In 2003, Pakistani Christian Anwar Masih asked a neighbor, a recent convert to Islam, why he had changed religions and grown a beard. It was not long before he was arrested and placed in a courtroom for these comments, facing accusations of having insulted Islam and disrespected his neighbor’s beard. By some accounts, personal animosities between the two men may have been at the heart of the dispute. Though Anwar spent a year in custody as the legal proceedings worked, he was ultimately acquitted.

However, Anwar’s troubles did not end there. Because of the blasphemy accusation he had been tarred with, acquittal or no, he was forced into hiding. For a time, he had to live a semi-transient lifestyle and found difficulty attaining employment.