Pakistani 'disco mullah' faces prosecution for blasphemy

Police in Pakistan are investigating a former pop singer turned Islamic preacher, after he made some remarks allegedly insulting the youngest wife of the Prophet Muhammad.

The remarks appeared in a short video which went viral on the internet.

In the video, Junaid Jamshed, who quit music to become a member of the conservative Tableeghi Jamaat organisation in 2001, said the Prophet’s youngest wife Ayesha demanded attention and also once faked illness, the BBC reported.

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The blasphemy case was filed by another conservative group Sunni Tehrik.

The ‘Disco Mullah’, as the former pop star is known in some parts of Pakistan, immediately released another video apologising and asking for forgiveness.

"I confess to my mistake. I did not do it intentionally," he said. "With a clean heart I ask that Allah forgive me and I beg and beseech all Muslims to forgive me. This was not on purpose", he added.

The spokesman for the conservative group who filed the case against Junaid told the BBC that the former musician’s apology won’t affect the legal process, which will go ahead in spite of Jamshed’s apology.

Blasphemy allegations can lead to a death sentence in Muslim majority Pakistan but, according to Al-Jazeera, no one in Pakistan has yet been executed for the crime.