5/3/2023 0 Comments Define blasphemousSuch mockery constituted infidelity ( kufr ) after professing faith ( īm ān ) and invalidated whatever good deeds they might have previously performed (5:5). Within the early Islamic community itself, the "hypocrites" ( mun āfiq ūn ) uttered blasphemous jests about God and the Prophet (9:65 –66). As a rejection of divine lordship, this saying is usually considered to be the height of blasphemy. The Qur ʾ ān stresses the opposition that previous prophets experienced, as in the notable case of the pharaoh who called the revelation to Moses a lie, saying, "I am your highest Lord" (79:24). The followers of Mu ḥammad who killed two poets who had written satires on the Prophet evidently considered this kind of mockery to be blasphemy. Among Mu ḥammad's opponents the Qur ʾ ān ( s ūrah 111) singles out Ab ū Lahab above all as destined to punishment in hellfire according to traditional accounts, the Qur ʾ ān turns back on Ab ū Lahab the very words that he had used to curse Mu ḥammad. Insult to the Prophet was particularly blasphemous, since Mu ḥammad was the chief medium of that revelation. From the beginning, as the Qur ʾ ān attests, the blasphemous language of the Prophet's opponents thus consisted of calling divine revelation a lie ( takdh īb ). Mu ḥammad's opponents, moreover, mocked his claim to be an inspired prophet and accused him variously of being possessed, a soothsayer, a magician, a poet, or an unscrupulous power-seeker. Most frequently, this opposition took the form of verbal disputes and abuse, by which the pagan leaders rejected and ridiculed the Qur ʾanic teachings on the unity of God and the resurrection. ah 10/632 ce) encountered strong opposition from the leaders of the Arab clans of Mecca when he preached the worship of the one God and attacked the traditional polytheism of the Arabs. Blasphemy in Early Islamĭuring his own lifetime, the prophet Mu ḥammad (d. Thus, in describing the Islamic concept of blasphemy, it is necessary to include not only insulting language directed at God, the Prophet, and the revelation, but also theological positions and even mystical aphorisms that have come under suspicion. ![]() Blasphemy can also be seen as the equivalent of heresy ( zandaqah ), a pre-Islamic Persian term used in reference to the revolutionary teachings of Mani and Mazdak in this sense, it can mean any public expression of teachings deemed dangerous to the state. ![]() In theological terms, blasphemy often overlaps with infidelity ( kufr ), which is the deliberate rejection of God and revelation in this sense, expressing religious opinions at variance with standard Islamic views could easily be looked upon as blasphemous. ![]() ![]() From the viewpoint of Islamic law, blasphemy may be defined as any verbal expression that gives grounds for suspicion of apostasy ( riddah ). There is no exact equivalent to blasphemy in the Islamic tradition, although the Qur ʾanic phrase "word of infidelity" ( kalimat al-kufr ) comes fairly close. In the Christian tradition, blasphemy properly denotes mockery or l èse majest é of God. Offering insult ( sabb ) to God, to the prophet Mu ḥammad, or to any part of the divine revelation is a crime in Islamic religious law, fully comparable to blasphemy.
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