May 2011 eGazette – Blasphemy laws and freedom of religion
Punishment of Blasphemy
By Khalid Saifullah Khan (Australia)
Blasphemy means behavior or language that shows disrespect for any prophet or any religion. Blasphemy not only hurts the religious sensibilities of others, but it also disturbs the peace and harmony of any society and even causes law and order problems, which is why Islam does not allow even the idols of the polytheists reviled or maligned. Allah says: “And abuse not those whom they call upon beside Allah, lest they, out of spite, abuse Allah in their ignorance.” (Al Quran 6:109) If even the false idols are not allowed to be slandered, how the founders and leaders of different religions, sects and groups can be defiled? Clearly, the Holy Quran forbids Muslims to be blasphemous but if a blasphemy is committed, whether by a Muslim or a non-Muslim, Islam does not prescribe any worldly punishment. In this article, Pakistan’s Blasphemy Law would be examined in the light of above.
No doubt, the freedom of speech is necessary for the progress and development of a society. But this freedom must not be used to insult religions.
That is why Islam forbids blasphemy but does not prescribe any worldly punishment for it.
TO MODERATORS; I implore you please do not delete and censor my writing; let us promote the freedom of speech as Ahmadiyah are struggling till now.
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quote===No doubt, the freedom of speech is necessary for the progress and development of a society. But this freedom must not be used to insult religions.
That is why Islam forbids blasphemy but does not prescribe any worldly punishment for it.===unquote
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BLASPHEMY IS TALIBAN’LAW.
The opposite of a word of insult is honor.
i.e…If a foreigner-woman visits Pakistan she does not wear Hijab, she does not honor Islam, but she insult Islam,right?
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If I have a different interpretation of a verse with Ahmadiyah or others, can they accuse me that I am insulting prophet Muhammad (saw) or Islam? or vice-versa
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I think the blasphemy-laws under label of Islam against the freedom of Speech and expression, it create conflict more instead of creating peace and harmony.
Also the blasphemy law will impose people to follow Islam according to the interpretation of government. Those who do not follow the interpretation of Government is accused against blasphemy law. Taliban is the one will be happy.
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May Allah guide Pakistan leaders to the right path of Islam.
All love
Continue..
Yes, there is Blasphemy law was written in the book of Hadits where extremist Muslim Taliban follow this laws.
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” That there is a Jewish woman who often denounce and vilify the Prophet . (Due to the offense ) , then the woman had been strangled to death by a man. It turns out that the Messenger of Allah justifies his blood ” . (Abu Dawud ).
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That Al Quran does not prescribe any worldly punishment for it.
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I believe that this Hadits is false or fabricated by man.
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So those who follow the book of Hadits blindly will go astray, become the followers of evil (satan)
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With all my love
Our position on Hadiths
We have frequent comments about Hadiths and some of them are overly critical and do not offer a balanced view.
So, I need to post this comment, with slight variations, every so often, to give our readers a balanced and fair view about the collection of Hadiths.
We just have to understand and read the books of Hadiths, with better understanding and wisdom and not take every thing as ‘gospel truth.’
There are fabricated Hadith and then there are wonderful Hadiths.
The Ahmadiyya Muslim Community follows a simple matrix or yard stick that those Hadiths that cannot be harmonized with the Quranic teachings have to be laid aside.
Let me share with all readers, two very beautiful collections of Hadith:
1. Gardens of the Righteous by Imam Nawawi, translated into English by Sir Zafrulla Khan.
2. A Collection of Sayings of the Prophet Muhammad with Foreword by Mahatma Gandhi
Anyone who reads these collections, will find that there is a large collection of real gems of Hadiths, which we have to look for and find, from the vast collection, some of which are distasteful and a few real ugly!
@ Zia Shah–I really love to hear your comment now ===There are fabricated Hadith and then there are wonderful Hadiths.====
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Our understanding about the book of Hadits is getting closer to the truth. As I say many times here that the book of Hadist as whole is not Holy book. Because the book of Hadits is not created by Allah.That is why, there are some false Hadits.
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The book of Hadits contains;
1 the wonderful Hadits, the true Hadits.not against Al Quran.
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2,the false or fabricated Hadits are against Al Quran,create the negative impact to Mulim or create violence.as we see now in Muslim countries.
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3.the ancient Arab tradition Hadits are not the laws of Islam, even Prophet Muhammad (saw) and his companions followed the ancient Arab tradition who live in heat-desert, like dressing,grave,dog is haram, etc. There are thousands of Ancient Arab traditions in the book of Hadits.
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Prophet Muhammad (saw) was forbidden by Allah to made a law. Only Allah create the whole laws of Islam. As Allah warned in Al Quran;
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“==) And if the messenger were to invent any sayings in Our name, (44) We should certainly seize him by his right hand, (45) And We should certainly then cut off the artery of his heart: (46) Nor could any of you withhold him (from Our wrath).QS 69:40-47==”
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Zia shah–we need more discussion to get the truth of Islam, if you do not mind. Insya Allah.
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With all my love.
There is a common problem in Islam. We elevate our religious leaders and scholars to such high status that it becomes impossible to contradict them. This is the problem with hadith. Majority of hadith in circulation are in contradiction with the Quran. Yet we are unable to say this as the writers or collectors of these ahdith are elevated to a high status.
So unless we Muslims realize that our religious leaders are humans and like all other humans are open to make mistakes, it is not possible to get rid of the centuries old thinking.
We should remember that God has given us our religion through Quran. All of our religion is mentioned in the Quran. Rest is just minor detail. No religious doctrine can be rooted outside of the Quran.
Well said Lutf.