Blasphemy and Islam

Blasphemy is irreverence toward holy personages, religious artifacts, customs, and beliefs.

In the third book of the Torah, Leviticus 24:16 states that those who speak blasphemy "shall surely be put to death". See also List of capital crimes in the Torah. The Seven laws of Noah,which Judaism sees as applicable to all of humankind prohibits blasphemy. Christian theology condemns blasphemy. It is spoken of in the Mark 3:29, where blaspheming the Holy Spirit is spoken of as unforgivable - the eternal sin. Blasphemy has been condemned as a serious, or even the most serious, sin by the major creeds and Church theologians.

The punishment for blasphemy in most of the major religions is death. It is stated in the Old Testament of the Bible, which is the authority for both the Jews and the Christians:

And he that blasphemeth the name of the LORD, he shall surely be put to death, and all the congregation shall certainly stone him: [Book of Leviticus 24:16]

Moreover, if we read Manusmriti, the Law book of the Hindus, it says:

“If a man born of a lower class intentionally bothers a priest, the king should punish him physically with various forms of corporal and capital punishment that make men shudder.” [Manusmriti 9:248]

Blasphemy in Islam is any irreverent behavior toward holy personages, religious artifacts, customs, and beliefs that Muslims revere. Where Sharia pertains, the penalties for blasphemy can include fines, imprisonment, flogging, amputation, crucifixion, hanging, or beheading. Muslim clerics may call for the killing of an alleged blasphemer by issuing a fatwa.

Blasphemy in Islam, as in other faiths, is speech that is insulting to God. In Muslim history, blasphemy came to be associated mainly with perceived insults to the prophet of Islam.The material on blasphemy in the Qur’ān includes the concepts of denying the truth, inventing falsehoods, and insulting the divine. The most common Arabic verbsfor blasphemy are sabba (to abuse, insult) and shatama (to abuse, vilify). Shatama does not occur in the Qur’ān, and sabba appears only as part of a commandment to Muslims not to insult the idols of polytheists (Q6.108): “Do not abuse those to whom they pray, apart from God, or they will abuse God in revenge without knowledge.” Further material relates to the terms takdhīb (giving the lie, denial), and iftirā’ (invention). In these verses blasphemy means denying the truth about God and spreading falsehood in its place. The greatest offence of invention is shirk—to associate with God what is merely human, as in the warning of Luqmān to his son: “Do not associate others with God: to associate is a mighty wrong” (Q31.13). This, of course, was the accusation which Muslims made against the Christian confession of the divinity of Jesus.

Regarding the punishment for blasphemy in Islam, it is mentioned in the Glorious Qur’an:

“The punishment of those who wage war against Allah and His Messenger, and strive with might for mischief through the land is: execution, or crucifixion, or the cutting off of hands and feet from opposite sides, or exile from the land: that is their disgrace in this world, and a heavy punishment is theirs in the Hereafter;” [Surah Al-Maidah 5:33].

In Islam, a person who has committed blasphemy can either be killed or crucified, or his opposite hands and feet can be cut off, or he can be exiled from that land. On the other hand, in other religions there is no other option except capital punishment. Islam at least has four options of punishment for an act of blasphemy.

Islamic Law takes a more severe view toward reviling Muḥammad (PBUH) than it does toward reviling God. By the beginning of the fourth Islamic century, a consensus had developed among the scholars that the one who insults the prophet of Islam must be put to death.

In 1982, Pakistani President Zia ul-Haqq introduced Section 295B into the Pakistan Penal Code, punishing “defiling the Holy Qur’an” with life imprisonment. In 1986, Section 295C was introduced, mandating the death penalty for “use of derogatory remarks in respect of the Holy Prophet.”

The concept of ‘freedom of speech’ is derived from the Capitalist ideology that is based on the belief that God and religion should be separated from life’s affairs (secularism). Human beings define how to live their lives free of the constraints of religion which is why freedom of individual, ownership, religion and speech are essential cornerstones of Capitalism. The right to speak and what are the limits of speech are therefore all defined by human beings.

This view completely contradicts Islam. In Islam it is the Creator of human beings Allah سبحانه وتعالى who gave the right of speech to people and defined the limits on what is acceptable and unacceptable speech.

The Messenger of Allah صلى الله عليه وسلم said: “Whosoever believes in Allah and the Last Day, then let him speak good (khair) or remain silent.”[Agreed upon. Narrated by Abu Hurayra.]

Khair in this hadith means Islam or what Islam approves of.[Hizb ut-Tahrir, ‘American Campaign to Suppress Islam,’ p. 23]

Quran

The Qur'an does not specify a specific punishment for blasphemy, however it does specify a punishment for "spreading mischief": (Sura Al-Maidah 5:33)

Hadith and Other Islamic Writings

Muhammad (PBUH) had said to his followers “Whoever curses a prophet kill him,” (Tabarani, Daraqutni)^[3] and there are many examples of people during his time who were guilty of blaspheming Islam and its Prophet. Most of these people were assassinated with Muhammad's blessing, and no punishment or compensation was imposed on the murderer.

• 'Abdullah bin Ubai (bin Salul) – Muhammad (PBUH) asked his followers to kill this man for making "evil" statements about Muhammad's family.

• Abu `Afak – Muhammad (PBUH) asked his followers to kill this man for making negative remarks about Muhammad and Islam.

• Ka’b bin Ashraf – Muhammad (PBUH) asked his followers to kill this man for writing inflammatory poetry about Muhammad and Muslim women.

• Asma Bint Marwan – Muhammad (PBUH) asked his followers to kill this woman for composing inflammatory poetry about Islam and Muslims.

• Blind Man's Slave-Mother - When Muhammad (PBUH) learned that one of his followers had stabbed and killed his slave (other sources refer to her as a freed concubine: Umm walad) for making derogatory remarks about Muhammad, he declared that "no retaliation is payable for her blood."

• Al-Nadr Bin Al-Harith - Al Nadir, a storyteller and poet who had mocked him. He was a prisoner of war who was not allowed to be ransomed by their clans and was executed on Muhammad's (PBUH) orders.

Scholars

[In Islamic Fiqh] there are absolutely no opinions, no variants, no exceptions...Muhammad ibn Sahnun said that even if a man claims that it is part of his religion to insult the Messenger, and so in his religion it is lawful, that makes no difference to us. If he openly insults our Messenger, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, then our religion makes it lawful to kill him. This surely is the inescapable centre of the current affair. The arrogant kuffar have to learn that the world contains a two-billion community who have a different set of Laws from theirs, and who can never be detached from that Law (The Fiqh Concerning Those Who Insult The Messenger of Allah Shaykh Dr. Abdalqadir as-Sufi, February 6, 2006)

“Know that all who curse Muhammad (PBUH), may Allah bless him and grant him peace, or blame him or attribute imperfection to him in his person, his lineage, his deen or any of his qualities, or alludes to that or its like by any means whatsoever, whether in the form of a curse or contempt or belittling him or detracting from him or finding fault with him or maligning him, the judgement regarding such a person is the same as the judgement against anyone who curses him. He is killed as we shall make clear. This judgement extends to anything which amounts to a curse or disparagement. We have no hesitation concerning this matter, be it a clear statement or allusion.

The same applies to anyone who curses him, invokes against him, desires to harm him, ascribes to him what does not befit his position or jokes about his mighty affair with foolish talk, satire, disliked words or lies, or reviles him because of any affliction or trial which happened to him or disparages him, because of any of the permissible and well-known human events which happened to him. All of this is the consensus of the ‘ulama' and the imams of fatwa from the time of the Companions until today.^{[4] (}Qadi 'Iyad ibn Musa al-Yahsubi)

According to Ayatullah al-Khu'i, it is incumbent (wajib) to kill one who insults or calumniates the Prophet when one hears the insults provided there is no danger to his self, reputation or wealth. Agha also extends this ruling to cover insults against the Imams and Bibi Fatima (A.S.). It is not essential to get the permission of a Hakim al-Shar' to carry out the act. (Islamic law on Blasphemy Dr. Takim, 'Aalim Network QR, December 8, 1995)

In Islam, a person who has committed blasphemy can either be killed or crucified, or his opposite hands and feet can be cut off, or he can be exiled from that land. On the other hand, in other religions there is no other option except capital punishment. Islam at least has four options of punishment for an act of blasphemy.  (Question Hour: Ruling for Blasphemy in Islam Dr. Zakir Naik, Islamic Voice, April, 2006)

Whoever Curses the Prophet Peace and Blessings be Upon him, Muslim or Kafir, Must be Killed. (The Drawn Sword Against the One Who Curses the Messenger - Pages 31-33 Ibn Taymiyyah)

"The general scholars agreed that whoever curses him, Peace and Blessings be upon him, must be killed. This was stated by Malik, Al-Layth, Ahmad, Ishaaq, and Ash-Shafi'ee, and Nu'man (Abu Hanifa) said that the Dhimmi (Jizya-paying non-Muslim) is not to be killed." (The Drawn Sword Against the One Who Curses the Messenger -  Pages 31-33 Ibn Al-Munthir)

The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) sometimes chose to forgive those who had insulted him, and sometimes he ordered that they should be executed, if that served a greater purpose. But now his forgiveness is impossible because he is dead, so the execution of the one who insults him remains the right of Allaah, His Messenger and the believers, and the one who deserves to be executed cannot be let off, so the punishment must be carried out. (Al-Saarim al-Maslool, 2/438)

Insulting the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) is one of the worst of forbidden actions, and it constitutes kufr and apostasy from Islam, according to scholarly consensus, whether done seriously or in jest. The one who does that is to be executed even if he repents and whether he is a Muslim or a kaafir. (Ruling on one who insults the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) Shaykh al Munajid, Islam Q&A, Fatwa No. 22809)