Asia Bibi > Quotes

“I, Asia Bibi, have become a pariah and anyone who gives me any kind of help or support is considered to be a blasphemer too.”
― Asia Bibi, Blasphemy: the true, heartbreaking story of the woman sentenced to death over a cup of water

“Pakistan is a great nation and Pakistanis are great people. They are friendly and hospitable and the Islam they follow is a religion that welcomes others, as I know from my own experience. In a population of 180 million, there is only a handful of extremists. But, by instilling terror, those few extremists are holding back the development of the entire country.”
― Asia Bibi, Blasphemy: the true, heartbreaking story of the woman sentenced to death over a cup of water

“Asia Bibi is a Pakistani wife and mother living under sentence of death. Since 2009 she has been in prison in Sheikhupura, in the province of Punjab, where she is held in appalling conditions unworthy of a democracy. Her crime? She’s a Christian who drank a cup of water from a well used by her Muslim friends.”
― Asia Bibi, Blasphemy: the true, heartbreaking story of the woman sentenced to death over a cup of water

“Asia Bibi is the only woman this century to have been condemned to death for blasphemy. Her lawyer appealed against the decision, but until the date for the hearing is set by the High Court in Lahore, Asia risks being murdered at any time, or simply dying of exhaustion. A mullah in Peshawar has offered a reward of 5,000 euros to anyone who kills Asia. This sum is a fortune in Pakistan.”
― Asia Bibi, Blasphemy: the true, heartbreaking story of the woman sentenced to death over a cup of water

“I fix my attention on the spider, trying to create a moment of calm, get my breath back and forget, if only for a second, how dangerous people can be. I watch it busily weaving its web, delicately and with great attention to detail. The sight is soothing. Unlike me, this spider seems to know exactly what it has to do; it does its work without a moment’s hesitation and seems so confident. This little spider doesn’t seem to have any cracks in its world, while mine is falling to pieces.”
― Asia Bibi, Blasphemy: the true, heartbreaking story of the woman sentenced to death over a cup of water

“Now I’m like all the other blasphemers in Pakistan. Guilty or not, their world has been turned upside-down. The lucky ones have their lives destroyed by years of prison. But more often those who have committed the supreme offence - Christians, Hindus and Muslims alike – are killed in their cells by a fellow prisoner, or even by a warder. And even if they’re eventually acquitted, which very rarely happens, they are always killed when they’re released from jail.”
― Asia Bibi

“Death by hanging – how horrible! And as if killing me wasn’t enough, they’d also said I had to pay a fine of 300,000 rupees! I’ve never had that much money and never will. Why are they doing this to me? Am I supposed to pay to have myself killed?”
― Asia Bibi, Blasphemy: the true, heartbreaking story of the woman sentenced to death over a cup of water

“I explained what had really happened with those women, who’d turned hysterical at the thought of drinking water served by a Christian; how, after the argument, I was chased by a mad crowd and beaten by several villagers who dragged me to the police station; how, once there, I was unjustly accused of having blasphemed and the police threw me into a cell, under pressure from the crowd and the village mullah. At that point in my story Salman Taseer thanked me warmly. I was relieved to have been able to tell the truth.”
― Asia Bibi, Blasphemy: the true, heartbreaking story of the woman sentenced to death over a cup of water

“I often wonder how my neighbours from my old cell are doing. There are around a hundred of us women locked up here, mostly accused of adultery. But in reality many of them have been raped. Although these women are victims, they’re regarded as guilty.”
― Asia Bibi, Blasphemy: the true, heartbreaking story of the woman sentenced to death over a cup of water

“I put my hand on my chest, now flat as a plank of wood. My belly has hollowed out, my thighs have melted away, my arms are shrinking to nothing and from looking at my hands you’d think I was dead already. I’d like to cry, but today I have no tears left. I’d like to shout, but I can tell I’ve got no voice. My feeble breath is just enough to keep me in the world. I’d tear out my hair, but I like it too much to lose it. In this place I’ve learned how to die while I’m still alive.”
― Asia Bibi, Blasphemy: the true, heartbreaking story of the woman sentenced to death over a cup of water

“The governor started talking at once. He told the journalists that I’d been unjustly accused, that the law against blasphemy was open to criminal misuse against the most vulnerable religious minorities, that not only was it against the principles of Islam but it did nothing to serve that religion. Then he stopped speaking. I understood that it was my turn. I was terrified - I didn’t think I could do it. Women of my kind aren’t expected to speak at all, let alone in public, and certainly not in front of strangers. I didn’t know what to say and started to stammer something inaudible. The governor quickly came to my aid. He interrupted me and, with a little nod of encouragement, asked me to tell the journalists what had happened in the village.”
― Asia Bibi, Blasphemy: the true, heartbreaking story of the woman sentenced to death over a cup of water

“Later my lawyer told me that lots of prisoners accused of blasphemy never even get to court because they are killed in their cells before they can go for trial”
― Asia Bibi, Blasphemy: the true, heartbreaking story of the woman sentenced to death over a cup of water

“What should - or can - Christians say if a Muslim asks them if they believe in Allah and the Prophet Muhammad? I was brought up to believe in Christ, the Virgin Mary and the Holy Trinity. I respect Islam and the Muslim faith, but what can I say when they ask me? If I say I believe in God and Jesus Christ rather than Allah, I’m regarded as a blasphemer. If I say I believe in Allah, I’m a traitor, like St Peter when he denied Jesus three times. These are questions I never used to think about.”
― Asia Bibi, Blasphemy: the true, heartbreaking story of the woman sentenced to death over a cup of water

“I’m such bad news that even the big black fly has flown away. It must have realised it too might be killed through contact with me, like Salman Taseer and now Shahbaz Bhatti.”
― Asia Bibi, Blasphemy: the true, heartbreaking story of the woman sentenced to death over a cup of water

“Back in my cell, I still can’t believe it. The Holy Father, the Pope himself, is thinking of me and praying for me. I wonder if I deserve so much honour and attention. Why me? I’m just a poor country woman and there must be other people in the world suffering just as much as me – or worse. Thank you, thank you, God, for all the good you have done me today. For the first time I go to sleep in my cell feeling happy.”
― Asia Bibi, Blasphemy: the true, heartbreaking story of the woman sentenced to death over a cup of water

“I’m cross with myself for speaking so angrily to God. God is all love and can’t be held responsible for human madness, for all the hatred in the world.”
― Asia Bibi, Blasphemy: the true, heartbreaking story of the woman sentenced to death over a cup of water

“Zarmina was a Muslim, accused of blasphemy like me. Her story was totally absurd. She had just got married when she and her husband had a motorbike crash in Shergarh, several hours’ drive from here. Luckily they weren’t badly hurt, but when her husband lost control of the bike with Zarmina riding pillion behind him, it careered into a monument dedicated to the Prophet Muhammad. Zarmina and her husband were both accused of blasphemy and thrown into prison. And now Zarmina is dead. She was nice; I will miss her. Why have we two been accused of blasphemy, my Muslim sister who died last night and me? I don’t understand it. Have people gone mad?”
― Asia Bibi, Blasphemy: the true, heartbreaking story of the woman sentenced to death over a cup of water

“I try to say a few words out loud, to see if my voice still works. Ashiq didn’t come last Tuesday, so I haven’t used it for more than ten days. I use it so little since I’ve been isolated in here that I wonder if my voice won’t give out one day. I’ve also lost a lot of weight. My health isn’t very good. My muscles don’t work the way they used to, I feel less alert, and wonder how I can ever go back to the things I used to do – fruit picking in particular is physically tiring and hurts your back. I feel like I’m 100 years old and, even if I’m one day released, I won’t be able to go back to the same life.”
― Asia Bibi, Blasphemy: the true, heartbreaking story of the woman sentenced to death over a cup of water

“My husband found me as pure as the Virgin Mary on our wedding night. And every Christmas after that his mother used to congratulate him for marrying me. I was a good wife, a good mother and a good Christian, but now it seems I’m good only to hang.”
― Asia Bibi, Blasphemy: the true, heartbreaking story of the woman sentenced to death over a cup of water

“I wept with joy at the idea of seeing my family again and leaving the hell of prison.”
― Asia Bibi, Blasphemy: the true, heartbreaking story of the woman sentenced to death over a cup of water

“But I have no confidence in this justice system that lashes out against poor people like me who have nothing. If, by some miracle, I’m not killed in my cell before my appeal is heard, I’ll end up murdered anyway.”
― Asia Bibi, Blasphemy: the true, heartbreaking story of the woman sentenced to death over a cup of water

“But though I’m kept in a tiny, windowless cell, I want my voice and my anger to be heard. I want the whole world to know that I’m going to be hanged for helping my neighbour. I’m guilty of having shown someone sympathy. What did I do wrong? I drank water from a well belonging to Muslim women, using ‘their’ cup, in the burning heat of the midday sun.”
― Asia Bibi, Blasphemy: the true, heartbreaking story of the woman sentenced to death over a cup of water

“I think of my children, who must also be feeling desperate. I’m not dead yet, but it won’t be long now. It’s been ten days since the judge passed his sentence and I know I could find myself with a rope round my neck at any moment.”
― Asia Bibi, Blasphemy: the true, heartbreaking story of the woman sentenced to death over a cup of water

“In isolated villages like ours age doesn’t matter. Ageing is a part of life, like the passing of time and the changing weather.”
― Asia Bibi, Blasphemy: the true, heartbreaking story of the woman sentenced to death over a cup of water

“I still have my tears: they flow often enough, but I’m done with sobbing. My tears are my cellmates. They remind me that I haven’t completely given up, that I’m a victim of injustice. They remind me that I’m innocent.”
― Asia Bibi, Blasphemy: the true, heartbreaking story of the woman sentenced to death over a cup of water

“We went in. I was dazzled by a yellow light. There were a lot of people in there, making a lot of noise. A tall, heavily built man in glasses came towards me. ‘Hello, Asia, I’m Salman Taseer, the Governor of Punjab. I’ve heard about what happened to you and I know that you’ve been victimised. I’ve organised a press conference, so you can tell the whole world that you are innocent.”
― Asia Bibi, Blasphemy: the true, heartbreaking story of the woman sentenced to death over a cup of water

“So now you know a bit more about me, it’s you I want to speak to. You’ve read my story and you’ve learned about my country, our life that’s happy in spite of everything – or could be. I’m just one woman among all the very many women of this world, but I humbly believe that my suffering is like that of others. I long for my persecutors’ eyes to be opened, for the situation in my country to change.”
― Asia Bibi, Blasphemy: the true, heartbreaking story of the woman sentenced to death over a cup of water

“Even if I could look in a mirror, I don’t know if I’d dare. I’m so afraid I wouldn’t recognise myself. Basically I think I don’t want to know; I prefer to think I’m pretty like Ashiq always says, as beautiful as the day I turned twenty.”
― Asia Bibi, Blasphemy: the true, heartbreaking story of the woman sentenced to death over a cup of water

“The one thing that keeps me going, despite all the deprivation, anger and this terrible fear that never leaves me, is the certainty that I am innocent. The certainty that I am being treated unjustly. And the desire to bear witness, to do what I can so that my fight will help other people. I’ve got no education, I’ve always lived very simply, but today I think perhaps my life will have an impact on the life of my country.”
― Asia Bibi, Blasphemy: the true, heartbreaking story of the woman sentenced to death over a cup of water

“If I’m acquitted, my life won’t be worth much in Pakistan. I’ll have to be adopted by some other country, since my own no longer wants me. I’m condemned to flee my beloved native land, but the fury I’ve built up in prison over the last two years has given me the strength to want to go on living, abroad, with my family, who are also threatened with death.”
― Asia Bibi, Blasphemy: the true, heartbreaking story of the woman sentenced to death over a cup of water