Shari'ah (Islamic Law): Difference between revisions

It is a criminal offense in Islam to speak ill of the faith, its Prophet Muhammad, and its holy Scriptures (Qur'an and Hadith). To do so is considered blasphemy, and blasphemy is punishable by death. If a Muslim is doing the criticizing, their actions would constitute apostasy, therefore they too would be liable for the death penalty. For classical scholars, this was deeply rooted within Islamic scripture and the Sunnah of Muhammad, though the reliability of these is questioned by modern academic scholars. According to the sirah literature and hadiths, Muhammad himself had asked his Muslim followers to kill several individuals who were guilty of blaspheming Islam and its Prophet. Muhammad asked Muslims to kill someone named 'Abdullah bin Ubai (bin Salul) for making "evil" statements about him.<ref>"''....So, on that day, Allah's Apostle got up on the pulpit and complained about 'Abdullah bin Ubai (bin Salul) before his companions, saying, 'O you Muslims! Who will relieve me from that man who has hurt me with his evil statement about my family? By Allah, I know nothing except good about my family and they have blamed a man about whom I know nothing except good and he used never to enter my home except with me.' Sad bin Mu'adh the brother of Banu 'Abd Al-Ashhal got up and said, 'O Allah's Apostle! I will relieve you from him....''" - {{Bukhari|5|59|462}}</ref> He asked Muslims to kill Abu `Afak for making negative remarks about him and Islam.<ref>"''....The apostle said, "Who will deal with this rascal [Abu `Afak] for me?" Whereupon Salim b. Umayr, brother of B. Amr b. Auf, one of the "weepers", went forth and killed him.....''" -  "Sirat Rasul Allah" by Ibn Ishaq page 675</ref> He asked Muslims to kill both Ka’b bin Ashraf<ref>"''....Allah’s Apostle said, ‘Who would kill Ka’b bin Al-Ashraf as has harmed Allah and His Apostle? Muhammad bin Maslama (got up and) said, ‘I will kill him.’....''" - {{Bukhari|3|45|687}} </ref> and Asma Bint Marwan<ref>"''....When the apostle heard what she had said he said, "Who will rid me of Marwan's daughter [Asma Bint Marwan]?" `Umayr b. `Adiy al-Khatmi who was with him heard him, and that very night he went to her house and killed her.....''" -  "Sirat Rasul Allah" by Ibn Ishaq page 675, 676</ref> for writing inflammatory poetry about him and Muslims. Additionally, when Muhammad learned that one of his followers had stabbed and killed his ''Umm walad'' (concubine with whom he had fathered a child) for making derogatory remarks about Muhammad, he declared that "'''no retaliation is payable for her blood.'''"<ref>"''....So I took a dagger, put it on her belly and pressed it till I killed her. Thereupon the Prophet (peace be upon him) said: Oh be witness, no retaliation is payable for her blood.....''" - {{Abudawud|38|4348}}</ref> This has effectively set the precedent for all Muslims to follow with such retaliation. No higher authority than ones-self is needed for permission to kill blasphemers. The state of free speech under the reign of the prophet himself is what ultimately formulates Islamic law.  

Siraj Khan writes regarding traditional Islamic jurisprudence, "Many instances from the hadith corpus are cited in support of the punishment for blasphemy", giving examples such as Abu Rafi' and Ka'b ibn Ashraf. A handful of hadith were used to qualify the specific circumstances when blasphemy was punishable, in particular those narrating Muhammad's approval (as it was usually interpreted) of a blind man who killed his umm walad (concubine who bore him children) and a man who killed a Jewish woman, in both cases for insulting Muhammad.<ref>Siraj Khan. "Blasphemy against the Prophet", in Muhammad in History, Thought, and Culture (editors: Coeli Fitzpatrick and Adam Hani Walker). ISBN 978-1610691772 pp. 62-63</ref><ref>These two killings involve a repeated topos as mentioned in the section below on modern scholarship.</ref> It is common even in modern times for Islamic scholars to discuss the legitimacy of blasphemy laws by citing the killings of poets and others who had insulted Muhammad,<ref>For example Iffat khalid & Shamana Munawar, [https://jiscnet.com/journals/jisc/Vol_3_No_1_June_2015/7.pdf Blasphemy law of Islam-Misconceptions and Fallacy], Journal of Islamic Studies and Culture (2015), Vol. 3, No. 1, pp. 48-57 DOI: 10.15640/jisc.v3n1a7</ref> though there are also those who urge a more critical view of the sources as well as raising issues of legal methodology.<ref>For example the al-Mawrid institute of reformist scholars in Pakistan [https://www.al-mawrid.org/Question/60a204a3923f0b12074d877f/punishment-of-blasphemy-based-on-a-hadith-narrative Punishment of blasphemy based on a hadith narrative] - al-mawrid.org, August 2020</ref> What is not in doubt, though, is that these narratives, taken together as the sirah, have traditionally formed the most authoritative biographical source available on the life of the prophet.