Did the Prophet (pbuh) give capital punishment for blasphemy?
[Hassan Ilyas] In the recent past
we asked you about a tradition
man sabba nabiyyin faqtulu hu
those who act with impiety against the messenger
who disobey Him
or who abuse Him
they should be murdered
so you had spoken about its provenance
it is agreed upon by the Hadis experts
that it is an untrustworthy tradition
but the question that has come in front of us
is that even if it is an untrustworthy tradition
and even if we believe that all the Hadis experts say so
but Prophet Muhammad's (pbuh)
own example
His own practice
presents to us a different picture from this
We have Abu Raafe
Ibn e Khatal
Kaab bin Ashraf
We have different people
The messenger stated this
in very clear words
that even if they hide behind the covers of the Kaaba
they should be killed all the same
it is said that they blasphemed against the Prophet
this was their crime
and Prophet Muhammad (pbuh)
through his actions proved that
they should be killed
My question to you is
that tell us
that about these people
the testimonies that have been
given by the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh)
and they have been detailed in authentic narrations as well
What was the nature of their punishment?
Were they blasphemers?
And did Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) instruct that those who spoke impiously about him
should be killed.
[Javed Ahmed Ghamidi] The first fundamental thing
that you must understand
is that in Deen
the commandments are not derived from incidences
that is, if any command is to be given in Deen
so it needs to be mentioned with elucidation in Quran-e-Majeed
if Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) is giving some advice based on Quran-e-Majeed
then that too has to be stated in His own words with clarity
that is because it is no ordinary thing
that you must say this about someone
that go kill him
Human life has been bestowed with honour
Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) gave us this instruction
that this month of dhul-Hajj (12th month of Islamic calendar)
This
city of Mecca
the honor that it holds
the same honor is bestowed upon human life
Quran-e-Majeed has stated this
that someone who has taken even one person's life
then he has murdered the entire humanity
This means that this is a very big matter
One cannot just relate random incidences in this regard
if there is a law
then just like the punishment for a thief
Quran-e-Majeed has stated with clarity
that what is the law
About the punishment for adultery
Surah An-Nur has stated with clarity
that what is the law.
In the same manner
those people who cause discord
their punishments with complete elucidation
have been stated in Surah Al-Ma'idah
Here the issue is that
Allah ta'la has very clearly declared this in the Quran
that the life of any person
cannot be taken except in two situations
[Hassan] I see
[Ghamidi] That is, the words in Quran-e-Majeed are
man qatala nafsan bighayri nafsin
aw fasadin fee alardi
fakaannama qatala alnnasa jameeAAan
There are only two situations
in which you can take the life of a person
one is when he has murdered someone
and he is being killed as retribution
and second is when he has risen up to create discord
He has become a threat to people's life, wealth and dignity
He has started plundering and looting
He has started violating the chastity of women
These are those situations of discord
which is obvious that there can be a lot more
if any person has committed them
only then his life can be taken
so these two situations have been clearly ascertained in the Quran-e-Majeed
It is not possible for any narrative to be against them
that is because
Alllah's messenger
won't ever say anything beyond the limit set by Allah
even if you see the entire corpus of Hadis
from the beginning to the end
then in that
no such law has been stated
now when both these things are clear
let's come to the incident
About the incident
the only correct principle is this
that they are reported by people
At present, you can see that in our court
two big lawsuits were going on
This is the truth
that until you don't check three or four newspapers
you are not able to understand
that what the proceedings of the day would have been?
the proceedings of these lawsuits are written down
the decision in these lawsuits are written down
even after the decision is made, it is highly debated
that what was the actual thing?
and what did a judge mean in a certain part of his verdict.
This is a very sensitive matter
If Prophet Muhammad (pbuh)
has on some occasion
carried out an action for a practical purpose
then its narratives would be seen
All the narratives would be put together
The main principles of Deen that are there,
keeping them within that framework
they would be analyzed
Just like our jurists do
Until this is not done,
then on the basis of an incidence
you cannot derive any law
[Hassan] Okay
[Ghamidi] That is, the correct way to have this in order is that
firstly, Quran-e-Majeed
after that Sunnat
if there is any statement of Prophet Muhammad (pbuh)
then word for word
what command has been given in that statement?
so firstly, these things would be ascertained
and after this the incident
which would be viewed under the light of these statements
instead of deriving the law from what is there in the incident
so all the incidences that you have told
I have written an article on this
and it has the same heading
this matter which is under discussion now
it has the same title
You can find it in my book Maqamat
In that I have explained
that all these people
they are very big criminals
by picking some things from these incidences
you cannot state a law for punishment
Among them there are people
who have committed murders
who have committed war crimes
and those who posed danger to Medina in extremely sensitive situation
take Ibn e Khatal, he was send to fulfill a responsibility
An Ansari was with him
and he committed a murder
after that he became a fugitive
so these were the kind of people
whose crimes should be investigated
and after that one must know
that why were they punished?
All of them were either
under Prophet Muhammad's law of Itmam al-Hujjah (completion of proof)
they were either its opponents
or they were wreaking havoc
and these are precisely the people
about whom the Quran says
that they may be given the death penalty
so this is the correct way of understanding any law
neither this narrative is correct
nor is the interpretation of these incidents correct
These kind of things were being said by sermonizers
these narrations don't have any status
[Hassan] Okay, Ghamidi Sir
you gave us a very detailed answer
an additional question I'd like you to answer
that the excesses of which you talked about
apart from this
if any person after committing an impious act
if he is persists in his mistake
if he keeps repeating it
then can he too become a perpetrator of fasad fil ardh (corruption on earth)?
[Ghamidi] Firstly what you need to do
is to decide who is that person?
If he lives in a Muslim ruled state
and if he is a Muslim
then he would be asked that
'what has happened to you?'
'Has your mental balance been disturbed?'
Are you a Muslim?
A Muslim is precisely he
who accepts Prophet Muhammad (pbuh)
to be the only source of Deen
and His dignity
His honor
who holds it dear to himself more than anything
So what have you done this?
that person
if, for instance,
in his response if he says that
no, this was not my claim at all
that I did not even think of such a thing
this talk was taking place in this context
I'm a Muslim
and I believe Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) to be the last messenger of Allah
so then tell me
what right do you have?
that you may hurl these accusations at him?
now when he chooses to rebel
and says that I will commit the same mistake
then there's no doubt that he is a corrupt person
for these kind of corrupt people
in Quran-e-Majeed's Surah al Ma'idah
Allah ta'la has given an entire law
under which he will be dealt with
it also states that
that if the criminal is worthy of concession
then his punishment can also be reduced
and if he is not worthy of concession
then he can also be given severe punishments
but instructing,
advising
firstly asking about his issue
to give him a chance
all of these things will take place
If he is not a Muslim
but he lives in your state
then you will say that
you live among Muslims
so do you not know
that in these kind of issues
a man should handle these issues politely and in a civilized manner
To criticize is a right of every non-Muslim
that is because he doesn't even believe
but to ridicule
or saying such kind of derogatory remarks
if someone speaks so even for someone's parents
then they should be chastised
and they should be reprimanded
if in the world
some man does such kind of thing
then the whole world is not our state
so what will you do there?
there he should be approached with an invitation
you should clarify this thing before him
that why they are doing so?
and you should tell him about
what Prophet Muhammad's (pbuh) Deen is?
What is invitation
and what is the message?
that is because it's not possible at all
that any man unless his mental balance is corrupted
can say some thing like this without any basis
What will that be?
He must have understood something wrongly in Allah's book
he must have understood some tradition wrongly
or on the basis of some action of Muslims
he must have reacted in distress
you must correct him
and talk with reason
the summary of this discourse is
that Deen
the propositions of Deen
and things deemed impermissible in the Deen
and the preservation of the concept of Deen
It happens with reason
and not by pointing guns.