Murder in the Name of Allah — Page 95
Mercy for the Universe. O ye who believe, be mindful of your duty to Allah in all respects, every moment of your lives, so that whenever death overtakes you, it will find you in a state of complete submission to Him. All of you, take hold of Allah's rope which He gave you when you hated each other. He united your hearts in love so that by His grace you became brethren. (3:101-104). This was the atmosphere of unrest in Medina when the Prophetsa decided to stop the poets' propaganda campaign and asked for volunteers to execute them. It was clear they had become a grave danger to peace. To say that they were killed because they reviled and insulted the Prophetsa is to twist historical fact. To use these executions as a precedent for the execution of those who defame the. Prophetsa is either deliberate dishonesty or sheer historical ignorance. . Defaming the Prophetsa, known technically as sabb, is neither a hadd offence according to the Quran nor a capital offence according to the. Sunnah. In fact it is not punishable at all, unless there are contributing circumstances. Its punishment, like that of apostasy, is in the hands of. Allah alone. The Quran uses goodwill to uphold the honour of Allah and his prophets, not the sword. The Quran says:. Revile not those to whom they pray besides Allah, lest they wrongfully revile Allah through ignorance. Thus unto every nation have We made their deed seem fair. Then unto their Lord is their return, and He will tell them what they used to do. (6. 109). Respect, honour, love and esteem for someone come from the heart. . Force can shut mouths, create terror and result in disrespect and irreverence. This is why the Quran takes a positive view in matters of the heart. . As regards respect for the Holy Prophetsa, the Quran says:. Lo! Allah and His angels shower blessings on the Prophet. O ye who believe! Ask blessings on him and honour him with a worthy salutation. . Lo! Those who malign Allah and His Messenger Allah hath cursed them in this world and in the next and hath prepared for them the doom of the disdained. And those who malign believing men and women undeservedly, they bear the guilt of slander and manifest sin. (33:57-59). The Quran is very clear about sabb. It asks Muslims not to scorn even the false gods of unbelievers and it does not lay down any punishment for those who show disrespect to the Prophet - for them, God has prepared the 'doom of the disdained'. . And how did the Excellent Examplers treat those who reviled him?. Let us return to the leader of the munafiqun, Abdullah b. Ubayy. After the 95