Pakistan: Schoolgirl accused of blasphemy over spelling mistake denounced in Friday sermons as part of "conspiracy" against Islam

An update on this story. This report explains and translates the exact misspelling, and also sets her age as several years younger. Whatever her age, the uproar this supposed offense has caused among grown adults is beyond absurd.

"Pakistan: ten year old girl accused of blasphemy and sentenced for a spelling mistake," by Jibran Khan for Asia News, September 28:

Abbottabad (AsiaNews) - A spelling error has led to an accusation of blasphemy, and serious consequences for a Christian girl of 10 years of age and her family in Abbottabad. Faryal Bhatti, the daughter of a nurse, Sarafeen Bhatti is a student at Colony High School Havelian POF. On September 22, during an examination she misspelled a word in Urdu, putting the full top in the wrong place. Thus the word, referring to the prophet Muhammad, was transformed from "poem of praise" (naat) to "curse (lanaat). The Urdu teacher, Mrs. Fareeda, sternly rebuked Faryal in front of the class and took the matter to the headmaster, even though the child defended herself saying that it was a mistake.

The news of the alleged insult to Muhammad spread through the school, among teachers and the direction accused the girl of blasphemy. The school authorities informed the religious authorities who together with the inhabitants of the colony staged a demonstration, demanding the child be reported to police, expelled from school and her family expelled from the Colony. A mob chanted slogans against Christians, and in Friday sermons religious leaders denounced the episode as "a conspiracy against Islam", which was to be crushed.

In a meeting with teachers and religious leaders the child (in tears) and her mother explained that it was a mistake and apologized. Maulana Syed Ejaz Ali, a religious leader of the Jamia Masjid saw the piece of paper, talked with the child and mother and concluded: "I have no precise idea about the intentions of Faryal, her eyes filled with tears show her innocence, but the error has transformed the word into an insult and this is sufficient reason for a punishment, she should never throughout her entire life, think against Islam. "

To appease the religious the school administration expelled Faryal from school, Islamic clerics lobbied the Colony administration resulting in the mother being fired and forced to leave the residence. Both mother and daughter were transferred to Wah Cantonment by the hospital management. The Masihi Foundation has asked two Islamic clerics in Islamabad to give their opinion on the matter, Maulana Mehfooz Ali Khan and Hussain Ahmed Malik. Maulana said: "It is the innocent mistake of a child. Many Muslim students in the madrasas incorrectly pronounce the Arabic words, changing their meaning, you can not punish a child for an honest mistake, the girl was only 10 years old, she will carry this trauma with her. Faryal Bhatti has been subjected to all of this only because she is Christian, I protest against the decision to expel the young child and to transfer the mother. "

The bishop of Islamabad-Rawalpindi, Anthony Rufin, told AsiaNews: "I condemn the incident. Now, even Christian students are victimized and accused of blasphemy. Society is becoming so intolerant that a tiny error gets major attention. The ulema have decided on the punishment of a child who does not even know what she did wrong. They should have explained the mistake to her, if it really was a terrible mistake, in this way gaining her confidence and making a service to religious dialogue. What happened is exactly the opposite. "

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18 Comments

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sean | September 28, 2011 12:53 AM | Reply

Under Islamic law they'll have to rape her before they execute her because virgins go to paradise. See links under 'Rape as a Relgious Ritual' at http://crombouke.blogspot.com/2010/01/everything-you-need-to-know-about-islam.html

skevin | September 28, 2011 1:48 AM | Reply

Abbottabad, again. (Named for a Brit named Abbott, BTW.) The place reeks of conspiracy theories.

Family Values | September 28, 2011 1:54 AM | Reply

The response of Maulana suggests that Muslim clerics are capable of being reasonable. Is this on-message for JW?

Ronald W. Carnine | September 28, 2011 2:19 AM | Reply

Is Islam really so fragile? Are Muslim people so fearful that they show themselves to be ridiculous to the world observing what goes in Islamic countries. Quite frankly why anyone would become a Muslim is beyond me. Are you doing so to escape the threats that are part and parcel of this fear mongering religion? Let's persecute a 10yr old and her mother. I call out to Islamic officials, can you not forgive a child's honest mistake? Are you this heartless? Maybe you need to stop and look at the fruit of your religion. You claim that Allah is full of mercy, where is that lived out in your religion? All I can say is, "shame of you".

Family Values | September 28, 2011 2:42 AM | Reply

Maulana Mehfooz Ali Khan, that is, not the Maulana referred to earlier. I also wonder what Hussain Ahmed Malik's reaction might have been; he's the other Islamabad Muslim authority who was asked for an opinion.

PCPCP | September 28, 2011 2:43 AM | Reply

Is it difficult to sponsor a Christian immigrant from Pakistan? Does anyone know? I live in canada

epistemology | September 28, 2011 3:06 AM | Reply

If it wasn't so hard for the child, the whole story could make me laugh. It's preposterous. The sense of life for Mohammedans is the be a pain the the ass for others.

Inasummergarden | September 28, 2011 3:30 AM | Reply

A while ago I with great interest read through an English language Pakistani blog forum where they routinely described their neighbors across the border with India as "uncultured" and "Indiots".

Maxpublius | September 28, 2011 4:08 AM | Reply

Words can't describe how disgusting and evil the Pakistani Muslim population is, with exceptions few and far between (mainly "cultural Muslims" who know little about the details of Islam, due to decency and the learned Muslim being incompatible).
And this is not a abstract disgust over backward, faraway people, but freaks that encountered frequently in all their primativeness now in the United States. It would do civil rights well if we were to call the police on the male Muslim whenever we see him trailed by his slave wife who is essentially kidnapped in plain sight, brainwashed and threatened with death by her husband and community if she attempts to break free. Sure maybe 9/10 are too stupid to realize it and would deny it, but what about the 10th? In every slave culture, slaves from birth often feel more secure in servitude than freedom. This is no excuse for its continuation.

epistemology replied to comment from epistemology | September 28, 2011 4:59 AM | Reply

... is to be a pain in the ass for others.

Buraq replied to comment from Family Values | September 28, 2011 5:11 AM | Reply

What kind of a clown are you!!

Whaddya mean: The response of Maulana suggests that Muslim clerics are capable of being reasonable. Is this on-message for JW?

Maulana Syed Ejaz Ali, a religious leader of the Jamia Masjid said her eyes were filled with tears and showed her innocence, but the error has transformed the word into an insult and this is sufficient reason for a punishment.

Simply making an error is 'sufficient reason for punishment'.....??!!
And you say that Maulana's response shows that Muslim clerics are capable of being reasonable! You're a clown!

What should have happened is this: The teacher who found the error should have spoken quietly to the child and pointed out her spelling/writing mistake. Then he should have sent her back to her seat in class and carried on with the lesson.

All this yelling and shouting and beating of breasts over a child's error by adults who should know better is more evidence of Islam's inherent fear of its own weakness.

London Jim replied to comment from Buraq | September 28, 2011 5:47 AM | Reply

Thank you for jumping on that one before I could sharpen my quill Buraq. .you put it more diplomatically than what I was brewing over. Will save my ire for 'the leader of the Jamia Masjid' when time allows.

CGW | September 28, 2011 5:49 AM | Reply

Savages. No surprise.

exsgtbrown | September 28, 2011 6:29 AM | Reply

Clearly the Muslims are looking for any excuse to attack Christians...even an asinine excuse will do.

Tom Davis replied to comment from Buraq | September 28, 2011 7:40 AM | Reply

Good job. Let's go further.

What should have happened is this: The teacher who found the error and reported it to the headmaster should have been repremanded by the headmaster, and suspended when he or she persisted.

What should have happened is this: The headmaster who may have reported the error to the police should have been laughed out of the police station, and arrested for filing a false complaint when he or she persisted.

What should have happened is this: The police if informed of the error should have ignored it, and should have been suspended from their jobs had they persisted in a prosecution.

What should have happened is this: The imams and [literal] mobsters who were offended by the error should have been arrested by the police for disorderly conduct, threatening a riot, vigilanteeism, and making threats.

What should have happened is this: Pakistan should have become a modern country operating under a rule of law.

What should have happened is this: Islam should have evolved to coexist with the modern world, or it should have been abandoned by its adherents.

Tom Davis | September 28, 2011 7:55 AM | Reply

Here's an idea for Bishop Anthony Rufin: it's time his persecuted flock start claiming asylum in Western embassies. This is no different than what the North Koreans are doing in Bejing. At the first sign of a blasphemy allegation they should head for an embassy and be escorted past the Pakistani police at the gates by garbed Christian clergy and associates with camcorders. It's time!

Tom Davis | September 28, 2011 7:58 AM | Reply

Beijing. New glasses aren't helping.

bevc | September 29, 2011 11:03 AM | Reply

Oh for gosh sakes! What an insecure bunch of panty waists these "adult" Muslims are!

When I was in Catholic school back in the early and mid 60's the nuns and priests would JOKE about how they heard us little ones screw up religious terms. The Holy Ghost was sometimes referred to as the Paraclete but mistakenly we'd say "the Holy Parakeet". And for a year after my First Confession at 7 years of age I would sometimes say "I am hardly sorry" instead of "Oh my God, I am HEARTILY sorry" in my Act of Contrition.

A MATURE religion like a MATURE person, can laugh at such little things and at themselves. What do stories such as the one above suggest about Islam as a mature faith???

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