Last year in August 2020, superstar Saba Qamar and famous Pakistani singer, Bilal Saeed, shared a short video clip of their upcoming song, ‘Qubool Hai’. This song was filmed in an Asian historic masjid of Lahore near Dehli gate ‘Wazir Khan’ mosque.
The video had some inappropriate shots of a couple dancing in the masjid, which was directed by Saba Qamar herself. The act was totally against the respect of the masjid, and consequently, they both had to face a lot of criticism from their fans and media. Because filming a music video containing dancing shots has hurt the religious sentiments of the public. Additionally, the action was taken against the administration of the mosque as well.
Later, an FIR was registered against both of them at Akbari Gate police station under section 295 of the Pakistan Penal Code. The exact wording of Section 295-C of the Pakistan Penal Code is this: “Whoever by words, either spoken or written, or by visible representation or by any imputation, innuendo, or insinuation, directly or indirectly, defiles the sacred name of the Holy Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) shall be punished with death, or imprisonment for life, and shall also be liable to fine.”
But luckily, they both were granted pre-arrest bails against surety bonds worth Rs 50,000 collectively from August 15, 2020, till August 25, with a further extension given till September 2020. Later, Bilal Saeed subsequently apologized to the public in a video posted on social media. “We realize that what has happened over the past few days has hurt sentiments deeply,” he wrote as a caption. “We as Muslims, as decent human beings and as artists will never, ever trivialize or condone disrespect Islam or any other religion, race, caste, color or creed. If we have unknowingly hurt anyone’s sentiments, we apologize to you all with all our heart.”
Saba Qamar, on the other hand, responded to the criticism in a series of tweets, saying the clip was a “prologue to the music video featuring a Nikkah scene”.
Now, in September 2021, Judicial Magistrate Javeria Bhatti issued arrest warrants for both the artists for not following the court orders for the appearance. The judge had earlier summoned them as their case was presented, but both failed to appear before the court. The court now thus, has issued warrants for both.