YOUR QUESTIONS ANSWERED

How should we show our reverence to the Prophet? Islam gives man a twofold formula: Worship of One God and obedience to the Prophet. The Prophet was a live example of how a God-oriented person should be. His character was that of the Quran. His life, recorded in the books of Hadith and Seerah, clearly document the various stages of his life. As believers, we are expected to follow the Prophet in all that he said and did. Consider the current Muslims and the fervor during processions of Milad-un-Nabi, claiming to be their way of showing love to the Prophet. What does Islam have to say about this? It is an innovation, not practised either by the Prophet during his lifetime or by his Companions after his death. Showing love to the Prophet should entail following his teachings and conveying the message he brought to all humankind. What does the Quran say about Shatm-e-Rasul, blaspheming against the Prophet? The term Shatm-e-Rasul is Arabic for blasphemy or using abusive language against the Prophet. It is generally held that Islam prescribes capital punishment against a person who has abused the Prophet. However, this is entirely untrue. The Quran tells us that the Prophet’s contemporaries, misusing their freedom, would address him as ‘man possessed’ (15: 6), a ‘liar’ (23: 24), and a ‘forgerer’ (25: 4). The Quran has referred to these incidents, but it does not give the command to kill those who abuse the Prophet. Rather, in one place, the Quran asks the Prophet to ‘bear patiently with what they say and ignore them politely.’ (73: 10) What should be a Muslim’s attitude be towards someone who talks about the Prophet in an abusive language? If someone uses abusive language against the Prophet, Muslims must take it as a case of misunderstanding and then try to remove this misunderstanding in peaceful ways. They must do so by engaging in discussion or by providing the ‘blasphemer’ with Islamic literature that gives the actual image of the Prophet of Islam. The notion of killing the blasphemer is forbidden. Muslims must understand that, according to the Creation Plan of God, man has been granted freedom and none can take away this freedom. While exercising one’s freedom of expression, the only condition should be that one doesn’t resort to violence. The Prophet himself, when encountered by such abuses would react calmly. Once, a poet wrote a poem condemning him, one line of which was,