Contents

Chapters in this book

1. Frontmatter i
2. Contents vii
3. Preface: the ethnography of a military state xi
4. Acknowledgments xv
5. Chapter 1 Pakistan’s military state and civil society 1
6. Chapter 2 Muhammad, the messenger 29
7. Chapter 3 Blasphemy laws’ evolution 47
8. Chapter 4 Colonial origins, ambiguities, and execution of the blasphemy laws 73
9. Chapter 5 Risky knowledge, perilous times: history’s martyr Mansur Hallaj 87
10. Chapter 6 Blasphemy cultures and Islamic empires 109
11. Conclusion. The affiliates: where to? 133
12. Appendix 1. Fieldwork 147
13. Appendix 2. Text of Pakistan’s blasphemy laws 149
14. Appendix 3. A statement by the Asian human rights commission 151
15. Appendix 4. The Hudood ordinance; Qanun-e shahadat or the law of evidence 153
16. Appendix 5. Fate of a teacher accused of blasphemy to be decided today 155
17. Notes 157
18. Bibliography 181
19. Index 195