In a striking turn of events, popular Deobandi scholar Mufti Tariq Masood—known for his hardline stance advocating “death for blasphemy”—now finds himself on the receiving end of the same extremist rhetoric. Shia Islamists in Pak-occupied-Gilgit-Baltistan are demanding a blasphemy case against Masood, accusing him of making statements about the Quran that they deem offensive.
The firestorm erupted after Masood stated that the Quran contains grammatical errors and that Prophet Muhammad was illiterate. His remarks have ignited widespread outrage, with mobs now calling for his prosecution under Pakistan’s controversial blasphemy laws—the very laws that Masood himself had fiercely defended in the past.
This sudden reversal has exposed the hypocrisy embedded within Pakistan’s blasphemy laws, long used as a weapon to silence critics or settle personal scores. Masood, who once preached death for anyone accused of insulting Islam, is now pleading for his words to be “understood in context” as fear for his own life grows.
Tariq Masood Faces Blasphemy
Pakistan’s blasphemy laws are notoriously brutal—mere allegations are often enough to seal a person’s fate, especially if the accused belongs to a minority community. The tragic case of Dr. Shahnawaz Kumbhar, a physician in Mirpurkhas, serves as a chilling reminder of this reality. Dr. Kumbhar, accused of blasphemy, was killed while in police custody, with a mob setting his body ablaze. The Sindh Police, complicit in the violence, allowed the mob to carry out the brutal act, demonstrating the chilling depths of Pakistan’s broken justice system.
However, Masood admitted that blasphemy laws have been weaponized, even acknowledging that judges and lawyers often feel pressured to deliver wrongful verdicts. “I am being targeted unfairly. This is not what I meant,” Masood has been quoted as saying, attempting to defuse the backlash.
If Masood’s own fatwas were applied to his current predicament, he would face the same brutal punishment he once endorsed—death by beheading.