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Facebook Ban – A Response to a comment on Teeth Maestro

21 Comments

I initially started this as a response to this comment by Arzoo on this post on Teeth Maestro on the subject of Everybody Draw Mohammed Day and the ensuing Facebook Ban but decided it needed to be on my blog for a longer response.

arzoo says:

May 21, 2010 at 2:29 pm

You are not a Religious Scholar as you admitted “I’m not a religious scholar” But yet you make a statement on something you don’t know

You Don’t Agree With All of Scholars Of Islam Including All the Prominent Scholars ? You Disagree with Prophet (PBUH) order to Umer (RZ) to kill the Jew who insulted Prophet (PBUH)

The ruling on one who insults the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him)

The scholars are unanimously agreed that a Muslim who insults the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) becomes a kaafir and an apostate who is to be executed. This consensus was narrated by more than one of the scholars, such as Imaam Ishaaq ibn Raahawayh, Ibn al-Mundhir, al-Qaadi ‘Iyaad, al-Khattaabi and others. Al-Saarim al-Maslool, 2/13-

http://forum.chatdd.com/religions/54002-punishment-insulting-prophet-muhammad-saw.html

 

My Response

Dear Arzoo:

I agree with you that the thought of anyone disrespecting our Prophet (SAW) should make your blood boil and make you want to chop his head off. This should be our level of Iman that we love Allah and his Rasool above all even ourselves.

I however disagree that we as individuals should go about chopping heads. This is the duty of the Khalifa to impose such a punishment and as an individual or group of muslims we have no legal Islamic right to harm anyone.

While the incident of the Jew you mentioned may have happened, the order was given by the Amir-ul-Momineen of that time (the Prophet (SAW)) and Omar (RA) would have not been right if he killed the Jew on his own initiative. Today we neither have the Prophet (SAW) in our midst nor a Khalifa. Thus, to impose these verdicts is not in our legal right.

I am all for the Government banning specific links to all that is unsafe and unislamic (includes thousands of porn websites that anybody can easily access, links to terrorist outfits, Nazi websites, and several anti-Islam websites). I am also all for the Government protesting on the international front by sending a strictly worded letter to the country where this all started (USA), raise this issue from the platform of Islamic bodies and in the UN. Blanket bans of Facebook, YouTube, Wikipedia, Flickr, etc have just served to catapult this issue in the limelight as Fatima Ajmal, Sana Saleem and several other Blaagers have highlighted that we have created free publicity for the perpetrators of this filth and then banned our own access to be able to protest it on the forum of propogation!!

Allah (SWT) has made Islam a complete religion and way of life for us. We look at the incident of the Jew and we take it as proof for violence but we do not look at the rage of the Prophet (SAW) when he expressed his wish to go and burn the houses of those Muslims who did not come to the Masjid for Fajr. Our blood does not boil when we see the elite of this country (and increasingly the non-elite) consume alcohol and make fun of Islamic injunctions. Are we enraged when we see our country waging war against Allah and His Messenger (SAW) by allowing an interest based economy?

Granted that if I am not following one part of Islam, it doesn’t mean that I should stop following another part. We should however use this incident to do a self-evaluation and see just how we are insulting the Prophet (SAW) in our daily lives by ignoring all the things he ordered us to do.

At the end of the day, I am reminded of a verse by Allama Iqbal

Na Thi Jab Apnay Haal Ki Khabar
Dekhtay Rehay Logon Kay Aib-o-Hunar
Parri Jab Apnay Gunahoon Par Nazar
To Nigah Mein Koi Aur Bura Na Raha!

21 thoughts on “Facebook Ban – A Response to a comment on Teeth Maestro”

  4. that is interesting she left a response along the lines of “they are different ideologies destined to be in conflict” on my post regarding the subject on Project Carousel (www.projectcarousel.org). Very well written response!

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  5. Pingback: Facebook Ban – A Response to a comment on Teeth Maestro | Tea Break
  6. Pingback: Facebook Ban – A Response to a comment on Teeth Maestro | Tea Break

  7. More importantly, civilizations change with time. They try to improve themselves from the past and try to solve challenges of today. Solutions of past would not be applicable but rational ethics from Quran and Prophet’s teaching can be our reference points. A decision taken at a specific time with a specific context can not be generalized.

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  8. Mr Raheel Lakahani !

    Your statement is totally wrong “A decision taken at a specific time with a specific context can not be generalized.”

    Arzoo quoted just one example many others also there. Rules makes the decision easy. Human nature is same as before – no change – Those who insult Prophet SW deserved for punishment.

    There is no role of “Time an Civilization” Islamic rules will apply all the time. Kindly not be so moderate and liberal to over rule these rulings.

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  9. Can you verify the veracity and “strength” of the quoted hadith\narrative. Because if it is true then I am afraid that those who say that Islam is not a peaceful religion were right all along.

    If you look at it from a non-Muslim’s point of view, it is clear that Islam says that if you don’t follow our rules you deserve to die. Clearly, a peaceful religion will not say such a thing.

    kashifiat’s argument is that Islamic rules are absolute. Given this and the above narrative, does that mean that each and everyone who uploaded sacrilegious content should be traced and executed?

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    1. Dear Razes

      Islam is not a “Peaceful” religion in your way of usage.

      Islam is a way of life. Islam while prohibiting senseless violence has injunctions for every aspect of human life including war and capital punishment. Islam while translated by many as Peace is actually correctly translated as Submission and Muslim as one who submits. One who submits fully and wholly to the commandments of Allah (SWT) as laid out in the Quran and by His Last Prophet (SAW). Since Islam is the Complete way of Life from the Creator we need to take the good with the bad (as our limited human understanding makes it out to be good or bad while in reality all that is from Allah is good). That is the meaning of Submission and being a Muslim.

      I do not agree with Kashifat in that Islamic rules are absolute. I believe it is upto the Khalifa and the Isilamic court to implement it as per the circumstances. In addition, due to the absence of an Islamic system we can not implement the Shariah rulings on an individual basis.

      However, at the end of the day I am neither am I a scholar nor I believe is Kashifiat or yourself. Therefore, let’s leave these rulings to those who have knowledge.

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