PRACTICAL WISDOM

PRACTICAL WISDOM Abdullah bin Ubayy of Madinah was known as a hypocritical Muslim who harboured intense hostility towards the Prophet of Islam. He would make baseless and abusive remarks against the Prophet and level accusations against his wives. Even the Quran identifies him as the leader of the hypocrites (24:11). Upon witnessing Abdullah bin Ubayy’s criminal acts, Umar Farooq sought permission from the Prophet to kill this hypocrite. However, the Prophet responded by saying, “If I do that, people will say that Muhammad killed his Companions.” (Sahih Al-Bukhari, Hadith No. 4905) Undoubtedly, abusing the Prophet and engaging in character assassination of his wives are serious crimes. However, this tradition of the Prophet teaches us that there is something even more significant from an Islamic perspective: protecting the image of Islam. Therefore, it is crucial to refrain from actions that may allow people to distort the image of Islam. The primary focus of Islam is to call people to God. Thus, the goal of conveying the divine message should always take precedence, while other matters should be considered secondary. Considering the primary focus of Islam, let us evaluate the strong reaction of contemporary Muslims toward Salman Rushdie’s book. It was inevitable that if there were demands for his assassination or if a ‘fatwa’ was issued against him, the international press and non-Muslim journalism would