CEU Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2014
| Author | Ashraf, Sana |
|---|---|
| Title | Honor, Purity, and Transgression: Understanding the Concept and Practice of Blasphemy in Punjab, Pakistan |
| Summary | The Blasphemy Laws of Pakistan, inherited from the colonial legislation and amended in favor of the Muslim majority by Zial-ul-Haq in 1980s, have recently become an international concern, especially with regards to their instrumental use against minorities and the consequent violent action. Based on a study of religious speeches, court cases, police reports, and my interviews with the accused and their family members in cases of blasphemy, I argue that in Pakistan the conceptual boundaries of what constitutes blasphemy are vague, both in the legal and the public religious discourse. The cultural concepts of honor, shame, purity, impurity, and transgression shape the perception of blasphemy and the courses of action to be taken in response to a perceived blasphemy. The meaning of blasphemy as a transgression of arbitrary physical or conceptual boundaries that causes dishonor to Islam and the Prophet of Islam and that has to be curbed by defending the honor of the same is ideologically constructed by the religious elite of the mainstream Sunni Islam in Pakistan. Consequently, the meaning of blasphemy, legitimized through dominant religious discourse, can be used in a wide range of circumstances to maintain and reproduce the existing social structure of hierarchy and authority. |
| Supervisor | Naumescu, Vlad; Al-Bagdadi, Nadia |
| Department | Sociology MA |
| Full text | https://www.etd.ceu.edu/2014/ashraf_sana.pdf |
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