The fiery Pakistani Islamists seen in the photo below (via @nytimes) are misquoting the #Quran.

Verse 8:59 that they apparently sloganized to justify "killing blasphemers" - their big passion - has nothing to do with punishing blasphemy... https://www.nytimes.com/2021/04/20/world/asia/pakistan-france-ambassador.html

The verse says, "Those who disbelieve think they will escape; they will not."

According to great the Sunni exegete Fakhr al-Din al-Razi, this may be a reference to a punishment by God in the afterlife - not by Muslims on earth.

And even the latter option isn't about blasphemy.

Because the context of the verse makes it clear that these specific "Those who disbelieve" were Meccan polytheists who attacked and persecuted Muslims in the first place.

No wonder 2 verses later, in 8:61, we read:

"if they incline to peace, then incline to it [also]."

Now, there is a reason why Pakistani Islamists are misquoting the Qur'an here:

Because there is simply no basis in the #Quran for punishing people for #blasphemy - or #apostasy.

And their alleged bases in the Sunna are very disputable, as I showed in "Reopening Muslim Minds."