Cornered by Pakistan's Blasphemy Accusers, Star Preacher Issues Tearful Apology on Facebook

Screenshot from Facebook apology issued by Junaid Jamshed. From his public Facebook page.

Screenshot from Facebook apology issued by Junaid Jamshed. From his public Facebook page.

Junaid Jamshed, a popular TV preacher in Pakistan, has issued a tearful video apology on Facebook after online religious groups accused him of blasphemy for disrespecting a revered figure in Islam, Prophet Mohammed's wife Aisha, in one of his TV sermons.

In Pakistan, blasphemy accusations are usually directed towards minorities and are taken very seriously, not just by the law, but by vigilantes ready to deliver justice.

In 2011, the Governor of Punjab Salman Taseer was assassinated by his own guard after comments he made defending a Christian woman accused of blasphemy were misconstrued as blasphemy. His murderer was showered with petals as he left court. Last month, a mob burnt a young Christian couple to death, after a local cleric accused them of blasphemy. Forty people have been booked for their murder. Last week, the owner of Pakistan's largest media group was sentenced to 26 years in jail by a local court on blasphemy charges, along with an actress and a TV host.

Junaid Jamshed is one of Pakistan's most iconic pop stars from the 1980s. He left his music career 17 years ago to spread Islam. He regularly appears on religious channels giving sermons, reciting the Quran and praises of the Prophet Mohammad. He also owns an incredibly successful clothing retail line and co-owns a chain of Halal meat stores.  

In the one-minute video of his alleged controversial TV sermon, Jamshed narrates an animated story about the Prophet's wife Aisha faking an illness to get her husband's attention. He goes on to say, “This is evidence of the fact that even in the Prophet's company, a woman's nature can't change. A woman can't change, so don't try to change her. She is borne from a crooked leg, if you press too hard, it will break.”

Various groups have re-appropriated the video online; one of them even calls for him to be banned from entering mosques. This blog post translates a part of his sermon.

Pakistani journalist Maheen Usmani tweets:

Businessman Haroun Rashid comments:

Jamshed's remarks may seem misogynistic, but for some Muslim groups any disrespect to revered figures in Islam, including Prophet Mohammed's daughters and wives, is considered blasphemy. 

On the Quranalyze website, blogger Mo Waseem writes:

Although what Junaid Jamshed said about Hazrat Ayesha seems like an attempt of character assassination, I fail to see how that is more blasphemous than ISIS slaughtering people in the name of Islam, and why the outrage is not directed there. 

Within eight hours, Jamshed's apology has been viewed more than 600K times and shared by more than 50K people on Facebook. Here's a translation of his apology:

Respectable brothers, friends, elders and sisters. Sometime ago, during a sermon, because of my stupidity and ignorance, I said some incredibly inappropriate things that were completely against the glory of Honorable Aisha. This is my mistake, and that mistake is because of my ignorance. It is because of my lack of knowledge, I am not a scholar. I am not a legal expert. And I admit my mistake in front of the whole Muslim community and beg your forgiveness. And with a true heart I ask that God forgive me and I put my hands together before you and beg you to forgive me too. I am at fault and I accept and apologize for my mistake.

Many commenters on the video have accepted his apology and pleaded for others to forgive him.

Others, like Mo Waseem, brought up the unequal and unfair status of blasphemy laws in Pakistan:

Needless to say that I do appreciate Muslims forgiving him, I think this partial attitude does more harm than good, for it promotes double standards and hypocrisy! I wonder, why are people who belong to minority groups in Pakistan not given the same privilege, the same benefit of doubt when accused of blasphemy? Why are they not given the luxury of apologizing for their “mistake”, a mistake they may or may not even have committed? Why does the state not recognize that anti-blasphemy laws are mostly used to settle personal disputes and prejudices? What happened to the central Quranic commandment of standing up for justice impartially, even if it be against ourselves, or our family (Quran 4:135)?

Maheen Usmani echoed:

Others expressed  concern for the workers who managed dozens of Junaid Jamshed's popular clothing retail stores across the country. A Twitter user posted an image of a store closed with a sign detailing his apology:

Emmad Hameed, a sports journalist, commented in a Facebook post:

Any harm to JJ can plummet us to new depths, how about repealing the blasphemy law altogether…How about playing this card smartly now and forcing these Jahil Maulvis (ignorant preachers) to abandon the law once for all…This might be an actual opportunity of fixing this $%&* forever!

5 comments

  • sharif

    Nicely done but please do add (PEACE BE UPON HIM) with the name of Prophet Muhammad (PEACE BE UPON HIM).

  • Oi

    I fail to see how his comment is anyway sexist or inappropriate. It is terribly stated no doubt. But where exactly is the insult to the mother of the believer?
    Why are muslims so devoid of brains and logical thinking that they can’t understand what a person is saying, they just start yelling?

    Junaid’s intention here, was to convey that we should force women we are in relationships with to behave in a way she does not WANT to. Rather, we should never FORCE anyway. There is even a hadith regarding this and THAT is the wisdom?

    Maybe if we used our brains before we took to twitter, the world would be a more intelligent and salient place.

    But there is no doubt Mr. Jamshed could have clarified his statement or said it in a less (seemingly sexist) way.

  • Ibn Yusuf

    There is nothing for Brother Junaid to apologise and what is the blashphemy. Ayesha – Ummul Moomineen (May Allah be pleased with her) was among the highest caliber of the females of the Muslim Ummah. But yet she was a wife and had her womenly nature in desiring the preferred attention of the most beloved Rasool of Allah (on Whom be Peace). He was only commenting on the guile which is a trait natural in women and there is no blashphemy here. The green and brown turbaned dumbskulls and there scholars are the ones who should be booked for blashpemy in India, Pakistan and Bangladesh etc for equating Rasoolullah (Sallalahu Alaihi wa Sallam) with the status of Allah Subhana wa ta’ala by saying that Rasoolullah (Sallalahu Alaihi wa Sallam) is omnipresent like Allah Subhana wa ta’ala. I think hundreds and thousands of cases of blashphemy can be filed against them and their leader from Barielawi in India. These class of grave worshipers are the ones who keep committing blasphemy by doing sajada at the graves of the Saints

    • madhu ansari

      For GOD sake ,,, stop telling what a women should do ,, what she has to follow … if all r so religious ,,, FIRST FOLLOW IT BEFORE PREACHING…

      Leave poor women alone ….

      Using latest GADGETS , CARS ,,, CLOTHES — all r acceptable for men ,,, but when a women does u got all the rules and religious ,,, does this mean ,,, men are not religious …

  • AmericanMuse

    These people are nuts!

Cancel this reply

Join the conversation -> madhu ansari

Authors, please log in »

Guidelines

  • All comments are reviewed by a moderator. Do not submit your comment more than once or it may be identified as spam.
  • Please treat others with respect. Comments containing hate speech, obscenity, and personal attacks will not be approved.