2023: This year in blasphemy

Another bleak entry in this annual series.

As the never-ending debate over how to deal with speech critical of or offensive to religions and their adherents continues, it’s useful to take stock of how existing blasphemy laws and norms operate in the world today. In 2023, like the years before it, such regulations have been used as a cudgel by, not against, the powerful and — contrary to claims by defenders of blasphemy bans — they have done little to ameliorate religion-fueled hate. Instead, reformers, atheists, secularists, religious critics, LGBT and women’s rights activists, and the falsely accused continue to bear the brunt of blasphemy laws. 

This past year was another bleak entry in the historical records of abuse against religion’s critics and dissenters, with a series of mob killings and court-issued death sentences in Iran, Nigeria, and Pakistan, as well as months and years-long prison sentences meted out in countries including Indonesia and Bahrain. Other troubling developments include Denmark’s rejection of secular free speech protections and passage of a law banning holy book desecration and the United Nations Human Rights Council’s adoption of a resolution advocating legal punishment of “religious hatred.” 

The new year does not have to mean another cycle of suffering for so-called “blasphemers,” but the status quo will remain — or the situation will worsen — if free countries and global institutions continue to roll back their protections on dissent. 

If I missed any stories of note, please share them in the comments.

January

Pakistan: In a start that would forecast how the rest of the year went, Pakistan’s Parliament strengthened the country’s already oppressive blasphemy laws to include “the Prophet Muhammad’s wives, companions or close relatives” and punish those found guilty of insulting them with long prison terms and fines. The law also made it so that bail is not available for those accused of blasphemy.

United States: Hamline University, a private institution in Minnesota, nonrenewed adjunct professor Erika López Prater after she showed a 14th-century painting of the Prophet Muhammad in a global art history class, a work created to honor the prophet. She had provided students advance notice of the image in both the syllabus and in the classroom. Hamline president Fayneese S. Miller defended López Prater’s ousting, writing that “respect for the observant Muslim students in that classroom should have superseded academic freedom.” Hamline then went on to hide its critics’ replies on social media, which usually does not achieve the intended result.

Iran: The head of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps threatened Charlie Hebdo, warning that “sooner or later Muslims will take revenge, and you may arrest the avengers, but the dead will not come back to life.” He also said: “I refer the French and the directors of this institution (Charlie Hebdo) to the fate of Salman Rushdie.”

Sri Lanka: Police arrested YouTube activist Sepal Amarasinghe for insulting Buddhists with his comments about the Sacred Tooth Relic.

February 

Pakistan: Pakistan’s Telecommunication Authority banned Wikipedia after it refused to comply with orders to remove blasphemous content from the site. The ban was lifted after just two days. (Every other platform or business that immediately and unquestioningly complies with local censorship demands, please take note.)

Also, a man who was held at a police station over accusations of desecrating a Quran was taken by a mob, who beat him to death and attempted to set him on fire. 

United States: Weeks after Hamline’s shameful treatment of López Prater, Minnesota’s Macalester College temporarily closed and put black curtains over Iranian-American artist Taravat Talepasand’s exhibition on gender, politics, and the protests in Iran in response to complaints about some of the images, including “Blasphemy X” and “Blasphemy IX.” These works depicted niqab and hijab-clad women showing body parts or lingerie. The gallery was reopened with a content warning and large sheets of paper intended to block “unintentional or non-consensual viewing” of the art.

March

Pakistan: An anti-terrorism court sentenced a man to death and fined him for posting blasphemous content to WhatsApp.

Bahrain: Three men in a Shia Muslim group that discusses religion and Islam were each fined and sentenced to a year in prison under a law banning “ridicule” of religious texts for conversations they posted on YouTube. 

April

Poland: After showing an image of the Virgin Mary and Jesus with rainbow halos at an LGBT march, two women were found guilty of “offending religious feelings.” One woman was sentenced to five months of community service, the other was fined. 

Pakistan: A woman was arrested for blasphemy after claiming to be a prophet. A mob called for her to be lynched. Two others were arrested with her. 

Additionally, a Chinese citizen working on a hydro-power project was arrested on blasphemy charges after reportedly complaining that drivers were taking too long breaks while praying. He was released on bail.

May

Iran: Two men were hanged for blasphemy. They participated in a Telegram channel called Critique of Superstition and Religion, where they allegedly insulted the Prophet Muhammad and promoted atheism. 

Pakistan: A local Muslim religious leader was killed by a mob after making blasphemous remarks at an opposition party rally. Between January and May of 2023, there were reportedly four extrajudicial murders of accused blasphemers in Pakistan.

June

Pakistan: A Christian man was sentenced to death after “blasphemous photos” were found on his phone. Another man arrested with him is expected to get the same sentence.

And in a deal with radical party Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan, the Pakistani government agreed to also charge blasphemy suspects under the country’s anti-terrorism laws and do more to ban blasphemous content online.

Turkey: “Beginning From the Middle,” an art installation in Istanbul, faced censorship threats and demands from a number of political and religious figures, who accused the show of containing blasphemy and LGBT propaganda. Months later, prosecutors launched an investigation into the organizers.

Nigeria: A butcher was killed by a mob after being accused of blaspheming against the Prophet Muhammad in an argument. 

Bangladesh: A boy — his age is unclear from the reporting — was arrested on blasphemy charges after posting a photoshopped picture of himself standing on top of a Quran.

July

Pakistan: A man was sentenced to life in prison for desecrating a Quran.

Cameroon: A 17-year-old girl is facing blasphemy charges after writing a book about choosing between an arranged marriage and a career as a writer. The book offended the leadership of her village, who also tried to get the book censored.

Mauritania: A high school student was arrested for insulting the Prophet Muhammad in an exam paper. Offenders receive a mandatory death penalty for blasphemy in Mauritania, and the Association of Mauritanian Ulamas demanded her execution if found guilty. Her family pleaded for leniency on the basis that the student has been suffering from mental health issues. 

United Nations: In response to activists’ well-publicized Quran desecrations in Denmark and Sweden, the United Nations Human Rights Council approved a resolution, 28 votes in favor to 12 against, calling on countries to “address, prevent and prosecute acts and advocacy of religious hatred.” The resolution did not specify the bounds of “religious hatred,” which some of the resolution’s supporting member states would no doubt explicitly define in a manner that includes basic political and religious expression.

Organization of Islamic Cooperation: The OIC, comprised of 57 member states, issued an extensive plan in response to the Quran desecration controversies. The OIC called for censorship, including legal action against online insults to belief, “institutions, holy books and religious symbols.”

August

Indonesia: A Muslim preacher was arrested on blasphemy, hate speech, and other charges after allowing women to pray and preach alongside men in the boarding school he ran, a move that offended conservative groups.

Pakistan: An English lecturer accused of blaspheming during a lecture was shot dead by a group of men near a graveyard.

Denmark: After the Quran burning controversies in spring and summer of 2023, Denmark announced it “intends to criminalise improper treatment of objects of significant religious importance to a religious community,” which “serves no other purpose than to provoke for the sake of provocation.” (See December’s entries for the ultimate adoption of the bill.)

September

Pakistan: Four people were sentenced to death for using a WhatsApp group to share content insulting the Prophet Muhammad and the Quran. The death sentences will need to be confirmed by a superior court. Another member of the group was sentenced to “seven years of rigorous imprisonment.”

A Christian couple was arrested on blasphemy charges after scraps of paper from a Quran were found on their property. 

A man was sentenced to life in prison on blasphemy charges over accusations that he burnt copies of the Quran.

And, in a rare case, a man who converted to Islam from Christianity was arrested for blasphemy after a video of him slapping a Bible with a shoe went viral.  

Indonesia: An Indonesian court sentenced a TikToker — who identifies as Muslim — to two years in prison for inciting religious hatred after she posted a video of herself saying a Muslim prayer before eating pork. 

October

Bangladesh: A Hindu woman was arrested on blasphemy charges after allegedly insulting Islam in a dispute with another woman. Her neighbors allege that the accusations are false and retaliatory.

Pakistan: A Muslim cleric was sentenced to life in prison over allegations that he wrapped pages of the Quran “around his sensitive body parts.” The cleric argued that the allegations were false and made “on the basis of personal enmity.”

Indonesia: A TikToker was arrested for blasphemy after creating viral videos that mocked Christianity. In one video, he joked that Christians would have to turn in crosses to be used by an electricity company and in another said “he would visit a church carrying a Bluetooth speaker and play the opening soundtrack of the popular British animation Shaun the Sheep.”

November

Pakistan: A young man (age unclear) who was arrested on blasphemy accusations was shot dead outside his home by a local tailor after being released on bail.

India: A bus conductor was stabbed in the body and neck with a cleaver by a rider who argued with him about the bus fare and then accused him of insulting the Prophet Muhammad.  

A National Institute of Technology Srinagar student was arrested for insulting “the religious sentiments of people” by sharing a YouTube video. Classes were temporarily canceled after hundreds of students protested against the student’s video and a recent spate of unrelated arrests.

December

Nigeria: A Nigerian woman spent 18 months in detention on blasphemy charges before finally being released on bail this month, all because she criticized the 2022 blasphemy-related mob killing of Deborah Yakubu in a WhatsApp message. She will still face trial. An apt summary from Al Jazeera, days before Jatau’s release, of how little justice and blasphemy laws have to do with one another: “After Yakubu’s lynching in Sokoto, the arrested perpetrators were let off the hook due to the negligence of the prosecution who refused to show up at the court hearing. In contrast, since Jatau was arrested by the police, she has been denied bail and her family has been in hiding for fear of violence against them.” 

Indonesia: A stand-up comedian was detained on blasphemy allegations for insulting the Prophet Muhammad in a campaign event for presidential candidate Anies Basweden.

Denmark: Denmark’s parliament finally voted on its new law banning holy book desecration. The bill passed with 94 votes in favor and 77 against. Under the new law, it’s a crime “to inappropriately treat, publicly or with the intention of dissemination in a wider circle, a writing with significant religious significance for a religious community or an object that appears as such.” Violators could be subject to fines and up to two years in prison. 

United States: Iowa State Representative Brad Sherman is pushing for Governor Kim Reynolds to remove a “blasphemous display” — an altar from the Iowa Satanic Temple — at the State Capitol. He is also “calling for clarifying legislation to be adopted in accordance with our State Constitution that prohibits satanic displays in our Capitol building and on all state owned property.”