Page 197 - Seekers Guide Book

The Seeker’s Guide

15 A man was sentenced to death in
‘
Pakistan for insulting the Prophet
’
Muhammad on Facebook. What are your

views on this?

t is generally held that Islam prescribes capital
Ipunishment for those who commit blasphemy, that is,
using abusive language against the Prophet of Islam. But
this is quite untrue. According to Islam, blasphemy is
simply a misuse of freedom and not at all a cognisable
offence; the blasphemer is not liable to incur any legal
punishment. This kind of law has no basis in Islamic
scriptures.

If someone uses abusive language against the Prophet,
Muslims must take it as a case of misunderstanding, and
then try to remove this misunderstanding in peaceful
ways. They are required to do so by engaging in discussion
or by providing the ‘blasphemer’ with Islamic literature
that gives the true image of the Prophet of Islam. This
notion of killing in the name of blasphemy is itself haram
or forbidden.

The basis of such rulings in countries like Pakistan is
religious extremism, which is the biggest hurdle Islam
faces today. In fact, the reverse of prescribing death
punishments has been enjoined on the believers.

As a part of His creation plan, God has granted freedom
to people and no one can take away this freedom.
While exercising one’s freedom of expression, the only

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