Below is a short report from the international press; it was headline news last weekend: 

ISLAMABAD — Pakistani police say authorities have arrested an imam who had accused a Christian girl of blasphemy. Munir Jaffery, an investigating officer in the case, said Sunday that Khalid Chishti was arrested late Saturday for allegedly planting pages of a Quran in a shopping bag containing burned papers and ash that had been carried by the Christian girl.  The 14-year-old girl was later accused of burning pages of the Quran, a serious offense in Pakistan that can result in life in prison.  The about-face could lead to the girl being released from prison and defuse what has been a religiously charged case in Pakistan.  The case has been especially sensitive because of the girl’s young age and questions about her mental capacity.

Hafiz Mohammed Khalid Chishti, the Imam of the Mosque in Mehrabad, being led away blind-folded and under arrest. 

With regard to the above and the blog which follows, I have been in contact with Father Jonathan via the wonders of email.  Presently, he happens to be in Gozo, giving a retreat to the Missionaries of St. Paul, founded in Malta, 1910.  We approached the subject quite independently and, it must be said, from quite different standpoints; consequently, the blog as it now stands, represents the meeting of two quite different minds, on a subject matter that has proved difficult because of the extremist positions that often come to bear on such controversial issues. 

Readers of this weekly blog will recall Father Jonathan’s often writings on the subject of unity.  Only last week he actually used the following passage: 

“Unity fascinates me and gives purpose to my life as it imparts a vision of how life should be in all its aspects; that vision is wide-ranging and includes church, state, families, factories, schools, different countries, different Christian denominations, different religions, ….. “  

He also went on to point out that, historically, the Church had experienced much disunity in centuries gone by, especially among some of the religious orders, and the problems such disunities had caused.  By simple extrapolation, the argument can be extended to cover the sorts of problems resulting in disunities between religions, communities, nations ….. et al. 

The Christians of Rimsha’s Community protest and seek her release. 

The population of Pakistan is overwhelmingly devoted to the worship of Islam, and the Christians living there make up but a very small – even tiny – minority.  The disparity in numbers alone, may be sufficient to cause uneasiness amongst the few Christians endeavouring to keep to their faith, but I have read of problems that go much further than just pure numbers.  From some of the items I have read in the British Catholic press, I am given the distinct impression that very real persecutions, and religious intolerances exist in some areas of Pakistan, and that these are often directed at the Christian men, women and children.  This is not to say that the majority of the population – Christians and Muslims – do not get on very well together, living peaceably side by side.  At the same time, there are those with extremist views among the Muslim population, and as always with extremism, the power and influence they exercise is widely disproportionate to, and vastly outweighs, their numbers.  Small wonder then that some of the Christian communities are afraid, at times, for their safety. 

On this point, Father Jonathan, whilst on his mission abroad, has discussed some of the issues with his retreatant missionaries who have first-hand knowledge of working in Pakistan.  He asked them was it dangerous for a European, and a Christian, to be living in Pakistan?  (It may be important to note that the discussions took place before any knowledge of the imam’s reported actions towards the 14 years old girl). His words, setting out the brothers’ balanced views concerning this, are recorded as follows. 

“Firstly, they said that when they went among the ordinary people they found themselves very much accepted and loved. Almost all of them had not only lived there but built Catholic Churches for the Catholics where they had their missions. They said that when they met the local Muslim people, they found that when they explained that the building they were trying to erect would be a house of God, the Muslims were only too pleased to assist them in any way possible. After all they have a strong belief in God. They also acknowledged that it was important to be careful and not to take un-necessary risks in areas where there may be militant people. The Christians are a tiny minority in a state which has Islam as its official religion. In this state which is often reported as being “anti-Christian” there is certainly a need for Christians to be very cautious. It is also true that there are some Muslims who want to force out the Christians.”

It is very difficult for a person with no experience of Pakistan, its 190 million people, their customs and cultural heritage, to make judgements on a case such as the one in point.  If the reports are true to the allegations, and the imam did attempt to ‘frame’ this young and vulnerable girl, then it is also true, it seems, that his two associate imams were responsible for telling the truth as to his actions – actions designed, in his words, as the only way to ‘get the Christians out of Pakistan’.  We then have the situation where the illegal actions of one, are counteracted by the good and proper actions of his two ‘friends’ – and all from one Muslim community. 

The Muslim faith has the same teaching among all its doctrines as almost every other religion – ‘The Golden Rule’ – especially important;  this says, simply: “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.”   Clearly, the first imam was in contravention of this rule, and if it were to be proven true that he burned pages of the Koran to add to the girl’s bag, then he is also guilty of blasphemy, in the same way as allegations against the girl; such offences carry the death penalty in Pakistan – a very serious situation for both. I hope and pray  it will not come to this.

I leave the last word to Father Jonathan, who always appears to have the gift of ‘pouring oil on troubled waters’. His words come after discussions of the ‘Rimsha’ case:

“There I would leave this issue leaving the ordinary person to make up his, or her own mind about the case. Certainly, It would go against all Christian principles to behave in this way: it would also, it seems, go against Muslim principles, too. For some reason there must be Pakistani Muslim people who really cannot tolerate Christians, and that is a pity, and could lead to crime. It might be the same if the ‘boot were on the other foot’, Christians who could not tolerate Muslims in their country. There must be other Pakistani Muslims who are prepared to stand up for the law, and be ready to denounce such a fellow Muslim, acting unjustly, as happened in this case. 

So let us ask God, who is the same God for Islam, and for Christianity, to help the people of Pakistan to learn from this case, and to act justly, and thank God that this little girl’s life will indeed be spared. May the people of Pakistan live in peace with their Christian minority, and may racist and religious prejudice diminish all over the world.”

Socius

To view the blog in its original formatting, readers are advised to go to the main blog site.