What is your opinion of those who rule that whoever insults the divine essence, or any of the prophets, or the Companions, should be imprisoned and pay a financial fine, on the grounds that they do not rule by the Shari'ah?
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The questioner : May Allah reward you and bless you, Your Eminence.The Shaykh : Some preachers are demanding that anyone who commits, in public or in any public place or a place where those present can hear or see, by speech, writing, drawings, images, or other means of publication and media, or by any other means of expression, anything that insults the divine essence, the prophets, the Companions, or the religion, or that attacks, mocks, ridicules, or defames, be punished with imprisonment for a period not exceeding ten years and a fine of not less than three thousand dinars and not more than ten thousand dinars, or with one of these two punishments. They also demand that anyone who commits, in public or in a public place or by any of the means of expression mentioned in the previous paragraph, anything that attacks religious schools of thought, or calls for sectarianism, or incites fitnah (trial, discord or temptation), or opposes national unity, be punished with imprisonment for a period not exceeding three years and a fine not exceeding one thousand dinars, or with one of these two punishments. Your Eminence, do these preachers have a valid point in demanding this un-Islamic punishment for those who insult the divine essence? They say that this is the lesser of two evils, or that this is the obligation, meaning anything else is not required? Since Your Eminence’s word is heeded by these people, we wanted to hear your opinion.
The Shaykh : What? I did not understand the question. Do these people demand that whoever insults Allah the Mighty and Majestic, or His Messenger, or His Book, or His religion, must do what?
The questioner : That he be imprisoned for ten years and fined three thousand dinars, or punished with one of the two punishments. That is, if a person insults Allah the Mighty and Majestic or the religion, the judge has the authority to rule that he be fined three thousand dinars as his punishment. And now they are saying that if a person insults or mocks, he is not punished with any punishment, or with a punishment lighter than this. That is what they are demanding.
The Shaykh : May Allah protect you. Whoever insults Allah, or His Messenger, or His Book, or His religion, is an apostate and must be killed, and it is obligatory to kill him as a disbeliever. He is not washed, not shrouded, not prayed over, and not buried in the Muslim cemeteries. Rather, he is taken out to the wilderness, a hole is dug for him, and he is thrown in it, just as a dead sheep is thrown in. Do you understand? And there is nothing else for him. However, the scholars differed on whether his repentance is accepted if he repents from this. Some said: his repentance is not accepted, whether he was an apostate or an original disbeliever. Some said: if he was an original disbeliever, we accept his repentance, based on the saying of Allah the Exalted:[Al-Anfal 8:38] and this is general. But if he was an apostate, his repentance is not accepted; rather, he is killed in all cases, and his repentance is between him and his Lord on the Day of Resurrection. Some detailed the issue and said: As for the one who insults the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him and his family), he must be killed even if he repents, even if he praises the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) in every place, we kill him. But if we verify the truth of his repentance, we treat him in the rulings of the Hereafter as a Muslim, meaning we wash him, shroud him, pray over him, and bury him with the Muslims. If his repentance does not appear to be sincere, we treat him as an apostate. As for the one who insults Allah the Mighty and Majestic, if he repents and we know of his repentance and that he is sincere, we lift the killing from him and rule that he is a Muslim. This detailed opinion is the correct one. But if the one in authority sees that this person who insulted Allah, despite his repentance, should be killed so that no one like him would dare to do so, he has the right to do so, and in this case, his killing is a discretionary punishment (ta'zir), not for apostasy. Yes.
The questioner : ... What you have mentioned is the Islamic ruling. They say: if we demand the ruling, it will not be granted to us. They are demanding these rulings. They say: since the rulers do not apply the ruling you have mentioned, at the very least we should demand this, which is that he be fined or imprisoned. I mean, is this demand Islamic or not?
The Shaykh : This demand is wrong.
The questioner : Do they not have a valid point?
The Shaykh : It is not correct. Rather, it is obligatory for us to demand the Islamic ruling. Then, if Allah guides the rulers to apply this required ruling, that is fine. Otherwise, the Islamic ruling remains established. Because if we concede from the Islamic ruling to a lighter punishment, this punishment remains a legal law, and no attention is paid to the fact that an apostate is killed or the like. So I do not see any concession in the religion of Allah, ever. Just as if someone said: I am ordered to pray the five prayers, but if I say: pray Zuhr and 'Asr, you are awake during the day, and 'Isha' and Fajr, do not pray. Would we accept the concession? No, we do not accept it.
The questioner : May Allah reward you with good.
The Shaykh : What? I did not understand the question. Do these people demand that whoever insults Allah the Mighty and Majestic, or His Messenger, or His Book, or His religion, must do what?
The questioner : That he be imprisoned for ten years and fined three thousand dinars, or punished with one of the two punishments. That is, if a person insults Allah the Mighty and Majestic or the religion, the judge has the authority to rule that he be fined three thousand dinars as his punishment. And now they are saying that if a person insults or mocks, he is not punished with any punishment, or with a punishment lighter than this. That is what they are demanding.
The Shaykh : May Allah protect you. Whoever insults Allah, or His Messenger, or His Book, or His religion, is an apostate and must be killed, and it is obligatory to kill him as a disbeliever. He is not washed, not shrouded, not prayed over, and not buried in the Muslim cemeteries. Rather, he is taken out to the wilderness, a hole is dug for him, and he is thrown in it, just as a dead sheep is thrown in. Do you understand? And there is nothing else for him. However, the scholars differed on whether his repentance is accepted if he repents from this. Some said: his repentance is not accepted, whether he was an apostate or an original disbeliever. Some said: if he was an original disbeliever, we accept his repentance, based on the saying of Allah the Exalted:
Say to those who have disbelieved [that] if they cease, what has previously occurred will be forgiven for them
قُلْ لِلَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا إِنْ يَنْتَهُوا يُغْفَرْ لَهُمْ مَا قَدْ سَلَفَThe questioner : ... What you have mentioned is the Islamic ruling. They say: if we demand the ruling, it will not be granted to us. They are demanding these rulings. They say: since the rulers do not apply the ruling you have mentioned, at the very least we should demand this, which is that he be fined or imprisoned. I mean, is this demand Islamic or not?
The Shaykh : This demand is wrong.
The questioner : Do they not have a valid point?
The Shaykh : It is not correct. Rather, it is obligatory for us to demand the Islamic ruling. Then, if Allah guides the rulers to apply this required ruling, that is fine. Otherwise, the Islamic ruling remains established. Because if we concede from the Islamic ruling to a lighter punishment, this punishment remains a legal law, and no attention is paid to the fact that an apostate is killed or the like. So I do not see any concession in the religion of Allah, ever. Just as if someone said: I am ordered to pray the five prayers, but if I say: pray Zuhr and 'Asr, you are awake during the day, and 'Isha' and Fajr, do not pray. Would we accept the concession? No, we do not accept it.
The questioner : May Allah reward you with good.