This program explains in the light of Quran and Sunnah how did Prophet Mohammad respond to mockery of opponents against Islam.

1. MOCKING PROPHET
AND
MUSLIM RESPONSE

2. QURAN’S GUIDANCE
You shall certainly be tried and tested in your
possessions and in your personal selves; and ye shall
certainly hear much that will grieve you from those
who received the Book before you and from those
who worship many gods. But if you persevere
patiently and guard against evil then that will be a
determining factor in all affairs. ALI IMRAN, 3:186

3. Insulting Video
• Recently an online video by the name “Innocence
of Muslims” is being circulated by anti-Muslim
hate groups that depicts the Prophet Muhammad
(peace be upon him) in a very profane manner
• As Muslims, we love our Prophet (peace be upon
him) dearly and it is very hurtful to us all.
• In the Holy Quran, Allah (may He be glorified and
exalted) has praised the Prophet (peace be upon
him) as on the highest status of morality.
• No mocking video or caricature could impact his
esteemed status in our hearts and the world.

4. Why do the hate mongers resent the
Prophet Muhammad (SAW)
• He called people to believe in the Oneness of God
(Tawheed) and deny all other false deities and they do not
believe that God is One.
• They resent him because he venerated Allah and declared
Him to be far above the fabrications made against Him.
• He called them to virtue and to block all the means that
lead to immorality, but they stand for moral decline.
• They want to indulge in the swamp of evil whims and
desires, and resent any teachings contrary to that.
• They resent him because he is the Messenger of Allah!
Allaah, may He be exalted, is the One Who chose him from
Arabia above all mankind to convey His message to whole
humanity and receive His revelation

5. Why do we love Prophet (SAW)?
• 1- It is part of Faith.
• Faith is what the hearts believe
• Believe in our hearts that he is the final Messenger of
Allah SWT.
• Believe in our hearts that he is the best example to
follow
• What the tongues says
• Send Salaams to him
• Honor him
• Say words of respect
• Speak about him with love
• Defend who makes mockery of him

6. Love of the Prophet
• What the limbs establish.
• Follow his Sunnah
• Read his Seerah
Defend his honor, integrity
In a Hadith Prophet (SAW) said:
"
None of you becomes a believer until I am dearer
to him than his children, his parents and all
mankind."

7. 2-His example is the best for mankind
• Indeed in the Messenger of Allah (Muhammad
SAW) you have a good example to follow for him
who hopes in (the Meeting with) Allah and the
Last Day and remembers Allah much.
• His example is the best with regards to:
• Selflessness
• Sincerity
• Honesty and truthfulness

8. Prophet presented best example in
• Simplicity
• Generosity
• Nobility
• Forethought
• Love for humanity
• As a commander
• As a mercy to all

9. Prophet exhibited best model in
• His role as a family man
• Care and concern for orphans
• Care for needy, wayfarer, the indigent the slaves and the
downtrodden
• Kindness to animals
• Care for the environment
• He brought equality to human beings
• Gave women dignity and honorable status
• He taught us how to live life in this world and how to utilize it for
The Hereafter.
• We love him for the changes he has brought about in our lives and
has given us a clear path to our destination
• We love him for his struggles on the path of righteousness

10. 3-Mission he accomplished is
worthwhile for our love:
• Indeed Allah conferred a great favor on the
believers when He sent among them a
Messenger (Muhammad SAW) from among
themselves
• reciting unto them His Verses (the Qur’an), and
• purifying them (from sins by following him), and

11. Mission of the Prophet
• Instructing them (in) the Book (the Qur'an)
and
• Al Hikmah [the wisdom and the Sunnah of the
Prophet SAW etc.)], while before that they had
been in manifest error.
• So without this guidance we would have been
in manifest error, worshipping other than the
One True God; Allah (SWT).

12. 4-Following the Sunnah of Prophet
(SAW) leads to Paradise
• Say (O Muhammad SAW to mankind): "If you (really) love
Allah then follow me, Allah will love you and forgive you of
your sins. And Allah is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful."
• And whosoever obeys Allah and His Messenger (SAW) he
has indeed achieved a great achievement(i.e. he will be
saved from the Hell-fire and made to enter Paradise)
• And obey Allah and the Messenger (Muhammad SAW) that
you may obtain mercy

13. Violent reaction is never justified
• Muslims expressed their condemnation of this
mocking video by speaking and writing against it
and by peaceful demonstrations.
• As horrific and offensive as the video might be,
nothing justifies the sort of violent acts reported
in some Muslim lands.
• Prophet Mohammad (S) himself was insulted and
persecuted in his life by his opponents, but he did
not respond with violence. Rather, he responded
with forgiveness.

14. Mockery Was Committed Against all
Prophets of God
Ah! alas for (My) servants! There comes not an apostle
to them but they mock Him Yasin, 36:30
That they rejected faith: that they uttered against
Mary a grave false charge, Nisa,4:156
Jews during the time of Jesus(as) committed a grave
blasphemy by declaring Mary(ra) to be unchaste and alleging
that Jesus(as) was a child of questionable birth.

15. Prophet Mohammad was mocked by
his opponents
• The Holy Qur’an points out that his opponents
claimed he was
• “A madman” (Ch.15:V.7)
• “There is madness in him” (Ch.23:V.71).
• “A victim of deception” (Ch.17:V.48)
• A “poet” and “a fabricator” (Ch.16:V.102).

16. Mockery of Quran
• They called its instructions as “mere stories of the
ancients” (Ch.16:V.25).
• They tore the Qur’an into pieces
The Unbelievers say: "Listen not to this Qur'an but talk
at random in the midst of its (reading) that ye may gain
the upper hand! (Fussilat,41:26)
• They urged people not to listen to it
• They encouraged others to make noise when it was
being recited.

17. Prophet was instructed not to retaliate
…follow not the disbelievers and hypocrites, and
leave alone their annoyance, and put thy trust in
Allah; for Allah is sufficient as a Guardian (33:49)
• when you hear the Signs of Allah being denied
and mocked at, sit not with them until they
engage in a talk other than that; for in that case
you would be like them… (4:141).

18. Prophet Mohammad responded with
forgiveness and mercy
• Abdullah bin Ubayy in the company of others,
called himself ‘the most exalted’ and referred
to the Holy Prophet(saw) as ‘most mean’
(Munafiqoon,63:9).
• However, Abdullah bin Ubayy was not given
any punishment whatsoever and he continued
to live peacefully in Medina until he died a
natural death. In fact, the Holy Prophet(saw)
himself led his funeral prayer.

19. Incidence of False Accusation (IFK)
against Aisha (RA)
• Once there were four men who spread a false
accusation of immoral conduct against the Holy
Prophet’s wife Aisha (RA).
• Their allegation was ultimately proven to be
false.
• One of them, called Mistah, who was poor, used
to receive financial assistance from Aisha’s father,
Abu Bakr(RA).
• After this incident, Abu Bakr swore never again to
help Mistah.

20. Forgiveness for the slanderers
Let not those among you who are endued with grace and
amplitude of means resolve by oath against helping their
kinsmen those in want and those who have left their homes
in Allah's cause: let them forgive and overlook: do you not
wish that Allah should forgive you? For Allah is Oft-Forgiving
Most Merciful. (Noor,24:22)
Hearing this, Abu Bakr exclaimed:
“Indeed, I certainly love that God should forgive me.”
He then resumed providing assistance to Mistah, as before

21. Suhail bin Amr
• Suhail bin Amr was a spokesman and skilled orator of
the Quraish tribe. He used to employ his oratory in
making speeches against the Holy Prophet.
• He was captured by the Muslims at the battle of Badr
and brought before the Holy Prophet.
• Umar ibn al-Khattab suggested “O Prophet of God, let
me pull out Suhail’s front teeth so that he would never
be able to exercise his oratory against you.”
• “Certainly not. I will not mutilate anyone, for God
would mutilate me even though I am His Prophet.”
• Prophet forgave him and latter he entered the fold of
Islam
• Then he used his oratory in supporting Islam

22. Pardoning opponents at the fall of
Makkah
• When Makkah fell to the Holy Prophet(saw). He
pardoned all those who had dismissed him by
calling him a sorcerer, madman, or liar.
• The Holy Prophet(saw) also forgave:
• Abu Sufyan, the Makkan leader who led the most
wars against him
• Wahshi, who had killed the Holy Prophet’s(saw)
own uncle, Hamzah(ra)
• Hind, the wife of Abu Sufyan, who had torn out
Hamza’s(ra) liver and chewed it out of spite

23. He forgave his worst enemies
• He also pardoned Habbar, who speared and
the camel that was carrying the Holy
Prophet’s(saw) daughter, Zainab(ra), from
Makkah to Madinah fell.
• As a result, Zainab(ra), who was pregnant at
the time, miscarried and eventually passed
away. And yet the Holy Prophet(saw) forgave
him.

24. Mockery is Tantamount to Ignorance
“Remember when Moses said to his people, 'God
commands you to sacrifice a cow', they said, 'are you
making fun of us?' He answered, 'God forbid that I
should be so ignorant'” [2:67]
• Allah revealed to Moses that in order to solve a murder your
people have to slaughter a cow.
• Of course, when Moses told his people of God's command,
they first thought that Moses was mocking them.
• Moses equated mockery to ignorance.
• So a learned man (or woman) should never mock anyone or
anything under any circumstance

25. Ignore the Ignorant
Be tolerant, command what's right, pay no attention to foolish
people” [7:199]
• The Qur'an tells us to dismiss the people of ignorance and not to give
a lot of attention to them.
• It asks us to not engage with them in any conversation, except
perhaps to safeguard ourselves from greater harm
“The Servants of the Lord of Mercy are those who walk humbly
on Earth, and who, when the foolish address them, reply
'Peace'” [25:63]

26. Engage with the people of reason
“Call people to the way of your Lord with wisdom and
good teaching, and argue with them in the most
courteous way” [16:125]
• Islam encourages debate and the exchanging
arguments.
• But people who mock a religious symbol are not
interested in debate or logical arguments.
• It is the lack of logical arguments that makes them
resort to mockery in the first place

27. God will take care of those who mock
the Prophet
95 For sufficient are We unto thee against those who scoff
2016
96 Those who adopt with Allah another god: but soon will
they come to know.
97 We do indeed know how thy heart is distressed at what
they say. 2017
98 But celebrate the praises of thy Lord and be of those who
prostrate themselves in adoration.
99 And serve thy Lord until there come unto thee the Hour
that is Certain ( Hijr,16:95-99)

28. A Call to Respect the Sanctity of Faith
Symbols
Revile not ye those whom they call upon besides Allah lest they out of
spite revile Allah in their ignorance. Thus have We made alluring to
each people its own doings. In the end will they return to their Lord
and We shall then tell them the truth of all that they did. (AL Anaam,
6:108
We cannot mock, insult, or curse idols, idolaters, or idol-worship.
There are always consequences to our actions.
Just like we hold our religious symbols very dear to our hearts and we consider them
holy or untouchable, people of other faiths will feel the same towards their religious
symbols
Therefore, we should have mutual respect of religious symbols in order to live
together in a civilized manner. At the least, we should respectfully disagree

29. • The freedom to speak , without censure, is a
fundamental human right that should be
guaranteed to citizens of every just state.
• While freedom of speech is necessary for the
progress and development of a society, this
freedom, like all other freedoms, is not limitless.
• Both religious sensitivities and freedom of speech
are important and need to be protected.

30. Freedom of
Speech
Peaceful
World
Religious
sensitivities

31. Religious sensitivities Vs freedom of
speech
• There is no conflict if both operate within their
limits and do not trespass into each other’s
domain
• The one major restriction to freedom of
expression in Islam is on speech towards
someone’s beliefs that may be hurtful.
• Allah likes not the uttering of unseemly speech in
public, except on the part of one who is being
wronged…. (Ch.4:V.149)

32. Good comes out of bad situation
• Consider it not a bad thing for you. Nay, it is
good for you. Unto every man among them
will be paid that which he had earned of the
sin, and as for him among them who had the
greater share therein, his will be a great
torment” (Noor,24:11)

33. Some of the good things that have
resulted from this shameful mockery
• 1-What was concealed in the hearts of these
bigots , such as resentment and hatred of the
Muslims, has been made known, even though
they pretend most of the time to be peaceful.
• They only desire your ruin: rank hatred has
already appeared from their mouths; what their
hearts conceal is far worse. We have made plain
to you the Signs if ye have wisdom[3:118]

34. 2-Exposure of the double standards
• Freedom of opinion should stop before
violating the sanctity of others and
transgressing against them.
• We all remember what happened a few years
ago when one government decided to destroy
the idols in their country;
• There was a global outcry against it
• Why did not they regard this also as freedom
of opinion?

35. 3-Reviving faith and love of the
Prophet in Muslims hearts
• We have seen the Muslims’ response (except
for the deplorable violence by few) which is
indicative of deeply-rooted faith in their
hearts and the extent of their love for the
Prophet(SAW)
• This was seen also amongst those who neglect
some religious duties
• They all stood up to defend the honor of our
noble Messenger (SAW)

36. 4-Uniting the Muslims
• We have seen – praise be to Allah –
solidarity among the Muslims who
have adopted the same stance
despite the differences in their
countries and languages.

37. 5- Invitation to know Islam and the
truth about Prophet (SAW)
• Opportunities opened to call people to Islam
and to show them the true image of this
religion.
• We have seen Muslims racing to publish
articles in papers and books so that the
misconceptions are removed and they may
see the truth clearly
• Interfaith dialogues were carried out to
explain the noble life and message of Prophet
(SAW)

38. Why there is worldwide reaction by
Muslims to insulting material?
• It is hard for Islamophobe to understand the love
and the kind of reverence that Muslims have for their
prophet.
• This phenomenon is unique and unparalleled in the
religious cultures of the world.
• Hate mongers have found out this soft spot and are
constantly at work to hit at it to draw out the ever so
predictable response.
• They know that each such response causes a self-
inflicted wound, debilitating Muslims
• It does not mean we should let the attacks on Islam
pass without any action on our part

39. Challenges in Future
• In these days of internet, Google and the You
tube, every Islamophobe guy can become an
author or a moviemaker.
• There is no censure and the public has no
protection against incitement.
• The Muslim sensitivities are subject to violation
every minute of the day,
• Hate mongers have found out what upsets us
most so that they can always keep us agitated
and away from any kind of normalcy.
• We are asking the governments to censure such
efforts, which is a waste of time.

40. What should be Muslim Response?
• A- PROACTIVE STEPS:
• Do everything possible to deny hate mongers publicity.
• Bring in laws in the Muslim countries to restrict the
media from printing and broadcasting news about anti-
Islam inflammatory material.
• Develop software to block any anti-Islam uploads.
• Educating the public is an important and lengthy
process.
• We can lean upon the imams and “the scholars” to
educate the masses towards peaceful response to
such provocations
• We need to prevent the politicians in Muslim lands
from exploiting such events for electoral gains

41. B- Active Plan
• The energy stored in the cumulative anger
could be of enormous benefit if harnessed
and controlled.
• We need better planning, better leaders and
better organizations than we have today.
• We must denounce blasphemy forcefully, by
sending letters and articles, or making phone
calls, to the government officials, foreign
affairs departments and newspapers

42. Plan of Action
• We should ask that the perpetrators of such
actions be brought to justice
• We should get time on radio and television
programs to defend the Prophet (SAW), which
should be hosted by people of ability and well-
founded knowledge, who know how to speak
convincingly.
• We should write articles to be published in
magazines, newspapers and web sites in various
languages

43. Plan of Action
• We should resist this malicious attack against
Islam and its Prophet; by highlighting the beauty
of Islam and the fact that it is in accordance with
sound reasoning, and responding to the
opponents’ deceptive arguments
• We should adhere to the Sunnah and follow the
guidance of the Prophet (SAW)in all things, and
be patient in doing so.
• “But if you remain patient and become Al-
Muttaqoon (the pious), not the least harm will
their cunning do to you” *Aal ‘Imraan 3:120]

44. Plan of Action
• We should strive to call the people, with
compassion to Islam, the way to success and
salvation.
• We should make dua to Allah to cause His
religion to prevail and to support His servants
• “And Allah has full power and control over His
Affairs, but most of men know not”
Yusuf,12:21