More than two months before, the news which was much dispersed and given extraordinary coverage on the international media was about a blasphemous comment of a teenager and his punishment by a Sharia (religious) court. In the rebel held city, Aleppo of Syria, a 14 year old boy by name of Muhammad Qata used to sell thick and sweet coffee. The war had not let him to go to school and circumstances forced him to be a bread-winner of his family. One day, when he was asked by someone for a free cup of coffee, he cut a joke and said, ‘not even if the prophet himself returns’. These remarks were overheard by three men and soon he was caught on account of blasphemy. He was taken to the Sharia court and was sentenced to death. In front of a terrified crowd, he was shot dead.
His mother remembers him as a dutiful and happy son who tried to keep himself happy even in the worsening conditions. He liked to cut jokes with friends and like the boys of his age, was not much careful in this regard. He was not mature enough to control the words that at once slipped out of his mouth.
This sad incident was given too much coverage, showing his mother grieving for his lost son. It also opened a row of discussion about such incidents. I closely read and followed the comments being given by thousands of people on websites of different news channels and also on social networking websites. As expected, majority of these comments were anti-Islam or anti-religion and did not carry much logical or rational weight. But there were present some comments that were worth pondering. A comment was given that, ‘If we believe that testimony of a child is not acceptable due to his immaturity, how much he should be blamed for a comment that he uttered due to his sheer innocence or childish heedlessness.’ Please read another comment in this regard, ‘The decision was taken by the court in haste and without fulfilling all the requirements of fair decision-making. Isn’t it a cruelty that our incompetence became a reason to shoot down a happy child in such a hurry?’, and the last one, ‘Who had given them the authority to those who carried out this punishment and what is the criterion for them to have any such authority?’ Interesting enough, these three comments were given by Muslims and not the Non-Muslims that we should ignore them for being bigotry and prejudiced.
One of the frightening scenes that not only defamed the government of Taliban but also the Islamic jurisprudence was the shooting of ladies in front of public on charges of adultery or other crimes. Some of the reasonable objections in this regard were, ‘Were all the requirements made compulsory by Islamic law were met or not?’, ‘Those who carried out such punishments were really pious enough to do so as is required by the Islamic laws?’ ‘The prophet (SAWS) and his followers were very conscious about the feelings of others and also took care of their acts in light of logic and understanding. Can such acts be supported especially when they do more harm than the good for the name and reputation of Islam and Taliban?’
The pictures that revolved in international media were also frightening. There were the pictures of the boy who was shot on his neck and face and I could not make it why such a cruel way of shooting was adopted that terrorized all who saw the boy or his picture. Then there were the pictures of his grieving mother and father and especially the mother who was shown crying in streets of Aleppo for the irreplaceable loss. But most importantly, the way the members of Sharia court were portrayed were really stunning. A man was shown who looked very angry and arrogant and he was the judge who had immediately ordered the killing of the boy. Then there were those who were carrying the boy and their faces also showed a nasty picture of terror and carelessness. And it all ended with the pictures of the boy who was lying in the tub of his own blood and his dead body was left on the ground.
What I am trying to show would be better shown by this paragraph taken from a report by BBC:
They dragged him to a car and took him away. Half-an-hour later, a badly beaten Mohammed was dumped back in the road by his cart.
The men, showing no fear that anyone would question what they were doing, summoned a crowd with shouts of "Oh People of Aleppo. Oh people of Shaar." Their bellows alerted Mohammed's mother.
Recalling what happened next, she buries her face in her hands and weeps.
"One of them shouted: 'Whoever insults the Prophet will be killed according to Sharia'," she told me.
"I ran down barefoot to the streets. I heard the first shot. I fell to the ground when I got there.
"One of them shot him again and kicked him. He shot him for a third time and stamped on him.
"I said: 'Why are you killing him? He's still a child!' The man shouted: 'He is not a Muslim - leave!'"
You should try to analyze the impact of words underlined and you end with a clear conclusion. Words like ‘dragged, shout, beat, dump, stamp, not a Muslim’ and others show how much the person is ignorant, misbehaving, rude, arrogant and most importantly not in the position (both knowledge and personality wise) to carry out any such thing. These need to be pondered and this time, don’t ignore them by labeling them as a conspiracy of West or Non-Muslims.
The flaw in character is further made clear by these lines given in the same report,
The four looked like jihadis but stopped to buy a packet of sunflower seeds. People explained that the truly pious would not eat sunflower seeds because they take so long to shell - and the Prophet said not to waste time.
Those who couldn’t follow the path of Prophet on such a petty thing don’t deserve to put their hands on more sensitive issues that require greater level of knowledge, pithy and wisdom.
Let’s revisit the same scenario with some more questions, statements or relevant conditions, which may be,
‘As adult Muslims, don’t we face the attack of wrong and even infidel thoughts in our minds and it was the case with the exalted companions of Holy Prophet (SAWS) as well and such thoughts were pardoned in Quran so why not that immature child was considered from this viewpoint?’
‘Did the child have such intention to utter such words? Why not anyone wise and knowledgeable among them try to get a better explanation of his act from the boy after he committed this mistake?’
‘Is our religion limited to shouting, hatred and emotionality only and can’t we base it on more mature behaviors and understanding?’
Majority of the battles fought in the life of Holy Prophet (SAWS) were for self-defense but when Islam grew strong, Muslims started Jihad in different corners of the world. It was not a temporary process rather it was a long process stretched for many years until Islam spread to the distant places of the world and emerged as a strong and a successful government of its time and for many centuries to follow but we hear very less about such careless incidents. The reason behind it was the strong character of the companions of Holy Prophet (SAWS). There are innumerable stories that Muslims of that time earned in millions but they used to donate most part of them in charities and helping the others and always tried to live simple lives. It was the strength of their character that spoke but not their words of tongue. With such a strong character, one can easily judge others as he has already proved himself worthy of it but at present, we see the lack of character and knowledge. In such circumstances, question emerges as how much they should have authority to do the accountability of others especially when their own personalities are incomplete? Hope that we will ponder upon the answer of this question by sidelining our baseless and harmful religious sentimentalism.