It is essential to respond to those who defame the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him)

𝐈𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐭𝐨 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐨𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐬𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐝𝐞𝐟𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐩𝐡𝐞𝐭 (𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐛𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐀𝐥𝐥𝐚𝐚𝐡 𝐛𝐞 𝐮𝐩𝐨𝐧 𝐡𝐢𝐦)

Mohamad Mostafa Nassar
Twitter:@NassarMohamadMR

Question

There is no one among us who is unaware of what the Christians say defaming the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), and we are not unaware either of the gheerah (protective jealousy) of the young men of the Muslim ummah towards their religion and their Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him). Is it permissible to respond to those who defame the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) by insulting the speaker, knowing that I insulted one of them and some of my relatives advised me not to do that again, because it will make them defame and mock him even more, so their sin will be on me?

Answer

Praise be to Allah.

Defaming the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) is a kind of kufr. If that is done by a Muslim then it is apostasy on his part, and the authorities have to defend the cause of Allah and His Messenger (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) by executing the one who defamed him. If the one who defamed him repents openly and is sincere, that will benefit him before Allah, although his repentance does not waive the punishment for defaming the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), which is execution.

If the person who defames him is a non-Muslim living under a treaty with the Muslim state, then this is a violation of the treaty and he must be executed, but that should be left to the authorities. If a Muslim hears a Christian or anyone else defaming the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) he has to denounce him in strong terms. It is permissible to insult that person because he is the one who started it. How can we not stand up the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him)? It is also obligatory to report him to the authorities who can carry out the punishment on him.

If there is no one who can carry out the hadd punishment of Allah and stand up for the Messenger (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) then the Muslim has to do whatever he can, so long as that will not lead to further mischief and harm against other people. But if a Muslim hears a kaafirs=disbeliever defaming the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) and he keeps quiet and does not respond for fear that this person may then defame him even more, this is mistaken thinking.

Regarding the verse (interpretation of the meaning):

“And insult not those whom they (disbelievers) worship besides Allah, lest they insult Allah wrongfully without knowledge”

[al-An’aam Quran (6:108),

this does not apply in cases where they defame Allah and His Messenger (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) first. Rather what is meant is that it is forbidden to insult the gods of the mushrikeen=Polytheists first, lest they insult Allah out of ignorance and enmity on their part. But if they insult Allah and His Messenger (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) first, then we must respond and punish them so as deter them from their kufr and enmity.

If we leave the kuffaar and atheists to say whatever they want without denouncing it or punishing them, great mischief will result, which is something that these kuffaar=disbelievers love.

No attention should be paid to the one who says that insulting or responding to insults will make him more stubborn. The Muslim has to have a sense of protective jealousy and get angry for the sake of Allah and His Messenger (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him). Whoever hears the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) being insulted and does not feel any protective jealousy or get angry is not a true believer – we seek refuge with Allah from humility, kufr and obeying the Shaytan.

And Allah knows best.