'Justice delayed is not justice denied.' Or, as the Good Book put it thousands of years ago:
Because the sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily, therefore the heart of the sons of men is fully set in them to do evil. (Ecclesiastes 8:11: *The Holy Bible, NKJV.)
**But in this instance the evil work was not that alleged against Aasiya Noreen (known now more commonly - for Western pronunciation sensibilities, presumably - as Asia Bibi), but rather that of her inhuman (and inhumane) accusers - whether initially (as with her fellow workers in a Pakistani field of falsa berries who levelled at her the charge of blasphemy against the Islamic prophet, Muhammed) or subsequently (right up to the present-day of (hopefully) ultimate - earthly, anyhow - freedom), to wit the vast swathes of Pakistanis who've mobilized over the past nine years and especially this very day of great victory for Aasiya Noreen...to protest - isn't it simply incredible, and incredibly awful and unbelievable - to protest that long-prayed-for deliverance? And far worse than just that besides!
***But this day (of victory and deliverance) belongs to Aasiya, her family, her supporters and her just judges...and to those many and varied folk (individuals and groups/organizations) who've stuck up for her and with her (and her family) through thick and thin, for all this sad nine long years...
The sheer injustice of what Aasiya has faced and endured need not be reiterated here, suffice to say: she's been through the mill, and above and beyond what most frail mortals will ever have to endure. And evidently with little or no justification whatsoever - beyond that of a grudge-maintaining 'friend'.
So plaudits and bouquets, all credit and glory...be given:
#Firstly, to the prayer-hearing and answering God of all the earth, Who has never yet forsaken His people, His very own, least of all in their time/s of greatest need. As 'the father of the faith', the godly Abraham himself expressed matters many thousands of years ago: *'Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?' (Genesis 18:25.) Yet human history (His-Story) is simply littered with human beings apparently abandoned to rack and ruin...seemingly forsaken by both God and man...even left on more than one occasion to die, neglected and alone and apparently friendless, hopeless and helpless...to death and imprisonment. ****Who never were delivered from their own lonely prison cells or torture.
#Secondly, to the people of God themselves...especially Aasiya's fellow Pakistani Christ-followers. To those in Pakistan who fasted and prayed (for however long) in the run-up to Aasiya's acquittal today/yesterday. As well as providing her (and her husband, mother and family of five children) with such prayerful - and lots of other, practical - support throughout this protracted ordeal. As well as to numerous global Christian organizations (to be noted shortly), and moreover their many members and moral (prayerful) supporters. And also to Ooberfuse, a United Kingdom-based Christian popband, who, in collaboration with the British Pakistani Christian Association, wrote a song back in the day entitled 'Free Asia Bibi'.
#Thirdly, to the three judges who have just handed down what to their fellow countrymen and women is a shocking and disturbing, unbelievable judgement (of leniency and mercy...and most galling of all: innocence!). They've taken an incalculable gamble - yes, at the very risk of their own lives (and that of their families and relatives) - and may well yet to have to pay the supreme price. But *****they have done the right thing without letting sordid considerations of policy and pragmatism contaminate their motives and actions. Yes, though doubtless none of them are (Christian) believers, I feel Jesus' penetrating words apply equally much to them: *"For whoever desires to save his [earthly] life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will save it." (Luke 9: 24)
#To all those who stood by Aasiya through thick and thin, namely/chiefly:
@her lawyer/s (over the nine years).
@her family.
@the French journalist Anne-Isabelle Tollet, who helped Aasiya produce a memoir: Blasphemy: A Memoir: Sentenced to Death over a Cup of Water.
@*******two Pakistani politicians in particular, who deserve special mention: the one-time Governor of the Punjab, Salmaan Taseer; and the one-time Minorities Minister, Shahbaz Bhatti.
@Italy, France and Spain for offering official sanction to Assiya Noreen and her family post-release.
@for the various human rights groups such as Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International.
@for the global network of Christian aid organizations who have done what(ever) they could to help secure Aasiya's release and support through this traumatic time: Voice of the Martyrs; Open Doors; Aid to the Church in Need; and International Christian Concern (in particular). And the American Center for Law and Justice (which has evidently lobbied on behalf of/in association with the US Government (upon Aasiya's behalf)).
And last - though at this stage mightily significant: recently-elected Prime Minister Imran Khan: whose personal singling out of this case will not go unnoticed...by anyone in Pakistan ('stuff the rest of the world'); i.e. though aware of the need to ensure Pakistan remains - more correctly, regains - some degree of international credibility in this area, he will be only too well aware that there are masses of his citizenry who are not only upset at this verdict, but are literally ropable thereabouts!
And that, push come to shove, they will not ignore the role - however oblique to our eyes - he has thus played in seeking to 'exonerate' the decision the judges have arrived at...when looking - over coming hours, days, weeks and months - for some suitable scapegoat thereabouts.
Can you believe, in 'our oh-so-sophisticated and progressive, evolved modern world' no less, that some ten million Pakistanis have been reported in one survey as saying 'they would be willing to personally kill [Aasiyi] out of either religious conviction or for the reward' - the reference being to a Muslim cleric's 500,000 Pakistani rupee (US $5,000) award/reward...? May God help Pakistan - for only He can...
In conclusion, I could hardly go beyond the following oh so appropriate thoughts...heard whilst I was 'penning' these very words:
"You may not live to see the justice, but it will {assuredly] come...and the great temptation is to doubt." (Chuck Swindoll preaching upon the biblical Book of Esther this very day/afternoon!)
'In His time...in His time...God makes everything beautiful in its time'. (A song he then quoted, itself based upon the wisdom of King Solomon as expressed in the Book of Ecclesiastes.)
*(All specifically-quoted) Scripture taken from the New King James Version. (c) 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
**Due acknowledgment ...without which this article would not have even been possible...here to Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia ('Asia Bibi blasphemy case') Accessed today, November 1, 2018. C/o https://wikipedia.org/wiki/Asia_Bibi_blasphemy_case.
***Credit here to Gandalf (aka Ian McKellen) of Lord of the Rings (filmic) fame for this phrase (the initial (nine) words anyway); or rather, to film screen writers/adapters Philippa Boyens and Fran Walsh (in particular), and yes, (Sir) Peter Jackson (and various others) as well...
****Among W/whom were none other than the illustrious pillars of God's New Testament revelation - firstly John the Baptist, and then, barely two-to-three years on, Jesus the Christ himself. And moreover an entire book of the Bible, Job - about which I've been scribbling and scrawling profuse, and, to my own mind, profound, notes, for the past 22-/23-some years (plus), for 'a lay-person's guide to', for your info - is devoted to a full-scale examination and investigation thereof (i.e. this thorny and fraught subject area of suffering, especially the unjust variety). So 'Christians' preaching a 'prosperity gospel' of endless blessing and favour and prosperity and deliverance - in this earthly life, that is - are grounded not in good ole-fashioned biblical theology but in mere wishful thinking. And such simply won't cut the mustard any more, if ever it did.
*****Especially to Judge/Justice Asif Saeed Khan Khosa, who went public (as no doubt is inevitable and proper procedure in any national (or even local) jurisdiction), revealing that Aasiya's two female co-workers/accusers "had no regard for the truth" and had actually manufactured a "concoction incarnate" (in [alleging Aasiya had] supposedly blasphem[ed] Muhammad/******'the Prophet'). In fact, he argued that Aasiya herself had been the recipient of blasphemy, as "[the] insulting [of] the appellate's [i.e. Asia Bibi's] religion by her Muslim co-workers was no less blasphemous" (i.e. than that alleged against her).
Khosa sat to judge the case alongside Justice Mazhar Alam, and the three-judge bench was presided over by CJP Mian Saqab Nisar.
******My words (as in, not Judge Khosa's).
*******Ultimately both assassinated as a direct result of their courageous advocacy on Aasiya's behalf, and - at least on Taseer's part - his befriending of and providing of succour to her.
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