Blasphemy of the Prophet ﷺ and Islam
بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
O Allāh, confer blessings upon Muḥammad the unlettered Prophet(Sallallahu A’lihi Wassalam) and upon his family, and bless him and confer peace on him.
It is natural that every true believer (male and female, young and old, white and black, layman and scholar) will feel immense pain in their hearts and their blood will boil of anger when they hear about any insults hurled towards their most beloved Prophet Muhammad (peace, blessings and salutations be upon him). The pain is compounded many fold (a non-believer cannot fathom the gravity and intensity) when the insult is carried very publicly using the machinery of the government without any regard of any decency and courtesy to the greatest human being and his followers and lovers in their billions.
Hence, every believer needs to and will want to protect and defend their most beloved Prophet Muhammad (peace, blessings and salutations be upon him).
The difference and the space between this insulter and the scum of the seven earths and the greatest human being whose status and rank is residing far far beyond in space is not measurable. They are at either extremes.
The truth is we cannot describe the lofty status of the Best of all Creation and the Beloved and Final Prophet of Allah Ta’ala, Prophet Muhammad (peace, blessings and salutations be upon him) through any form of praises. Hence, we have to suffice and show our humility by saying as Hafiz Shirazi (RA) concluded after the initial attempts at the praises by saying:
لا يمكن الثناء كما كان حقّه
La Yumkin Ath-Thana’u Kama Kana Haqquhu
It is not possible to praise you in the manner you truly deserve. (For that reason the only thing I can say to you in a nutshell is)
بعد از خدا بزرگ توئ قصہ مختصر
Ba’d Az Khuda Buzurg Tu’ee Qissah Mukhtasar
After Allah Ta’ala you most certainly are the greatest. That is the short of it.
Reality of Insults (توہینِ رسالت)
Two examples of what happens when anyone engages in insults at the Holy Prophet Muhammad (peace, blessings and salutations be upon him).
The first example is it is like someone has buckets full of their own manure and they are trying to throw it but due to the lofty status and the force of the spiritual wind that protects the greatest mans is such is that the manure comes back at the insulter and they themselves get drowned in this manure and faeces.
The single word of backbiting is enough to poison the ocean as we learn from the prophetic sayings. Insults and slander at the most pure and blessed human being (peace, blessings and salutations be upon him) is crossing several red lines. Only a person who had this filth in the heart will go at length to do this.
For the second example to quote the popular Arabic saying. It is aptly befitting and relevant here.
ما ضَرّ الشّمسَ نُباحُ الكِلابِ
“The barking and howling of the dogs at the rising sun does not diminish in any form or take away from the beauty of the sun”.
The sun in this case is the Holy Prophet Muhammad (peace, blessings and salutations be upon him) whose beauty, reverence, respect, honour and lofty status will continue to rise forever and the dog is the insulter. The dog can bark at its peril.
The truth is that any good or bad deeds we enact ultimately is for our own good or harmful to us. The good we do perform does not benefit Allah Ta’ala or His Holy Prophet Muhammad (peace, blessings and salutations be upon him) and the bad deeds and sins we carry out does not harm Allah Ta’ala or His Holy Prophet Muhammad (peace, blessings and salutations be upon him). One of the worst sins and bad deeds anyone can do is to hurl insults and try to dishonour the Holy Prophet Muhammad (peace, blessings and salutations be upon him). In this situation too the spiritual filth it generates is only harmful and detrimental to the insulter. This particular spiritual filth is so abhorrent that it is much worse than the smell of manure or human or animal faeces. In this case the insulter is drowning in this filth but they don’t even realise it.
I am referring to the poignant verse below in the Holy Quran.
إِنْ أَحْسَنتُمْ أَحْسَنتُمْ لِأَنفُسِكُمْ وَإِنْ أَسَأْتُمْ فَلَهَا
“If you do good, you do good for yourselves; and if you do evil, [you do it] to them [i.e. yourselves].” (Verse 7, Al-Isra (17), Part 15)
The Verse is clear on who the beneficiary and who the victim is of the actions each human being carries out.
Lessons:
Any insults targeted at our most beloved Prophet Muhammad (peace, blessings and salutations be upon him) is a test (Al-Bala / البلاء) for each and every Muslim. As on the COVID-19 pandemic that the pandemic is a double edge sword. It can be a test and draw a believer closer to Allah Ta’ala and become a silver lining or it can become a source of punishment if the believer does nit draw close to Allah Ta’ala. Similar is the case of insults as to how the believers react. Does it draw the believer closer to our most beloved Prophet Muhammad (peace, blessings and salutations be upon him) in terms of increase in the love and also the practice of the Sunnah or not.
Allah Ta’ala is Al-Haleem so does not react instantly at these abhorrent and heinous acts directed towards His beloved Prophet but He is totally aware (Al-Khabeer) and sooner or later will punish the insulters based on His infinite wisdom.
O Allah Ta’ala! Grant us all the taufeeq, strength, ability and capacity to appreciate the lofty rank and status of our most beloved Prophet Muhammad (peace, blessings and salutations be upon him).
O Allah Ta’ala! Grant us all the taufeeq, strength, ability and capacity to protect and defend the honour and respect of our most beloved Prophet Muhammad (peace, blessings and salutations be upon him).
O Allah Ta’ala! Grant us all the true love of the Best of all creation and the Beloved and Final Prophet of Allah Ta’ala, Prophet Muhammad (peace, blessings and salutations be upon him) that manifests through actions and observing of the Prophetic teachings and practices.
آمین یارب العلمین بجاہ سیدالمرسلین علیہ الصلوۃ والتسلیم
و صلى الله على النبى الحبيب الشفيع الرؤوف الرحيم
Adapted from article by: Muhammad N Daji
