Press Release

Insults Against the Prophet (saw): What Should Our Response be?

Ever since the fall of the Khilafah (Caliphate), the world is filled with hostility against Islam and the Muslims. From the mass murder of Muslims, killing, torturing and labels of terrorism to the insults against Islam, Al-Quran and the Prophet (saw), these have become something ‘natural’ in many countries of the world. The insults against our Prophet Muhammad (saw) which we continuously observe in the West, has now spread to Muslim countries including Malaysia.

On 17/02/2019, Malaysians were shocked by a posting by one facebooker under the account of Foo Sing Wai portraying a caricature of Muhammad (saw) and Aishah (ra) in a very insulting condition with impertinent words. Since its publication, there has been more than 400 police reports made all over the country. The individual concerned had been remanded but released after three days and this has escalated the anger of Muslims. In this regard, we call upon the police to look into the matter seriously within the Islamic spirit, faith (Aqeedah) and divine rules (Ahkam ash-Shara’). Take heed that it is your Prophet (saw) that was insulted, the Prophet (saw) whose Shafa’at you will need on the day of Mahshar!

Hizb ut Tahrir / Malaysia without compromise, hereby unequivocally condemn any act of insult against our Prophet (saw) by any individual or group of people. We regret that the Minister in charge of religion does not see the seriousness of the matter and simply called for all parties to be sensitive of other religions in this issue. What kind of reaction is this!? We also regret that there is no fatwa from the Muftis and not even a slight condemnation from the Religious Authorities concerning the insult! Be reminded O Muftis and Religious Authorities that Muhammad (saw) is our Prophet and our honour. Any insult against him (saw) is an insult against us and our honour. How could you just simply watch the insult without doing anything? How could you still be silent when this noble Ummah has raised their voices and stood up to defend our honour!?

We would like to remind those who attack our religion and our Prophet (saw) that your attack will ultimately fail. The more you attack our Prophet (saw), the stronger will the Believers be, and it will generate greater number of non-Muslims embracing Islam as seen across the globe, especially in the West. We would also like to remind the attacker regarding the Islamic punishment for insulting our Prophet (saw) - that is death penalty as mentioned in a few Hadith, among others:

«عن ابن عباس رضي الله عنه: أَنَّ أَعْمَى كَانَتْ لَهُ أُمُّ وَلَدٍ تَشْتُمُ النَّبِيَّ ‏‏صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ ‏وَتَقَعُ فِيهِ ‏‏فَيَنْهَاهَا فَلَا تَنْتَهِي وَيَزْجُرُهَا فَلَا تَنْزَجِرُ قَالَ فَلَمَّا كَانَتْ ذَاتَ لَيْلَةٍ جَعَلَتْ تَقَعُ فِي النَّبِيِّ ‏‏صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ ‏وَتَشْتُمُهُ فَأَخَذَ ‏الْمِغْوَلَ ‏فَوَضَعَهُ فِي بَطْنِهَا وَاتَّكَأَ عَلَيْهَا فَقَتَلَهَا فَوَقَعَ بَيْنَ رِجْلَيْهَا طِفْلٌ فَلَطَّخَتْ مَا هُنَاكَ بِالدَّمِ فَلَمَّا أَصْبَحَ ذُكِرَ ذَلِكَ لِرَسُولِ اللَّهِ ‏‏صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ ‏فَجَمَعَ النَّاسَ فَقَالَ أَنْشُدُ اللَّهَ رَجُلًا فَعَلَ مَا فَعَلَ لِي عَلَيْهِ حَقٌّ إِلَّا قَامَ فَقَامَ الْأَعْمَى ‏يَتَخَطَّى النَّاسَ وَهُوَ يَتَزَلْزَلُ حَتَّى قَعَدَ بَيْنَ يَدَيْ النَّبِيِّ ‏‏صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ ‏فَقَالَ يَا رَسُولَ اللَّهِ أَنَا صَاحِبُهَا كَانَتْ تَشْتُمُكَ ‏‏وَتَقَعُ فِيكَ‏ ‏فَأَنْهَاهَا فَلَا تَنْتَهِي وَأَزْجُرُهَا فَلَا تَنْزَجِرُ وَلِي مِنْهَا ابْنَانِ مِثْلُ اللُّؤْلُؤَتَيْنِ وَكَانَتْ بِي رَفِيقَةً فَلَمَّا كَانَ الْبَارِحَةَ جَعَلَتْ تَشْتُمُكَ ‏ ‏وَتَقَعُ فِيكَ ‏فَأَخَذْتُ ‏‏الْمِغْوَلَ ‏‏فَوَضَعْتُهُ فِي بَطْنِهَا وَاتَّكَأْتُ عَلَيْهَا حَتَّى قَتَلْتُهَا فَقَالَ النَّبِيُّ ‏صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ ‏‏أَلَا اشْهَدُوا أَنَّ دَمَهَا ‏هَدَرٌ»

“From Ibn ‘Abbaas (ra) who said: A blind man had a female slave who had borne him a child (Umm Walad) who reviled the Prophet (saw) and disparaged him, and he told her not to do that but she did not stop, and he rebuked her but she paid no heed. One night she started to disparage and revile the Prophet (saw), so he took a dagger and put it in her stomach and pressed on it and killed her. There fell between her legs a child who was smeared with the blood that was there. The next morning mention of that was made to the Prophet (saw) and he assembled the people and said: “I adjure by Allah the man who did this to stand up.” The blind man stood up and came through the people, trembling, and he came and sat before the Prophet (saw). He said: O Messenger of Allah, I am the one who did it. She used to revile you and disparage you, and I told her not to do it but she did not stop, and I rebuked her but she paid no heed. I have two sons from her who are like two pearls, and she was good to me. Last night she started to revile you and disparage you, and I took a dagger and placed it on her stomach and I pressed on it until I killed her. The Prophet (saw) said: “Bear witness that no retaliation is due for her blood.” [Narrated by Abu Dawud, An-Nasa’ie and Ahmad used it as his argument]

It is unfortunate that this country does not implement Islamic law, except for a few matters in family law, marriage, inheritance and the like. Being a democratic country, the idea of freedom under democracy dominated the people, what more the non-Muslim. It is from this Western idea of freedom, in which human actions have no relation with religion, that results in the people doing whatever they want including insulting other religions for fun! Under this system (democracy) that provides the right of free speech/expression, the haters of Islam can always insult Islam and Prophet (saw) and continue to do so as can be seen in the West, and now in this country! As long as this Western-made system is in power, the non-Muslims will never be afraid of insulting Islam and the Prophet (saw).

When Islam was in power, not only the individual citizens of the Islamic State were punished for insulting the Prophet (saw), but the State of Kuffar itself were also given no room to escape “punishment” for committing such an unacceptable act. The divine rules effectively prevent any attempt to insult the Prophet (saw) or to discredit the sanctity of Islam, not only from within, but also outside the borders of the Islamic State. It is marked in history that in 1889 a theatrical play was to be presented in France; a play which insults the Prophet Muhammad (saw). The Khalifah at that time (Abdul Hamid II) sent a warning letter to France to prevent the play, and France heeded the warning and stopped it due to fear of any action from the Khalifah. Then, the same play was organised in Britain, forcing the Khalifah to send another warning to Britain to stop the play. Not only did Britain stop the play, they also apologized for their “mistake”.

It is noteworthy to say that those events took place when Britain was already a great state as is America today, and France also was one of the major powers at that time. The Khilafah nevertheless, did not give any room for the Kuffar States to insult the Prophet (saw). The Kuffar States recognized how dear the Prophet (saw) and the Deen (of Islam) is for the Muslims and that they are ready to defend them at whatever cost. Muslims should therefore realise that the State (Khilafah) is the protector of the honour of our Prophet (saw) inside or outside its boundaries. Without the Khilafah, the insults against our Prophet (saw) and the attack against our Deen continues undefended as seen today.

Finally, we would like to stress that the Ummah must react to protect the honour of our Prophet (saw). This man-made system and laws have failed miserably to protect our honour. The rulers have not acted in accordance with Islam. Demonstrations and marches by the Muslims as a response to the insults of the Prophet (saw) in order to express our anger towards those who insult the Messenger of Allah (saw) are highly desirable, but these are not enough. The Ummah must move towards re-establishing the second Khilafah Rashidah (Rightly Guided Caliphate) which will restore our honour and will give no room for the haters and enemies of Islam to insult our Prophet (saw) or to infringe upon the Muslims’ values and sanctity.

Abdul Hakim Othman

Spokesperson of Hizb ut Tahrir in Malaysia