Introduction

In the midst of a surge in blasphemy allegations, public lynchings, and contentious blasphemy legislation in Pakistan, the introduction presents a succinct historical sketch of blasphemy laws, challenging the conventional perspective, which primarily focuses on understanding the blasphemy issue through the lens of these laws. Instead, it investigates a central question: Can the issue of blasphemy and the associated violence in Pakistan be resolved if laws that render it punishable are abolished? Through a comprehensive grassroots analysis of everyday life, it further argues why the religious prism, coupled with blasphemy laws, frequently fails to fully grasp the essence of the blasphemy problem in Pakistan. Alternatively, the introduction employs a noncanonical framework—the ethnography of the mundane—advocating for a secular reading to comprehend the intricacies of the blasphemy conundrum in the country. This methodological and theoretical shift aims to situate the blasphemy issue within a broader socio-cultural and netnographic context, unveiling the lives actually lived and the “beneath the surface” grand cultural schemes that shape the configuration of the blasphemy landscape, everyday Islam, enduring memories, and the deeply ingrained dispositions of lifeworlds. Moreover, placemaking, representational dilemmas, methodological confessions, and the inherent questions of suffering and sympathy are scrutinized within this ethnographic exploration of blasphemy.