Pakistani Boy Cuts Off Hand After Being Accused of Blasphemy
If someone looks at the sky and curses God, that person can easily be killed and no one would disagree with his murder. That’s something that’s not too far fetched in Pakistan.
In a very sad story which shows how strong religion can have an effect on people, a Pakistani boy cut off his hand after he was accused of being a blasphemer.
Anwar Ali, the son of a poor laborer, was attending an evening prayer gathering at the mosque in the village, Khanqah. Ahmad, the cleric at the mosque asked for a show of hands of those who did not love the Prophet Muhammad. Thinking the cleric had asked for those who did love the prophet, Anwar’s hand shot up, according to witnesses and the boy’s family.
Anwar quickly realized his mistake when he saw that his was the only hand up, and he quickly put it down. But Ahmad was screaming “Blasphemer!” at him, along with many others in the crowd. “Don’t you love your prophet?” they called, as the boy fled in disgrace.
The boy ran home, found a scythe and cut off his right hand. He showed it to the cleric as an offering to absolve his sin.
The cleric was arrested by police but soon enough, there were protests against his arrest. The protesters said he had done nothing. Anwar’s parents agreed that the cleric should not be punished.
“We are lucky that we have this son who loves Prophet Muhammad that much,” said the boy’s father. “We will be rewarded by God for this in the eternal world.”
If you’re looking at this through a realistic prism, this just shows you how powerful religious belief can be. The fact that a boy would cut off his own hand to atone for his sin of being a blasphemer. That’s kind of sad. Why would God want an innocent boy to cut off his own hand to atone for his sins??! The fact that his parents were not upset about the whole thing speaks volumes, even going as far to say that he will be rewarded in the afterlife.
Religion can be too powerful sometimes. In this case, a boy lost his hand because he felt that he had sinned in the eyes of God.
To be honest, that sounds so stupid when you think about it.
Joseph Kuuire, Tech & Social Editor
Joseph Kuuire is a co-founder of BrutallyUncensored.Com, a writer and an IT Consultant based in Accra, Ghana---where the weather is always beautiful. When he wants to hide, he writes under the pseudonym name; Joe Phoenix. He went to high school at Akosombo International School and finished in Kenny Lake, Alaska. And then continued to University of Houston where he graduated with a Bachelor’s in Business Management in Information Systems.
