‘Halwa And Haya In Arabic Text’: The Dress That Sparked Death Calls Against Pakistani Woman

Surrounded by an enraged mob thirsty for retribution, a woman in Lahore found herself shedding tears in videosgripped by fear for her very existence. As policewoman, Syeda Shehrbano Naqvi, guided her out of the sanctuary of a restaurant, where she sought refuge, the air reverberated with cries of '…judged from the body' (death penalty for blasphemy). But why? Simply because she adorned herself with a garment bearing Arabic calligraphy, mistaken by many as excerpts from the Quran.

However, this attire, readily purchasable on eBay, held no connection to the Quran whatsoever. Semplicita, a Kuwaiti clothing brand, took to its Instagram story to dispel the misconceptions surrounding the incident in Pakistan, asserting, “Dear Pakistani people, we have nothing to do with the recent incident that happened to the innocent girl. We are based in Kuwait and we do not ship worldwide. Please stop following and messaging since it’s very disturbing.”

“We use Arabic words and letters in different fonts everywhere since it’s our language,” they further clarified. As per Dialogue Pakistanthe brand elucidated that the Arabic phrases “halwa” and “haya” adorning the dress directly translate to “beautiful” and “life,” respectively.

According to their Instagram account, the dress had been available for public purchase for over 57 weeks, almost a year, exclusively released for Ramadan 2023.

Meanwhile, religious scholars at the police precinct gave their stamp of approval that the text on her dress was, in fact, Arabic calligraphy, not holy verses from the Quran, as confirmed by BBC. Consequently, they were handed the task of recording a video to vindicate the woman.

Woman’s Apology

“I didn’t have any such intention, it happened by mistake. Still, I apologise for all that happened, and I’ll make sure it never happens again,” she expressed, emphasising her devout adherence to Islam and vehement denial of blasphemy.

Tahir Mahmood Ashrafi, a former adviser on religious affairs to the Prime Minister, voiced on ‘X’ (formerly Twitter) that it was the men in the crowd, not the woman, who owed an apology.

“There is no shortage of ignorant people in Pakistan,” remarked Faraz Pervaiz, a Pakistani Christian who himself has faced accusations of blasphemy. If so many proofs weren’t enough, even he elucidated that the garment did not feature Quranic verses but rather Arabic calligraphy, a common motif in Saudi Arabia.

Following the incident, netizens berated Pakistanis, with one lamenting, “The fact that even the officer who saved her life was unable to say that “there was nothing wrong in her dress” says a lot about the other parties influence. While the one who received the trauma of her life had to apologise to save herself.”

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Thus, with evidence aplenty, it’s as clear as black and white how the tangled threads of misunderstanding led to the woman’s harrowing ordeal, as she innocuously chose to wrap herself in a rainbow of colours for a market frolic, only to find herself entangled in the web of ignorance, where all the words adorning her attire meant was ‘sweet’.

Note: Initially, media reports had claimed that the dress was from the Saudi Arabian label Shalik Riyadh, launched during Ramadan 2022. However, as per an Instagram post by @semplicitakw, the said dress was reportedly designed by the Kuwaiti company.