Islam and blasphemy

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Blasphemy in Islam constitutes speaking ill of Muhammad, of any other prophet mentioned in the Qur'an, or of any Biblical prophets. The Qu'ran also states that it is blasphemy to claim that Jesus Christ (the son of Mary) is the son of God (5.017). Speaking ill of God is also blasphemy. In Muslim countries, blasphemy is considered a very serious offence and may be punishable by death if charges are proven. British author Salman Rushdie's novel The Satanic Verses was seen by many Muslims to contain blasphemies against Islam, and Iranian clerical leader Ayatollah Khomeini issued a fatwa in 1989 calling for Rushdie's death. More recently, the Jyllands-Posten Muhammad cartoons were criticised in part on the basis that they were blasphemous against Muhammad. The Egyptian government under pressure by the parliament banned the film The Da Vinci Code and is to confiscate the novel for containing blasphemy.

The rule is: any belief, action, or saying which belittles Allah (God), His Books, His Messengers, His Angels, His Rites, the well-known practices of His Religion (such as prayer), His Rules, His Promise (such as Paradise), or His Threat (such as Hellfire) is blasphemy. Hence, the human being must use caution with the utmost effort to avoid blasphemy.

So it is clear that in Islam, blasphemy is a matter that must be well studied in order to avoid it at any cost for the one who dies as a blasphemer will be sentenced to Hellfire without end. Also, it should be noted that in Islam, it is not a condition for the one to be judged as a blasphemer that he must have liked or believed in the blasphemous saying, action, or belief. This is confirmed by the saying of Prophet Muhammad, "A person may utter a word he thinks harmless, which results in his falling the depth of seventy years into Hellfire." The Hadith was related by at-Tirmidhiyy who classified it as a hasan1 hadith. A hadith related by al-Bukhariyy and Muslim has a similar meaning.

This is opposed to Christianity, for example, in which teachings differ as to what constitutes blasphemy. The terms of blasphemy, as labeled by the Christians, is much less inclusive then that in Islamic Law.


[edit] References

    [edit] External links

    • See S. Brent Plate's Blasphemy: Art that Offends for more on Islam and blasphemy, especially in relation to imagery.
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