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The rights of the Beloved Prophet Peace and Blessings of Allah be UponHim and the devotion, respect, esteem and honor that are owed to him aremade clear in the Holy Book and the Sunnah and the consensus of thecommunity. In His Book, Allah has made it haram to harm him. Thecommunity agrees that anyone among the Muslims who disparages him or

curses him is to be killed!!

Allah SubHanuhu wa Ta'ala says, "Indeed those who trouble Allah and HisNoble Messenger upon them is Allahs curse in the world and in the

Hereafter, and Allah has kept prepared a disgraceful punishment for them."[33:57] and "and for those who trouble the Noble Messenger of Allah, is a

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..:: Verdicts by the Jurists and Scholars of

Islam ::..1. Abu Bakr ibn al-Mundhir said that the bulk of the people of knowledgeagree that whoever curses the Prophet is killed. These include Malik ibn

Anas, al-Layth, Ahmad ibn Hanbal and Ishaq ibn Rahawayh, and it is theposition of the Shafi'i school.

2. Qadi Abu'l-Fadl said that it is based on the statement of Abu Bakr as-Siddiq. His repentance is not accepted.

3. Something similar was stated by Abu Hanifa and his people, ath-Thawriand the people of Kufa and al-Awza'i about the Muslims. However, theysaid that it constitutes apostasy.

4. At-Tabari related something similar from Abu Hanifa and hiscompanions about anyone who disparages the Prophet, proclaims himselfquit of him or calls him a liar.

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5. Sahnun said about those who curse the Prophet, "This is apostasy inexactly the same way as heresy (zandaqa) is. Therefore there is somedispute about whether such a person should be called to repent (as aMuslim) 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 inChapter Two. We do not know of any dispute among the 'Ulama' of thecommunity and the Salaf regarding the permissibility of shedding his

blood.

6. Several people have mentioned that the consensus is that he is to bekilled and considered an unbeliever. One of the Dhahirites, Abu

Muhammad ibn Ahmad al-Farisi, however, indicated that there is somedisagreement about whether to consider someone who belittles the Prophet

as an unbeliever. The best-known position has already been stated.

7. Muhammad ibn Sahnun said that the 'ulama' agree that anyone whoreviles the Prophet and disparages him is an unbeliever and the threat of

Allah's punishment is on him. The community's judgment on him is that hebe killed. Anyone who has any doubts about such a person's disbelief andpunishment is also an unbeliever. For a proof of this, Ibrahim ibn Husaynibn Khalid, the faqih, uses the instance of Khalid ibn al-Walid killing Malik

ibn Nuwayra for referring to the Prophet as "your companion."'

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

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

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

11. In the Mabsut from 'Uthman ibn Kinana we find, "Any Muslim who

reviles the Prophet is killed or crucified without being asked to repent. TheImam can choose between crucifying him and killing him."

12. 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 granthim peace, reviles him, finds fault with him or disparages him is killed, behe Muslim or unbeliever, without being asked to repent."

13. Asbagh said, "He is killed in every case, whether he conceals it or makesit public, without being asked to repent because his repentance is not

recognized."

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14. 'Abdullah ibn 'Abdu'l-Hakam said that and at-Tabari related somethingsimilar from Malik Ibn Wahb related that Malik said, "Anyone who saysthat the Prophet's cloak (or button) was dirty, thereby intending to findfault with him, should be killed."

15. One of our 'ulama says that people agree that anyone who curses any ofthe Prophets using the expression "Woe to him" or anything disliked is to

be killed without being asked to repent.

16. 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.

17. Abu Muhammad ibn Abi Zayd gave a fatwa to kill a man who waslistening to some people discussing what the Prophet looked like. When aman with an ugly face and beard walked by, he said to them, "You want toknow what he looked like? He looked like this passer-by in physique and

beard." Abu Muhammad said, "His repentance is not accepted. He lied,

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may Allah curse him. That could not come out of a heart with sound belief."

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

19. He was told about a man to whom someone said, "No, by the right of theMessenger of Allah," and he replied, "Allah did such a thing to theMessenger of Allah," mentioning some ugly words. People said to him,"What are you saying, enemy of Allah?" Then he said some even harsherthings and added, "I wish for a scorpion for the Messenger of Allah." Whensomeone 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 andgetting the reward. Habib ibn ar-Rabi' said that is because trying to explainaway the literal expression is not accepted because it is clear contempt and

lack of respect for the Messenger of Allah. His blood is permitted.

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

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21. The fuqaha' of Andalusia gave a fatwa that Ibn Hatim, the scholar ofToledo, be killed and crucified because there was testimony that he madelight 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. Mawla 'Ali)," and claimed thathis doing-without (zuhd) las not intentional. He alleged that if he had beenable to have good things, he would have eaten them. He said other similarthings.

22. The fuqaha' of the Qayrawan and the companions of Sahnun gave afatwa for the killing of Ibrahim al-Ghazari, a poet and master of manysciences. He was one of those who attended the assembly of Qadi Abu'l-'Abbas ibn Talib for debate. He was accused of objectionable things likemocking Allah, His Prophets and our Prophet. Qadi Yahya ibn 'Umar and

other fuqaha' summoned him and commanded that he be killed andcrucified. He was stabbed and crucified upside down. Then he was broughtdown and burned. One of the historians related that when the post to whichhe was tied was lifted up, the body turned around away from qibla. It was asign to all and the people said, "Allah is greater!" Then a dog came andlicked his blood. Yahya ibn 'Umar said, "The Messenger of Allah, may Allah

bless him and grant him peace, spoke the truth," and he mentioned ahadith in which the Prophet said, "A dog will not lick a Muslim's blood."

23. 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 remarkcould not be said about the Prophet by anyone with understanding of hisaffair and certainty about his inviolability."

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

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25. Ibn 'Attab said that the Book and Sunnah require that someone who

intends to even slightly harm or disparage the Prophet, either by allusion orclear statement, must be killed.

26. Anything like this which is something that the 'ulama' consider to be acurse 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 clearlater.

27. Qadhi Ayad al-Maliki says, "This is also my position regarding thejudgment of anyone who belittles him or insults him about having been a

shepherd, oversight, forgetfulness, sorcery, any wound he received, thedefeat of one of his armies, injury by an enemy, the intensity of his illnessor his being attracted to his wives. The judgment 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 alHamduLILLAH!!"

S o u r c e :

Al-Shifa bi Ta'rifi Huqooqil Mustafa, Part 4, Section 1By Imam Qadhi Iyad al-Maliki Alaihir raHmah wa ar-Ridwan