The Prescribed Punishment for Blasphemy Against the Prophet ﷺ
Author: Imran Ayub Lahori
❖ Blasphemy Against Allah, His Messenger ﷺ, Islam, the Book of Allah, or Sunnah
Evidence from Hadith
➊ ʿAbdullāh ibn ʿAbbās رضي الله عنهما narrates:
An enslaved bondwoman of a blind man used to insult the Prophet ﷺ and commit blasphemy against him. One day, when she again cursed the Prophet ﷺ in his presence, he killed her. When this news reached the Prophet ﷺ, he ﷺ publicly declared:
«ألا اشهدوا إن دمها هدر»
"Behold! Bear witness that indeed her blood is worthless (not to be avenged)."
[Ṣaḥīḥ: Sunan Abī Dāwūd 3665, Kitāb al-Ḥudūd: Bāb al-Ḥukm fī man Sabb al-Nabī; Abū Dāwūd 4361; al-Nasā’ī 7/107. Ibn Ḥajar said: all its narrators are trustworthy. Bulūgh al-Marām, 264]
Scholarly Consensus and Opinions
✔ Ibn al-Mundhir رحمه الله:
There is consensus (ijmāʿ) on the execution of one who explicitly insults the Prophet ﷺ.
[al-Ijmāʿ, p.153, no.722]
✔ al-Khaṭṭābī رحمه الله:
I know of no disagreement regarding the obligation of killing such a person, if he is a Muslim.
[Fatḥ al-Bārī 14/284]
✔ Since this ruling is established concerning the Prophet ﷺ, then whoever insults Allah, His Book, Islam, or mocks the religion is even more deserving of execution. This reality is self-evident and needs no further proof.
[al-Rawḍah al-Nadiyyah 2/630]
✔ al-Shawkānī رحمه الله:
Whoever insults Allah, His Messenger ﷺ, the purified Sunnah, or Islam, commits manifest disbelief (kufr buwāḥ). Thus, he is to be executed unless he repents sincerely.
[al-Sayl al-Jarrār 4/375]
✔ Dr. Wahbah al-Zuḥaylī رحمه الله:
Whoever insults Allah, the Prophet ﷺ, the angels, or any of the Prophets, there is unanimous agreement that he must be executed, if he is a Muslim.
[al-Fiqh al-Islāmī wa Adillatuhu 7/5577]
❖ Conclusion
- Explicit blasphemy against Allah, His Messenger ﷺ, Islam, the Qur’an, or the Sunnah is an act of clear disbelief.
- The consensus of scholars is that a Muslim guilty of this must face the death penalty, unless he repents with true sincerity.
- The ruling is firmly established through authentic Hadith and scholarly agreement throughout Islamic tradition.
