Part of the problem lies either in history or in the way religion was interpreted in previous centuries. Amazingly, Shafi’i and Maliki jurists assumed that blasphemers would be punished if they did not repent immediately. Hanbliss went a step further and said that blasphemers would be punished, even if they repent. Some Hanafis argued that there was no clear basis for the execution of blasphemers, they could be “jailed and beaten with sticks”. These interpretations were made in medieval times, but they continue to shape the religious discourse and the cultural imagination of countless Muslims around the world.
In later years, one person who played a key role in clarifying and popularizing the question of blasphemy and apostasy was Abu Hamid al-Ghazali, a prominent 11th-century Islamic scholar. He executed many Muslim philosophers such as Ibn Sina and al-Farabi as apostates. His doctrine was used by empires to punish free thinkers who could in any way be seen as a threat to Sunni conservatism.
Turkish-American scholar Professor Ahmet Kuru in his book Islam, authoritarianism and underdevelopment, Explains the role of Ghazali. He writes that “Ghazali was not the inventor of the idea of declaring a self-proclaimed Muslim apostate, but as a prominent scholar, he helped legitimize it”. Kuru also points out that “Ghazali’s main contribution to the ulema-state coalition was his principled role in the formation of Sunni conservatism”. Through his writings, Ghazali made “conservative ideas almost unquestionable”.
In contemporary Pakistan, Ghazali and Muhammad Iqbal are two individuals who are revered for their “correct” interpretation of religion. Literaryism inspired by prominent medieval figures has not only caused intellectual and cultural stagnation in the Muslim world, but it has also given rise to extremism and fundamentalism. It has made simple minded people a permanent prisoner of history. These youths who killed Kumara are physically in 21st century but ideologically in 11th century Muslim kingdom.
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