Rushdie Haunted by his unholy Ghosts — Page 120
120 Mohamed Arshad Ahmedi intolerant and savage religion which advocates conversion at the point of the sword, and the death penalty for blasphemy. But, as I will explain, this is not the truth. There is absolutely no Qur’anic teaching which imposes any sanction whatsoever on freedom of expression or conscience. The Holy Qur’an gives full rights to all, irrespective of personal ideol- ogy, way of life or creed. It states in Chapter 2, Verse 257: ‘There shall be no compulsion in religion. ’ Though some people have ascribed their own intolerance and narrow-mindedness to Islam, there is not a shred of evidence in the Holy Qur’an that Islam advocates the death penalty for blasphemy or similar profanities. On the contrary, restriction has actually been placed on Muslims themselves not to insult the idols of idolators; Chapter 6, Verse 109 : ‘And abuse not those whom they call upon besides Allah; ‘ And this is despite the fact that idolatry is regarded as the most heinous of sins that anyone can commit. Muslims are, therefore, not even allowed to abuse the most outrageous thing in the eyes of God ! This lofty teaching of the Holy Qur’an finds no comparison even in the ‘civilised’ world of today. Whilst the Holy Qur’an instructs Muslims to respect others, the British Common Law demands that everyone should honour their religion. Yet it is Islam which is al- ways condemned as being ‘backward’ ! There can be no greater blasphemy than against God Almighty Himself. Yet the Holy Qur’an prescribes no punishment for such a grievous blasphemy against God. So how could there be a pun- ishment prescribed for blasphemy against prophets who are mere mortals. An incident in the life of the Holy Prophet(sa) clarifi es his own understanding of this issue. A most heinous blasphemy was committed against the Holy Prophet(sa) himself when he was ruler of Medina. A hypocrite by the name of Abdullah bin Ubayy, whose cherished desire of becom- ing Chief of Medina was shattered by the arrival of Muhammad(sa),