ISLAMABAD: A petitioner has requested the Supreme Court (SC) of Pakistan to disqualify Senator Aitzaz Ahsan for incorrectly reciting a Surah (verse) from the Holy Quran.

Television footage aired on Sunday showed the Pakistan People’s Party leader ‘incorrectly’ reciting the Quranic verse during a reception ceremony in Lahore for former president Asif Ali Zardari. The videos showed Ahsan trying to recite Surah Ikhlaas twice, but failing to do so correctly.

Dr. Abid Rauf Orakzai, of the Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam Fazl (JUI-F), pleads that the court should order the Chairman Senate to direct the issue to the Election Commission of Pakistan.

The petitioner argues that Surah-e-Ikhlaas is a foundation of Tauheed (the basic pillar of Islam), and by not being able to recite it correctly Aitzaz Ahsan is not eligible to be a member of Parliament.

He further requested the court to ask Ahsan to recite the first and second Kalmas and offer Salah.

The federal government and chief election commissioner and the PPP leader have been made parties in the petition.

This is not the first time that such a petition has been filed in the Supreme Court for against a parliamentarian for ‘incorrect’ recitations of holy texts.

In January 2011 the court was moved against former Interior Minister, Rehman Malik, for incorrectly reciting the Surah Ikhlaas.

According to Article 62 of the constitution of Pakistan, a member of Parliament should not “violate(s) Islamic Injunctions,” should have “adequate knowledge of Islamic teachings,” and practices “obligatory duties prescribed by Islam.”