How Muslims Should React to Mockery of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH)

Born and raised in a well known family of Banu Hashim, belonging to the tribe of Quraish, in a time when the Arabs used to worship multiple gods and had forgotten teachings of previous Prophets, Hazrat Muhammad (PBUH) had a distinctive, yet affectionate personality right from His early life. He would not approve the idea of venerating many idols and used to search for enlightenment, till He finally received revelation in the form of Holy Quran from Allah Almighty. When He called people towards Oneness of God, they revolted and rejected Him with the exception of a few in the beginning. But soon when the non believers saw Islam spreading fast, they started oppressing and tormenting the new entrants of this religion. They feared that shortly, there would be no one left to act upon their beliefs Muhammad (PBUH) would rule the entire Arab.

As the history repeats itself over and over again, the haters of the religion of peace have gathered speed in their attempts to ridicule its wisdom recently. They have not only been tyrannizing Muslims in countries like Palestine, Iraq, Syria etc. But, recently, they have gone one step ahead by using mass media platforms like Print and Electronic Media by publishing blasphemous cartoons against our Prophet (PBUH). They are in the same state as the Arabs in Muhammad`s (PBUH) time, and are panicking against the swift stretch of Islam, especially in the West. They resist because they do not want to leave their wicked activities, nor seeing their people switch towards morality. So, they try their best to depict the wrong image of Islam being disrespectful of its Preacher, i.e. the Apostle (PBUH) of Allah. Being a true believer, one would obviously have a great hatred for the disdainers, which is why there are seen mixed sets of reactions among the Ummah in defense and love of the Prophet (PBUH) in recent past, but let us see in the light of Islamic instructions, how we should respond to such acts of immorality.

Mockery – The act of unawareness

The staunch devotees of Islam would know that Allah Almighty has called the act of scorn and ridicule as a way of the uninformed people, who see believers and laugh at them because of their tough life. Just because Muslims are told by Muhammad (PBUH) to remain steadfast on remembrance of only One God, and not to commit any wicked actions, so the ones who disagree with these instructions would always transgress and say bad words against Him. The Holy Quran regards them as among non believers who are happy with their wicked way of life and mock believers for their faith and piety.

Indeed, those who committed crimes used to laugh at those who believed. [Quran, 83: 29]

One can deduce that the act of travesty is part of character of those who are on the wrong path, and cackle at the believers for their uprightness, because they are too much indulged in materialistic world and its attractiveness that they deem Muslims as being fooled by their religious convictions. They make themselves feel better by being content with whatever they do and make ridiculous attempts against Muslim beliefs to portray blasphemy by any means, like making absurd comics against the Holy Prophet (PBUH).

To elaborate further, let’s take an example from the Sacred Book, Furqan e Hameed, where in the Surah Baqarah (The Cow), when to solve a mysterious assassination among the people of Prophet Musa (A.S) (Moses), He asked them to sacrifice a cow with the order of Allah, who obviously did not believe in this proposition, rather took it as a joke.

And [recall] when Moses said to his people, “Indeed, Allah commands you to slaughter a cow.” They said, “Do you take us in ridicule?” He said, “I seek refuge in Allah from being among the ignorant.” [Quran, 2: 67]

As Musa (A.S) has compared mockery to an act of ignorance, it is evident that the haters of Islam also do not have any consciousness of the true spirit of this religion. So, the answer of ridicule should not be in terms of derision, for there will be no use of one`s wisdom if it does the same as does the ignorant one.

Desired First Reaction

Allah Almighty has directed us to be humble and serene in our behavior time and time again in the Holy Quran, and has shown His likeness for the ones who endure moments of despair and misery for Him.

“If good touches you, it distresses them; but if harm strikes you, they rejoice at it. And if you are patient and fear Allah, their plot will not harm you at all. Indeed, Allah is encompassing of what they do.” [Quran, 3: 120]

This could also be applied when non Muslims bombard their propaganda against our Prophet (PBUH) in an attempt to provoke us, so that we would say same words to their religion, but we know that Islam is a continuation to the past religions, and all the past Prophets are equally respectable as Muhammad (PBUH). So, the very first response that we could give in such matters is to try to ignore it as much as possible with a view to remain patient and ignore them.

“Take what is given freely, enjoin what is good, and turn away from the ignorant. [Quran, 7: 199]

So, the proper followers of Islam should always try to pay no attention towards such provocative actions. On another occasion, the Exalted Lord has again stressed on importance of rightful and polite way of conversation with such people as:

“Invite to the way of your Lord with wisdom and good instruction, and argue with them in a way that is best. Indeed, your Lord is most knowing of who has strayed from His way, and He is most knowing of who is [rightly] guided.” [Quran, 16: 125]

Since the blasphemy of the beloved Prophet (PBUH) is an extremely sensitive issue, and due to huge sense of reverence towards Him, for most of us it’s even more than a mere personal matter, and we register our protests at every possible forum. But we are bound for adopting the most appropriate mode of conversation with them according to the above mentioned Ayah. So, if one cannot ignore the wicked words against Rasullullah (PBUH), it should try at least to remain respectful and converse within the preferred limits of Islamic commands.

Highlighting the true teachings of Muhammad (PBUH)

Although, it is unbearable for the true disciples of Islam to see foreigners making contempt about the character of the Messenger (PBUH) of God, the Exalted, and some of us might lose their minds and say bad words in return. But that is not the right way of protesting; rather we have to counteract this delicate matter with great care. The best way to record one`s protest is to reject the opposing ideas and make matters clear by underlining the real context of things, e.g. if they say “Muhammad (PBUH) Himself had more wives, while restricted others to four only”, and show it as an example of hypocrisy. The simple answer could be to say that first, at that time, Arabs used to keep women as slaves, let alone marrying a particular number of them. But Prophet (PBUH) gave them their rights by restricting Muslims to marry only four on the direction of the Almighty and that too in the case if they can treat them with equity. And as per Him (PBUH) having more than four wives is concerned, He (PBUH) married only first two of His wives, Khatija (R.A) and Ayesha (R.A) under normal conditions, while other marriages were due to some considerations, like bringing tribes together, making peace, protection of widows, raising status of slaves, and other such implications.  Moreover, He (PBUH) was allowed to keep the previous spouses and marry those who are enslaved, as Allah says in Surah Al Ahzab:

“Not lawful to you, [O Muhammad], are [any additional] women after [this], nor [is it] for you to exchange them for [other] wives, even if their beauty were to please you, except what your right hand possesses. And ever is Allah, over all things, an Observer.” [Quran, 33: 52]

So, it is clear that Hazrat Muhammad (PBUH) was exception to this rule, and He (PBUH) could marry those who were kept as slaves, so that they could be protected. Another inference of Him keeping already married spouses is that all the wives of Prophet (PBUH) are considered as Ummul Momineen (Mothers of the believers), and if He had divorced them, there would be no one to wed them anyway. Also, none of spouses of His ever complained about Him, or His conduct with them.

So, we should argue in the most rightful way and reply to each and every accusation of the wrong ones through letting them know about the actual Sunnah of Rassulullah (PBUH) and ask them to read about His life before passing any wide of the mark remarks about Him. We can also relate many of non Muslim writers and renowned personalities who have praised Muhammad (PBUH), such as George Bernard Shaw famous Irish Playwright says in his volume “The Genuine Islam Vol.No.8, 1936”:

“I believe if a man like him (Muhammad) were to assume the dictatorship of the modern world he would succeed in solving its problems in a way that would bring much needed peace and happiness. I have studied him – the man and in my opinion is far from being an anti–Christ. He must be called the Savior of Humanity. I have prophesied about the faith of Mohammad that it would be acceptable the Europe of tomorrow as it is beginning to be acceptable to Europe of today.”

The great Indian leader, Gandhi has also admired Muhammad (PBUH) in the following words, published in Young India, 1924:

“I wanted to know the best of the life of one who holds today an undisputed sway over the hearts of millions of mankind… I became more than ever convinced that it was not the sword that won a place for Islam in those days in the scheme of life. It was the rigid simplicity, the utter self-effacement of the Prophet, the scrupulous regard for pledges, his intense devotion to his friends and followers, his intrepidity, his fearlessness, his absolute trust in God and his mission. 
“These and not the sword carried everything before them and surmounted every obstacle. When I closed the second volume (of the Prophet’s biography), I was sorry there was no more for me to read of that great life.”

It means that those who have read the biography of the Messenger (PBUH) of God, they always rate Him as a great Role Model for all, while the ones who ridicule Him are actually among the ignorant.

So, those of us who have the complete knowledge of actual Sunnah of the Holy Prophet (PBUH) should always speak in favor of Him by presenting His way of life to the complainant non believers. The following info-graphic highlights some of His prominent characters as a great reformist. Every Muslim must spread this information as much as possible to let the world inform about the true teachings of Holy Prophet Muhammad (P.B.U.H).

Leaving Matter in Hands of Allah

After having peaceful discussions, and conveying the true nature of the life of the Holy Prophet (PBUH), if non believers still do not understand and admit their mistake, in that case, we should remind ourselves of the essential teaching of Quran, and the way of Hazrat Muhammad (PBUH). First, taking the instruction of the Sacred Manuscript, we are directed to leave such matters to Allah as He knows the best of the best, and indeed is the most Sufficient in all matters.

Indeed, We are sufficient for you against the mockers. [Quran, 15: 95]

So, we should not let our faith in God go in vain by taking things in our hands in such matters, rather we need to have complete conviction in the fact that the contemptuous parties would soon get their return from the Almighty.

Now, taking example of the Messenger (PBUH) of Allah, being on the journey of Taa`if, was ridiculed and badly injured by the locals for His message of One God. He was offered a chance to destroy the town completely by the Angel of Allah, Jibrael (A.S). Instead of demolishing them, the Prophet (PBUH) prayed for them and asked Allah to give them guidance. If He (PBUH) did not take revenge on abusive and opposing matters relating to Him, so we should act on His Sunnah, and leave things in Allah`s court. Certainly, He is Enough for all of us in every issue.

In short, being Muslims, we should always be ready for such things to happen, making sure we do not react in the same way as the non believers do, because mockery is forbidden and is close to ignorance. Second, we should be calm when we confront such irritating stuff, and converse with the opposite parties with civility. All the love for the Holy Prophet (PBUH) would go in vain, if we do not take this time as an opportunity to tell the uninformed ones about the Sunnah (way of life) of Him with concrete logic to clarify things. In the end, if it seems impossible to succeed in one`s attempt, there is no need to be hopeless from the knowledge and Power of the Creator of the world of the worlds. May Allah Almighty make us love and protect the Character of Hazrat Muhammad (PBUH) in the most rightful way! Aameen!