All
praise is to Allah, the Lord Of The Creation. The Most Gracious, the
Most Merciful. Owner of the Day of Recompense. Who blessed us being the
Ummah of His Beloved Rasool Sallallaho Alaihi wa Sallam. Who sanctified
our hearts with the Love and Affection towards His Beloved Rasool
Sallallaho Alaihi wa Sallam. Who blessed us the with the most precious
treasure of Iman (Faith)... Countless Salutations, Peace and Blessings
be upon the Cream of the Creation... Mercy for all Worlds... Seal of the
Prophets Sayyiduna wa Maulana MuHammadur RasoolALLAH Sallallaho Alaihi
wa Sallam, His Blessed Parents, His entire Family, His Progeny, His
Companions and all those who Follow Him!!
Dear Brothers and Sisters! Iman is to accept every word of
Sayyiduna RasoolAllah SallAllahu Alaihi wa Sallam as absolute and
nothing else but truth and to testify whole-heartedly the reality and
truth of Sayyiduna Rasoolullah SallAllahu Alaihi wa Sallam.
One who observes the above would be called a Muslim, that is, if any of
his words, actions or conditions does not reject, insult or falsify
Almighty Allah and His Rasool SallAllahu Alaihi wa Sallam. His
relationship with Almighty Allah and His Rasool SallAllahu Alaihi wa
Sallam must be above all other relationships. He must love and respect
all those who are the beloved of Almighty Allah and His Rasool
SallAllahu Alaihi wa Sallam even though that person may be his enemy. He
must disrespect and hate all those who disrespect and hate Almighty
Allah and His Rasool SallAllahu Alaihi wa Sallam even if that person may
be his beloved son. Whatever he gives should be for Almighty Allah and
whatever he abstains from must be for Almighty Allah. Such a persons
Iman is known as "Kaamil" or "Complete".
Sayyiduna RasoolAllah SallAllahu Alaihi wa Sallam states:
من أحب لله وأبغض لله وأعطى لله ومنع لله فقد استكمل الإيمان
"One who loves for Allah, hates anyone because of Allah, spends for Allah and holds back for Allah, then, indeed, he has completed his Iman." [Sunan Abi Dawood, Vol. 2, Page 632, Hadith 4681]
Penalty for Insulting the
Beloved Prophet
SallAllaho Alaihi wa
Aalihi wa Sallam
This is an enormous subject, but we shall concentrate in what
constitutes an insult then the impending penalty.
1. The verdict of infidelity for insulting the Holy Prophet SallAllahu
Alaihi wa Sallam will depend upon the apparent words and no
consideration will be given to the intention and the purpose of the
person committing the insult and the circumstances of the time.
[Imām Shahāb ud-Dīn Khafājī Hanafī,
Nasīm ar-Riyadh, Vol. 4, Page 426]
2. When a person (a Muslim) speaks ill of the Holy Prophet SallAllahu
Alaihi wa Sallam is any connection, he becomes an infidel. According to
some ‘Ulamā, if a man uses an insulting word even for the sacred hair of
the Holy Prophet Muhammad SallAllahu Alaihi wa Sallam he will become an
infidel. [Fatāwah Qadī Khan, Vol. 4,
Page 882]
3. If a Muslims abuses the Holy Prophet Muhammad SallAllahu Alaihi wa
Sallam or lies about him or picks out faults in him, or robs him of his
dignity, he commits the act of infidelity against Allāh Almighty.
[Imām Abū Yūsuf, Kitāb al-Khiraj, Page
182]
4. Truly whoever abused the Holy Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi wa Sallam or
ascribed any fault to him or attributed any defect to his family,
religion or his habit, or reproached him, or compared the Holy Prophet
Muhammad SallAllahu Alaihi wa Sallam with any defective thing with the
objective of degrading his personality and prestige, he is truly an
abusive person and deserves to be executed. We make absolutely no
exception to this verdict, whether the insult has been committed
intentionally or unintentionally. This has been the verdict of all the
‘Ulamā of the Ummah from the time of the Companions to the present day.
[Qadī Iyadh, Ash-Shifa, Vol. 2, Page
214]
5. It is narrated by Imām Abū Hafs al-Kabīr Radi Allahu Ta'ala
Anhu that if anybody ascribes a defect even to the sacred hair of the
Holy Prophet Muhammad SallAllahu Alaihi wa Sallam he will become an
infidel. Imām Muhammad Radi Allahu Ta'ala Anhu mentioned in his ‘Mabsūt’
that it is an act of infidelity to abuse the Holy Prophet SallAllahu
Alaihi wa Sallam.
6. It is beyond doubt that the whole of the Ummah is unanimous that the
one who slanders the Holy Prophet Muhammad SallAllahu Alaihi wa Sallam
or any of the other Prophets, is an infidel, whether he committed this
act while considering it legitimate or illegitimate. He is an infidel in
the opinion of the Ulema, and whoever doubts his infidelity is also an
infidel. [Dhakhairat al-Uqba, Page
240]
7. It is stated in Fatawa Alamgir (also known as Fatawa al-Hindiya) that
No ta’wīl will be heard for manifest, unambiguous words. Fatāwah Khulasa,
Fusul ‘Imadiya, Jami’ al-Fusulin and Fatāwah Hindiya and others state:
If someone calls himself RasûlAllâh or refers to himself as Paighambar
in Persian and then says that he meant that he is an ambassador who
delivers someone’s message; then he will become a Kâfir.
[Fatāwah Hindiya, Vol. 2, Page 263]
8. Imām Qadī ‘Iyadh writes that Imām Ahmad bin Abī Sulaiman, student of
Imām Sahnun rahimahumAllah, was asked about a man to whom it was said
that “In the name of RasûlAllâh”, he said “May Allah do so-and so with
RasûlAllâh” and uttered insolent words. It was said to him, “Oh enemy of
God! What do you utter about the Messenger?” He replied using even
harsher words and then said, “By saying RasûlAllâh, I meant a scorpion”.
Imām Ahmad bin Abī Sulaiman advised the questioner thus, “Bear witness
against him so that he may get the punishment of death and that you get
the reward. I am with you on this” [meaning, give evidence against him
to the Muslim judge and I will also try that we get the judge to issue a
verdict of capital punishment and gain the reward of this]. Imām Habīb
bin Rabī’ says that this is because no ta’wīl is heard for explicit
words. [al-Shifa’ fī Ta’rif Huqūq
al-Mustafa, Vol. 2, Page 209]
9. Mawlana ‘Alī Qarī writes that is, when that man said that he was
referring to a scorpion – he claimed the literal meaning of the word
Risalah in that even the scorpion is sent by Allāh to the people – this
ta’wīl is rejected according the rules of the Sharī’ā.
[Sharh Shifa’ Mullah ‘Alī Qarī ma’a
Nasīm al-Riyadh, Vol. 4, Page 343]
10. ‘Allamah Shihāb Khafājī writes that Indeed the literal meaning of
the word that he referred to is true and denying this is stubbornness.
However, his claim that he had intended these meanings will not be
accepted because this ta’wīl is extremely farfetched. To twist the
meaning of word from its apparent meaning will not be heard just as when
a man says to his wife that you are taaliq and then gives the
explanation that what I meant was that she is open, not tied up
[literally, taaliq means extended]. Such a ta’wīl will not be accepted
and he will be thought to be delirious.
[Nasīm al-Riyadh Sharh Shifa’, Vol. 4,
Page 343]
We can go on quoting the righteous Ulama on this topic and the verdict
is the same, a single bad word towards the Holy Prophet SallAllahu
Alaihi wa Sallam under any circumstance, intentional or not, leads to
Kufr! Furthermore, any Muslim doubting the Kufr of an abuser of the Holy
Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi wa Sallam will himself become a Kafir!!
Dear Muslims!! Is it possible that the heart that contains the love and
honour of the master of the universe, Sayyiduna Muhammad SallAllahu
Alaihi wa Sallam, could ever tolerate insults to him, though it may be
his Ustadh, Murshid, leader or even father? Would the heart that
extremely loves the Holy Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi wa Sallam above all
creation, ever respect or love one who belittles the unique and
faultless Prophet of Allah SallAllahu Alaihi wa Sallam, even though it
may be his own child or intimate friend?
All good is from
Allah Ta’ala whereas mistakes are from this humble speck. May Allah
Ta’ala bring us closer to Him and His Rasool SallAllahu Alaihi wa Sallam.
May He accept our humble efforts and grant us the capacity to be good
and do good. May we live in this World with extreme protection of Iman
and leave this world having our Iman safe and sound... Aameen bi jahi
Sayyid al-Ameen Alaihi Afdal as-Salati wa at-Tasleem!!