Blasphemy against Islam and the Prophet Muhammad is taken very seriously by many Muslims, apparently. Depending on the country, it is also possible that a person who blasphemes about Islam or the Prophet is going to be subject to some kind of punishment according to the laws of that country. The common reasoning for this is that anyone who mocks or insults the Prophet has become an apostate, and thus they should be killed. That in itself is a misunderstanding of the religion. There are also some hadiths (or sayings of the Prophet) that a Muslim may refer to in order to defend punishment for blasphemy, although those are still not conclusive evidence for punishment.

On the other side of the argument, there is no Quranic instruction that supports the aforementioned opinion. Rather, the Quran points to the opposite direction. In some verses God tells us that when we hear some evil or offensive speech, we should simply ignore them and walk away. We should avoid getting into arguments and instead just turn away from them peacefully as He says (referring to believers):

"And when they hear vain speech, they turn away from it and say, 'For us are our deeds, and for you are your deeds. Peace be upon you; we seek not the ignorant.'" (Surah 28:55)

"When you hear those who engage in vain discourse about Our signs, then turn away from them until they enter into another theme. And if Satan causes you to forget, then do not sit, after the remembrance, in the company of the wrong-doers." (Surah 6:42)

So the act of murdering 10 people just because they drew a cartoon of Muhammad is clearly not within the bounds of Islam.

There are also verses which mention how the disbelievers of that time used to mock and insult the Prophet Muhammad - and other Prophets as well - but once again, the Quran doesn't command us to carry out any physical punishments on them. It just tells us to leave them alone because their punishments will be brought to them soon enough ... "So leave them to plunge in vain talk and amusement until they encounter that Day of theirs which they have been promised" (Surah 70:42).

People used to say unspeakably cruel things to the Prophet Muhammad, but he never enjoined any punishment on those people. For years he was mocked, insulted, challenged, pushed out of Mecca, his companions were beaten, abused, and even killed, he was spit on, he was beaten so severely that there was blood dripping from his face, the Quraish rejoiced at the fact that all of his sons died so early, they boycotted his followers, and so on and so forth, and yet he was praying for guidance and forgiveness for the same people who were hurting him.

Here are some further logical answers that explain why the "blasphemy laws" that exist today are clearly contrary to Islam:

What is the Punishment for Blasphemy in Islam?

(January 7, 2015 at 8:23 pm)Esquilax Wrote: "I'm a moderate!" only means something if you do the things that moderates do, which is disagree with the methods of the radicals.

So what do you expect them to do? The Kebap man on the corner has no voice to be heard. And what gives you the impression, they're in any way out to proselytize? They're just going on with their lives as everybody else does.

Here, in case this gets lost in all the excitement.
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/ja...isers-isis

Quote:Here are some further logical answers that explain why the "blasphemy laws" that exist today are clearly contrary to Islam:

That faction seems to have lost the battle, Rayaan.

(January 7, 2015 at 8:30 pm)abaris Wrote:

(January 7, 2015 at 8:23 pm)Esquilax Wrote: "I'm a moderate!" only means something if you do the things that moderates do, which is disagree with the methods of the radicals.

So what do you expect them to do? The Kebap man on the corner has no voice to be heard. And what gives you the impression, they're in any way out to proselytize? They're just going on with their lives as everybody else does.

Something. Finding a voice, in this day and age, is trivial; here I am, on this forum, saying things in a voice. If I criticize mainstream christians for staying silent when one of theirs does something bad, if I do the same of atheists, I'd be inconsistent to stop at muslims.

Besides, why assume I'm talking about everyone? I don't expect every member of any group to raise their voices in unison, I'm too realistic for that, but I'd like for something. As I said in my first paragraph, those that do speak up get respect for me. But I'm not going to applaud anyone who sits by, sees abuse of any kind going on, and doesn't say anything.

(January 7, 2015 at 8:37 pm)Esquilax Wrote: Something. Finding a voice, in this day and age, is trivial; here I am, on this forum, saying things in a voice. If I criticize mainstream christians for staying silent when one of theirs does something bad, if I do the same of atheists, I'd be inconsistent to stop at muslims.

Once again, read the article.

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/ja...isers-isis

Quote: Many Arabic Twitter users, however, attacked the terrorists, one pointing out that Charlie Hebdo had made fun of Jews, Christians and Buddhists without its journalists being targeted and murdered.

What else is required since only radicals side with the attackers?

This is what happens when religious people really follow the sayings of the so called Holy Books. Both the Bible and the Quran are filled with immmorality, barbaric stories of murder ordered by God, slavery, women and children beating and so on.
Religions must be abolished.

Jesus Fucking Christ, what if they had attacked the White House that day Gonzalez jumped the fence and GOT INSIDE ???????????

(January 7, 2015 at 8:23 pm)Esquilax Wrote:

(January 7, 2015 at 8:13 pm)Parkers Tan Wrote: What do the moderates have to do with this?

The silent ones are tacitly benefiting from whatever terrified silence results from these kinds of attacks. It's all well and good to be a "moderate" while simultaneously enjoying the immunity to criticism that the radicals wish to spread by force, but it's the ones who stand up and condemn that use of force that get respect from me.

"I'm a moderate!" only means something if you do the things that moderates do, which is disagree with the methods of the radicals.

And Muslim moderates have done exactly that. Of course, it doesn't receive the coverage that these sorts of acts do, from them media -- denunciations don't garner ratings like blood does.

But they do happen. I'm on my phone now and direct links are a pita, but look in the "what about the moderates?" thread, where I've linked quite a few examples.

(January 7, 2015 at 8:40 pm)100 Years of Solitude Wrote: This is what happens when religious people really follow the sayings of the so called Holy Books. Both the Bible and the Quran are filled with immmorality, barbaric stories of murder ordered by God, slavery, women and children beating and so on.
Religions must be abolished.

Bullshit, there is no such thing as a utopia and to think we can have an all atheist world is just as absurd.

Humans will always make absurd claims and have bad ideas. And there are even atheists I would not trust with power.

The best we can do as a species is to keep it on a leash.

(January 7, 2015 at 8:40 pm)100 Years of Solitude Wrote: This is what happens when religious people really follow the sayings of the so called Holy Books. Both the Bible and the Quran are filled with immmorality, barbaric stories of murder ordered by God, slavery, women and children beating and so on.
Religions must be abolished.

So we counter religious intolerance with atheist intolerance? I don't think so.