As we have shown with the teaching of Jihad, to ascribe something to God, will achieve the best results. Sadly, many of the Muslim Clergy have played on the lack of knowledge and good intentions of the Muslims, by citing that by following what they say, then they will be winning the pleasure of Allah and attain paradise. Whereas, like the case of a false Jihad and committing suicide, instead of winning Paradise, they could be earning Hell! We will now look at some of the teachings of Islam which have been misrepresented.
Blasphemy in Islam
A recent incident was the ‘death penalty’ on Salman Rushdie. Imam Ayatollah Khomeini issued a fatwa pronouncing that according to the Holy Qur’an, the punishment for ‘Blasphemy’ was death! There is no such punishment for blasphemy in the Holy Qur’an or in the Traditions of the Holy Prophet Muhammad, may peace and blessing of Allah be upon him. Blasphemy against God is mentioned in the Holy Qur’an, Chapter 6, Verse 109:
“And abuse not those whom they call upon besides Allah, lest they, out of spite abuse Allah in their ignorance”
No authorisation has been granted to any man to inflict any punishment for blasphemy against God. Blasphemy was committed by Jews against Mary, the mother of Jesus. It has been mentioned in the Holy Qur’an,Chapter 4, Verse 157:
“And for their disbelief and for their uttering against Mary a grievous calumny”
Again, Allah has informed us what to do if someone is blaspheming, Chapter 4, Verse 141:
“When you hear the Signs of God being denied and mocked at, Sit not with those who indulge in such talk until they engage in some other talk”
Again no punishment other than by God Himself is prescribed. It is both tragic and deplorable that Imam Khomeini has referred to the Holy Qur’an when issuing this fatwa, but the effect of that fatwa was tremendous and instead of defending Islam, it has maligned Islam and caused immense damage to the image of Islam in the free world.
Despite all this, it would be unjust if one were to ignore the real issue. It is unfair to condemn Khomeini only rather than Salman Rushdie, who has produced a book whose extreme language is deliberately offensive to the many millions of Muslims throughout the world. Nor is that all. The book helped to undermine peace between Muslims and Christians and unleashed the forces of racial intolerance.
Apostasy in Islam
Some Muslims will argue that the fatwa was due to Salman Rushdie leaving Islam and not for blasphemy. According to their understanding of the Islamic teachings, any person who becomes an apostate in Islam, then the punishment is death! Once again there is no such punishment mentioned in the Holy Qur’an! The Holy Qur’an, Chapter 4, Verse 138 relates:
“Those who believe, then disbelieve, then again believe, then disbelieve and then increase in disbelief, Allah will never forgive them nor will He guide them to the right way.”
From this verse it is clear that it is Allah, not man, who will punish a person for apostasy. If the punishment was really death, then how does a person believe again when he is dead?
Adultery in Islam
A third teaching where the Muslim Clergy advocate the punishment of death is for adultery. This is based on some Ahadith of the Holy Prophet Muhammad, may peace and blessings be upon him, that he stoned to death some people who had committed adultery. The main criteria for Ahadith is that it must not contradict the Holy Qur’an!
It was the practice of the Holy Prophet Muhammad, may peace and blessings be upon him, that if Allah had not yet revealed a teaching about a particular subject, then the Holy Prophet would turn to the Torah for guidance (especially if it was concerning the Jews) until a new commandment was revealed to him. If the Holy Prophet did order anyone to be stoned to death, then it had to have happened before the commandment about adultery was revealed to him.
The Holy Qur’an is very clear about adultery, that the punishment, if found guilty, is 100 stripes Holy Qur’an, Chapter 24, Verse 3. There is nowhere in the Holy Qur’an that states stoning to death as a punishment for adultery and, for that matter, for any other crime, however serious. Islam has not prescribed killing as a necessary and unqualified punishment even for crimes much more heinous than adultery such as unprovoked murder, treason against the State and disturbing the peace of the land. Though extreme penalty for these crimes is death, yet the payment of blood money in the case of the first offence Holy Qur’an, Chapter 2, Verse 179 and imprisonment or banishment for the other crimes Holy Qur’an, Chapter 5, Verse 33-34 have been laid down as alternative punishments. Elsewhere in the Holy Qur’an, where punishment for adultery for a married slave-girl is mentioned it is stated that she will get half the punishment prescribed for that of a free, married woman Holy Qur’an, Chapter 4, Verse 26, and naturally, stoning to death cannot be halved!
Some Muslim Clergy say that the Holy Qur’an refers to an adulterer and an adulteress, but the stoning to death is for a fornicator or fornicatress! But this is wrong, the words used in the Holy Qur’an are al-Zani and al-Zaniyah which signifies respectively both an adulterer and a fornicator; and an adulteress and a fornicatress.
We have given three examples of how the beautiful teachings of Islam have been misrepresented, wrongly attributing to the Holy Qur’an teachings which do not exist! The most worrying part is that the Muslim Clergy’s teachings give killing the person as the punishment. Allah has informed us what is the best punishment fit for the crime in His Holy Book, but with every punishment, the following verse always states that those who repent thereafter and make amends, Allah is Most Forgiving, Merciful. We are taught in Islam that we should take every incident separately and apply the appropriate punishment. Sometimes we need to be strict in the punishment i.e. a mass murderer could continue to commit murder if mercy is shown; sometimes we need to be merciful i.e. a person through mercy could reform himself. At the end of the day, the laws in the Holy Qur’an are to help create the best society, but everyone will have to be answerable for what they have done on the Day of Judgement. Therefore, it should not be the case of revenge when applying a punishment; instead we should look to what is best for the society.