Yasir Qadhi – Blasphemy Laws in Islam
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Bismillah Alhamdulillah wa salatu salam ala Rasulillah who Allah Allah He was so happy woman wala Hammerberg today's hotter is going to be somewhat sensitive. A number of you have come to me and asked me about what has happened in Pakistan of the killing of a person. For those of you who are not aware, there was a manager, a non Muslim manager who apparently tore down a poster. And on that poster was Sadat upon the Prophet SAW Selim. And because of this, the people revolted against him erupted in anger, a mob formed and they killed him and burned him. And they said, This is justified because it is blasphemy. It is dishonouring, the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, I have gotten
a lot of emails and somebody asked me, Is there something called blasphemy laws in Islam?
And before I answer this question, I would like to state the question itself is actually not the right one to ask. You have jumped 10 steps ahead. And you're asking, is there something called blasphemy laws? But the reality is that what happened is a tragedy regardless of what the books of fake and last say, because no scholar, and no madhhab and No sensible person in Islamic history has ever allowed mobs to become judge, jury and executioner. So the very fact that we jumped to the question, what does fixate indicates we have lost some steps in the middle? Regardless of what happens in a court of law, the mob does not become the court of law. So we have to understand this
point that we have to look at ourselves in the mirror and ask ourselves, How is this happening?
You know me, I don't mince my words. I asked you a blunt question. If a bunch of people of the Hindutva ideology had done this to a Muslim, if a bunch of Zionist settlers had done this to a Palestinian, what would your reaction be right now? How would be that anger and that rage legitimately? Then why is it amongst some people not all, that when it happens in our lands by our people, there is a deafening silence? Why the double standards, mob mentality is never justified ever, in any system, especially our system. And when one of ours makes a mistake, we should be the first to publicly say we have nothing to do with this. It is reported as a Hypo hottie that the
profits of some sent call it the winner will lead to an expedition and he made a mistake in he killed some people who shouldn't have killed Sahih Bukhari as soon as the process and found out he publicly stood up, he raised his hands. He said, Oh, Allah, I dissociate in front of you from the actions of Khalid, I didn't tell him to do this. This is his not on me. He publicly made a disclaimer, Islam has nothing to do with a mistake. It was a mistake. And sha Allah, Allah forgave him. But you cannot just be quiet in the face of this mistake. Muslim communities cannot be quiet, and people are asking, and it is an incorrect question. What does Islam say about blasphemy,
regardless of what Islam says about Blasphemy That is not to be done by individuals by mobs by factory workers. And the very fact that this is so common, and the very fact that society is jumping to the 10th question indicates we have bigger problems we have to worry about. But to quickly answer the question before moving on to the crux of the matter. What does Islam say about blasphemy? It is true that in an Islamic society, we will have red barriers that publicly cannot be done. Just like in this land, the purpose of law is civil order. And so when certain things happen, that shouldn't happen, the law comes involved. So in an Islamic land, there is no question that we don't want open
mockery of Allah is missing. And there's no question about that. And in our books of fic, there are regulations, nobody can go into public Time Square town square, and shout things against Allah and His Messenger in an Islamic land. That's not civil society. So if that person does this, there are laws in place in the time of our Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam multiple times he was mocked by his opponents. Sometimes he forgave. And sometimes they were, in fact executed. This is the reality. But they all went to him. There was all something done by him, and multiple times, people who mocked him and made fun of him. They asked for forgiveness, and they were forgiven multiple times this
happened. So we have these instances in this era. And from this, our books of fifth have derived laws. And it is true that without a doubt that public disorder and public mockery of Allah and His Messenger will not be allowed in an Islamic land. But what is public mockery, and what is blasphemy? Our books of filth are very clear.
Anything that is done that is blasphemous, it must be explicit, unambiguous and clear. And it must be intentional to conditions at a bare minimum, there cannot be ambiguity, it must be explicit, you cannot have two different opinions about it, and it must be intentional. So, suppose somebody dropped a book, and then we found out is the Quran and he goes, Oh, I didn't realize this, the Quran had just slipped through my hands. If he says it's unintentional, we take his word for it. We find an excuse for that person, intention and must be unambiguous. In this particular case, this person was a non Muslim, he did not read or do from what I understand. And it's his factory. He is the
owner of the factory. And the rule is don't post anything on the factory without permission. So he pulled it down, and he didn't know or even if he did, even if he did, the NIA was clearly not to make fun of the Prophet salallahu Alaihe Salam, the NEA was to enforce order. So regardless of which mud Have you follow, it's a mistake to jump to the fic and ignore the realities. Even if it was explicit and unambiguous and intentional. You bring in the law and order you bring in the judge, you bring in this the government and you do not take law into your own hands. While law here we have a problem brothers and sisters, when 400 People can gang up on one person and shout Takbeer and murder
him viciously, and take selfies and burn that corpse and they think they're doing something pleasing to Allah subhanho wa taala. We have a disease that needs to be spoken out against. And that is the disease of fundamentalism, disease of over exaggeration, disease of ignorance. If any other society did this against one of our own, what would we do? Yet when it happens amongst us, there is deafening silence. The irony of ironies. I was in Pakistan, by the way, 10 days ago, and I swear to as Allah is my witness before the incident, because I was the government's go guest, I met high level scholars that cannot mention their names. And in every one of those delegations, and I have
witnesses that were with me before this incident. This was the one issue I always brought up. Because I said to them, it was a very senior Mufti to not mention his name. I said to him, shakes up. What happens in Pakistan affects us in America. What happens there becomes the front page of CNN and Fox News. It's not disconnected anymore. And I said to him until our Allameh, meaning or Pakistan or Obama stand up and teach the people they cannot do this. I said to him, what happens there will affect our communities here, the world is a globe and I said with utmost respect, I have also want to view these types of incidents are not common in other lands. They're primarily in this
land. And I said, the irony of ironies Shut up. I said, move the sub, you know, your mufti, I said, in the Hanafi madhhab. This is not even allowed the one mud hub that doesn't have blasphemy laws against him against non Muslims. The other three methods they do, by the way, the Hanafi madhhab, which is actually very logical, if you think about it, the Hanafi madhhab says, a non Muslim cannot be executed for blasphemy, because he is already upon blasphemy. Think about it.
As Khorsandi and others the grid Hanafi scholars, they say What greater blasphemy is there than to consider the Prophet system is not telling the truth when he says he's a prophet? You see what I'm saying here? Right? What greater blasphemy is there? We're allowing them to live in non Muslim and Muslim lands. So if he were to say something publicly, the max you can do is jail or in prison, you don't actually execute. I said to the move the sub move the sub in Pakistan, where most of us are Hanafy here yet in our mud hub is Kiko gitea. There is leeway in this and yet still, for some reason, our land seems to be the most hardcore in this regard. I said, Can you explain to me this
conundrum, this problem, he smiled, and he goes, again Metropass, Java DeMarco data, if I knew what to tell you, I will tell you, I don't know what to tell you. Right. It's our people that are so just vati so emotional. And I said very bluntly, with respect. I said, share some of this up if you don't collectively take a stand. If you don't collectively start preaching, something else might happen. I swear to you, I said this, when I was in the land to a senior with the and now what happened happened because we know this is the reality of that, that that that parts of the world that we're all from, and I said to another chef I was with that why is there so much silence and he told me the
reality and because I'm in America, it's a this home looks up dirty way better. He said this. We are all terrified of who of the mob, the mob because if you dare open this topic, you become distracted as soon as you become the one that is somehow not honoring the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, and what can you do when the leaders and scholars themselves are hesitant to speak and I encourage them because they're aligned at the end of the day? I'm a visitor. I encourage them to take the
leadership in this regard, and we have to ask ourselves a very blunt question. Where is this misunderstanding coming from? Even if they follow the Maliki position that humbly position, the shaft very position, they would take this person to the court, the court would look in the court would say this was ambiguous, and there was no intention. So he should be forgiven, no problem, especially if they're Hanafy. There is no question then a blasphemy laws. It doesn't apply to non Muslims, the max you can do is as we say, to zero, but the question arises, and this is the awkward one I wanted to talk about, why does this mentality exist? And I will tell you why. Because it deals
directly with me and many of us here. This mentality exists because we have allowed this type of speech and rhetoric to become mainstream.
Our leaders and clerics are preaching hatred of other people for years and decades. And when you preach hatred, and you keep on enforcing their this and their data, and you look sad, and they're like this, those years and decades of hate, they become concentrated in the heart. It's literally like you're pouring gasoline for years on a society. Then when somebody else lights the match, you say, Oh, I didn't do that. But you did. By teaching your people who are struggling to be good Muslims, struggling to pray five times a day, you are prioritizing, hating other people, what's going to happen? And this is the reality of the BJP. It is the reality of Zionism. It is the reality
of every fall right in this country. What do they do? They keep on indoctrinating their people to hate another group of people and my understanding of Islam, my understanding of the Sierra, we concentrate on our faults more than the faults of other people. And it's related to me directly. I'm being honest with you on your mic community. As you are aware Alhamdulillah many people appreciate what I do, and other people are not so appreciative. And I have many who keep on releasing videos, the largest group of critics against me. He is too soft on the other groups. He doesn't speak the hawk against those groups. Do you know why I don't speak with those adjectives and nouns. This is
exactly why because 20 years ago, I used to when I was 20 years old, that's exactly how we would speak. But as you grow in wisdom and maturity and experience, you understand that words have repercussions. You understand that when you preach and teach in a violent and vulgar manner, to a people who themselves just need to Yeah, you do not build your Islam by destroying the Islam of other people memorize this rule, you do not build your Eman by destroying the amount of other groups. Even if the group is wrong. You correct the idea without preaching hatred. It is possible to TIG talk about other ideas without bringing people in without preaching hatred. The main goal of
this religion is personal to Ischia come closer to Allah subhanho wa taala. But there are some people they love to prioritize other people, other groups, conspiracy theories, they do this they do that. And in the process, what happens? This deep seated hatred and resentment comes such that the smallest ambiguous provocation ambiguous, and all of a sudden, 400 People think no Yatta took bead and they kill somebody and they burn him and they take selfies thinking that this was something pleasing to Allah, Wallah, he, we have to ask ourselves, where is this coming from? And the answer I told you, no matter how politically incorrect somebody has to say it because if we don't say it, and
we don't preach against it, what's going to happen? We need to stop these preachers of hate. Some of them are going around saying man sub Barnaby, and fuck to do this hadith Osland it is not even authentic. There is no such Hadith in the books of Hadith. It is mentioned in a tertiary book Academy, which is not even an authentic the book is about vive Hadith. And this preacher, may Allah forgive him if nothing gets the person never met him. He preaches to millions of people, something that is not even authentic, and nobody corrects him. Whoever curses the prophet should be killed. Even if the principal is in the shop for a school. It's not a hadith. The judge is the one after all
of these entire trial. And by the way, even the Shafran are the schools they say if the person says he's sorry, he repents you give him the opportunity to repent. Toba is there, who are you to come between the person and Toba? Even if it was intentional and ambiguous and he says you know what, I made a mistake or ask Allah's forgiveness. I won't do it again. Some of them have said even then forgive him. But for us to do this mob mentality, without any sense of justice. And the final point and I've already dug myself deep enough so alone was time but it has to be said brothers and sisters. I am a minor student of knowledge in the grand scheme of things I don't consider myself to
be a top tier shareholders now I want to build up I am a toilet as a minor student of knowledge, but I have spoken not to a few
Dozens maybe even 100 or Allama around the world asking the same question Runa ma double my age maybe even triple A few years ago my age senior Obama I have spoken to chakra Bowie and others directly, many senior Obama about this one issue. And I say this just so that you understand this isn't coming from me. I have asked many Obama does question in the modern world that we live in? Is there room for renegotiating the laws of Islam as they apply to the nation state? Can we rethink through what can and cannot be done for the time being not to permanent ban not but we think through the punishments and we read the laws and the food laws, and every single person that I have asked
because I asked those that I consider to be rude or MA forward thinking open minded everyone that I have asked has said the exact same thing, which is that yes, this goes back to pros and cons Masada Hanmer fasten, and they give me examples from the Sierra the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam was asked by memorable Hapa Why don't you execute? Abdullah innovativeness Hello, he's the leader of the monasticon He's nothing but trouble execute him. We know who he is. The Quran has been revealed about him execute him. What did the Prophet system say? No. I don't want people to misunderstand and say I am killing my own companions. He took the PR into account. He understood that there are
repercussions globally by doing something that might look good domestically. When he conquered Makkah, he said to our Aisha Radi Allahu anha. I wish I could demolish the Kaaba and reconstruct it on the original structure of Ibrahim. But the Quraysh are new Muslims, they wouldn't understand they would reject this, they would think I'm destroying the Kaaba, I don't want to do that. So he left it upon that he understood there's something that you look at the pros and cons in the global world that we live in, when there are large Muslim minorities like us in America and Australia and Canada, and something happening in Pakistan has global impact. Can we rethink through in the nation state
certain laws? Every Adam says yes, because temporarily, you can rethink, by the way, the science of applying Islam at a societal level, it is a separate branch of field, it is called Scioscia Sharia, it is called Islamic political science. The fact of the matter, most minor students of knowledge, they study a book of fiction and they think this book is the constitution of the country. No books of filth are personal. Between me and Allah subhana wa taala. You don't change those just because of a culture and society, applying Fick at a communal level at a societal level, that is a separate branch of Islam. And unfortunately, many people don't study that branch, the top scholars do. That's
where they all understand. Sometimes you can temporarily fine tune we're not saying abrogate nobody has the right to abrogate the shutdown. So this notion of blasphemy and a reader, we have the right in every society Muslim majority to say what can and cannot be done. And that is not a rejection of the shittier. Sadly, what happens when I say this, you have the ultra zealots or with a biller, he's a sellout. He's a liberal, he's appeasing the kuffaar with a biller No, this is fic as to Fianna thought, he said, anybody can take the most difficult opinion and apply it fix is to know when to apply the concession. This was a founder thought he said anybody can find the most difficult and say
this is Islam. No real Islam, which is real Fick. When can we make the concession? So to conclude, I know it's an emotional topic, but Wallahi somebody has to say so that we feel that this was our religion. And if you disagree with me, come and speak with me directly. And let's go back and forth. I can call it a number of points. First and foremost, it is a mistake of the highest magnitude to worry about fifth one, what happened is absolutely haram, regardless of which method you follow, you do not allow vigilante justice and mob mentality. Secondly, even according to those med hubs, it will be a court of law. And there are many conditions. Most importantly, it is clear cut that the
person intends to disrespect Allah and His messenger and says something that is absolutely unambiguously clear. Our scholars say hello to him and others they mentioned, if the man says a Christian says, God has a son, this might be blasphemous to us. But it is not blasphemy, but that will get him killed that says Al Qaeda that says after the god has a son, what do you expect a Christian to say? That's his belief. So what is he saying? What is the intention needs to be looked at? The court of law does that is he asked me for forgiveness. Point number three in the Hanafi school is not even applicable for upon non Muslims in the first place. Point number four, we have to
ask ourselves, where is this hatred coming from? And the fact of the matter? We do have preachers and clerics who are fomenting this? Why? Because it makes people popular. Let's be honest here. People like me are not popular in many circles because I'm saying we don't do this. We unite together we don't preach hatred as much as we can we bring our societies to
Gather if you need to correct correct with wisdom, correct ideas without preaching hatred, this is what I'm saying to people, but unfortunately not everybody is like this. And then the last point that it needs to be said top notch aroma, the cream of the crop. They're allowed to come together in every land and rethink through what can be applied at a national level that's separate than what is found in the books of film. Sometimes you can lift for a while and sometimes you can apply for a while. In the end we ask Allah subhana wa Taala for hedaya and tofield We ask Allah to grant us wisdom and knowledge of this Deen We ask Allah subhana wa Taala that our societies become role model
societies for people around the globe, just like Malala who had already said I'm working Rahmatullahi Wa Barakatuh long
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