Asad Shah Murder: The Disturbing Support For ‘Blasphemy’ Killing In A British Court

Back in April I reported on the tragic murder of Asad Shah, a Muslim shopkeeper from Glasgow. The usual regressive types could barely contain their excitement when faced with the prospect of an 'Islamophobic' hate crime. They lost all interest as soon as it was revealed that the attacker was also a Muslim, strangely. Just like they did with the Murdered Imam from Rochdale. The victim and their attacker did not know each other. Shah’s killer, Tanveer Ahmed travelled from Yorkshire to Scotland solely to carry out what has been described as an ‘execution’. Shah, an Ahmadiyya Muslim, regularly posted video ‘sermons’ online. Ahmed deemed Shah to have 'disrespected the prophet Muhammad' in these videos. "Listen to this guy. Something needs to be done. It needs nipped in the bud" Ahmed was reported to have said whilst watching the clips on his train journey. When Ahmed arrived in Scotland, he confronted Shah at his Glasgow shop then stabbed him several times with a knife, leaving him for dead. What was also deeply disturbing about this brutal act of violence was the lucid, righteous justification Ahmed gave for his actions in an April court hearing. Read Ahmed's statement below and see if you can pin down any ideological motivation:

“This all happened for one reason and no other issues and no other intentions. “Asad Shah disrespected the messenger of Islam the Prophet Muhammad peace be upon him. Mr Shah claimed to be a Prophet. “When 1400 years ago the Prophet of Islam Muhammad peace be upon him has clearly said that ‘I am the final messenger of Allah there is no more prophets or messengers from God Allah after me. “‘I am leaving you the final Quran. There is no changes. It is the final book of Allah and this is the final completion of Islam. There is no more changes to it and no one has the right to claim to be a Prophet or to change the Quran or change Islam.’ “It is mentioned in the Quran that there is no doubt in this book no one has the right to disrespect the sayings of the Prophet Muhammad peace be upon him and no one has the right to disrespect the Prophet of Islam Muhammad Peace be upon him. “If I had not done this others would and there would have been more killing and violence in the world. “I wish to make it clear that the incident was nothing at all to do with Christianity or any other religious beliefs even although I am a follower of the Prophet Muhammad peace be upon him I also love and respect Jesus Christ.”

Happily, Ahmed was sentenced to life in prison today, but not without further incident that should give cause for concern. Not only does this killer still consider his heinous actions justified, but a number of other Muslims appear to share his view too, vocally demonstrating their solidarity with the now convicted murderer in court. According to Sky News:

James Matthews, Sky News' Scotland Correspondent, said: "Inside court, a section of the public gallery was filled by supporters of Tanveer Ahmed. "As he was led away from the dock he faced them, raised his hand to the air, and shouted in Arabic. "One told Sky News he said: 'Muhammad is the prophet, he is the only one'. "They returned the sentiment, with a collective voice, as the killer was forced down stairs into the holding cells beneath court."

And when a member of that support group was confronted outside and asked whether he thought the sentence was fair, he responded with “no”:

WATCH: Confronting murderer Tanveer Ahmed's family after he shouted "There is only 1 Prophet" in the dock #AsadShah pic.twitter.com/pdkNhmAOFs

— Connor Gillies (@ConnorGillies) August 9, 2016

Let me spell out what is happening here. A particular group of people experience no fear, shame or reluctance sitting in a British court in 2016 and openly supporting the murder of an innocent man for ‘blasphemy’. These people do not arise from a vacuum. They are a product of deeply conservative Muslim communities. Apologists for Islamic violence have long been able to convince people that a conservative, Islamist interpretation of Islam is adhered to only by a fringe minority, a minority which we are told is also loathed by the general Muslim population. That may be true of course, but it's fast becoming an unconvincing narrative given the data. This narrative becomes even harder to cling to when you have to explain the open support or lack of unconditional condemnation for such acts from within Muslim communities. Asad Shah was an Ahmadiyya Muslim. One of the most persecuted minority sects within Islam. I say ‘within Islam’, but the majority of Muslims would accept no such categorisation. The Ahmadiyya are mostly considered heretics and Shah himself had fled Pakistan in the 1980s to escape persecution. My guess would be not from 'new atheists'. It’s worth noting that not a single Muslim group managed to attend an interfaith, anti-extremism memorial for Mr Shah – with one Muslim group notable for cancelling at the last minute. It’s also worth noting that many a “Muslims doing good” puff pieces in the media are often actually reports about the deeds of Ahmadiyya Muslims, a largely peaceful sect. From selling poppies for British soldiers, to attending Catholic Mass in France to show solidarity with concerned Christians after Father Jacques Hamel was slaughtered by Islamists. It’s the height of hypocrisy then, when so-called ‘moderate’ Muslims throw Ahmadiyya Muslims under the bus, affirming their heretic status, but are quick to claim them as one with the Ummah as soon as they generate politically useful press.

The groups and individuals that did have the good sense to openly condemn this violence also couldn't resist pointing out that Ahmadiyya are not true Muslims either – further feeding into the mentality that sees them persecuted and killed in some Muslim majority countries. This is the sort of sentiment that is shared by those distributing ‘kill Ahmadis’ leaflets in UK Mosques. Yet again, Islamic fundamentalists are behaving appallingly in Europe whilst spelling out in no uncertain terms why they are behaving this way. I’m not sure how much longer the left and Muslim communities can afford to pretend they can’t hear. Stephen Knight is host of The #GSPodcast. You can listen to The Godless Spellchecker Podcast here, and support it by becoming a patron here.