Blasphemy Laws - Opinions, Please

[Revoltingest]

Pakistan's anti-blasphemy laws & their application have been in the news lately.
This made me wonder how widespread among Muslims is belief that blasphemers should be executed.
So, fellow posters, under what circumstances, in what countries, & in what way do you believe blasphemers should be punished....or not?

Also for your reference & commentary:
Islam and blasphemy - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Blasphemy law in Pakistan - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[Gharib]

if by your question you mean making false accusations against a person then there are many types of blasphemy according to islamic law and each case is warranted a punishment in accordance if one is found guilty.

is there a specific type of blasphemy that you want an answer for?

something to read:

False Accusation

False accusation of innocent people is a crime, the real cause of which is ill-feeling and hatred. Since it is extremely effective in mutilating the realities and to condemn the innocent persons, Islam has declared it to be the worst kind of falsehood.

Aisha, may Allah be pleased with her, narrates that the Prophet, peace be upon him, asked his companions, "Do you know what is the worst aggression?" They said, "Allah and His messenger know better." He said, "Before Allah the worst aggression is to make Halal (permissible) for oneself the honour of another Muslim."

For those guilty of falsely accusing any person, Islam has decreed punishment in this world also, and it is difficult to imagine the punishment in the next world. The Messenger of Allah said, "He who, in order to find fault, says something about a person that was not there, Allah will throw such a person in hell till he tastes fully what he had fabricated." (Tibrani)

The Prophet also said, "He who has harmed his brother's rights or has hurt his honour, then he should please him today, before the day comes when there will be neither dirham nor dinar with him." (Bukhari)

Compiled From:
"Muslim's Character" - Muhammad Al-Ghazali, pp. 155-158.

 

[Revoltingest]

I wasn't addressing false accusations.
What is your personal opinion of how blasphemers should be handled under Islam?

 

[Pegg]

I wasn't addressing false accusations.
What is your personal opinion of how blasphemers should be handled under Islam?

and i'd like to extend the question to how blasphemy is 'proved' to have occurred if the person claims they are innocent or have been wrongly accused.

 

[Gharib]

I wasn't addressing false accusations.
What is your personal opinion of how blasphemers should be handled under Islam?

doesn't blasphemy mean false accusation? saying something that is not true?

 

[Gharib]

and i'd like to extend the question to how blasphemy is 'proved' to have occurred if the person claims they are innocent or have been wrongly accused.

thats a good question. i need some time to find something on it. this is the first time i've looked into this.

 

[GabrielWithoutWings]

doesn't blasphemy mean false accusation? saying something that is not true?

I think blasphemy is being used as usual in the West, ie, in a religious sense.

To a devout Catholic, saying Jesus Christ is not the son of God but the ******* son of Mary and a Roman would be blasphemous.

If a person does it to another person (out loud), then it's called slander. If it's in print, it's called libel.

 

[Gharib]

I think blasphemy is being used as usual in the West, ie, in a religious sense.

To a devout Catholic, saying Jesus Christ is not the son of God but the ******* son of Mary and a Roman would be blasphemous.

If a person does it to another person (out loud), then it's called slander. If it's in print, it's called libel.

so the question is about the laws of islam concerning someone who speaks ill of islam. correct?

 

[Revoltingest]

This describes what I'm asking about......
Islam and blasphemy - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Some examples from the article:

• speaking ill of Allah.[9]
• finding fault with Muhammad.[10][11][12][13][14]
• slighting a prophet who is mentioned in the Qur'an,[15] or slighting a member of Muhammad's family.[16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25]
• claiming to be a prophet or a messenger.[26][27]
• speculating about how Muhammad would behave if he were alive (Nigeria).[28][29]
• drawing a picture to represent Muhammad[12][30][31][32][33] or any other prophet,[12] or making a film which features a prophet (Egypt).[34][35]
• writing Muhammad's name on the walls of a toilet (Pakistan).[36]
• naming a teddy bear Muhammad (Sudan).[37][38]

 

[beenie]

Blasphemists shouldn't be punished, IMO.
Ignored perhaps, but executed? Where is this in Qur'an?

 

[TashaN]

I'll come back for this. I discussed it in great details somewhere else but i need to remember where.

 

[Bismillah]

It's a system created to give more power to an already corrupt and autocratic government. It is also a measure that manages to garner significant votes for a leader's "piety" and implementation of the "Shariah".

 

[Gharib]

Blasphemists shouldn't be punished, IMO.
Ignored perhaps, but executed? Where is this in Qur'an?

muslims don't believe in just the qur'an we have the hadith and sunnah also.

 

[Gharib]

This describes what I'm asking about......
Islam and blasphemy - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Some examples from the article:
1.speaking ill of Allah.[9]

if a muslim speaks ill of Allah then they become a non-believer, an apostate and islam has a capital punishment on apostacy. one who does this is braught before a judge and if he repents from it then he is free to go otherwise if he doesn't repent then he must be punished for the sin of apostacy.

same thing goes for the following if the accused is a muslim:

2. finding fault with Muhammad
3. slighting a prophet who is mentioned in the Qur'an
4. claiming to be a prophet or a messenger

i do not know what the law for the above is if one is not a muslim except for the claim of prophethood, in that case one must show a miracle that could not be done unless with the help and will of God, if it cannot be done then that too is a sin of capital punishment.

5. drawing a picture to represent Muhammad or any other prophet, or making a film which features a prophet (Egypt)
6. slighting a member of Muhammad's family
7. writing Muhammad's name on the walls of a toilet
8. naming a teddy bear Muhammad

as for the above i do know that it is haram (forbiden) to take with you in the toilet something that has the name Allah written on it, however if one does so, there is no punishment so on that there is no punishment for taking something that has the name Muhamed on it, but that is different to actually writing the name on the walls of the toilet itself.
and drawing any picture of any creature that has a soul is haram (forbiden) but there is no punishment, however i do not know the ruling on one who draws a prophet.

i don't know about the others.

 

[beenie]

muslims don't believe in just the qur'an we have the hadith and sunnah also.

not all Muslims.

 

[Gharib]

not all Muslims.

i didn't know you don't believe in the hadith. you might want to read this:
Islam Question and Answer - Justification for following the Sunnah

 

[TashaN]

Pakistan's anti-blasphemy laws & their application have been in the news lately.
This made me wonder how widespread among Muslims is belief that blasphemers should be executed.
So, fellow posters, under what circumstances, in what countries, & in what way do you believe blasphemers should be punished....or not?

Also for your reference & commentary:
Islam and blasphemy - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Blasphemy law in Pakistan - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

I don't think anyone in his right mind will do such a thing in any Muslim country. Provoking a deeply emotional and sensitive aspect to Muslims is not productive. I think one who does so in an Islamic country should be evaluated to see if he was sane when doing so, then after that if it appeared that he was sane and not under any influence when doing so, then it depend on the context in which this thing occurred. Did this person stood in the street and suddenly insulted God and the Prophet? was he writing a scholarly work? etc. Also, i don't think those who do so will be executed right away. It's nonsense.

By the way, in principle, many Western countries have similar laws but i don't think they are still in effect till now, maybe only in papers.

 

[Badran]

Pakistan's anti-blasphemy laws & their application have been in the news lately.
This made me wonder how widespread among Muslims is belief that blasphemers should be executed.
So, fellow posters, under what circumstances, in what countries, & in what way do you believe blasphemers should be punished....or not?

Also for your reference & commentary:
Islam and blasphemy - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Blasphemy law in Pakistan - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

If someone wants to speak "ill" of Islam, or Muhammad (pbuh), thats their opinion and it doesn't warrant any kind of punishment. Let alone of course, the problem of what constitutes exactly as "ill". The context would make a difference, but whats for sure is, there is never a death penalty. Or should never be a death penalty, to be accurate.

• speaking ill of Allah.[9]
• finding fault with Muhammad.[10][11][12][13][14]
• slighting a prophet who is mentioned in the Qur'an,[15] or slighting a member of Muhammad's family.[16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25]
• claiming to be a prophet or a messenger.[26][27]
• speculating about how Muhammad would behave if he were alive (Nigeria).[28][29]
• drawing a picture to represent Muhammad[12][30][31][32][33] or any other prophet,[12] or making a film which features a prophet (Egypt).[34][35]
• writing Muhammad's name on the walls of a toilet (Pakistan).[36]
• naming a teddy bear Muhammad (Sudan).[37][38]

Punishing any of this with death in my humble opinion is bordering on insanity. Its amazing to me that this might be believed despite how our prophet (pbuh) reacted to insults towards him.

 

[Revoltingest]

Just popping in for a look.
Interesting & illuminating opinions all.

 

[beenie]

i didn't know you don't believe in the hadith. you might want to read this:
Islam Question and Answer - Justification for following the Sunnah

i wasn't necessarily talking about myself.