Politics of Religion in Tehmina Durrani's Blasphemy

Pakistan Journal of Social Research, 2022

Patriarchy is a global phenomenon that has resulted in the unequal distribution of power and privilege between men and women. It has been established as a system that reinforces male dominance and subjugates women. Patriarchy is a system that reinforces the marginalization of women in all aspects of life, from the political and social to the cultural, economic, and ideological. It is evident in the lack of access to education, employment opportunities, and other resources. Additionally, women are often subjected to violence and harassment, and are denied basic rights within their own families and communities. In the post-colonial period, Islam, being the most adopted religion of the majority in Pakistan, has been manipulated to perpetuate this discrimination. Durrani (1999) dares to talk about one of the most taboo topics of 'The Mullah-Pir Community' which subjugates females by using a false image of Islam. The study uses the qualitative methods and theoretical foundations of Naik's (2009) discourse on Islamic feminism and Spivak's (1998) work 'Can the Subaltern Speak?' to analyze the postcolonial discourse on women subjugation. In light of these theories, this study explores the unspeakable horrors perpetrated in the name of Islam to subjugate women in the novel Blasphemy. Duranni presents an in-depth analysis of the misrepresentation of Islam by predatory religious leaders. The study reveals that pseudo-clerics like Pir Sain have misconstrued Islam and its constitution to exploit his wife Heer. The study unmasks the duplicity of a man who is deemed as a religious caretaker. He discourages reading the Holy Quran with translation so that he can manipulate religion as an instrument to persuade other people for a blind submission. Through his prejudiced analyses of the Holy Quran he tries to stop women from attaining education, and subjugates them to an inhumane extent.

International Journal of Research, 2015

Thus, hiding their attitudes from the external world these lords of religion portrays a fake of self which looks like hullabaloo for the other world. Such, blasphemous attitudes of patriarchal as well as religious lords are prominent all around world for which the subaltern had to face lots of traumas which got expressed several books like Beloved, The slave, The god of small things, Smaskara etc. therefore to project the atrocities and traumas of subaltern is the central goal of the paper.

“History tells us that every oppressed class gained true liberation from its masters through its own efforts. It is necessary that woman learn that lesson she realized that her freedom will reach as far as her power to achieve her freedom reaches. It is, therefore, far more important for her to begin with inner regeneration, to cut loose from the weight of prejudices, traditions, and customs”. (Emma Goldman, The Tragedy of Woman's Emancipation)This emphatic outcry for woman emancipation (from all socio-historical, cultural and religious imperatives) can be acknowledge decades later in Durrani, a Pakistani author; presenting case for the liberation of women who are still shackled within the chains of damaging patriarchal aesthetics. The writers of the Second Wave Feminism writing during late 1970s and 80s unveiled the biased, paternalistic attitudes of the populace. Durrani’s novel, Blasphemy presents the case of women living under rigid and inflexible boundaries of religion; which has always pushed women to the position of the marginalized ‘Other’.

Phalanx: A Quarterly Review for Continuing Debate, 2023

Patriarchy is a global phenomenon that has resulted in the unequal distribution of power and privilege between men and women. It has been established as a system that reinforces male dominance and subjugates women. Patriarchy is a system that reinforces the marginalization of women in all aspects of life, from the political and social to the cultural, economic, and ideological point of view. Additionally, women are often subjected to violence and harassment, and are denied basic rights within their own families and communities. In the post-colonial period, Islam, being the most adopted religion of the majority in Pakistan, has been manipulated to perpetuate this discrimination. Durrani dares to talk about one of the taboo topics of 'The Mullah-Pir Community' which subjugates females by using a false image of Islam. The present study explores the unspeakable horrors perpetrated in the name of Islam to subjugate women reflected in the novel Blasphemy. Durrani presents an in-depth analysis of misrepresentation of Islam by predatory religious leaders. The study unmasks the duplicity of a man who is deemed as a religious caretaker. The purpose of this research paper is to explore the voicelessness of Muslim women through the perspective of Tehmina Durrani's masterwork Blasphemy in order to explain how Islamic women can or cannot participate in societal decision-making or make their individual preferences.

Tehmina Durrani, the famous writer from Pakistan is the daughter of former Governor State Bank and former Chairman PIA, S.U. Durrani. She is an illustrious controversial writer catapulted to fame with the publication of her autobiography, My Feudal Lord, (1991). It won Italy's prestigious Marissa Bellasario Prize and has been translated into twenty two languages. ‘Blasphemy’ is an enticing maiden novel by Tehmina Durrani. Angry and courageous in outlook, the novel places Durrani among the foremost writers of the Indian sub-continent. This novel has been lauded throughout the world for her courage.

2020

The prism of female writing has expanded itself in the current scenario. Contemporary writers have broken all the shackles of the feudal society and have come forward to make people aware of the ubiquitous and distressing condition of women. The unapologetic and unabashedly realistic portrayal of women bound in the shackles of caste and gender in Tehmina Durrani’s Blasphemy and Nawal El Saadawi’s Woman at Point Zero brings to surface some of the major issues concerning women’s plight. The issues of captivity, matrimony, violence, subjugation and sexism are delineated with prowess. Blasphemy and Woman at Point Zero through the narratives of their protagonists Heer and Firdaus disclose religious and patriarchal norms as a tool to subjugate and oppress women in an orthodox society. Tehmina Durrani’s Blasphemy depicts how distorted Islamic family code of conduct is thrust upon women compelling them to cohere to fundamental values of wedlock, motherhood, servitude and domesticity. Heer b...

2017

Pakistan and Afghanistan share a common border near Kohistan mountain terrain. Many tribal communities found in this region are highly orthodox, barbaric and inundated with religious fanatics. Kohistani is one such tribe. Patriarchy is rampant in its social structure and restoration of male honour is one of the most important motives of their lives. Women in such tribes have been devoid of basic human rights since ages. They lead a parasitic life devoid of self-esteem, self-identity and is only expected to self-abnegate. Many writers are challenging such orthodox approach of the religious fundamentalists who deny human rights to a major section of a society named women. Bapsi Sidhwa is one such writer who has blatantly exposed the inhuman practices prevailing against women in Kohistani community of Pakistan by so called preservers of religion and civilization. The present paper tries to examine the status of women in the Kohistani community. It also tries to analyse the reasons whic...

Pakistan Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences, 2021

People believe that ideologies work for their betterment by showing them a path of prosperity. However, they fail to understand the consequences of blindly following a specific ideology. In their debut novels, the contemporary writers of Pakistan depict the working of one of these ideologies: religion. The present study aims to analyze the projection and exploitation of power in the name of religion: how people suffer for the sake of faith, and the manipulation that follows it in these selected novels: The Prisoner, A Case of Exploding Mangoes, How it Happened, and Agency Rules. The study also highlights the link between religious ideology and the conditioning of the minds of people. The analysis takes place in the light of Marxist theory. The study discovers the role of religious ideology in overpowering helpless people with the belief that following a certain path will reward them in life after death.

Shakir (Muhammad Usman), 2020

This article talks about the current religious, political and social practices, worldviews of different scholars on these practices and my personal understanding of these worldviews with a special focus on Islam and Pakistan. It is considered that Islam is a religion that promotes authoritarianism, patriarchy and moralistic views, but I argue against such allegations on the basis of Quran and its scholars. At the same time, this article is an attempt to develop a critique of unjust socio-religious practices in the name of Islam, a misleading education system and raising question that why Islam was being misinterpreted or interpreted differently by specific schools of thought. These misinterpretations can be observed in the issues of gender inequality, forced marriages, corporal punishment, discriminating minorities, victimizing other groups who have different religious opinion and introduction of brutal laws like Hudood Ordinance. This article is also a critical review of political decisions made by the politicians throughout the history of Pakistan by using Islam for political gains.

Univeristy of Chitral journal of linguistics and literature, 2020