Is a Muslim duty bound to murder anyone who insults the Prophet Muhammad?

It is the popular belief among the majority of Pakistani Muslims that they are duty bound to murder anyone who insults the prophet Muhammad. It is not just Muslim clerics and scholars who believe this, but also regular citizens, politicians, journalists, lawyers and even judges. Many Muslims are ready to be sacrificed for the honour of Muhammad, and also similarly to kill anyone who insults him.

Justice Nazir Akhtar, addressing a gathering of the Ahle Sunnat religious organisation in Lahore, said that undoing the blasphemy laws would be treason even if done by a majority in parliament. He became famous as a sitting judge when he told a social gathering that blasphemers should be killed and not brought to the court of law.

Malik Mumtaz Qadri, a bodyguard, was so influenced by such an interpretation of the Koranic verses and hadiths that he was inspired to murder the Governor of Punjab he was hired to protect and so weave his place in paradise.

The extreme views on blasphemy that are commonplace in Pakistan have resulted in attacks on churches, Christian towns and villages being set alight, innocent people being burnt alive, and other forms of vigilante killings. Unfortunately no one has ever been challenged by the Pakistani government or law enforcement agencies to give an account, which only encourages radicals to take the law into their own hands. This strengthens their belief that their actions are justified on religious grounds. Keep reading