In Islam, blasphemy is impious utterance or action concerning God,[2] but is broader than in normal English usage, including not only the mocking or vilifying of attributes of Islam but denying any of the fundamental beliefs of the religion.[3] Examples include denying that the Quran was divinely revealed,[3] the Prophethood of one of the Islamic prophets,[4] insulting an angel, or maintaining God had a son.[3]
The Quran curses those who commit blasphemy and promises blasphemers humiliation in the Hereafter.[5] However, whether any Quranic verses prescribe worldly punishments is debated: some Muslims believe that no worldly punishment is prescribed while others disagree.[6][7] The interpretation of hadiths, which are another source of Sharia, is similarly debated.[8][6] Some have interpreted hadith as prescribing punishments for blasphemy, which may include death, while others argue that the death penalty applies only to cases where perpetrator commits treasonous crimes, especially during times of war.[9] Different traditional schools of jurisprudence prescribe different punishment for blasphemy, depending on whether the blasphemer is Muslim or non-Muslim, a man or a woman.[7]
In the modern Muslim world, the laws pertaining to blasphemy vary by country, and some countries prescribe punishments consisting of fines, imprisonment, flogging, hanging, or beheading.[10] Capital punishment for blasphemy was rare in pre-modern Islamic societies.[11] In the modern era some states and radical groups have used charges of blasphemy in an effort to burnish their religious credentials and gain popular support at the expense of liberal Muslim intellectuals and religious minorities.[12] Other Muslims instead push for greater freedom of expression.[12] Contemporary accusations of blasphemy against Islam have sparked international controversies and incited mob violence and assassinations.
Islamic scripture
In Islamic literature, blasphemy is of many types, and there are many different words for it: sabb (insult) and shatm (abuse, vilification), takdhib or tajdif (denial), iftira (concoction), la`n or la'ana (curse) and ta`n (accuse, defame).[13] In Islamic literature, the term "blasphemy" sometimes also overlaps with kufr ("unbelief"), fisq (depravity), isa'ah (insult), and ridda (apostasy).[14][2]
A number of verses in the Qur'an have been interpreted as relating to blasphemy. In these verses God admonishes those who commit blasphemy. Some verses are cited as evidence that the Qur'an does not prescribe punishments for blasphemy,[15] while other verses are cited as evidence that it does.
The only verse that directly says blasphemy (sabb) is Q6:108.[6] The verse calls on Muslims to not blaspheme against deities of other religions, lest people of that religion retaliate by blaspheming against Allah.[6]
And do not insult (wa la tasubbu) those they invoke other than Allah, lest they insult (fa-yasubbu) Allah in enmity without knowledge. Thus We have made pleasing to every community their deeds. Then to their Lord is their return, and He will inform them about what they used to do.
Verse 5:33 prescribes prison or mutilation or death for those "who wage war against Allah and His Messenger".[6] Even though the verse doesn't mention blasphemy (sabb), some commentators have used to justify punishments for blasphemy.[6][17] Other commentators believe this verse only applies to those who commit crimes against human life and property.[18]
The only punishment of those who wage war against Allah and His Messenger and strive to make mischief in the land is that they should be murdered, or crucified, or their hands and their feet should be cut off on opposite sides, or they should be imprisoned. This shall be a disgrace for them in this world, and in the Hereafter they shall have a grievous chastisement. Except those who repent before you overpower them; so know that Allah is Forgiving, Merciful.
33:57–61 have also been used by some commentators to justify blasphemy punishments.[19][20] However, other scholars opined that verses 33:57–61 could only have been acted upon during the life of the Prophet and since the demise of Muhammad they are no longer applicable.[6]
Other passages are not related to any earthly punishment for blasphemy, but prescribe Muslims to not "sit with" those who mock the religion[21][22] – although the latter are admonishments directed towards a witness of blasphemy rather than the guilty of blasphemy:
When you hear Allah's revelations disbelieved in and mocked at, do not sit with them until they enter into some other discourse; surely then you would be like them.
According to Shemeem Burney Abbas, the Qur'an mentions many examples of disbelievers ridiculing and mocking Muhammad, but never commands him to punish those who mocked him. Instead, the Qur'an asks Muhammad to leave the punishment of blasphemy to God, and that there would be justice in the afterlife.[15]
Hadith
According to several hadiths, Muhammad ordered a number of enemies executed "in the hours after Mecca's fall". One of those who was killed was Ka'b ibn al-Ashraf, because he had insulted Muhammad.[23]
The Prophet said, "Who is ready to kill Ka'b ibn al-Ashraf who has really hurt Allah and His Apostle?" Muhammad bin Maslama said, "O Allah's Apostle! Do you like me to kill him?" He replied in the affirmative. So, Muhammad bin Maslama went to him (i.e. Ka'b) and said, "This person (i.e. the Prophet) has put us to task and asked us for charity." Ka'b replied, "By Allah, you will get tired of him." Muhammad said to him, "We have followed him, so we dislike to leave him till we see the end of his affair." Muhammad bin Maslama went on talking to him in this way till he got the chance to kill him. Narrated Jabir bin 'Abdullah
It has been narrated on the authority of Jabir that the Messenger of Allah said: Who will kill Ka'b b. Ashraf? He has maligned Allah, the Exalted, and His Messenger. Muhammad b. Maslama said: Messenger of Allah, do you wish that I should kill him? He said: Yes. He said: Permit me to talk (to him in the way I deem fit). He said: Talk (as you like).
A variety of punishments, including death, have been instituted in Islamic jurisprudence that draw their sources from hadith literature.[6][18] Sources in hadith literature allege that Muhammad ordered the execution of Ka'b ibn al-Ashraf.[23] After the Battle of Badr, Ka'b had incited the Quraysh against Muhammad, and also urged them to seek vengeance against Muslims. Another person executed was Abu Rafi', who had actively propagandized against Muslims immediately before the Battle of Ahzab. Both of these men were guilty of insulting Muhammad, and both were guilty of inciting violence. While some[who?] have explained that these two men were executed for blaspheming against Muhammad, an alternative explanation[according to whom?] is that they were executed for treason and causing disorder (fasad) in society.[6]
Muhammad declared that there shall be no punishment for murdering anyone who disparages, abuses or insults him (tashtimu, sabb al rasool).[6] One hadith[24][6] tells of a man who killed his pregnant slave because she persisted in insulting Muhammad. Upon hearing this, Muhammad is reported to have exclaimed: "Do you not bear witness that her blood is futile!" (anna damah hadarun) This expression can be read as meaning that the killing was unnecessary, implying that Muhammad condemned it.[6] However, most hadith specialists interpreted it as voiding the obligation of paying the blood money which would normally be due to the woman's next of kin.[6] Another hadith reports Muhammad using an expression which clearly indicates the latter meaning:[6]
Narrated Ali ibn AbuTalib: A Jewess used to abuse the Prophet and disparage him. A man strangled her till she died. The Apostle of Allah declared that no recompense was payable for her blood.
The Quran curses those who commit blasphemy and promises blasphemers humiliation in the Afterlife.[5] However, whether any Quranic verses prescribe worldly punishments is debated: some Muslims believe that no worldly punishment is prescribed while others disagree.[6] Islamic jurisprudence (fiqh) of Sunni and Shia madhabs have declared different punishments for the religious crime of blasphemy, and they vary between schools. These are as follows:[18][2][25]
Hanafi – views blasphemy as synonymous with apostasy, and therefore, accepts the repentance of apostates. Those who refuse to repent, their punishment is death if the blasphemer is a Muslim man, and if the blasphemer is a woman, she must be imprisoned with coercion (beating) till she repents and returns to Islam.[26] Imam Abu Hanifa opined that a non-Muslim can not be killed for committing blasphemy.[27] Other sources[who?] say his punishment must be a tazir (discretionary, can be arrest, caning, etc.).[28][29][failed verification]
Maliki – view blasphemy as an offense distinct from, and more severe than apostasy. Death is mandatory in cases of blasphemy for Muslim men, and repentance is not accepted. For women, death is not the punishment suggested, but she is arrested and punished till she repents and returns to Islam or dies in custody.[30][31] A non-Muslim who commits blasphemy against Islam must be punished; however, the blasphemer can escape punishment by converting and becoming a devout Muslim.[32]
Hanbali – view blasphemy as an offense distinct from, and more severe than apostasy. Death is mandatory in cases of blasphemy, for both Muslim men and women.[33][34]
Shafi'i – recognizes blasphemy as a separate offense from apostasy, but accepts the repentance of blasphemers. If the blasphemer does not repent, the punishment is death.[2][35]
Zahiri – views insulting God or Islamic prophets as apostasy.[36]
Ja'fari(Shia) – views blasphemy against Islam, the Prophet, or any of the Imams, to be punishable with death, if the blasphemer is a Muslim.[37] In case the blasphemer is a non-Muslim, he is given a chance to convert to Islam, or else killed.[38]
Some jurists suggest that the sunnah in Sahih al-Bukhari, 3:45:687 and Sahih al-Bukhari, 5:59:369 provide a basis for a death sentence for the crime of blasphemy, even if someone claims not to be an apostate, but has committed the crime of blasphemy.[39] Some modern Muslim scholars contest that Islam supports blasphemy law, stating that Muslim jurists made the offense part of Sharia.[39][40]
The words of Ibn Abbas, a prominent jurist and companion of Muhammad, are frequently cited to justify the death penalty as punishment blasphemy:[6]
Any Muslim who blasphemes against Allah or His Messenger or blasphemes against any one from amongst the Prophets is thereby guilty of rejecting the truth of the Messenger of God, may Allah bless him and grant him peace. This is apostasy (ridda) for which repentance is necessary; if he repents he is released; if not then he is killed. Likewise, if any other person [non-Muslim] who is protected under a covenant becomes hostile and blasphemes against Allah or any one of Allah's Prophet and openly professes this, he breaches his covenant, so kill him.
—Ibn Qayyim al Jawziya and Ata 1998, 4:379
In Islamic jurisprudence, Kitab al Hudud and Taz'ir cover punishment for blasphemous acts.[41][42]
Because blasphemy in Islam included rejection of fundamental doctrines,[3] blasphemy has historically been seen as an evidence of rejection of Islam, that is, the religious crime of apostasy. Some jurists believe that blasphemy by a Muslim who automatically implies the Muslim has left the fold of Islam.[7] A Muslim may find himself accused of being a blasphemer, and thus an apostate on the basis of the same action or utterance.[43][44] Not all blasphemy is apostasy, of course, as a non-Muslim who blasphemes against Islam has not committed apostasy. Blasphemy is defined as the act of speaking disrespectfully or irreverently about God and there is every other thing you can do to Cause blasphemy A specific example of blasphemy against the Holy Spirit occurs when someone attributes the good works of God (such as miracles) to Satan.
The punishments for different instances of blasphemy in Islam vary by jurisdiction,[8][45][46] but may be very severe. A convicted blasphemer may, among other penalties, lose all legal rights. The loss of rights may cause a blasphemer's marriage to be dissolved, religious acts to be rendered worthless, and claims to property—including any inheritance—to be rendered void. Repentance, in some Fiqhs, may restore lost rights except for marital rights; lost marital rights are regained only by remarriage. Women have blasphemed and repented to end a marriage. Muslim women may be permitted to repent, and may receive a lesser punishment than would befall a Muslim man who committed the same offense.[44] Most Muslim-majority countries have some form of blasphemy law and some of them have been compared to blasphemy laws in European countries (Britain, Germany, Finland etc.).[47] However, in five countries, including Afghanistan, Iran, Pakistan, and Saudi Arabia, blasphemy is punishable by execution.[48] In Pakistan, more than a thousand people have been convicted of blasphemy since the 1980s; though none have been executed.[47]
History
Early and medieval Islam
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According to Islamic sources Nadr ibn al-Harith, who was an Arab Pagan doctor from Taif, used to tell stories of Rustam and Isfandiyar to the Arabs and scoffed Muhammad.[49][50] After the battle of Badr, al-Harith was captured and, in retaliation, Muhammad ordered his execution in hands of Ali.[51][52][53]
According to certain hadiths, after Mecca's fall Muhammad ordered a number of enemies executed. Based on this early jurists postulated that sabb al-Nabi (abuse of the Prophet) was a crime "so heinous that repentance was disallowed and summary execution was required".[54]
Sadakat Kadri writes that the actual prosecutions for blasphemy in the Muslim historical record "are vanishingly infrequent". One of the "few known cases" was that of a Christian accused of insulting the Islamic Prophet Muhammad. It ended in an acquittal in 1293, though it was followed by a protest against a decision led by the famed and strict jurist Ibn Taymiyya.[55]
In recent decades Islamic revivalists have called for its enforcement on the grounds that criminalizing hostility toward Islam will safeguard communal cohesion.[54] In one country where strict laws on blaspheme were introduced in the 1980s, Pakistan, over 1300 people have been accused of blasphemy from 1987 to 2014, (mostly non-Muslim religious minorities), mostly for allegedly desecrating the Quran.[56] Over 50 people accused of blasphemy have been murdered before their respective trials were over,[57][58] and prominent figures who opposed blasphemy laws (Salman Taseer, the former governor of Punjab, and Shahbaz Bhatti, the Federal Minister for Minorities) have been assassinated.[56]
As of 2011, all Islamic majority nations, worldwide, had criminal laws on blasphemy. Over 125 non-Muslim nations worldwide did not have any laws relating to blasphemy.[59][60] In Islamic nations, thousands of individuals have been arrested and punished for blasphemy of Islam.[61][62] Moreover, several Islamic nations have argued in the United Nations that blasphemy against Muhammad is unacceptable, and that laws should be passed worldwide to proscribe it. In September 2012, the Organisation of Islamic Conference (OIC), who has sought for a universal blasphemy law over a decade, revived these attempts. Separately, the Human Rights Commission of the OIC called for "an international code of conduct for media and social media to disallow the dissemination of incitement material". Non-Muslim nations that do not have blasphemy laws, have pointed to abuses of blasphemy laws in Islamic nations, and have disagreed.[63][64][65]
Notwithstanding, controversies raised in the non-Muslim world, especially over depictions of Muhammad, questioning issues relating to the religious offense to minorities in secular countries. A key case was the 1989 fatwa against English author Salman Rushdie for his 1988 book entitled The Satanic Verses, the title of which refers to an account that Muhammad, in the course of revealing the Quran, received a revelation from Satan and incorporated it therein until made by Allah to retract it. Several translators of his book into foreign languages have been murdered.[66] In the UK, many supporters of Salman Rushdie and his publishers advocated unrestricted freedom of expression and the abolition of the British blasphemy laws. As a response, Richard Webster wrote A Brief History of Blasphemy in which he discussed freedom to publish books that may cause distress to minorities.[67]
Farag Foda (also Faraj Fawda; 1946–9 June 1992), was a prominent Egyptian professor, writer, columnist,[68] and human rights activist.[69] He was assassinated on 9 June 1992 by members of Islamist group al-Gama'a al-Islamiyya after being accused of blasphemy by a committee of clerics (ulama) at Al-Azhar University.[68] In December 1992, his collected works were banned.[70] In a statement claimed responsibility for the killing, Al-Gama'a al-Islamiyya accused Foda of being an apostate from Islam, advocating the separation of religion from the state, and favouring the existing legal system in Egypt rather than the application of Sharia (Islamic law).[68] The group explicitly referred to the Al-Azhar fatwā when claiming responsibility.[71]
In September 2007, Bangladeshi cartoonist Arifur Rahman depicted in the daily Prothom Alo a boy holding a cat conversing with an elderly man. The man asks the boy his name, and he replies "Babu". The older man chides him for not mentioning the name of Muhammad before his name. He then points to the cat and asks the boy what it is called, and the boy replies "Muhammad the cat". Bangladesh does not have a blasphemy law but groups said the cartoon ridiculed Muhammad, torched copies of the paper and demanded that Rahman be executed for blasphemy. As a result, Bangladeshi police detained Rahman and confiscated copies of Prothom Alo in which the cartoon appeared.
In November 2007, British schoolteacher Gillian Gibbons, who taught middle-class Muslim and Christian children in Sudan,[72] was convicted of insulting Islam by allowing her class of six-year-olds to name a teddy bear "Muhammad". On 30 November, thousands of protesters took to the streets in Khartoum,[73] demanding Gibbons's execution after imams denounced her during Friday prayers. Many Muslim organizations in other countries publicly condemned the Sudanese over their reactions[74] as Gibbons did not set out to cause offence.[75] She was released into the care of the British embassy in Khartoum and left Sudan after two British Muslim members of the House of Lords met President Omar al-Bashir.[76][77]
The Asia Bibi blasphemy case involved a Pakistani Christian woman, Aasiya Noreen (born c. 1971;[78] better known as Asia Bibi[79] convicted of blasphemy by a Pakistani court, receiving a sentence of death by hanging in 2010. In June 2009, Noreen was involved in an argument with a group of Muslim women with whom she had been harvesting berries after the other women grew angry with her for drinking the same water as them. She was subsequently accused of insulting the Islamic ProphetMuhammad, a charge she denied, and was arrested and imprisoned. In November 2010, a Sheikhupura judge sentenced her to death. If executed, Noreen would have been the first woman in Pakistan to be lawfully killed for blasphemy.[80][81]
The verdict, which was reached in a district court and needed to be upheld by a superior court, received worldwide attention. Various petitions, including one that received 400,000 signatures, were organized to protest Noreen's imprisonment, and Pope Benedict XVI publicly called for the charges against her to be dismissed. She received less sympathy from her neighbors and Islamic religious leaders in the country, some of whom adamantly called for her to be executed. Christian minorities minister Shahbaz Bhatti and Muslim politician Salmaan Taseer were both assassinated for advocating on her behalf and opposing the blasphemy laws.[82] Noreen's family went into hiding after receiving death threats, some of which threatened to kill Asia if released from prison.[83] Governor Salmaan Taseer and Pakistan's Minority Affairs Minister Shahbaz Bhatti both publicly supported Noreen, with the latter saying, "I will go to every knock for justice on her behalf and I will take all steps for her protection."[83] She also received support from Pakistani political scientist Rasul Baksh Rais and local priest Samson Dilawar.[84] The imprisonment of Noreen left Christians and other minorities in Pakistan feeling vulnerable, and liberal Muslims were also unnerved by her sentencing.[85]
Minority Affairs Minister Shahbaz Bhatti said that he was first threatened with death in June 2010 when he was told that he would be beheaded if he attempted to change the blasphemy laws. In response, he told reporters that he was "committed to the principle of justice for the people of Pakistan" and willing to die fighting for Noreen's release.[83] On 2 March 2011, Bhatti was shot dead by gunmen who ambushed his car near his residence in Islamabad, presumably because of his position on the blasphemy laws. He had been the only Christian member of Pakistan's cabinet.[86]
In January 2011, talking about the Asia Bibi blasphemy case, Pakistani politician Salmaan Taseer expressed views opposing the country's blasphemy law and supporting Asia Bibi. He was then killed by one of his bodyguards, Malik Mumtaz Qadri. After the murder, hundreds of clerics voiced support for the crime and urged a general boycott of Taseer's funeral.[87] The Pakistani government declared three days of national mourning and thousands of people attended his funeral.[88][89] Supporters of Mumtaz Qadri blocked police attempting to bring him to the courts and some showered him with rose petals.[90] In October, Qadri was sentenced to death for murdering Taseer. Some expressed concerns that the assassinations of Taseer and Bhatti may dissuade other Pakistani politicians from speaking out against the blasphemy laws.
Imprisonment of Fatima Naoot
In 2014, an Egyptian state prosecutor pressed charges against a former candidate for parliament, writer and poet Fatima Naoot, of blaspheming Islam when she posted a Facebook message which criticized the slaughter of animals during Eid al-Adha, a major Islamic festival.[91] Naoot was sentenced on 26 January 2016 to three years in prison for "contempt of religion." The prison sentence was effective immediately.[92]
Farkhunda Malikzada was a 27-year-old Afghan woman who was publicly beaten and slain by a mob of hundreds of people in Kabul on 19 March 2015.[93][94] Farkhunda had previously been arguing with a mullah named Zainuddin, in front of a mosque where she worked as a religious teacher,[95] about his practice of selling charms at the Shah-Do Shamshira Mosque, the Shrine of the King of Two Swords,[96] a religious shrine in Kabul.[97] During this argument, Zainuddin reportedly falsely accused her of burning the Quran. Police investigations revealed that she had not burned anything.[95] A number of prominent public officials turned to Facebook immediately after the death to endorse the murder.[98] After it was revealed that she did not burn the Quran, the public reaction in Afghanistan turned to shock and anger.[99][100] Her murder led to 49 arrests;[101] three adult men received twenty-year prison sentences, eight other adult males received sixteen year sentences, a minor received a ten-year sentence, and eleven police officers received one-year prison terms for failing to protect Farkhunda.[102] Her murder and the subsequent protests served to draw attention to women's rights in Afghanistan.[103]
Ahmad Al Shamri from the town of Hafar al-Batin, Saudi Arabia, was arrested on charges of atheism and blasphemy after allegedly use social media to state that he renounced Islam and the Prophet Mohammed, he was sentenced to death in February 2015.[104]
Mashal Khan was a Pakistani student at the Abdul Wali Khan University Mardan who was killed by an angry mob in the premises of the university in April 2017 over allegations of posting blasphemous content online.[105][106]
Basuki Tjahaja Purnama was convicted of blasphemy against Islam and sentenced to two years imprisonment. His speech in which he referenced a verse from the Quran sparked wide protests asking for his conviction.
In 2017 in Indonesia, Basuki Tjahaja Purnama during his tenure as the governor of Jakarta, made a controversial speech while introducing a government project at Thousand Islands in which he referenced a verse from the Quran. His opponents criticized this speech as blasphemous, and reported him to the police. He was later convicted of blasphemy against Islam by the North Jakarta District Court and sentenced to two years imprisonment.[107][108][109][110] This decision barred him from serving as the governor of Jakarta, and he was replaced by his deputy, Djarot Saiful Hidayat.
Notable international controversies
Protests against depicting Muhammad
A 17th century copy of a 14th-century Persian manuscript image of Muhammad prohibiting Nasi', one of the depictions of Muhammad which raised objections
In December 1999, the German news magazine Der Spiegel printed on the same page pictures of "moral apostles" Muhammad, Jesus, Confucius, and Immanuel Kant. Few weeks later, the magazine received protests, petitions and threats against publishing depictions of Muhammad. The Turkish TV-station Show TV broadcast the telephone number of an editor who then received daily calls.[111] A picture of Muhammad had been published by the magazine once before in 1998 in a special edition on Islam, without evoking similar protests.[112]
In 2008, several Muslims protested against the inclusion of Muhammad's depictions in the English Wikipedia's Muhammad article.[113][114] An online petition opposed a reproduction of a 17th-century Ottoman copy of a 14th-century Ilkhanate manuscript image depicting Muhammad as he prohibited Nasīʾ.[115] Jeremy Henzell-Thomas of The American Muslim deplored the petition as one of "these mechanical knee-jerk reactions [which] are gifts to those who seek every opportunity to decry Islam and ridicule Muslims and can only exacerbate a situation in which Muslims and the Western media seem to be locked in an ever-descending spiral of ignorance and mutual loathing."[116]
In September 2005, in the tense aftermath of the assassination of Dutch film director Theo van Gogh, killed for his views on Islam, Danish news service Ritzau published an article discussing the difficulty encountered by the writer Kåre Bluitgen to find an illustrator to work on his children's book The Qur'an and the life of the Prophet Muhammad (Danish:Koranen og profeten Muhammeds liv).[117][118] He said that three artists declined his proposal, which was interpreted as evidence of self-censorship out of fear of reprisals, which led to much debate in Denmark.[119][120] Reviewing the experiment, Danish scholar Peter Hervik wrote that it disproved the idea that self-censorship was a serious problem in Denmark, because the overwhelming majority of cartoonists had either responded positively or refused for contractual or philosophical reasons.[121] Furthermore, the Danish newspaper Politiken stated that they asked Bluitgen to put them in touch with the artists who reportedly declined his proposal, so his claim that none of them dared to work with him could be proved, but that Bluitgen refused, making his initial claim impossible to confirm.[122]
Flemming Rose, an editor at the Danish newspaperJyllands-Posten, invited professional illustrators to depict Muhammad as an experiment to see how much they felt threatened. The newspaper announced that this was an attempt to contribute to the debate about criticism of Islam and self-censorship. On 30 September 2005, the Jyllands-Posten published 12 editorial cartoons, most of which depicted the Prophet Muhammad. One cartoon by Kurt Westergaard depicted Muhammad with a bomb in his turban, which resulted in the Jyllands-Posten Muhammad cartoons controversy (or Muhammad cartoons crisis) (Danish: Muhammedkrisen)[123] i.e. complains by Muslim groups in Denmark, the withdrawal of the ambassadors of Libya, Saudi Arabia and Syria from Denmark, protests around the world including violent demonstrations and riots in some Muslim countries as well as consumer boycotts of Danish products.[124]Carsten Juste, editor-in-chief at the Jyllands-Posten, claimed the international furor over the cartoons amounted to a victory for opponents of free expression. "Those who have won are dictatorships in the Middle East, in Saudi Arabia, where they cut criminals' hands and give women no rights," Juste told The Associated Press. "The dark dictatorships have won."[125] Commenting the cartoon that initiated the diplomatic crisis, American scholar John Woods expressed worries about Westergaard-like association of the Prophet with terrorism, that was beyond satire and offensive to a vast majority of Muslims.[126] Hervik also deplored that the newspaper's "desire to provoke and insult Danish Muslims exceeded the wish to test the self-censorship of Danish cartoonists."[121]
In Sweden, an online caricature competition was announced in support of Jyllands-Posten, but foreign minister Laila Freivalds pressured the provider to shut the page down (in 2006, her involvement was revealed to the public and she had to resign).[127]
Muslims march in Paris on 11 February 2006 against the publication of caricatures of Muhammad. A sign with "Charlie Hebdo" circled and crossed-out is held aloft in the picture's upper middle.
In France, satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo republished the Jyllands-Posten cartoons of Muhammad. It was taken to court by Islamic organisations under French hate speech laws; it was ultimately acquitted of charges that it incited hatred.[128][129]
In July 2007, art galleries in Sweden declined to show drawings of artist Lars Vilks depicting Muhammad as a roundabout dog. While Swedish newspapers had published them already, the drawings gained international attention after the newspaper Nerikes Allehanda published one of them on 18 August to illustrate an editorial on the "right to ridicule a religion".[130] This particular publication led to official condemnations from Iran,[131] Pakistan,[132] Afghanistan,[133] Egypt[134] and Jordan,[135] and by the inter-governmental Organisation of the Islamic Conference.[136]
In 2006, the American comedy program South Park, which had previously depicted Muhammad as a superhero ("Super Best Friends)"[137] and has depicted Muhammad in the opening sequence since then,[138] attempted to satirize the Danish newspaper incident. They intended to show Muhammad handing a salmon helmet to Family Guy character Peter Griffin ("Cartoon Wars Part II"). However, Comedy Central who airs the series rejected the scene and its creators reacted by satirizing double standard for broadcast acceptability.
In April 2010, animators Trey Parker and Matt Stone planned to make episodes satirizing controversies over previous episodes, including Comedy Central's refusal to show images of Muhammad following the 2005 Danish controversy. After they faced Internet death threats, Comedy Central modified their version of the episode, obscuring all images and bleeping all references to Muhammad. In reaction, cartoonist Molly Norris created the Everybody Draw Mohammed Day, claiming that if many people draw pictures of Muhammad, threats to murder them all would become unrealistic. [139]
On 2 November 2011, Charlie Hebdowas firebombed right before its 3 November issue was due; the issue was called Charia Hebdo and satirically featured Muhammad as guest-editor.[140][141] The editor, Stéphane Charbonnier, known as Charb, and two co-workers at Charlie Hebdo subsequently received police protection.[142] In September 2012, the newspaper published a series of satirical cartoons of Muhammad, some of which feature nude caricatures of him. In January 2013, Charlie Hebdo announced that they would make a comic book on the life of Muhammad.[143]
In March 2013, Al-Qaeda's branch in Yemen, commonly known as Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), released a hit list in an edition of their English-language magazine Inspire. The list included Kurt Westergaard, Lars Vilks, Carsten Juste, Flemming Rose, Charb and Molly Norris, and others whom AQAP accused of insulting Islam.[144][145][146][147][148][149]On 7 January 2015, two masked gunmen opened fire on Charlie Hebdo's staff and police officers as vengeance for its continued caricatures of Muhammad,[150] killing 12 people, including Charb, and wounding 11 others.[151][152]Jyllands-Posten did not re-print the Charlie Hebdo cartoons in the wake of the attack, with the new editor-in-chief citing security concerns.[153]
On 2 December 2015, Azam Khan, a politician of the Samajwadi Party, stated that Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh members are homosexuals and that is why they do not get married.[157][158][159] The next day, Kamlesh Tiwari retaliated to Azam Khan's statement and called Muhammad as the first homosexual in the world.[157][160] Thousands of Muslims protested in Muzaffarnagar and demanded the death penalty for Tiwari,[157][161][162] with some demanding that he be "beheaded" for "insulting" Muhammad.[160] Tiwari was arrested in Lucknow on 3 December 2015 by Uttar Pradesh Police.[163][160] He was detained under National Security Act by the Samajwadi Party-led state government in Uttar Pradesh.[164] Tiwari spent several months in jail for his comment. He was charged under Indian Penal Code sections 153-A (promoting enmity between groups on the grounds of religion and doing acts prejudicial to maintenance of harmony) and 295-A (deliberate and malicious acts, intended to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting its religion or religious beliefs).[165][166] Protest rallies against his statement were held by several Islamic groups in other parts of India, most of them demanding the death penalty.[167]
The protests demanding capital punishment for Tiwari triggered counter-protests by Hindu groups who accused Muslim groups of demanding enforcement of Islamic law of blasphemy in India.[160] His detention under National Security Act was revoked by Allahabad High Court in 2016.[168]
On 18 October 2019, Tiwari was murdered by two Muslim assailants, Farid-ud-din Shaikh and Ashfak Shaikh, in his office-cum-residence at Lucknow. The assailants came dressed in saffron kurtas to give him a sweets box with an address of a sweet shop in Surat city in Gujarat.[169][170] According to police officials, the assailants kept a revolver and knife inside the sweets box. During the attack, one assailant slit his throat while another fired at him.[170] Tiwari's aide Saurashtrajeet Singh was sent to bring cigarettes for them and when he returned he found Tiwari lying with his throat slit and his body ruptured with wounds.[170] He was declared dead during treatment at a hospital's trauma centre.[171] The post-mortem report revealed that he was stabbed 15 times on the upper part of body from jaws to chest, two deep cut marks on the neck points to attempt to slit his throat and shot once.[172]
What was perceived as denigrating of the Islamic Prophet Muhammad resulted in demonstrations and violent protests against the video to break out on 11 September in Egypt and spread to other Arab and Muslim nations and to some western countries. The protests have led to hundreds of injuries and over 50 deaths.[180][181][182]Fatwas calling for the harm of the video's participants have been issued and Pakistani government minister Bashir Ahmad Bilour offered a bounty for the killing of Nakoula, the producer.[183][184][185] The film has sparked debates about freedom of speech and Internet censorship.[186]
Blasphemy in Sweden during Turkish-Sweden tensions
The incident happened amid rising diplomatic tension between the two countries and Turkey's objections to Sweden joining NATO. Turkey had earlier canceled a visit by Sweden's defense minister and is seeking political concessions, including the deportation of critics and Kurds. The act was described by Sweden's Foreign Minister as "appalling" and does not imply government support for the opinion expressed.[187]
A variety of actions, speeches or behavior can constitute blasphemy in Islam. Some examples include insulting or cursing Allah, or Muhammad; mockery or disagreeable behavior towards beliefs and customs common in Islam; criticism of Islam's holy personages. Apostasy, that is, the act of abandoning Islam, or finding faults or expressing doubts about Allah (ta'til) and Qur'an, rejection of Muhammed or any of his teachings, or leaving the Muslim community to become an atheist is a form of blasphemy. Questioning religious opinions (fatwa) and normative Islamic views can also be construed as blasphemous. Improper dress, drawing offensive cartoons, tearing or burning holy literature of Islam, creating or using music or painting or video or novels to mock or criticize Muhammad are some examples of blasphemous acts.[189][190][191][192] In the context of those who are non-Muslims, the concept of blasphemy includes all aspects of infidelity (kufr).
Individuals have been accused of blasphemy or of insulting Islam for a variety of actions and words.
Sharia,Sharī'ah, Shari'a, Shariah or Syariah is a body of religious law that forms a part of the Islamic tradition based on scriptures of Islam, particularly the Qur'an and hadith. In Islamic terminology sharīʿah refers to immutable, intangible divine law; contrary to fiqh, which refers to its interpretations by Islamic scholars.
Blasphemy refers to an insult that shows contempt, disrespect or lack of reverence concerning a deity, an object considered sacred, or something considered inviolable. Some religions, especially Abrahamic ones, regard blasphemy as a crime, including insulting the Islamic prophet Muhammad in Islam, speaking the sacred name in Judaism, and blasphemy of God's Holy Spirit is an eternal sin in Christianity. It was also a crime under English common law, and it is still a crime under Italian law.
Takfir is an Arabic and Islamic term which denotes excommunication from Islam of one Muslim by another, i.e. accusing another Muslim of being an apostate. The word is found neither in the Quran nor in the ḥadīth literature; instead, kufr ("unbelief") and kāfir ("unbeliever") and other terms employing the same triliteral root K-F-R appear.
Hudud is an Arabic word meaning "borders, boundaries, limits". In the religion of Islam, it refers to punishments that under Islamic law (sharīʿah) are believed to be mandated and fixed by God, i.e. prescribed punishments, as opposed to Ta'zeer. These punishments were applied in pre-modern Islam, and their use in some modern states has been a source of controversy.
Apostasy in Islam is commonly defined as the abandonment of Islam by a Muslim, in thought, word, or through deed. It includes not only explicit renunciations of the Islamic faith by converting to another religion or abandoning religion, but also blasphemy or heresy by those who consider themselves Muslims, through any action or utterance which implies unbelief, including those who deny a "fundamental tenet or creed" of Islam. An apostate from Islam is known as a murtadd (مرتدّ).
Mohammed Younus Shaikh is a Pakistani medical doctor, human rights activist and freethinker.
The Martyrs of Córdoba were forty-eight Christian martyrs who were executed under the rule of Muslim administration in Al-Andalus. The hagiographical treatise written by the Iberian Christian and Latinist scholar Eulogius of Córdoba describes in detail the executions of the martyrs for capital violations of Islamic law (sharīʿa), including apostasy and blasphemy. The martyrdoms recorded by Eulogius took place between 850 and 859 AD, which according to the Mālikī judges of al-Andalus broke the treaty signed between Muslims and their Christian subjects.
Criticism of Islam can take many forms, including academic critiques, political criticism, religious criticism, and personal opinions. Subjects of criticism include Islamic beliefs, practices, and doctrines.
The Pakistan Penal Code outlaws blasphemy against any recognized religion, with punishments ranging from a fine to the death penalty. According to various human rights organizations, Pakistan's blasphemy laws have been used to persecute religious minorities and settle personal rivalries, frequently against other Muslims, rather than to safeguard religious sensibilities.
The Jyllands-Posten Muhammad cartoons controversy began after the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten published 12 editorial cartoons on 30 September 2005 depicting Muhammad, the leader of Islam, in what it said was a response to the debate over criticism of Islam and self-censorship. Muslim groups in Denmark complained, sparking protests around the world, including violence and riots in some Muslim countries.
The Lars Vilks Muhammad drawings controversy began in July 2007 with a series of drawings by Swedish artist Lars Vilks that depicted the Islamic prophet Muhammad as a roundabout dog. Several art galleries in Sweden declined to show the drawings, citing security concerns and fear of violence. The controversy gained international attention after the Örebro-based regional newspaper Nerikes Allehanda published one of the drawings on 18 August as part of an editorial on self-censorship and freedom of religion.
A blasphemy law is a law prohibiting blasphemy, which is the act of insulting or showing contempt or lack of reverence to a deity, or sacred objects, or toward something considered sacred or inviolable. According to Pew Research Center, about a quarter of the world's countries and territories (26%) had anti-blasphemy laws or policies as of 2014.
The Federal Republic of Nigeria operates two court systems. Both systems can punish blasphemy. The Constitution provides a customary (irreligious) system and a system that incorporates Sharia. The customary system prohibits blasphemy by section 204 of Nigeria's Criminal Code.
Islam is the state religion of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan and most Jordanians are Sunni Muslims. The kingdom prevents blasphemy against any religion by education, by laws, and by policies that discourage non-conformity.
The use of politically and religiously-motivated violence in Islam dates back to its early history. Islam has its origins in the behavior, sayings, and rulings of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, his companions, and the first caliphs in the 7th, 8th, and 9th centuries CE. Mainstream Islamic law stipulates detailed regulations for the use of violence, including corporal and capital punishment, as well as regulations on how, when, and whom to wage war against.
Irreligion is present among a minority of mainly young people in Pakistan. Atheists in Pakistan face discrimination, persecution, and prejudice in society. Pakistan is reported by some sources to be among the thirteen countries where atheism can attract capital punishment, but according to the Library of Congress of the United States, "there is no specific statutory law that criminalizes apostasy in Pakistan." On the other hand, the Pakistani government can impose the death penalty for blasphemy.
Capital punishment for offenses is allowed by law in some countries. Such offenses include adultery, apostasy, blasphemy, corruption, drug trafficking, espionage, fraud, homosexuality and sodomy not involving force, perjury causing execution of an innocent person, prostitution, sorcery and witchcraft, theft, treason and espionage. In addition to civilian treason and espionage, often considered capital crimes against the state where the death penalty is retained, military laws frequently ordain execution for serious offences, including in jurisdictions where capital punishment is illegal or obsolete under civilian law.
Khadim Hussain Rizvi was a Pakistani Islamic scholar and the founder and Ameer of Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan, a religiopolitical organization founded in 2015, known to protest against any change to Pakistan's blasphemy law.
Kamlesh Tiwari was an Indian politician who founded the Hindu Samaj Party in 2017.
The situation for apostates from Islam varies markedly between Muslim-minority and Muslim-majority regions. In Muslim-minority countries, "any violence against those who abandon Islam is already illegal". But in some Muslim-majority countries, religious violence is "institutionalised", and "hundreds and thousands of closet apostates" live in fear of violence and are compelled to live lives of "extreme duplicity and mental stress."
References
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↑ Lorenz Langer (2014) Religious Offence and Human Rights: The Implications of Defamation of Religions Cambridge University PressISBN978-1107039575 p. 332
↑ P Smith (2003). "Speak No Evil: Apostasy, Blasphemy and Heresy in Malaysian Syariah Law". UC Davis Journal Int'l Law & Policy. 10, pp. 357–73.
N Swazo (2014). "The Case of Hamza Kashgari: Examining Apostasy, Heresy, and Blasphemy Under Sharia". The Review of Faith & International Affairs12(4). pp.16–26.
Siraj Khan. "Blasphemy against the Prophet", in Muhammad in History, Thought, and Culture (ed: Coeli Fitzpatrick Ph.D., Adam Hani Walker). ISBN978-1610691772, pp. 59–67.
Hassner, R. E. (2011). "Blasphemy and Violence". International Studies Quarterly55(1). pp. 23–24;
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↑ Talal Asad, in Hent de Vries (ed.). Religion: Beyond a Concept. Fordham University Press (2008). ISBN978-0823227242. pp. 589–92
1 2 Burney Abbas, Shemeem. Pakistan's Blasphemy Laws: From Islamic Empires to the Taliban. University of Texas Press. pp.39–40. At times the Prophet's adversaries compared him to the poets of the desert as if he were a man possessed or mad and his Qur'anic revelations madness. His anguish emanated from the ridicule cast on him, aggravated by his unlettered status, the denying of his message of social justice and human rights, his wisdom, and his sensitivity...In these verses Muhammad received solace from God...Sometimes the comfort Muhammad received was about retribution in the hereafter...The Qur'anic evidence indicates that Muhammad was counseled to leave justice to the Almighty. He was never commanded to bring blasphemy punishments against his perpetrators; he was to seek only mercy and forgiveness for them.
↑ According to Abbas "waging war against Allah and His messenger" must be interpreted as "those who disbelieve in Allah and His messenger", according to the two Jalals the verse is directed towards who "fights against Muslims", according to Kathir "waging war" "includes disbelief". See "Commentaries for 5:33". quranx.com. Archived from the original on 6 April 2023. Retrieved 31 July 2020.
1 2 3 Saeed, Abdullah; Hassan Saeed (2004). Freedom of Religion, Apostasy and Islam. Burlington VT: Ashgate Publishing Company. pp.57–58. ISBN978-0-7546-3083-8.
↑ Brian Winston (2014). The Rushdie Fatwa and After: A Lesson to the Circumspect, Palgrave Macmillan. ISBN978-1137388599. p. 74, Quote: "(In the case of blasphemy and Salman Rushdie) the death sentence it pronounced was grounded in a jurisprudential gloss on the Surah al-Ahzab (33:57)".
↑ Richard T. Antoun (2014). Muslim Preacher in the Modern World. Princeton University Press. ISBN978-0691602752. p. 194, Quote: "All the negative connotations of factionalism, social dissension, blasphemy, and their logical conclusions conspiracy, military confrontation and damnation – are captured in the title of this sura, al-Ahzab (The Confederates, Book 33)"
↑ According to Akyol, this verse indicates that "Muslims are not supposed to be part of a discourse that mocks Islam, but all they have to do is stay away from it. Even then, the withdrawal should last only until the discourse changes into something inoffensive. Once mockery ends, dialogue can restart". See Akyol, Mustafa, Islam Without Extremes: A Muslim Case for Liberty, 2013 p. 285
Ahmad ibn Muhammad al-Tahawi (933), Mukhtasar Ikhtilaf al-Ulama, vol. 3, p.504
Ali ibn Hassan al-Sughdi (798); Kitab al-Kharaj; Quote: "أيما رجل مسلم سب رَسُوْل اللهِ صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ أو كذبه أو عابه أوتنقصه فقد كفر بالله وبانت منه زوجته ، فإن تاب وإلا قتل ، وكذلك المرأة ، إلا أن أبا حنيفة قَالَ: لا تقتل المرأة وتجبر عَلَى الإسلام"; Translation: "A Muslim man who blasphemes the Messenger of Allah, denies him, reproaches him, or diminishes him, he has committed apostasy in Allah, and his wife is separated from him. He must repent, or else is killed. And this is the same for the woman, except Abu Hanifa said: Do not kill the woman, but coerce her back to Islam".
↑ Ahmad ibn Muhammad al-Tahawi (933), Mukhtasar Ikhtilaf al-Ulama, vol. 3, p. 504
↑ P. Smith (2003), Speak No Evil: Apostasy, Blasphemy and Heresy in Malaysian Syariah Law, UC Davis Journal Int'l Law & Policy, 10, pp. 357–73;
N. Swazo (2014), The Case of Hamza Kashgari: Examining Apostasy, Heresy, And Blasphemy Under Sharia, The Review of Faith & International Affairs, 12(4), pp. 16–26
↑ D Jordan (2003), Dark Ages of Islam: Ijtihad, Apostasy, and Human Rights in Contemporary Islamic Jurisprudence, The. Wash. & Lee Race & Ethnic Anc. Law Journal, Vol. 9, pp. 55–74
↑ Carl Ernst (2005), "Blasphemy: Islamic Concept", Encyclopedia of Religion (Editor: Lindsay Jones), Vol 2, Macmillan Reference, ISBN0-02-865735-7
↑ Abdullah Saeed and Hassan Saeed (2004), Freedom of Religion, Apostasy and Islam, Ashgate Publishing, ISBN978-0754630838
Ibn Taymiyyah (a Salafi, related to Hanbali school), al-Sārim al-Maslūl 'ala Shātim al-Rasūl (Translation: A ready sword against those who insult the Messenger), Published in 1297 AD in Arabic, Reprinted in 1975 and 2003 by Dar-ibn Hazm (Beirut)
↑ P. Smith (2003), Speak No Evil: Apostasy, Blasphemy and Heresy in Malaysian Syariah Law, UC Davis Journal Int'l Law & Policy, 10, pp. 357–73;
F. Griffel (2001), Toleration and exclusion: al-Shafi 'i and al-Ghazali on the treatment of apostates, Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, 64(3), pp. 339–54
↑ Peters, R. (2005). Crime and punishment in Islamic Law: Theory and practice from the Sixteenth to the Twenty-First Century (Vol. 2). Cambridge University Press.
↑ Hashim, Asad (17 May 2014). "Living in fear under Pakistan's blasphemy law". Al Jazeera. Archived from the original on 2 November 2014. Retrieved 21 November 2014. In Pakistan, 17 people are on death row for blasphemy, and dozens more have been extrajudicially murdered.
↑ Rehman, Javaid. "The Shari 'ah, International Human Rights Law and The Right To Hold Opinions and Free Expression: After Bilour's Fatwa." Islam and International Law: Engaging Self-Centrism from a Plurality of Perspectives (2013): 244.
↑ Forte, David F. "Apostasy and Blasphemy in Pakistan." Conn. J. Int'l L. 10 (1994): 27.
↑ Silence. How Apostasy and Blasphemy Codes Are Choking Freedom Worldwide. By Paul Marshall and Nina Shea. New York: Oxford University Press, 2011.
↑ Aleem Maqbool and Orla Guerin, "Salman Taseer: Thousands mourn Pakistan governor"Archived 12 December 2013 at the Wayback Machine : "One small religious party, the Jamaat-e-Ahl-e-Sunnat Pakistan, warned that anyone who expressed grief over the assassination could suffer the same fate. 'No Muslim should attend the funeral or even try to pray for Salman Taseer or even express any kind of regret or sympathy over the incident,' the party said in a statement. It said anyone who expressed sympathy over the death of a blasphemer was also committing blasphemy." BBC News South Asia, 5 January 2011. Retrieved 7 January 2011.
↑ Hansen, John; Hundevadt, Kim (2006). Provoen og Profeten: Muhammed Krisen bag kulisserne (in Danish). Copenhagen: Jyllands-Postens Forlag. ISBN87-7692-092-5.
↑ Urquhart, Conal. "Paris Police Say 12 Dead After Shooting at Charlie Hebdo". Time. Archived from the original on 22 November 2015. Retrieved 22 April 2017. Witnesses said that the gunmen had called out the names of individual from the magazine. French media report that Charb, the Charlie Hebdo cartoonist who was on al Qaeda most wanted list in 2013, was seriously injured.
↑ Kamlesh Tiwari may contest U.P. bypollsArchived 8 April 2023 at the Wayback Machine , Mohammad Ali, The Hindu (September 20, 2016), Quote: "Mr. Tiwari, who was granted bail last week by a Lucknow court, will remain in jail until the Allahabad High Court decides on his plea against the slapping of the National Security Act (NSA) on him by the State government."
↑ "Anti-Muslim film got LA County permit for shoot". Reading Eagle. Associated Press. 20 September 2012. Archived from the original on 31 May 2014. Retrieved 22 April 2017. Anti-Muslim film had permit allowing 1-day shoot at LA County ranch, use of fire, animals
↑ Dion Nissenbaum; James Oberman; Erica Orden (13 September 2012). "Behind Video, a Web of Questions". The Wall Street Journal. Archived from the original on 15 June 2017. Retrieved 22 September 2012.
↑ Zahos, Zachary (19 September 2012). "The Art of Defamation". The Cornell Daily Sun. Archived from the original on 19 September 2012. Retrieved 22 September 2012.
↑ Soage, Ana Belén (June 2007). "Faraj Fawda, or The Cost of Freedom of Expression". Volume 11, No. 2, Article 3/8. Middle East Review of International Affairs (MERIA) Journal. Archived from the original on 14 March 2009. Retrieved 16 July 2009.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
↑ MacFarquhar, Neil (24 June 2007). "Iran Cracks Down on Dissent". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 22 January 2015. Retrieved 11 July 2009.
↑ "Malaysia". International Religious Freedom Report 2008. U.S. State Department. 19 September 2008. Archived from the original on 8 April 2023. Retrieved 31 August 2009.
↑ "Bangladesh". International Religious Freedom Report 2008. U.S. State Department. 19 September 2008. Archived from the original on 2 January 2023. Retrieved 7 August 2009.
↑ Patung (11 April 2007). "Islam is for Arabs". Indonesia Matters. Archived from the original on 4 July 2008. Retrieved 23 June 2009.
↑ Alrawi, Karim (31 January 1992). "Egypt's Rushdie". v.5, no. 187, p. 27. New Statesman & Society. Archived from the original on 6 April 2019. Retrieved 18 July 2009.
↑ Holike, C. (2011), in Andrea Fleschenberg, Claudia Derich (Eds), The State of Islam – Negotiating Democracy, Muslim Women's Rights and Morality in Indonesia and Malaysia, Women and Politics in Asia: A Springboard for Democracy?, LIT Verlag (Zurich), 15, pp. 71–80
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