THE inhumane detention of Rishma Masih, a teenager with Down Syndrome in Islamabad, on trumped-up allegations of desecrating the Holy Qur’an must be condemned without reservation by British Muslims.

It is a huge embarrassment to progressive Muslims that a bigoted Pakistani cleric is behind these incendiary accusations that have forced fearful Christians to flee their impoverished homes.

This latest ‘pogrom’ against Pakistan’s persecuted Christian minority has no Qur’anic foundation, since that country’s blasphemy laws are not based upon Islam’s transcendent text but have been manufactured by medieval jurists and their latter-day counterparts in Pakistan and Saudi Arabia. The supreme scripture of Islam text makes it plain that blasphemy is not a sin punishable by man but will be dealt with by God alone (9:74). Moreover, the Holy Qur’an says that Christians are closest to Muslims (5:82) and that the followers of Christ, along with all other monotheistic believers in the Sovereign Creator, will also be entitled to divine salvation (2:62;5:69).

It is high time that thinking Muslims jettison the perverted misinterpretations of Islam that is peddled by a fanatical clergy in Pakistan and Saudi Arabia. In the meantime, to expiate for the terrible pain, humiliation and suffering that has been heaped upon Rishma Masih, the Muslim Educational Centre of Oxford will make a substantial financial donation to her family to enable them to rebuild their shattered lives.

This practical token of compensation demonstrates that not all Muslims have been infected by the virus of intolerance and prejudice that is propagated by Pakistani and Saudi fundamentalists.

Dr T HARGEY, Director, Muslim Educational Centre of Oxford, London Road, Oxford