We know that Tanveer Ahmed, the killer of Glaswegian shopkeeper Asad Shah, was entirely unrepentant for his actions.
As he was led away after sentencing, he raised a clenched fist and shouted loudly: "Praise for the Prophet Muhammad, there is only one Prophet." Some of his supporters responded by raising their fists and repeating the phrase. Confronted by a reporter outside the court, his family were clearly unwilling to condemn the murder.
So are these people extremists? Well, alarmingly enough, no, they're not. They're Barelwis, a South Asian Sunni movement generally viewed as moderate compared to, say, Deobandis.
They oppose the Taliban. Yet, within this group, hard-line views on punishment for whatever they perceive as blasphemy are commonplace. Secunder Kermani for Newsnight makes the Pakistan connection: [Mick Hartley] Read more
