Muslims try to hide the true face of Islam and Muhammad by using blasphemy law, censorship, intimidation, death-threats and even murder. But the internet is proving their efforts futile: the mask of Islam and Muhammad are slowly but surely being exposed, potentially spelling the eventual death of Islam.

A Muslim author’s view on Blasphemy Law: In the February 2011 edition of the Bangalore-based monthly, Islamic Voice, appeared a very illuminating article, “Is blasphemy a capital crime in Islam?” by A Faizur Rahman. At the outset, the author says that if any one used derogatory words against Prophet Muhammad or insulted him, he used to advise his followers to adopt an attitude of forgiveness and forbearance; but today "Muslim extremism and Islamophobia now enjoy a symbiotic relationship feeding on each other’s fanaticism." Then to repudiate the assassination of Pakistani politician Salman Taseer, he says:

“Salman was killed, as confessed by his murderous bodyguard, for being a staunch opponent of the blasphemy law of Pakistan and seeking Presidential pardon for Aasia Bibi, the Christian woman who was recently awarded the death penalty under section 295-C of the Pakistani Penal Code for allegedly abusing Prophet Muhammad (pbuh).”

The author admits that use of derogatory language against Prophet Muhammad or any other Prophet is considered a great sin in Islam and worthy of death sentence. But his complaint was that the court pronounced the death sentence against Aasia Bibi in a hurry before the charges were incontrovertibly proven. It may be recalled that Lahore High Court judge Arif Iqbal Bhatti was shot dead by extremists in 1997 for acquitting two Christians of blasphemy charges. So, punishment for Aasia Bibi, a Christian, for blasphemy charges understandable. It is death, either be a judicial execution or extrajudicial murder by fanatics.

Does Islam support harsh punishment for blasphemy? The stance of the Quran and Prophet Muhammad on blasphemy is important in the context of the Penal Code for blasphemy in Pakistan (Section 295-C). There are some verses in the Quran, such as 6:68-59, 25:41, 38:4-5, 3:159), in which Allah urges Muhammad to exercise patience and forbearance at the critics of His revelations and mockers of the Prophet. Mr. Rahman also cited a few ahadith to show the Prophet's kindness toward his opponents. For example,

1. “Once a man demanded Muhammad’s debts from him in such a rude manner that his companions wanted to beat him up. But the Prophet said, “Leave him, for he (the creditor) has the right to demand it (harshly).” (Sahih Bukhari).
2. In one occasion, a Jew who was opposed to the Prophet cursed him saying As-saamu-alalikum, (death be upon you) and his wife Ayesha responded with As-saamu ‘alaikum wal-laa’na (death and Allah’s curse be upon you too). Muhammad expressed his strong displeasure saying, “Be gentle and calm, Ayesha.” And when one of his companions sought permission to harm the Jew, the Prophet silenced him with an emphatic “No” (Sahih Bukhari).

Since the above-mentioned verses of the Koran and the ahadith show that neither Allah nor Muhammad was in favour of harsh punishments to those, who used derogatory words against Prophet Muhammad or Allah's revelation, Mr. Rahman argues that section 295 C of Pakistan’s Blasphemy Law is not supported by the Koran and Sunnah. And he is astonished to see the religious frenzy, emotionalism and maddening perversity of the Pakistani extremists in this regard to the extent that one such fanatic has even announced an award of $6,000 to anyone who kills Aasia Bibi if the higher courts acquit her.

“It is precisely this kind of fiendish attitude that fuels Islamophobia across the globe”, says Faizur Rahman, adding:

Such is the sway of these preachers that Muslims in large numbers are falling prey to their manipulative agenda and have started to exhibit a supremacist attitude that looks down upon those who are reluctant to get initiated into their kind of Puritanism”. ...“The only way to neutralise the fanatics is for the moderate majority of the Muslims to morally and financially support the progressive scholars and help them intellectually counter religious chauvinism through the rational teachings of the Quran as done by the Prophet himself.”

Against above Quranic and hadith reference, Mr. Rahman ignored more explicit examples to the contrary, namely Muhammad's assassination of the poetess Asma and two other poets Kab bin Asraf and Abu Afak of Medina for writing poems criticizing his deeds.

Blasphemy law stifles freedom of expression: Salman Rushdie was sentenced to death for blasphemy by the Iranian leader Ayatollah Khomeini for Rushdie's derogatory depiction of Muhammad in his novel The Satanic Verses, and an Iranian businessman offered a $3 million reward to anyone for carrying out the sentence. Despite Khomeini death, the fatwa remains a permanent threat to Rushdie's life. The death-threat saga to Rushdie extended beyond the person of Rushdie: Professor Hitoshi Igarashi of the University of Tsukuba Ibaraki, the Japanese translator of his novel, was murdered in 1991; its Italian translator was beaten and stabbed in Milan; the novel's Norwegian publisher William Nygaard was shot in 1993; Aziz Nesin, a well-known Turkish satirist, was murdered in the hotel in Sivas, where he had invited people to listen to a speech based on some parts of the book.

Bangladeshi author Taslima Nasrin is another victim of blaspheming the Quran and Muhammad. In May 1994, a death-fatwa was issued against her for saying "…the Koran should be revised thoroughly". She was also under fire for her 1993 book Lajja (Shame).

In Pakistan, Ghulam Akbar, a Shi'a Muslim, was convicted of uttering derogatory remarks against Muhammad in 1998, and was sentenced to death; in August 2000, a Lahore court sentenced Abdul Hasnain Muhammad Yusuf Ali to death and 35 years' imprisonment for "defiling the name of Muhammad".

In 2001, prior to 9/11, American magazine Time printed an illustration of Muhammad along with the Archangel Gabriel waiting for a message from God. The magazine apologized for printing the illustration after widespread protests in Kashmir.

In June 2002, Iranian academic Hashem Aghajari gave a speech and asked Muslims to refrain from blindly following their clergy. He was sentenced to death for "blasphemy against Muhammad" in November 2002.

To assuage Muslims' opposition to the holding of Miss World pageant in Nigeria, This Day newspaper published an article, suggesting that had Muhammad been alive, he would have chosen one of the contestants as his bride -- based on a hadith, in which Ayesha said: Muhammad liked three things, good food, good perfume and women. The commentary sparked deadly riots across Nigeria that claimed over 200 lives.

Dutch film maker Theo van Gogh and Ayaan Hirsi Ali created the 10-minute film Submission in 2004 to highlight the mistreatment of, and violence against, women in Islamic societies. Both van Gogh and Hirsi Ali received death-threats after its release. On November 2, 2004, Van Gogh was stabbed and shot dead by a Muslim fanatic Mohammed Bouyeri in Amsterdam. Interested readers may see Blasphemy Law and Free Speech (Wikipedia Free Enclycopedia) for many similar stories.

Can Blasphemy Law hide the true face of Muhammad? Muslims use blasphemy law, threats and violence etc. to hide the truth about Islam and its prophet forever, but it is proving a futile exercise in the age of Internet, which has emerged as a useful and hard-to-suppress medium for exposing the truth about Muhammad and his evil creed Islam.

Numerous Websites have propped up in the Internet to expose the nature of the Quran and Prophet Muhammad, which is causing a deluge amongst Muslims to leave the cult of Islam. There are numerous Muslim apostates in the Internet -- social networking sites and blogs -- engaged in revealing the true face of Islam. A group of Bangladeshi apostates in the U.K. issued a statement explaining the reason why they have abandoned Islam, which was aired by the BBC. The statement read:

“One who claims to be a messenger of God is expected to live a saintly life. He must not be given to lust, he must not be a sexual pervert, and he must not be a rapist, a highway robber, a war criminal, a mass murderer or an assassin. One who claims to be a messenger of God must have a superior character. He must stand above the vices of the people of his time. Yet Muhammad’s life is that of a gangster godfather. He raided merchant caravans, looted innocent people, massacred entire male populations and enslaved the women and children. He raped the women captured in war after killing their husbands and told his followers that it is okay to have sex with their captives (Quran 33:50). He assassinated those who criticized him and executed them when he came to power and became de facto despot of Arabia. Muhammad was bereft of human compassion. He was an obsessed man with his dreams of grandiosity and could not forgive those who stood in his way.”

Recently, Dutch MP Geert Wilders, the Chairman of the Dutch Freedom Party and the maker of the short film FITNA, has written an article "Time To Unmask Muhammad", in which he cited many unflattering truths about Muhammad’s life and deeds.

Conclusion: The advent of the Internet has become a serious threat to unmask the true face of Islam and its originator Muhammad. It has enabled critics to overcome the taboo of telling the truth about Islam and Muhammad. As a result, gradually more and more people, both Muslims and non-Muslims, are comprehending the true face of Islam. This is spoiling the well-guarded of the image of Muhammad, which will weaken the central doctrine of the Islamic faith, the Kalema Taib, that says: La Ilaha Illallah, Mohammadur Rasulullah (Allah is the only God to be worshipped and Muhammad is the messenger of Allah). And this may spell the death for Islam. For this reason, more and more Islamic countries are blocking many Websites that are striving to expose the true face Islam and its founder.

References:

Watch these videos:

1. Blasphemy Of Muhammad PBUH Is The Insult Of Islam
2. 25 Blasphemous Images - Muhammad
3. Asia Bibi, The Result of Blasphemy of Muhammad (PBUH)
4. Asia Bibi (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e8ai9_H7FvI&feature=related)
5. Asia Bibi blasphemy case - Pakistani Islam and Peace (English subtitles)
6. Blasphemous Law In Pakistan, 01
7. Blasphemous Law in Pakistan, 02