in a new Faith tradition rising up within Islam that demonstrates such staying power and protection that only the Hand of the Higher Power could accomplish such a process. Also as mentioned, there are at least two such traditions that have emerged since the 1840s just in the Middle East.

Such a process, however, if it follows the trajectory of Christianity's start-up, is a 300-500 year process. This would also clearly take a big leap of Faith for many "moderate Muslims" so other approaches are probably more practical in the most immediate term.

A method and process of "Advertising Test Market Analysis" feels like it could have interesting possibilities. That we "scientifically" study a range of approaches with Muslim audiences and see which gets the greatest resonance and interest in ongoing analysis and participation in other visioning dialogs. (Could be an interesting PhD Dissertation? Do you know any Muslims you could test these concepts with?)

+++++ Approaches to Test???? +++++

* Outline, as per Katharina above, outline Muhammad's warrior tradition, his :sexual relationship with Aisha, his connection to the assassination of a Jewish detractor, and his connection to the killing of the last Jewish Clan that remained in Medina through the "Battle of the Ditch". Therefore Muslims should renounce Islam and move to either Christianity, Western secularism, Buddhism, etc.?

* The rise of contentiousness between Faiths in Europe particularly necessitates building barriers of separation as Israel has done with its walled barriers or as was done with Communism during the Cold War? The recent assassination of the Governor of the Punjab, the blasphemy trial of Ms. Bibi and the persecution of the Copts in Egypt challenges trust and hope? Is this the way the World must end up? What would enable us to move in a different direction? What can everyone on the plant work towards together?

* Muslims should agree with Christ's statement that "not a sparrow falls from the sky but by the will of God". If warfare, as per Surah's 9:5, 9:29 or 9:111 are to be the "modes operandi of the day" how come Muslim nations are so ill prepared to fight a modern war, let alone a "total war" as per WWII? Could the hand of a higher power be reshaping the world in ways that cannot be explained by traditional thinking? Therefore the ground should be totally cleared of all preconceived ideas and expectations and the best thinking about the foundation of civilization thoughtfully and thoroughly examined? Is such a foundation grounded in kindness, cooperation, compassion, generosity and encouragement, or fighting and warfare?

* Since the 1850s there has been an incredible transformation and Renaissance of ideas, science and human capacity. Is this further evidence of the World being reshaped in ways that we cannot fully explain by previous traditions, totally new knowledge and understanding is required?

* While most Faith Texts and traditions seek to protect themselves by saying no one can alter their Texts or Teachings history has shown that all religions have a major "change component" in their historical process: Abraham with the idolaters, Moses with Pharaoh, Christ with the money changers in the Temple, Muhammad with the idol worship of Mecca, Buddha with the traditions of India. Given the long history of religious change to say there will never ever be any new changes to religious belief is to say that "God's hands are tied up" and that the power of God would be limited. Therefore, again, there are reasons to re-evaluate our most cherished beliefs and practices, seeking what befits a global village?

(We live in interesting times, Ts)

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