New Age
Islam Staff Writer
11 May 2021
The
Violent Ideology Of The Protection Of The Honour Of Prophethood Is At The Root
Of Sectarian Bloodshed In Pakistan
Main
Points:
1.Quran does not prescribe any punishment for
blasphemy
2. Islamic scholars of Pakistan promote
violence in the name of protection of Namoos-e-Risalat
3. The holy Prophet pbuh pardoned many
blasphemers.
4. A Muslim cannot be killed for blasphemy.
5. Dr Tahirul Qadri has distorted the meaning
of verses to justify blasphemy killings.
-----
Prophet
Mohammad pbuh is the last prophet and was the founder of Islam. The holy Quran
was revealed to him. Prophet Mohammad pbuh suffered many humiliations, abuses,
physical torture and even death threats during his initial eleven years of
Prophethood. He made many sacrifices for the Muslims and Islam. For this,
Muslims also love him for his sacrifices, for his guidance and for the pain he
went through for his Ummah.
The Quran
also praises him a number of times and asks Muslims to send salam to the holy
Prophet pbuh as God also sends Darood-O-Salam to him.
"Verily God and His angels send blessings
on the Prophet. O believers, send darood-o-salam on him."(Al Ahzab:56)
The Quran
asks Muslims again and again to respect their prophet pbuh and obey him and
accept him as an arbitrator in all matters concerning them and all disputes
arising among them.
"But no, by your Lord, they cannot become
true believers until they seek your arbitration in all matters on which they
disagree among themselves and then find not the least vexation in their hearts
over what you have decided and accept it on willing submission."(Al Nisa:65-66)
Further,
the Quran has declared that the holy Prophet pbuh is more important than the
believers' own self. No one in a believer’s life is more important than the
Prophet pbuh.
"Surely the Prophet pbuh has a greater
claim over themselves."(Al
Ahzab:6)
This is
because God loves His prophet pbuh and showers His blessings on him. If any one
speaks ill of the holy Prophet pbuh, it hurts God and angers Him.
"Indeed those who trouble Allah and His
noble messenger upon them is Allah's curse in the whole world and in the
Hereafter and Allah has kept prepared a disgraceful punishment for them." (Al Ahzab:57)
However, in
spite of all this, the Quran does not prescribe a physical punishment for
insults and evil words hurled against the holy Prophet pbuh. The Quran asks Muslims
to observe restraint and leave the matter to Allah as He has prepared a
grievous punishment for them in the Hereafter.
"Those
who cause pain to the messenger of Allah, theirs shall be a painful
chastisement."(At Taubah:61)
"And you shall certainly hear much that
will grieve you from those who received the Book before you and from those who
worship many idols. But if you persevere patiently and guard against evil then
that will be a determining factor in all affairs."(Al-e-Imran:186)
All the
above quoted verses make it clear that though God loves prophet Mohammad pbuh
dearly and wants believers to send Darood-o-Salam on him as a mark of respect
and love and though He is hurt at insults and abuses thrown at him, God does
not want violence or bloodshed in the name of protecting his honour. He has
prepared a severe torment for those who insult the prophet pbuh in the
Hereafter.
So the
Quran has produced the concept of the sanctity of the personality of Prophet
Mohammad pbuh or Namoos-e-Risalat. A Muslim keeps the holy Prophet pbuh in high
esteem and loves him more than his dear ones and his own life and obeys his
commandments in all personal or communal issues.
But the
concept of Namoos-e-Risalat presented by the Quran is devoid of any violence
aimed at the opponents. The Quran advises Muslims to practice restraint in face
of insult or blasphemy. To the Quran, protecting the honour of the Prophet pbuh
means obeying him and adhering to his teachings of tolerance, forgiveness,
submission to the will of God, charity, service to humankind and making
sacrifices in the path of God.
But in
later years, Islamic scholars explained the concept of Namoos-e-Risalat from
the point of view of Hadith according to which a number of Jews and polytheists
during the Prophet's life were killed at the order of the holy prophet pbuh or
the killing of such people by Muslims was approved by the Prophet pbuh. On the
other hand, there are also instances when the holy Prophet pbuh forgave the
blasphemers.
Though the
Quran does not prescribe any punishment for blasphemy, leave aside death
sentence and rather advises restraint, Islamic jurisprudents drew their
conclusion in favour of death sentence for blasphemy from the execution of
blasphemers during the prophet's life.
The
instances in which the prophet pbuh ordered the killing or approved the killing
of blasphemers were the worst kind of habitual offenders who spoke or wrote
highly abusive or insulting content. To understand the degree of hurtfulness of
these abusive and blasphemous writings or speech we need to k ow the fact that
in Arab in those times, the poetic genre of hijw (satirical poems) was very
popular. These poems were written by people with poetic abilities in order to
denigrate or insult or to do character assassination of opponents. Often, the
poets mentioned the names of mothers, daughters, sisters or wives of their
opponents in the poems and wrote filthy things about them. This would cause
grave harm to the dignity of the targeted family or persons. This would often lead
to bloodshed and fights. If one goes through the satirical poetry of one of the
greatest poets of Abbasid era, Al Mutanabbi Alkindi, one can easily understand
how damaging these poems were. Al Mutanabbi himself was killed by a man against
whom he had written filthy satirical poetry.
Therefore,
some of them who were killed b Muslims for committing blaspbemy against the
holy prophet pbuh were poets who continually wrote or sang damaging and abusive
poetry against him and his family members. However, there are also instances
when the holy Prophet pbuh forgave his blasphemers when they repented. And the
number of those forgiven is greater than the number of those killed. One of
those forgiven is the poet Kaab bin Zuhair who later wrote the famous Qasida Burdah
in praise of the holy prophet pbuh and received a shawl from the holy prophet
pbuh as a gift.
This
violent concept of the protection of Namoos-e-Risalat was promoted in Pakistan
due to sectarian and political reasons. A number of books on Namoos-e-Risalat
were written in Urdu justifying the killing of those committing blasphemy. Some
of the books are titled "Gustakh-E-Rasool Ki Saza Sar Tan Se Juda"
Tahaffuz-e-Namoos-e-Risalat Aur Hamari Zimmedariyan (Protection of the
honour of prophet and our responsibility), Namoos-e-Risalat ke Saat Shaheed (
Seven martyrs of the Sanctity of Prophethood) etc. Two important books on the
subject are "Namoos-E-Risalat Ki Hifazat Kijye( Protect the honour
of Prophethood) by Mufti Taqi Usmani and Tahaffuz-e-Namoos-e-Risalat (
Protection of the honour of Prophethood) by Dr Tahirul Qadri.
The book by
Tahirul Qadri deals with the subject of blasphemy from both historical and
ideological points of view. The book gives an insight into how the concept of
the protection of the honour of the prophet pbuh evolved over centuries and how
the interpretations and personal opinions of muftis, jurisprudents and lesser
known Islamic scholars together formed the current violent ideology of
Tahaffuz-e-Namoos-e-Risalat in Pakistan.
It becomes clear
from the book that Dr Tahirul Qadri who had written a voluminous fatwa against
terrorism and suicide bombings himself supports death for blasphemy of any
degree. To support his belief, he quotes Ibn-e-Taymiyyah:
"Of
course even if the person abusing the prophet pbuh may be a Muslim he will
become kafir due to his temerity and in view of the four imams and other imams
deserves to be killed."
He quotes
Imam Abu Sulaiman al Khatabi:
I do not
know even a single Muslim who had disagreed on the permissibility of the
killing of the person committing blasphemy against the prophet pbuh even if he
is a Muslim."
He quotes
Imam Abu Bakr Jasas:
"There
is no disagreement anong Muslims on the issue that whoever attempts insult and
pain to the holy prophet pbuh is an apostate deserving to be killed even if the
person happens to be a Muslim."
He also
quotes the statement of Allama Ismail Haqqi from his book Roohul Bayan:
"Let
it be known to you that there is unanimity of the Muslim community on that
insult to the holy prophet pbuh or any other prophet is Kufr irrespective of
whether the person commits it intentionally or unintentionally. Abusing the
holy prophet pbuh intentionally or unintentionally is equal because in the
event of Kufr, no one will be exempted on the basis of ignorance, nor will the
claim that it was a slip of tongue be accepted when his sanity was
intact."
The
statements of the Islamic jurists, scholars and muftis make it clear that even
Muslims can be accused of blasphemy and killed though during the prophet's life
only a few polytheists, Jews and Munafiq were killed. A Muslim can never speak
ill of or abuse the holy prophet pbuh but from the statements of the Islamic
scholars quoted above even Muslims can be held guilty of blasphemy and killed.
According to Allama Ismail Haqqi even if some one commits blasphemy
unintentionally, he can be killed. This argument is used to frame Muslims in
blasphemy charges in Pakistan.
Here are
some examples.
1) A Muslim
man walks into a police station in Pakistan. He has an altercation with the
station-in-charge. During the altercation, the man abuses the
officer-in-charge. The officer-in-charge registers a case of blasphemy against
the man. The reason: The name of the office-in-charge was Mustafa.
2) A Sunni
Muslim medical representative visits a doctor belonging to the Ismaili sect of
Shias. The doctor makes him wait for long. The MR is irritated and enters the
doctor's chamber without his permission and thrusting his visiting card on his
table says: “I don’t have much time. So call me when you are free."
Incensed at the arrogance of the MR, the doctor throws his visiting card into
the dust bin. The MR registers a case of blasphemy against the Shia doctor
because the name on the visiting card contained "Mohammad".
3. According
to a latest legislation passed y the Punjab Assembly, saying "Khatamun
Nabiyyin"(the last Prophet) with the name of Prophet Mohammad pbuh is
mandatory for everyone. If someone forgets to say that he will be accused of
blasphemy.
Many
examples can be given. A Muslim can never commit blasphemy against the holy
prophet pbuh but it is the definition and interpretation of the word Ahanat
(blasphemy) by the Islamic scholars that will cover even the Muslims under
blasphemy.
Dr Tahirul
Qadri goes one step further. He finds a verse that clearly orders the killing
of those committing blasphemy. He quotes verse no. 61 of surah Al Ahzab to
support his belief that the Quran permits the killing of those committing
blasphemy against the holy prophet pbuh. The verse is as follows:
"The
accursed ones, wherever they are found and seized they are killed." The
verse uses the words "Quttilu Taqteela". He says:
"According
to Quran, who ever commits blasphemy against the prophet pbuh will be killed
according to "Quttilu Taqteela". The jurisprudents of the
community have issued similar orders for the protection of the honour of the
Prophethood in every age. The moment anyone committed blasphemy against the
prophet pbuh, killing order was issued for him so that the disease of blasphemy
is rooted out for good."
The fact is
that the verse in question is not about blasphemy but about the mischief
mongering of the Munafiq and enemies of Muslims of the prophet's time who would
falsely accuse Muslim men and women of sins and spread rumours about them and
spread mischief of every kind. The verse does not deal specifically about
blasphemy against the holy prophet pbuh. The preceding verses are as follows
that give a clear picture of the context;
"For
those who annoy Allah and His messenger--Allah has cursed them in the world and
in the Hereafter and has prepared for them a humiliating punishment (Azabam
Muhina).(57) And those who cause pain to believing men and women
undeservedly bear a calumny and a glaring sin.(58) O Prophet tell thy wives and
daughters and the believing women that they should cast their outer garments
over their persons; that is most convenient, that they should be known and not
molested. And Allah is oft-forgiving most Merciful.(59)
Truly if
the hypocrites and those in whose heart is a disease and those who stir up
sedition in the city, desist not , We shall certainly stir thee up against
them. Then will they not be able to stay in it as thy neighbours for any length
of time"(60)They shall have a curse on them: wherever they are found, they
shall be seized and slain,"(61)
From the
above quoted verses it becomes clear that the mischiefs of the Munafiq against
the prophet pbuh and against the believing men and women is being discussed
here and not specifically blasphemy. And for blasphemy, a humiliating
punishment (Azab-e-Muheen) from God in the Hereafter is mentioned. In the Quran
the word Azab means wrath of God either in the world or in the Hereafter. Azab
does not mean physical punishment by law of the land. But to prove that the
verses quoted above are about blasphemy and God has prescribed death for
blasphemy, he says that the phrase Azab-e-Muheen in verse 57 means
capital punishment. Here is his argument:
"Azab-e-Muheen
means very painful and humiliating punishment which has lessons for others.
This is a common word. This word has been used on various occasions in the
Quran in relation to various sins and crimes. Its meaning is always determined
with reference to the Book and Sunnah . In other words, the word does not have
a predetermined meaning so it cannot be used everywhere for the same punishment
qualitatively and quantitatively. Its meaning will be determined according to
the context and the gravity and degree of the crime will be kept in view.
But it can
be definitely said that when this word (Azab-e-Muheen) will be used in
connection with blasphemy against the Prophet pbuh, it will only mean death
sentence, not any other punishment."(Tahaffuz-e-Namoos-e-Risalat: Dr
Tahirul Qadri, Page 156)
Such
interpretations (rather misinterpretations) of the Quranic verses by reliable
Islamic scholars of the Quran have only promoted violence in the name of the
protection of the honour of the Prophet. No Muslim was killed for blasphemy
during the life of the prophet. There is an incident when Hadhrat Umar wanted
to kill a Kharijite because he accused the holy Prophet pbuh of not distributing
the war booty among the warriors justly but the holy Prophet pbuh prohibited
him from doing so to avoid disturbance and bloodshed.
In Pakistan
books written by Dr Tahirul Qadri and other Islamic scholars on
Namoos-e-Risalat justifying the killing of Muslims and non-Muslims by the
arguments quoted above have complicated the situation. The blasphemy laws of
Pakistan provide for punishments from penalty to death sentence. Most of the
accused in these blasphemy cases are Muslims. Cases of blasphemy are slapped on
members of minority communities on slightest provocation. Even if the courts
acquit the accused, they are killed extra judicially and the killer is
glorified and made into a saint.
Since 1990,
about 77 people have been killed in connection with blasphemy. About 80
convicts are on death row. From 1967 to 2014, over 1300 people have been
accused of blasphemy and most of the accused are Muslims. Asia Bibi, a
Christian woman was accused of blasphemy but the court acquitted her. Still the
extremists threatened to kill her. At last she had to leave her motherland
Pakistan and seek asylum in Canada.
Human
Rights activists and liberal Islamic scholars have been campaigning for reforms
or changes in the current blasphemy laws but radical Islamic groups are against
any changes in the laws against blasphemy. In 2011, Governor of Punjab Salman
Taseer was killed by his bodyguard Mumtaz Qadri because Salman Taseer demanded
reforms in blasphemy laws.
In 2015,
Khadim Hussain Rizvi founded Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan on the issue of
blasphemy. It is against any changes in the blasphemy laws of the country.
Blasphemy
laws have no basis in the Quran but Islamic scholars like Dr Tahirul Qadri have
distorted the meanings of the verses of the Quran to justify the killings in
the name of protecting the honour of the prophet pbuh. Arguments and opinions
of other Islamic scholars have also been accepted to declare even Muslims of
opposing sects as kafirs and deserving death. Until these misinterpretations
and personal opinions of jurists not supported by the Quran and Hadith are
refuted in the light of the Quran and Hadith, bloodshed and persecution of
Muslims and non-Muslims will continue and tarnish the image of Islam.
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