Defending the Honor of the Prophet Muhammad (salallahu alayhi wa sallam)

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pbuh

http://muslimmatters.org/2012/09/17/abdul-nasir-jangda-khutbah-defending-the-honor-of-the-prophet-muhammad-salallahu-alayhi-wa-sallam/

Abdul Nasir Jangda | Khutbah: Defending the Honor of the Prophet Muhammad (salallahu alayhi wa sallam)


Khutbah by Shaykh Abdul Nasir Jangda | Transcribed by Sameera
[The following is the video and transcript of Shaykh Abdul Nasir Jangda's khutbah "Defending the Honor of the Prophet Muḥammad (salallahu 'alayhi wa sallam)." The transcript is slightly modified for the sake of readability and clarity.]
Download / listen to khutbah here.


From the very early part of the prophethood of Muḥammad [saws] pbuh, there is a very amazing and remarkable story of love, commitment, dedication and devotion. In the very early part of the mission of the Prophet [saws] before the preaching was public, the people close to and around the Prophet [saws] started to embrace the faith and belief. The books of seerah mention the number of believers was now ranging from anywhere from 38-40 people. These are the first 40 believers and included many of his own close family members and close personal friends and close friends of those initial believers. It was a very close and small tightknit circle.

One of these first believers was al-Arqam b. Abi al-Arqam

, who was hosting the Prophet [saws] and his companions within his own home so that they would have a place to pray and a place to learn and a place to congregate. This is the famous dar'l-Arqam (the house of Arqam).

Abu Bakr

Abu Bakr

was a leader of his people even before Islam. He is a leader of this ummah of course, but he was a leader before Islam and was well-respected in the Makkan community. He was considered one of the seniors of the community. He was someone to whom people would take their problems. He was someone who would intermediate in conflicts and would step in and settle disputes. On top of that, it is said that Abu Bakr

was a man of wealth and dignity and honor. The books on the life of Abu Bakr tell us that even before Islam he was well known not to consume alcohol, not to be publicly intoxicated, not to engage and indulge in fornication and adultery. He was a man of very high esteem and high honor and great dignity even before Islam. Regardless of the general culture of Makkah at that time, which had deteriorated very badly at that time, Abu Bakr

was respected very widely because of this personal standard of dignity and honor and self-respect.
Abu Bakr

was also a genealogist, a specialist of knowing people's lineages, the tribes and families and family trees. He knew people and where they came from. He was one of the first few people to accept Islam. He was the first adult male to accept Islam. According to the majority of scholars of sirah and hadith, the way they reconcile all of the narrations is that Abu Bakr

may have been the fourth person to accept Islam after Khadijah, 'Ali, and Zayd b. al-Harithah

. He was the first person to pray publicly by the side of the Prophet

.

To give you a little bit of insight into their relationship with one another, there are narrations about the life of the Prophet

and childhood of the Prophet

that tell us that the Prophet

and Abu Bakr

had been best friends since the age of ten. There is a report that goes back all the way to the time when the Prophet

was ten years old that talks about the friendship with Abu Bakr

. At a minimum, they had been best friends for 30 years.
On top of that, he was a man of very great honor and dignity and respect. That is why when the Prophet

presented the message to Abu Bakr, the narrations say that Abu Bakr asked the Prophet

, I haven't seen you coming and sitting with the people for the last day or so. What's going on? Is everything okay? When you don't hear from a close friend for a day, then it is cause for concern. You immediately call them and drive over to their house and ask if everything is okay. Abu Bakr

didn't see the Prophet

for a day / day and a half, and he grew concerned about his best friend, so he went to the Prophet

and said, What is going on? Is everything okay? The Prophet of Allāh

told Abu Bakr

about the message.
I'll tell you what Abu Bakr did when he heard the message through the words of the Prophet

. The Prophet

says in a narration that: Any time I presented this religion, this deen, this īmān, this Islam to anyone, they always took a moment to think. They always hesitated for at least a little bit. Even 'Ali

was a child, but he told the Prophet

, I need to sleep on it. The Prophet

said, Anyone I presented this religion to took a moment to reconsider things except for Abu Bakr

. He immediately embraced the faith.
One time Abu Bakr

and 'Umar

and this happens amongst friends, colleagues, and coworkers had a dispute over a matter. When it was brought to the Prophet

, because of the overwhelming love that he had for Abu Bakr

, he tells all of the sahabah that I came and called all of you to Islam, and all of you initially said, 'You lie,' except for Abu Bakr. I told him the message and he said, 'You speak the truth.' This is why the Prophet

gave him the title of al-Siddiq.
This is a man of great love for the Prophet

. This is a man who recognized the truth faster and quicker than anyone else. This was also a man who was willing to stand up for the truth before anyone else.

 

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[h=4]Spreading the Message of Islam[/h] There is a beautiful story that when the number of Muslims reached about 40 and when the house of Arqam was popping at the seams and completely full of people, Abu Bakr told the Prophet of Allāh

, “The time has come that we go and make a public appearance. It is time, O Messenger of Allāh.” The Prophet

didn't prohibit him and didn't forbid it and didn't say “no,” otherwise it would have been a command. The Prophet of Allāh

told Abu Bakr

, “I think we should be a little bit more cautious.” Abu Bakr

said, “No, O Messenger of Allāh. I feel confident.” He

said, “Let's go.”
These forty believers are a very small minority in a big city. They march into the Haram, and the narration says that to try to put themselves in a position of safety and security, they all scattered about in the Haram and looked for a few other members of their tribe or their family and went and stood next to them. Why? Because there was so much tribal loyalty and affiliation at that time that even if they disagreed with what you were doing or saying, if someone from another tribe tried to harm or hurt you, your tribespeople would say, “He is ours. We'll take care of him. If he needs to be slapped around, we will do the slapping, and you don't touch him. He is our family member.” There was enough tribal pride. It was a strategic move.
They scattered about and found some people of their tribe and family even if they weren't believers to just be somewhat protected because these were very overwhelming odds.


The Prophet of Allāh pbuh sat down as well. Abu Bakr(R.A) was the first public spokesperson. We talk about PR and wanting to make a statement in the media and a spokesperson. The first spokesperson for Islam was Abu Bakr

. The first spokesperson on behalf of the Prophet

and the first public endorsement the Prophet

received was from Abu Bakr

. He stood up and presented the message to them.
The narrations tell us that the people attacked and jumped Abu Bakr

viciously. A few dozen other sahabah who were scattered around in the Haram came under attack. Everybody was being beaten, but no one was beaten worse than Abu Bakr

. One of the leaders of Quraysh, 'Utbah b. Rabi'ah, took off his shoes and when Abu Bakr was knocked down, he sat on his chest and started to pound him on the face with his shoes. The narration was specific and said that he was targeting his nose. It broke his nose so badly and severely that the whole face of Abu Bakr

was covered in blood. He was disfigured and people couldn't even recognize him until finally the family of Abu Bakr realized what was going on. They stepped in and dispersed the mob and carried him home. Everybody was certain that he was going to die. The family of Abu Bakr, the majority of which were non-believers, swore that if he dies, they would kill 'Utbah b. Rabi'ah in retribution. The case was that severe and his condition was so bad.
When he was taken home, it is said that when his mother and family members saw him, they started to uncontrollably cry. The narration says that he was unresponsive for a day. Allāh knows best. It might have even been a coma. His family members gathered around him and kept trying to talk to him and resuscitate and revive him somehow until finally Abu Bakr

opened his eyes after a day.
Everyone gathered around, and the first words out of the mouth of Abu Bakr

were, “What happened to the Prophet

?” The last thing he remembered was that he was speaking in front of people and the Prophet

was sitting there and then a mob broke out and there was pandemonium. The last thing he saw was the Prophet

sitting in the middle of a riot. He didn't know what happened to the Prophet

. The first thing he asked was, “What happened to the Prophet

?”
His father, Abu Quhafah, who was blind and the other family members were so disgusted that they started to curse him and they walked out. They said, “This man is helpless! It is pointless with him!” Before they left, they told his mother, who was called Umm'l-khayr, “Look after him, feed him.” They gave her advice on how to bring him back to good health.
When the mother came back inside and tried to treat him, he said, “What happened to the Prophet

?” She said, “I don't know, son.” He said, “Go to Umm'l-Jameel (who was the sister of 'Umar b. al-Khattab and a believer who was hiding her Islam) and ask her.” It is a very lengthy narration, but she goes there and she asks Umm'l-Jameel, who has to maintain her secrecy, and says, “I don't know what you are talking about.” She says, “Can you at least come see my son? He is dying.”
She goes to see Abu Bakr and imagine what his condition must have been. These were people who were used to war and used to sword fighting and brutality. When she saw Abu Bakr, she shrieked. Imagine what his face was like! She shrieked when she saw him and panicked. Finally, Abu Bakr says, “What happened to the Prophet

?” She said, “He is safe and he is okay.” Abu Bakr

took an oath. Imagine the physical condition he is in. He took an oath and said, “I swear by Allāh, I will not eat anything, I will not drink a sip of water until I am able to lay my eyes on the Prophet

and he is okay.” His mother started to cry and said, “Son, why do you do this?” Eventually realizing he wasn't going to budge, Umm'l-Jameel and his mother Umm'l-Khayr literally carry Abu Bakr

at night to the house of Arqam.
When Abu Bakr

walks through the door, the Prophet of Allāh

sees Abu Bakr

. What you would normally expect the story to say is Abu Bakr

hugged the Prophet

and kissed him and cried on his shoulder. The Prophet

ran to the door and hugged Abu Bakr and held him and carried him and kissed him on his head. The narration said that the Prophet

cried on Abu Bakr's

shoulder. Abu Bakr

told the Prophet

, “I would give up my father and my mother for you, O Messenger of Allāh. I don't care what they have done to my face as long as you are okay.”
In Light of Current Events

This is a story of true love and of compassion and of respect and of honor and of īmān above everything else. I bring this story up and wanted to talk about this because of what has transpired over the last week or so. This is not something that is completely new to us, but nevertheless this is something that we have to understand. We must understand not just through emotional rhetoric and not through a PR statement and not through a photo-op but this is something we have to understand in the light of the Book of Allāh and the life of the Prophet

.
The Messenger of Allāh

is a pillar of our faith. We believe in him. This is something very profound! He means a whole lot to us and is very important to us, and his disrespect and him being slandered and disrespected and when people speak about him inappropriately, it is something very hurtful to us. If it was not and if we could sit there and watch a video being violent and disrespectful towards the Messenger of God

and it wouldn't churn our stomach and wouldn't make us upset and we wouldn't have to stop it, then we have a problem in our īmān.
I had heard about the video, but because I know myself, I can't read that material and can't watch it because I feel like I am physically incapable of doing so. It is too much to bear. One of my students insisted and started to play it and in twenty seconds, I had to get up and leave the room; I couldn't take it. If we weren't offended or insulted by it, then we have a problem in our own īmān. There is no doubt about that fact. As you have probably heard and as it has probably been stated numerous times, but it is important that it is stated here from the minbar on the day of Jumu'ah so that we all understand and internalize this, we also have to understand how to react and how to respond and how to deal with these emotions.
I'm going to present three basic things to you.

 

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Character and Behavior of the Prophet

The first thing I would like to present to you is the character and behavior of the Prophet

himself. On Twitter and Facebook I see all the young people interacting “what would Muḥammad do.” Let's not just have a hashtag. Let's not say it because it is popular and it's cool. What would the Prophet of Allāh

do? What did he do?
I will first talk about the outlook of the Prophet

when he looked at the world, which included his lovers and haters. It included his fans, believers, and followers, but it also included the people who despised him, hated him, and worked against him. How did he view the world? What was the lens of the Prophet

?
There is a narration that is in both Bukhāri and Muslim where Abu Hurayrah

says, “I heard the Messenger of Allāh

saying, 'My example and the example of all of humanity [he didn't say believers], our relationship and our interaction is a man standing in front of a burning fire. When the fire grew a little and became bigger, and then the little insects [like moths coming to a flame – there are insects and creatures that are attracted to the fire and sometimes they don't realize, to their own detriment, and keep coming closer and closer to the fire until they fall in it and burn] are starting to flock and fly towards the flame. The man starts to shoo the bugs and flies away, trying to scatter them away and fend them off from the fire, but these creatures are overwhelming this man and there are too many and just one man running around trying to catch all of them and stop all of them from falling into the fire. They themselves are going forward and falling headfirst into this fire and burning themselves. [Then the Prophet

turns the example onto us] I am trying to grab ahold of y'all, O mankind, from behind you. [Meaning: I'm so overwhelmed that you are actually getting past me, and I'm not able to catch you before you get to me. You are passing me and I'm reaching back trying to grab ahold of your clothes from behind so that I can pull you back from the fire.] But you keep going headfirst and falling into the fire.'”
I want you to sense the desperation in this example and analogy. This isn't something that someone comes up with very casually. This is an expression of what somebody feels in his heart. This is pain and anguish. This is torture to live life in this way. That is why it is no surprise that the Prophet of Allāh

goes to lay down in his bed after serving humanity and preaching to humanity and saving humanity all day long and he is barely able to lay down and close his eyes for a moment and then says, “I have to go.” He stands up and spreads his hands before Allāh and cries all night for humanity's sake.
This is the outlook of the Messenger of Allāh

on the world that he lives in. This includes the people who hate him and who speak ill of him. We talk about what would the Prophet

do in a situation where he is being wronged and slandered.
There is another narration mentioned by a few different books of hadith. It is narrated in the Mustadrak of Hakim and the Sahih of Ibn Hibban and by al-Tabarani in his collection of hadith. It is a very lengthy story. The Prophet

had gone to Zayd b. Su'na, who was a Jewish businessman, to buy something from him. The Prophet

did not have the payment ready at that time, so he

fixed a payment date with him. The man came back before the payment due date. The narration says the Prophet

is sitting with his companions. He literally tears through the congregation. Imagine somebody who is walking straight through and shoving people aside angrily. He walks right up to the Prophet

, and the narration says he literally grabs his clothes. If somebody did that to us, what would we do? We would tackle him.
He grabs the Prophet of Allāh

. Imagine that! He says, “Where is my money? You Banu Hashim, you people are notorious for not paying people back on time. Pay up! I don't trust you!” subḥānAllāh! The Prophet of Allāh

is letting everyone cool down and relax. 'Umar

draws his sword and says, “Give me the word, O Messenger, and I'll finish him right here where he stands. You speak to my prophet and my messenger like that?!”
The Prophet of Allāh

says, “Sheath your sword, ya 'Umar.” He turns his attention to 'Umar b. al-Khattab

and says, “'Umar, me and him didn't need someone to jump into the situation ready to spill blood. That's not what we need. We needed something else. You should have told me that I should pay this man back properly. And you should have told him to properly ask for his money [like scheduling an appointment and saying, “Brother can you please pay me because I have some bills to take care of and I would really appreciate it.”] You should have advised me to pay properly and you should have advised him to ask properly and not jump in the middle and say you are going to finish him.” Then the Prophet

said to 'Umar, “And give him his right back and then on top of that, from yourself, I want you to give him an extra gift because you threatened him and treated him badly. How dare you speak to somebody like that! I want you to make it up to him and do something nice for him. You don't treat people that way!”
That is what the Prophet

did. That is his standard. That's number one. None of the emotional rhetoric. I know that here are two sentiments amongst the ummah. I know that one sentiment is: “We have to watch ourselves and think this through and make sure what type of a political statement it makes. There is PR and media.” Then there is another sentiment of the ummah: “We are tired of all this and don't want to do any more photo-ops. We are tired of appeasing people and the truth is the truth. We need to do what is right.”

Both sentiments are human reactions, but both sentiments need to turn back and look at the life of the Prophet

. Allāh said, “Take what the Messenger gave you and leave what he told you to leave.” We need to look at the Prophet

for guidance. We want to defend him, so defend him by means of his guidance and his teachings.
That is the first thing I wanted to present. This is something consistent throughout the life of the Prophet

. The narrations go on endlessly from the du‘ā’ that the Prophet

made after Ta'if when he was abused and beaten at Ta'if and bled at Ta'if. The du‘ā’ he made for those people afterwards was for guidance. What did the Prophet

do at the conquest of Makkah? He was compassionate, merciful and forgiving towards these people. This is a consistent thing throughout the teachings of the Prophet

.

 

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[h=4]Ignorance
[/h] The second thing is that there will always be ignorant people on the face of this earth. This is a reality of life. Stupid is as stupid does. There were ignorant people at the time of the Prophet

who would say, “Yes, this is the truth, but I still want to oppose it.” There is no reasoning with that man. That is why the Qur'an and the precedent of the Messenger of Allāh

even give us recourse in that matter. You will be addressed by ignorant people and just say, “I am not going to stoop to your level, sir!” It is not showing respect to that person but is respecting yourself. “I will go about my business, but I will not engage in this nonsense and this ignorance. I don't have time for this nonsense.”
This is the second thing we need to understand.
[h=4]Telling People about the Prophet

[/h] This will be my concluding point. How do we fix this issue and how do we solve this problem? There has to be a more tangible solution. We need to go out there and tell people about who the Prophet

is. We need to have written material, online material, public forums, symposiums, campaigns. We need to inform humanity about who Muḥammad

was and what he means to us. We need to give them the truth about the Prophet

.
Before we take that step – and this is the part that might sting a little and will be a bitter pill to swallow, and I apologize for anyone I offend. I'm talking to myself – I cannot go and cannot speak to humanity about who the Prophet

unless I know what I'm talking about first. What do we know about the Prophet

? It's not for me to ask you or for you to test me. Ask yourself! Do you really know about the Prophet

? Do you really know his life? Could you properly educate people about who the Prophet

is? Could you answer the questions that people would have about the Prophet

? Could you?
I need to ask myself and go look in the mirror, and it isn't going to be fun. A self-assessment never is, but it is important. If the answer comes back as it does to me, “no, I don't,” then it is about time I got a little serious about this. It is about time that I stop jumping and screaming when an incident occurred and actually dedicate my life to following the example and knowing who the Prophet

is.
It is very important! There are tons of resources. The excuses in our times are gone! We have scholars in your midst. Sit and learn from them. If you want a book, there are books. If you want to read online, it is online. A humble little effort that we started was taking into consideration the lowest common denominator: someone who is very busy and doesn't have a lot of time or resources at all. I started conducting a weekly seerah class, and we record the audio and put it online for free. You can sign up so that it automatically downloads to your phone. You can listen to it while you drive. An hour a week – that's it, but you know who the Prophet

is and what he stands for.
It is very important that we take this step to educate ourselves and our families and our communities until we become an educated community. Then, we most definitely have to make noise. But then we make the right type of noise. We don't just go out there and yell and scream for the sake of yelling and screaming. Everywhere you turn, you see a Muslim talking about who the Prophet

is. Everywhere you look, you see a Muslim exemplifying the character of the Prophet

. Everywhere you look, you see a Muslim starting a project that brings to fruition and materializes one of the visions or instructions or guidance of the Prophet

. We better humanity, society, and the world we live in by means of the Prophet

. This is a practical plan and course of action.
May Allāh

grant us the proper understanding of who the Prophet

is and allow us to serve the deen properly.

 

[1 ummah]

Muslims act according to Islam if u really love the Prophet (M.P.B.U.H.)

Now french magazine says they will write column to insult prophet!
O muslims ur protest and burning of embassies CANNOT do what will stop these kufaars and make them realize importance of ur love n consequences of such acts! IF THIS WAS THE SOLUTION IT WUD HAVE BEEN MENTIONED IN QURAN N SUNNAH!
WHAT IS MENTIONED IN SHARAH CAN ONLY BE ACHIEVED BY IMPLEMENTING ISLAM,THESE CORRUPT RULERS WILL ONLY SAY FAKE WORDS N LAME ACTIONS, DEMAND ISLAM!!
a sincere khalifah fears Allah and knows his purpose of life,like abdul hameed 2, even in weak times he called french ambassador made him wait for hours and then went to him in his army unform,put his sword on table in front of ambassador ,facing him and french cud not allow presentation of drama"mohomet ou la fanatisme"
then english dared to allow the writer and khalifa told them to get ready for war with islamic state! this warning was enough to stop them..
1 UMMAH,1 KHALIFAH, 1 STATE

reject this system n rulers who let u not live fulfilling ur obligations
as Allah will not be happy with ur ignorance


From Kitab al-Shifa bi-Tarif Huquq al-Mustafa ​

by​

​

al-Qadi al-Iyad (d.476)​

​

Translated by Aisha Abdarrahman Bewley

Note: The Qadi wrote this under an Islamic state which implemented the hudud punishments and the other Islamic laws.


Section One: The Judgement of the Shari'a regarding someone who curses or disparages the Prophet


Know that all who curse Muhammad, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, or blame him or attribute imperfection to him in his person, his lineage, his deen or any of his qualities, or alludes to that or its like by any means whatsoever, whether in the form of a curse or contempt or belittling him or detracting from him or finding fault with him or maligning him, the judgement regarding such a person is the same as the judgement against anyone who curses him. He is killed as we shall make clear. This judgement extends to anything which amounts to a curse or disparagement. We have no hesitation concerning this matter, be it a clear statement or allusion.


The same applies to anyone who curses him, invokes against him, desires to harm him, ascribes to him what does not befit his position or jokes about his mighty affair with foolish talk, satire, disliked words or jies, or reviles him because of any affliction or trial which happened to him or disparages him, because of any of the permissible and well-known human events which happened to him. All of this is the consensus of the 'ularna' and the imams of fatwa from the time of the Companions until today.


Abu Bakr ibn al-Mundhir said that the bulk of the people of knowledge agree that whoever curses the Prophet is killed. These include Malik ibn Anas, al-Layth, Ahmad ibn Hanbal and Ishaq ibn Rahawayh, and it is the position of the Shafi'i school. Qadi Abu'l-Fadl said that it is based on the statement of Abu Bakr as-Siddiq. His repentance is not accepted. Something similar was stated by Abu Hanifa and his people, ath-Thawri and the people of Kufa and al-Awza'i about the Muslims. However, they said that it constitutes apostasy.


At-Tabari related something similar from Abu Hanifa and his companions about anyone who disparages the Prophet, proclaims himself quit of him or calls him a liar.


Sahnun said about those who curse the Prophet, "This is apostasy in exactly the same way as heresy (zandaqa) is. Therefore there is some dispute about whether such a person should be called to repent (as a Muslim) or whether he is an unbeliever. Is he to be killed by a hadd-punishment (as a Muslim) or for disbelief?" We will make this clear in Chapter Two. We do not know of any dispute among the'ulama' of the community and the Salaf regarding the permissibility of shedding his blood.


Several people have mentioned that the consensus is that he is to be killed and considered an unbeliever. One of the Dhahirites, Abu Muhammad ibn Ahmad al-Farisi, however, indicated that there is some disagreement about whether to consider someone who belittles the Prophet as an unbeliever. The best-known position has already been stated.


Muhammad ibn Sahnun said that the 'ulama' agree that anyone who reviles the Prophet and disparages him is an unbeliever and the threat of Allah's punishment is on him. The community's judgement on him is that he be killed. Anyone who has any doubts about such a person's disbelief and punishment is also an unbeliever. For a proof of this, Ibrahim ibn Husayn ibn Khalid, the faqih, uses the instance of Khalid ibn al-Walid killing Malik ibn Nuwayra for referring to the Prophet as "your companion."'[3]


Abu Sulayman al-Khattabi said, "I do not know of any Muslim who disagrees about the necessity of killing such a person if he is a Muslim."


Ibn al-Qasim reports from Malik in the book of Ibn Sahnun, the Mabsut, and the'Utibiyya and Ibn Mutarrif relates the same from Malik in the book of Ibn Habib, "Any Muslim who curses the Prophet is killed without being asked to repent."


Ibn al-Qasim said in the 'Utibiyya, "Anyone who curses him, reviles him, finds fault with him or disparages him is killed. The community say that he should be killed just like the dualist. Allah made it obligatory to respect the Prophet and be dutiful to him."


In the Mabsut from 'Uthman ibn Kinana we find, "Any Muslim who reviles the Prophet is killed or crucified without being asked to repent. The Imam can choose between crucifying him or killing him." In the variant of Abu'l-Mus'ab and Ibn Abi Uways, they heard Malik say, "Anyone who curses the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, reviles him, finds fault with him or disparages him is killed, be he Muslim or unbeliever, without being asked to repent."


Asbagh said, "He is killed in every case, whether he conceals it or makes it public, without being asked to repent because his repentance is not recognised." 'Abdullah ibn 'Abdu'l-Hakam said that and at-Tabari related something similar from Malik Ibn Wahb related that Malik said, "Anyone who says that the Prophet's cloak (or button) was dirty, thereby intending to find fault with him, should be killed."


One of our 'ulama says that people agree that anyone who curses any of the Prophets using the expression "Woe to him" or anything disliked is to be killed without being asked to repent.
Abu'l-Hasan al-Qabisi gave a fatwa that a man who called the Prophet "the porter, the orphan of Abu Talib" should be killed.


Abu Muhammad ibn Abi Zayd gave a fatwa to kill a man who was listening to some people discussing what the Prophet looked like. When a man with an ugly face and beard walked by, he said to them, "You want to know what he looked like? He looked like this passer-by in physique and beard." Abu Muhammad said, "His repentance is not accepted. He lied, may Allah curse him. That could not come out of a heart with sound belief."


Ahmad ibn Abi Sulayman, the companion of Sahnun, said, "Anyone who says that the Prophet was black should be killed."


He was told about a man to whom someone said, "No, by the right of the Messenger of Allah," and he replied, "Allah did such a thing to the Messenger of Allah," mentioning some ugly words. People said to him, "What are you saying, enemy of Allah?" Then he said some even harsher things and added, "I wish for a scorpion for the Messenger of Allah." When someone asked him for fatwa about this man, lbn Abi Sulayman said, "Testify against him and I will be your partner," i.e. in killing him and getting the reward. Habib ibn ar-Rabi' said that is because trying to explain away the literal expression is not accepted because it is clear contempt and lack of respect for the Messenger of Allah. His blood is permitted.


Abu 'Abdullah ibn 'Attab gave a fatwa about a tax-collector who said to a man, "Pay and complain to the Prophet. If I ask or am ignorant, the Prophet was ignorant and asked," to the effect that he be killed.


The fuqaha' of Andalusia gave a fatwa that Ibn Ha tim, the scholar of Toledo, be killed and crucified because there was testimony that he made light of what is due to the Prophet. In the course of a debate, he called him "the orphan" and the in-law of the lion (i.e. 'Ali)," and claimed that his doing-without (zuhd) las not intentional. He alleged that if he had been able to have good things, he would have eaten them. He said other similar things.


The fuqaha' of the Qayrawan[4] and the companions of Sahnun gave a fatwa forthe killing of Ibrahim al-Ghazari, a poet and master of many sciences. He was one of those who attended the assembly of Qadi Abu'l-'Abbas ibn Talib for debate. He was accused of objectionable things like mocking Allah, His Prophets and our Prophet. Qadi Yahya ibn 'Umar and other fuqaha' summoned him and commanded that he be killed and crucified. He was stabbed and crucified upside down. Then he was brought down and burned. One of the historians related that when the post to which he was tied was lifted up, the body turned around away from qibja. It was a sign to all and the people said, "Allah is greater!" Then a dog came and licked his blood. Yahya ibn 'Umar said, "The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, spoke the truth," and he mentioned a hadith in which the Prophet said, "A dog will not lick a Muslim's blood."[5]


Qadi Abu 'Abdullah ibn al-Murabit said, "Whoever says that the Prophet was defeated is asked to repent. If he repents, it is all right. If not, he is killed because it detracts from the Prophet. Such a disparaging remark could not be said about the Prophet by anyone with understanding of his affair and certainty about his inviolability."


Habib ibn Rabi' al-Qarawi said that the school of Malik and his companions is that anyone who says anything disparaging about the Prophet is killed without being asked to repent.


Ibn 'Attab said that the Book and Sunna require that someone who intends to even slightly harm or disparage the Prophet, either by allusion or clear statement, must be killed.


Anything like this which is something that the 'ulama' consider to be a curse or disparagement necessitates that the one who says it be killed. Neither the early or later people disagree about that, but they disagree about the basis for killing him as we have indicated. We will make this clear later.


This is also my position regarding the judgment of anyone who belittles him or insults him about having been a shepherd, oversight, forgetfulness, sorcery, any wound he received, the defeat of one of his armies, injury by an enemy, the intensity of his illness or his being attracted to his wives. The judgement of all this is that the one who intends to disparage him by it is killed. The position of the'ulama' is as we have already stated and it will be proved by what follows.


The Qur'an says that Allah curses the one who harms the Prophet in this world and He connected harm of Himself to harm of the Prophet. There is no dispute that anyone who curses Allah is killed and that his curse demands that he be categorised as an unbeliever. The judgement of the unbeliever is that he is killed.


Allah says, "Those who harm Allah and His Messenger, Allah has cursed them in this world and in the Next, and has prepared for them a humiliating punishment." (33:57). He said something similar about those who kill the believers. Part of the curse on them in this world is that they are killed. Allah says, "Cursed they will be. Wherever they are found, they are seized and all slain." (33: 61) He mentions the punishment of those who fight, "That is humiliation in this world for them." (5:45) "Killing" (qatl) can have the meaning of "curse".[6] Allah says, "May the conjecturers be killed!" (51:11) and "May Allah fight them! How they are perverted!" (9:30) i.e. may Allah curse them.


This is because there is a difference between their harming Allah and His Messenger and harming the believers. Injuring the believers, short of murder, incurs beating and exemplary punishment. The judgement against those who harm Allah and His Prophet is more severe - the death penalty.


Allah says, "No, by your Lord, they will not believe until they have you judge between them in what they disagree about." (4:65) He removes the badge of belief from those who find an impediment in themselves against accepting the Prophets judgement and do not submit to him. Anyone who disparages him is opposing his judgement.


Allah says, "O you who believe, do not raise your voices above the voice of the Prophet and be not loud in your speech to him as you are loud to one another lest your actions fail." (49:3). Such an action only comes about through disbelief and the unbeliever is killed.


Allah says, "When they come to you, they greet you with a greeting which Allah never greeted you with." Then He says, "Jahannam is enough for them, an evil homecoming." (58:9)


Allah says, "Among them are those who harm the Prophet and say that he is all ear,"
(9:61) and, "Those who harm the Messenger of Allah have a painful punishment." (9:63)


Allah says, "If you ask them, they will say, 'We were only plunging and playing.' Say, 'What, were you then mocking Allah, His signs and His Messenger? Make no excuses. You have disbelieved after your belief."' (9:67-68) The commentators say, "You have disbelieved" refers to what they have said about the Messenger of Allah.


We have already mentioned the consensus. As for the traditions, al-Husayn ibn 'Ali related from his father that the Messenger of Allah said in respect of this matter, "Whoever curses a Prophet, kill him. Whoever curses my Companions, beat him."[7]


In a sound hadith the Prophet commanded that Ka'b ibn al-Ashraf be killed. He asked, "Who will deal with Ka'b ibn al-Ashraf? He has harmed Allah and His Messenger." He sent someone to assassinate him without calling him to Islam, in distinction to other idol-worshippers. The cause of that lay in his causing harm to the Prophet. That indicates that the Prophet had him killed for something other than idol-worship. It was for causing harm. Abu Rafi,' who used to harm the Messenger of Allah and work against him, was also killed.


Similarly on the Day of the Conquest, he ordered the killing of Ibn Khatal and his two slavegirls who used to sing his curses on the Prophet.


In another hadith about a man who used to curse the Prophet, the Prophet said, "Who will save me from my enemy?" Khalid said, "I will," so the Prophet sent him out and he killed him.


Similarly the Prophet commanded that a group of unbelievers who used to injure and curse him, like an-Nadr ibn al-Harith and 'Uqba ibn Abi Mu'ayt, be killed. He promised that a group of them would be killed before and after the conquest. They were all killed except for those who hurried to become Muslim before they were overpowered. Al-Bazzar related from Ibn 'Abbas that 'Uqba ibn Abi Mu'ayt cried out, "O company of Quraysh, why is it that I alone among you am to be killed without war?" The Prophet said, "For your disbelief and your forging lies against the Messenger of Allah."


'Abdu'r-Razzaq mentioned that a man cursed the Prophet, causing the Prophet to say, "Who will save me from my enemy?" Az-Zubayr said, "I will." He sent az-Zubayr and he killed him.


It is related that a woman used to curse the Prophet and he said, "Who will save me from my enemy?" Khalid ibn al-Walid went out and killed her.


It is related that a man forged lies against the Prophet and he sent 'Ali and az-Zubayr to kill him.
Ibn Qani' related that a man came to the Prophet and said, "Messenger of Allah, I heard my father say something ugly about you, so I killed him," and that did not distress the Prophet.


Al-Mujahir ibn Abi Umayya, the Amir of Yemen, reported to Abu Bakr that a woman there in the time of the Ridda[8]chanted curses against the Prophet, so he cut off her hand and pulled out her front teeth. When Abu Bakr heard that, he said to him, "If you had not done what you already did, I would have commanded you to kill her because the hadd regarding the Prophet is not like the hadd regarding others."


Ibn 'Abbas said that a woman from Khatma[9] satirised the Prophet and the Prophet said, "Who will deal with her for me?" A man from her people said, "I will, Messenger of Allah." The man got up and went and killed her. He told theProphet who said, "Two goats will not lock horns over her."[10]
Ibn 'Abbas said that a blind man had an umm walad who used to curse the Prophet. He scolded her and restrained her, but she would not be restrained. That night she began to attack and revile the Prophet, so he killed her. He told the Prophet about that and he said he had shed her blood with impunity.[11]


In the hadith of Abu Barza as-Aslami it says, "One day I was sitting with Abu Bakr as-Siddiq and he became angry at one of the Muslim men." Qadi Isma'il and other Imams said that the man had cursed Abu Bakr. An-Nasa'i related it as, "I came to Abu Bakr and a man had been rude and answered him back. I said, 'Khalif of Allah, let me strike off his head!' He said, 'Sit down. That is not for anyone except the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace.'


Qadi Abu Muhammad ibn Nasr said, "No one disagreed with him." So the Imams take this, as a proof that anyone who does anything that might anger, harm or curse the Prophet in any way should be killed.


There is also the letter of 'Umar ibn 'Abdu'l-'Aziz to his governor in Kufa. He had asked his advice about killing a man who had cursed 'Umar. 'Umar wrote back to him, "It is not lawful to kill a Muslim for cursing anyone except the Messenger of Allah. Whoever curses him, his blood is lawful."


Harun ar-Rashid asked Malik about a man who had reviled the Prophet and he mentioned to him that the fuqaha' of Iraq had given a fatwa that he be flogged. Malik became angry and said, "Amir al-Mu'minin! There is no continuation for a community after it curses its Prophet! Whoever curses the Companions of the Prophet is to be flogged."


I do not know which of those Iraqi fuqaha' gave Harun ar-Rashid that fatwa. We have already mentioned that the school of the people of Iraq[12] is that he be killed. Perhaps they were among those who were not known for knowledge or those whose fatwas were unreliable or idiosyncratic, or it is possible that what the man said was not taken to be a curse and there was a dispute as to whether or not it was a curse or he had retracted it and repented of it. None of these things were mentioned to Malik at all. However, the consensus is that anyone who curses him is to be killed as we have already stated.


That he is to be killed can be deduced by reflection and consideration. Anyone who curses or disparages the Prophet has shown clear symptoms of the sickness of his heart and proof of his real convictions and belief. That is why most of the 'ulama'judge him to be an apostate. This is what is transmitted by the people of Syria from Malik, al-Awza'i, ath-Thawri, Abu Hanifa and the people of Kufa.


The other position is that it is not a proof of disbelief, and so the person in question is killed by the hadd-punishment but he is not adjudged to be an unbeliever unless he persists in his words, not denying them nor refraining from them. To be judged an unbeliever, his statement must either be a clear statement of disbelief, like calling the Prophet a liar, or originate from mocking words and censure. His open avowal of what he said and lack of repentance for it is an indication that he finds it lawful and this constitutes disbelief, so there is no disagreement that he is an unbeliever. Allah says about people like this, "They swear by Allah that they did not speak. They said the words of disbelief. They disbelieved after their Islam." (9:76)


The commentators said that this refers to the statement, "If what is said by Muhammad is true,[13] we are worse than monkeys."


It is said that it refers to what one of them[14] said, "Our likeness with respect to that of Muhammad is only as the words of the one who says, 'Feed your dog and it will devour you.' When we return to Madina, the mighty will drive out the weaker."


It is said that even if the one who says this conceals it, the same judgement applies to him as to the heretic and he is killed because he has changed his deen.The Prophet said, "Strike off the heads of all who change their deen."


Because upholding the Prophet's honour is an obligation owed by his entire community and anyone who curses a free man of his community is given a hadd-punishment, the punishment of someone who curses the Prophet is that he is to be is killed because of the immensity of the worth of the Prophet and his elevation over others.


The reasons why the Prophet pardoned some of those who harmed him It might be asked why the Prophet did not kill the Jew who said to him, "Death be upon you" when this is a curse,[15] and why he did not kill the other man[16] who said in this respect, "This is a dividing out by which the face of Allah is not intended." When he annoyed the Prophet by saying that, the Prophet said, "Musa was harmed by worse than this,"[17] and was patient. And why he did not kill the hypocrites who used to harm him often.


Know that at the beginning of Islam the Prophet used to court people's friendship and he made their hearts incline to him. He made them love belief and adorned it in their hearts and he treated them gently to encourage them. He said to his Companions; "You are sent to make things easy. You were not sent to scare people away." He said, "Make things easy and do not make them hard. Soothe and do not scare away."[18]


He said, "Let it not be said that Muhammad killed his Companions."[19] The Prophet cajoled the hypocrites and unbelievers, was cheerful in their company and lenient to them and endured their harm. He was patient when they were coarse. But it is not permitted for us to be patient with them in such cases. Allah says, "You will continue to come upon some act of treachery on their part, except for a few of them, so pardon them and overlook." (5:15) Allah says, "Repel with that which is better and the one between whom and you there is enmity will be as if he were a close friend." (41:35) That was because people at the beginning of Islam needed to be brought close. People are unanimous about that.


Once Islam was firmly established and Allah had given it victory over all otherdeens, any such detractor that the Muslims had power over and whose affair was well-known was put to death. A case in point is that of Ibn Khatal and others whom the Prophet said should be should killed on the Day of the Conquest and those among the Jews and others whom it was possible to kill by assassination. There were others who were captured but rectified their behaviour before they came into the Prophet's company and joined the group of those who manifested belief in him. Among such people who had harmed him were Ka'b ibn al-Ashraf,[20] Abu Rafi',[21] an-Nadr ibn al-Harith[22] and 'Uqba ibn Abi Mu'ayt.


The same applied to another group who could have been killed with impunity like Ka'b ibn Zuhayr[23] and Ibn az-Zaba'ra[24] and others who harmed the Prophet but then surrendered and met him as Muslims.


The inward parts of the hypocrites were veiled and the Prophet judged according to the outward. Most of these things were uttered by them in secret and among people of their own sort. Then they swore by Allah that they had not said them and uttered words of belief.
In spite of this, the Prophet desired to make them return to Islam. The Prophet was patient with their faults and their coarseness as all the Resolute Prophets[25] were patient until many of these people returned both inwardly and outwardly to Islam and were as sincere in secret as they appeared openly. Then Allah helped many of them and some of them established the deen as wazirs, helpers, defenders and Ansar as the traditions attest.


Because of this, some of our Imams have questioned whether their statements[26] were confirmed enough with the Prophet to raise a complaint. A single person who did not have the rank of testimony might have transmitted them -such as a child, a slave or a woman. Taking life is only permitted when there are two just witnesses. This can be applied to the affair of the Jews' greeting.[27] They twisted it with their tongues and did not make it clear.


Don't you see how attention was drawn to this matter by A'isha. If the Jew had clearly enunciated it, she would not have been the only person to recognise it. That is why the Prophet informed his Companions about what the Jews were doing and the lack of sincerity in their greeting and the deceit it contained through the twisting of their tongues and how they were really attacking the deen. He said, "When a Jew greets one of you, he says, 'Death be upon you,' so say 'and upon you'."


Similarly, one of our companions in Baghdad[28] said "The Prophet did not kill the hypocrites in spite of what he knew about them. It has not been related that a clear proof was established regarding their hypocrisy. That is why the Prophet left them alone. Furthermore, the matter was secret and inward while their outward was Islam and belief and they were among the people of the dhimma and treaty and proximity. People were also new to Islam and could not distinguish the bad from the good. It is known that some of the Arabs who are mentioned as being suspected of hypocrisy are among the group of believers and the Companions of the Messenger and the helpers of the deen according to outward judgement of them. If the Prophet had killed them for their hypocrisy when it had not emerged from them because he knew what they concealed in themselves, those who were hostile would have found something to go on about, fugitives would have been suspicious and the impetuous would have spread lies. More than one person would have been alarmed and feared the company of the Prophet and coming into Islam. The claimant would have made false claims and the wrong-acting enemy would have thought that he was killed out of enmity and desire for revenge." Malik ibn Anas also said something to this effect.


That is why the Prophet said, "Let it not be said that Muhammad killed his Companions." The Prophet said, "Those are the ones whom Allah has forbidden me to kill." This is not the same as applying the outward judgements to the Companions - such as the hadd-punishments for fornication, killing and similar things when the crimes were evident and people in general knew about them.


Muhammad ibn al-Mawwaz said, "If the hypocrites had openly shown their hypocrisy, then the Prophet would have killed them."


Qadi Abu'l-Hasan ibn al-Qassar and Qatada spoke regarding the commentary of Allah's words, "If the hypocrites do not stop and those in whose hearts is illness and those that make havoc in the city, We will urge you against them and then they will only be your neighbours a little. Cursed they will be wherever they are found, they will be seized and all killed. The sunna of Allah..." (33:60-62) and said that it means when they openly display hypocrisy.


Muhammad ibn Maslama related in the Mabsut from Zayd ibn Aslam that Allah's words, "O Prophet, strive against the unbelievers and the hypocrites and be harsh to them," (9:75) abrogates what came before it.


One of our shaykhs said that perhaps the words of the bedouin who said, "This is a dividing out by which the face of Allah is not intended," and "Be just!" were not understood by the Prophet as an attack or suspicion. He saw them as an error of opinion regarding the matters of this world and as striving for the best interests of people. He did not think anything of them and saw them as belonging to the kind of harm which should be forgiven and endured. That is why he did not punish him.


Something similar is said about the Jews for saying, "Death be upon you." There was no clear curse in it nor supplication except for death which all men must meet. It was said that what they meant was, "May you dislike your religion," "death" meaning boredom and disgust. This is a supplication for the deen to become boring which is not a clear curse. Therefore al-Bukhari has a section called, "The Chapter on when the dhimma or other people curse the Prophet by allusion." One scholar has said that the allusion is not a curse, but rather to cause harm. We have already stated that cursing and harm are the same in respect of him.


Qadi Abu Muhammad ibn Nasr deals with this hadith[29] by quoting some of what has already been mentioned. It is not mentioned in this hadith whether this Jew was one of the people of the dhimma and those subject to treaty or from those with whom the Muslims were at war. Things established by proof are not abandoned in favour of mere probability. The most suitable and evident reasons for the Prophet not punishing him was the intention to seek friendship and trying to bring such people around to the deen - perhaps they would believe. That is why al-Bukhari puts the hadith of "The Sharing-out and the Khawarij"under the title "Chapter: Whoever gave up fighting the Khawarij in order to create friendship and so that people might not harbour an aversion to him."


The Prophet forebore what the Jews had done when he was bewitched and poisoned, which is more terrible than being cursed, until Allah helped him and gave him permission to kill those Jews who had acted against him and to drive them out of their fortresses and to cast terror into their hearts. He prescribed emigration for those of them he wished, removed them from their houses and demolished their homes at their own hands and the hands of the believers. He openly cursed them and said, "Brothers of pigs and monkeys." He said that the swords of the Muslims could be used against them[30]and removed them from their neighbourhood and caused their land, homes and property to be inherited by others[31] so that the word of Allah would be uppermost and the word of those who rejected underneath.


People might say that it has come in the sound hadith[32] from 'A'isha that the Prophet never took revenge on his own behalf for anything that happened to him unless the respect of Allah was violated, then he took revenge for the sake of Allah. Know that this does not necessarily mean that he did not take revenge against those who cursed him or harmed him or called him a liar. These actions contravene some of the inviolable things of Allah and so the Prophet took revenge for them. What he did not take revenge for was those things which were connected to bad behaviour in word or action toward himself or his property which were not intended to harm him, but were merely part of the natural coarse and ignorant disposition of the bedouins or the insolent nature of man in general, such as the bedouin pulling his cloak until it made a mark on his neck or the man raising his voice in his presence or the bedouin arguing about the Prophet buying his horse to which Khuzayma testified. Another example was when two of his wives supported one other against him and other such things which it is best to overlook.


One of our 'ulama' has said that it is haram to harm the Prophet by any action, even if it is an allowable (mubah) action. In respect of men other than the Prophet, permitted actions are allowed, even if they harm someone. A proof is found in the general statement, "Those who harm Allah and His Messenger, Allah has cursed them in this world and the Next." (33:58)


In the hadith about Fatima, the Prophet said, "She is part of me. What harms her harms me. I do not make haram what Allah has made halal, but the daughter of the Messenger of Allah and the daughter of the enemy of Allah[33] can never be together with the same man. "[34]


Another example of his forbearance might have been something said by an unbeliever to harm him at a time when the Prophet still hoped that he would later become Muslim, such as when he forgave the Jew who had bewitched him, the bedouin who wanted to kill him and the Jewess who poisoned him -although it is also said that he killed her.


He forgave this sort of harm to himself from the People of the Book and the hypocrites, desiring to bring about their friendship and that of others as we have already confirmed. Success is by Allah.


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