Note: This post highlights the fact that Islam is far from monolithic and while there are those who are issuing Fatwas that result in the murder of Governor Taseer, there are also those who have huge problems with such hideous and medieval savagery. This highlights the heterogeneity within Islam which is composed of numerous sects and viewpoints that differ widely among themselves. We at LUBP believe in a secular society which operates under the rule of law; where laws are made by elected parliaments and religion is not the business of the State!

Shaykh-ul-Islam Hazrat Mufti Muhammad Idris Usmani of Jamia Islamia has issued the following fatwa about the killer of Governor Punjab (Pakistan) Salman Taseer and about those who are praising and justifying his murder.

Question:

What do the Ulema say about the murder of Governor of Punjab (Pakistan) Salman Taseer who was killed by his own security guard. The guard claimed that he killed Salman Taseer because he was blasphemous to the Prophet (peace by upon him). However, there is no evidence of Salman Taseer’s blasphemy to the Prophet (pbuh). What do the Ulema say about many people who are praising Salman Taseer’s killer?

Answer:

“In the Name of the Merciful and Compassionate Allah, Dar al-Fatwa. Praise be to Allah, the Lord of the Universe; blessings and peace be upon our Master Muhammad, the Apostle of Allah, and upon his Family, his Companions, his Followers and those who have found the way through him.

I have carefully read the whole issue and also read various news reports and articles related to this (issue). I have also spoken to the jayyad ulema (eminent scholars) in Pakistan and India.

In the light of the available evidence, I state the following:

1. Malik Mumtaz Qadri has committed gunah-e-azeem (great sin) by killing an innocent soul. By taking law into his own hand, by killing an innocent man, and by bringing disgrace to the name of Islam, Malik Mumtaz Qadri has created fasad fil arz (mischief on earth) and committed tauheen-e-risalat (blasphemy to the Prophet). Same applies to those who are creating further mischief (fasad) by praising or justifying this heinous crime in the name of Islam. The killer of Salman Taseer is a real blasphemer to Islam and the holy Prophet (peace be upon him).

2. Those individuals and groups including the ignorant ulema, misguided journalists, politicians, lawyers wa deegar (etc), who are celebrating or justifying in any manner this heinous crime must be treated as accomplice in this crime. Those who endorsed a fatwa of Salman Taseer’s murder too must be treated as mufsid fil arz and must be punished according to the Shariah.

3. While the state of Pakistan will pursue a legal case against the killer and his abettors according to their national laws, the following verses from the Quran clearly specify the punishment for Malik Mumtaz Qadri and his supporters and cheerers.

This is a case of fasad fil arz. The perpetrators of such acts should be punished as provided in Sura Maida of the Quran (Ayah 32 and 33).

32. We ordained for the Children of Israel that if anyone slew a person―unless it be for murder or for spreading mischief in the land― it would be as if he slew the whole people: and if anyone saved a life it would be as if he saved the life of the whole people. Then although there came to them Our Messengers with clear Signs, yet even after that many of them continued to commit excesses in the land.

33. The punishment of those who wage war against Allah and His Messenger, and strive with might and main for mischief through the land is: execution, or crucifixion or the cutting off of hands and feet from opposite sides, or exile from the land: that is their disgrace in this world, and a heavy punishment is theirs in the Hereafter.

According to Islamic Shariah, Malik Mumtaz Qadri, any one supporting or praising his act must be executed by law or crucified or their hands and feet cut off from opposite side. Exile is not needed in the present case as the State can exercise Shariah authority on its citizens and subjects.

Those who are praising a killer and a mufsid want to go to Hell of their own accord.

For others, we can only pray for their path of righteousness.

In the light of religious commands, in the light of religious rules known to us, I think that these people should renew their faith and renew their marriages. But no one can remove anyone’s obstinacy. I pray to Allah to enable all Muslims, through His Prophet, pbuh, to be steadfast to His religion, Islam. Ameen!

Muhammad Idris , Mufti, Darul Ifta, Jamia Islamia
29 Muharram-ul-Haram 1432 AH

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List of mufsideen fil arz

Malik Mumtaz Qadri
Meher Bokhari
Ansar Abbasi
Ameer Jamat-e-Islami in Sindh Asadullah Bhutto
Maulana Shah Turabul Haq Qadri
Munawar Hassan
Muhammad Ahmed Ludhianvi
Prof Mazhar Saeed Shah Kazmi
Allama Syed Riaz Hussain Shah
Allama Zamir Sajid
Hajji Mohammad Tayyab
Senior Sunni Tehrik leader Shahid Ghauri
Jamaate Islami leader Farid Paracha
Jamia Binoria chief Mufti Naeem
Maulana Asad Thanvi
Jamiat Ulemae Pakistan (JUP) central executive committee member Maulana Shabbir
Pir Khalid Sultan
Pir Ghulam Siddiq Naqshbandi
Allama Syed Khizr Hussain Shah
Alhaj Amjad Chishti
Allama Ghulam Sarawar Hazarvi
Allama Syed Shamsuddin Bokhari
Pir Syed Ashiq Ali Shah Jilani
Mufti Muhammad Iqbal Chishti
Allama Fazal Jamil Rizvi
Agha Muhammad Ibrahim Naqshbandi Mujaddidi
Maulana Muhammad Riaz Qadri
Maulana Gulzar Naeemi
Allama Syed Ghulam Yaseen Shah
JUP President Abdul Khair Mohammad Zubair
All leaders of the Tahaffuz-e-Namoos-e-Risalat Mahaz (TNRM)
Sunni Tehrik Lahore President Mujahid Abdul Rasool
500 clerics and scholars from the group Jamat Ahle Sunnat (Barelvi)
200 lawyers who cheered up the killer
Other journalists, scholars and media persons who justified the killing

Note: The comments section is temporarily disabled because of some filthy remarks by the supporters and apologists of the murderer. May Allah put them to the right path. Amen.

Related article (an updated list of the supporters of Taseer’s murder):

Ban the supporters of Taseer’s murder: An appeal to international organizations and governments

Note: An LUBP author received this Fatwa via email from a reader in India. We have decided to treat other details in full confidence to maintain privacy and security.

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