Penalty for Insulting the Beloved Prophet SallAllaho Alaihi wa Sallam

All praise is to Allah, the Lord Of The Creation. The Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. Owner of the Day of Recompense. Who blessed us being the Ummah of His Beloved Rasool Sallallaho Alaihi wa Sallam. Who sanctified our hearts with the Love and Affection towards His Beloved Rasool Sallallaho Alaihi wa Sallam. Who blessed us the with the most precious treasure of Iman (Faith)... Countless Salutations, Peace and Blessings be upon the Cream of the Creation... Mercy for all Worlds... Seal of the Prophets Sayyiduna wa Maulana MuHammadur RasoolALLAH Sallallaho Alaihi wa Sallam, His Blessed Parents, His entire Family, His Progeny, His Companions and all those who Follow Him!! Iman is to accept every word of Sayyiduna RasoolAllah SallAllahu Alaihi wa Sallam as absolute and nothing else but truth and to testify whole-heartedly the reality and truth of Sayyiduna Rasoolullah SallAllahu Alaihi wa Sallam. One who observes the above would be called a Muslim, that is, if any of his words, actions or conditions does not reject, insult or falsify Almighty Allah and His Rasool SallAllahu Alaihi wa Sallam. His relationship with Almighty Allah and His Rasool SallAllahu Alaihi wa Sallam must be above all other relationships. He must love and respect all those who are the beloved of Almighty Allah and His Rasool SallAllahu Alaihi wa Sallam even though that person may be his enemy. He must disrespect and hate all those who disrespect and hate Almighty Allah and His Rasool SallAllahu Alaihi wa Sallam even if that person may be his beloved son. Whatever he gives should be for Almighty Allah and whatever he abstains from must be for Almighty Allah. Such a persons Iman is known as "Kaamil" or "Complete". Sayyiduna RasoolAllah SallAllahu Alaihi wa Sallam states: من أحب لله وأبغض لله وأعطى لله ومنع لله فقد استكمل الإيمان "One who loves for Allah, hates anyone because of Allah, spends for Allah and holds back for Allah, then, indeed, he has completed his Iman." [Sunan Abi Dawood, Vol 2, Page 632, Hadith 4681] Penalty for Insulting the Beloved Prophet SallAllaho Alaihi wa Sallam This is an enormous subject, but we shall concentrate in what constitutes an insult then the impending penalty. 1. The verdict of infidelity for insulting the Holy Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi wa Sallam will depend upon the apparent words and no consideration will be given to the intention and the purpose of the person committing the insult and the circumstances of the time. [Imām Shahāb ud-Dīn Khafājī Hanafī, Nasīm ar-Riyadh, Vol. 4, Page 426] 2. When a person (a Muslim) speaks ill of the Holy Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi wa Sallam is any connection, he becomes an infidel. According to some 'Ulamā, if a man uses an insulting word even for the sacred hair of the Holy Prophet Muhammad SallAllahu Alaihi wa Sallam he will become an infidel. [Fatāwah Qadī Khan, Vol. 4, Page 882] 3. If a Muslims abuses the Holy Prophet Muhammad SallAllahu Alaihi wa Sallam or lies about him or picks out faults in him, or robs him of his dignity, he commits the act of infidelity against Allāh Almighty. [Imām Abū Yūsuf, Kitāb al-Khiraj, Page 182] 4. Truly whoever abused the Holy Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi wa Sallam or ascribed any fault to him or attributed any defect to his family, religion or his habit, or reproached him, or compared the Holy Prophet Muhammad SallAllahu Alaihi wa Sallam with any defective thing with the objective of degrading his personality and prestige, he is truly an abusive person and deserves to be executed. We make absolutely no exception to this verdict, whether the insult has been committed intentionally or unintentionally. This has been the verdict of all the 'Ulamā of the Ummah from the time of the Companions to the present day. [Qadī Iyadh, Ash-Shifa, Vol. 2, Page 214] 5. It is narrated by Imām Abū Hafs al-Kabīr Radi Allahu Ta'ala Anhu that if anybody ascribes a defect even to the sacred hair of the Holy Prophet Muhammad SallAllahu Alaihi wa Sallam he will become an infidel. Imām Muhammad Radi Allahu Ta'ala Anhu mentioned in his 'Mabsūt' that it is an act of infidelity to abuse the Holy Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi wa Sallam. 6. It is beyond doubt that the whole of the Ummah is unanimous that the one who slanders the Holy Prophet Muhammad SallAllahu Alaihi wa Sallam or any of the other Prophets, is an infidel, whether he committed this act while considering it legitimate or illegitimate. He is an infidel in the opinion of the Ulema, and whoever doubts his infidelity is also an infidel. [Dhakhairat al-Uqba, Page 240] 7. It is stated in Fatawa Alamgir (also known as Fatawa al-Hindiya) that No ta'wīl will be heard for manifest, unambiguous words. Fatāwah Khulasa, Fusul 'Imadiya, Jami' al-Fusulin and Fatāwah Hindiya and others state: If someone calls himself RasûlAllâh or refers to himself as Paighambar in Persian and then says that he meant that he is an ambassador who delivers someone's message; then he will become a Kâfir. [Fatāwah Hindiya, Vol. 2, Page 263] 8. Imām Qadī 'Iyadh writes that Imām Ahmad bin Abī Sulaiman, student of Imām Sahnun rahimahumAllah, was asked about a man to whom it was said that "In the name of RasûlAllâh", he said "May Allah do so-and so with RasûlAllâh" and uttered insolent words. It was said to him, "Oh enemy of God! What do you utter about the Messenger?" He replied using even harsher words and then said, "By saying RasûlAllâh, I meant a scorpion". Imām Ahmad bin Abī Sulaiman advised the questioner thus, "Bear witness against him so that he may get the punishment of death and that you get the reward. I am with you on this" [meaning, give evidence against him to the Muslim judge and I will also try that we get the judge to issue a verdict of capital punishment and gain the reward of this]. Imām Habīb bin Rabī' says that this is because no ta'wīl is heard for explicit words. [al-Shifa' fī Ta'rif Huqūq al-Mustafa, Vol. 2, Page 209] 9. Mawlana 'Alī Qarī writes that is, when that man said that he was referring to a scorpion – he claimed the literal meaning of the word Risalah in that even the scorpion is sent by Allāh to the people – this ta'wīl is rejected according the rules of the Sharī'ā. [Sharh Shifa' Mullah 'Alī Qarī ma'a Nasīm al-Riyadh, Vol. 4, Page 343] 10. 'Allamah Shihāb Khafājī writes that Indeed the literal meaning of the word that he referred to is true and denying this is stubbornness. However, his claim that he had intended these meanings will not be accepted because this ta'wīl is extremely farfetched. To twist the meaning of word from its apparent meaning will not be heard just as when a man says to his wife that you are taaliq and then gives the explanation that what I meant was that she is open, not tied up [literally, taaliq means extended]. Such a ta'wīl will not be accepted and he will be thought to be delirious. [Nasīm al-Riyadh Sharh Shifa', Vol. 4, Page 343] We can go on quoting the righteous Ulama on this topic and the verdict is the same, a single bad word towards the Holy Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi wa Sallam under any circumstance, intentional or not, leads to Kufr! Furthermore, any Muslim doubting the Kufr of an abuser of the Holy Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi wa Sallam will himself become a Kafir!! Dear Muslims!! Is it possible that the heart that contains the love and honour of the master of the universe, Sayyiduna Muhammad SallAllahu Alaihi wa Sallam, could ever tolerate insults to him, though it may be his Ustadh, Murshid, leader or even father? Would the heart that extremely loves the Holy Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi wa Sallam above all creation, ever respect or love one who belittles the unique and faultless Prophet of Allah SallAllahu Alaihi wa Sallam, even though it may be his own child or intimate friend? All good is from Allah Ta'ala whereas mistakes are from this humble speck. May Allah Ta'ala bring us closer to Him and His Rasool SallAllahu Alaihi wa Sallam. May He accept our humble efforts and grant us the capacity to be good and do good. May we live in this World with extreme protection of Iman and leave this world having our Iman safe and sound!! Courtesy: Faysal Noori - UK