Introduction
To understand the organised wave of pornographic blasphemy that has emerged in Pakistan, it is first necessary to understand Hizb al-Shaytan. This is not merely a loose collection of individuals operating through social media. It is an organised satanic network that has attempted to place pornographic blasphemy within a defined ideological, organisational, and pseudo-religious framework.
Self-Styled Complete Religious System of Hizb al-Shaytan
One of the most striking features of this group is that it has constructed its own self-styled religious system. Muslims worship Allah, whereas this group presents Satan as the object of its devotion. Muslims recite the declaration of faith, La ilaha illallah, Muhammadur Rasulullah ﷺ, while the group’s own document, Farman-e-Ajnabi, contains its self-styled creed: “La ilaha illa al-Shaytan, Ajnabi Rasul al-Shaytan.”
The word “Ajnabi” in this formulation refers to the group’s self-proclaimed religious leader, who presents himself as a messenger of Satan. He claims to receive revelation from Satan and further claims that the blasphemies produced by him are themselves inspired through this supposed revelation.
In the same way that Muslims possess the Qur’an as revealed scripture, this group has produced its own book under the names Shariat-e-Ajnabi and Farman-e-Ajnabi. It contains highly obscene blasphemies, the group’s self-created religious concepts, and various rules belonging to its ideological system. Existing blasphemous material is drawn from this text, while further material is also created under its influence.
How Hizb al-Shaytan Operate?
Hizb al-Shaytan does not operate under a single name on social media. At different times, its activities have appeared under different group names, identities, and brands. Its reach is no longer confined to a small number of hidden online groups. The number of individuals associated with this wider network in Pakistan has now reportedly reached into the thousands.
The scale of the broader problem can also be gauged from the volume of blasphemous online material identified by Pakistani authorities. The Pakistan Telecommunication Authority identified hundreds of thousands of such links, with more than 110,000 links removed. The existence and scale of this organised problem has also been acknowledged in material associated with other state institutions, including the Information Board and the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting.
Recruitment and Training
However, Hizb al-Shaytan cannot be understood merely by examining the material it circulates. The network also has a defined membership structure, internal rules, and methods of induction and training. New individuals are initially drawn into its circles through different means. They are then gradually introduced to specific activities, assigned tasks, and required to comply with rules in order to remain part of the group. In this way, pornographic blasphemy ceases to be an isolated act of individual misconduct and becomes part of an organised ideological activity.
The central objective of this network is the propagation of its satanic ideology within Pakistan, the systematic desecration of religious sanctities, and the recruitment of more individuals into its circles.
Detailed video series discussion is also available here.
This article is only an introductory overview of Hizb al-Shaytan.
In upcoming articles, we will examine in greater detail how the group’s alleged organizational structure operates, how individuals are reportedly recruited, what tasks they are allegedly assigned, what different identities and faces the network uses across social media, and, most importantly, the allegation that the network has not remained limited to the general public but has also established roots within multiple institutions in Pakistan.
