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Thank you for submitting a question to imam-us.org, your answer can been seen below. Please do not reply directly to this message as your email will not be read. If you have a follow-up or new question, please complete a new request using our submit a question form. Thank you!Question:What is the punishment for blasphemy according to Ayatullah Sistani?Answer:Alaykum AssalamDuring the time of the twelfth Imam's occultation (ghaiba), Muslims are not authorized to practice any form of punishment against disbelievers, instead, their duty is to call people to the way of God the Exalted through wisdom, good advice, and objective and solid arguments.

Read the Reddit comments to understand what the thread was about, since the post has since been deleted. ....................................................................................... I'm so tired of the utterly nonsensical and VERY COMMON Sunni notion of 'I am happy to seek unity with Shias as long as they don't curse/insult/abuse any Sahaba, and especially NOT Aisha, Abu Bakr, Omar, Uthman. Firstly, any Shia claim regarding the sahabi that happens to go against the Sunni narrative is considered insulting. Secondly, and more importantly, is that the same notion is true for Shias... You are insulting the Ahlul Bayt by not accepting them as divinely appointed leaders of Allah, and infallible individuals, and perfect preservers of the religion of Islam, and a high means of seeking closeness to Allah (intercession). Not only are you insulting revered Shia figures by not following them, you are commiting MAJOR shirk by giving a false attribute to Allah, by saying that Allah has not always appointed an infallible leader on this Earth, and that there currently isn't an infallible leader. Furthermore, the real kicker is that plenty of revered Shia figures, such as Abu Talib (رضي الله عنه), are considered kuffar by Sunnis. Is this not insulting? So, how can we Shias unite with Sunnis based on their own fallacious logic? Shias are the minority, and Sunnis are the majority. It makes Sunnis think that they are Orthodox and that they have to unite with Heterodox for political and humanitarian reasons, and that Shias must make [ridiculous] compromises. Shias are far more receptive to the unity message, because we actually understand Sunni Islam, and can see the commonalities. We understand that we can't make Sunnis compromise on their beliefs. Simply by being the minority within Islam, by nature we Shias already understand Sunni beliefs, whereas Sunnis have a basic strawman understanding of Shia beliefs... which is natural, considering that they are the majority. Anyways, the point of my post is the following: Let's compile a list of revered Shia figures that are not given their proper status by Sunnis, according to Shia Islam... with an explanation given. ...This is to show that we Shias and Sunnis can unite, but we cannot unite upon revered figures and imamah. ...This will also serve as a way of showing Sunnis that this argument of theirs makes no sense. Another important question we may ask is "What about commonly revered figures like Imam Ali (عليه السلام) who is given different status in both sects? Can we unite upon Imam Ali (عليه السلام)?" ...a common Sunni criticism of political unity is that "Ali ibn Abi Talib (رضي الله عنه) is given an improper status in Shia religion because they call upon him... tawassul (intercession) of the 'dead' is Shirk! So there is absolutely no room for unity since we can't even agree on the status of the sahabi" [yes, I am aware that the Imams (عليه السلام) are still alive, but Sunnis don't believe this...] I would love to hear your thoughts. Wassalam. JazakAllah Khair. Fi sabilillah.

MULTAN, Pakistan (AP) — A minority Shiite Muslim was sentenced to death in Pakistan for sharing blasphemous content about Islam on social media, a government prosecutor said. Judge Shabbir Ahmed announced the sentence for 30-year-old Taimoor Raza on Saturday in Bahawalpur in eastern Punjab province, according to Shafiq Qureshi. Raza was arrested last year for allegedly posting derogatory content about Sunni Muslim religious leaders and the wives of the Prophet Mohammed on Facebook. Qureshi said Bahawalpur's counter-terrorism force arrested Raza in April last year following a complaint that he was showing onlookers objectionable material on his cell phone at a bus terminal. He added that Raza had previously posted other blasphemous material on Facebook. Pakistan is a predominantly Sunni Muslim country and the rivalry between Shiite and Sunni Muslims dates back to the seventh century when they had a disagreement who should be the heir to Islam's Prophet Mohammed. Under Pakistan's harsh blasphemy laws, anyone accused of insulting God, Islam or other religious personalities can be sentenced to death. Pakistan last year arrested 15 people, 10 Muslims and five non-Muslims, on blasphemy charges, according to a report issued by the independent rights group Human Rights Commission of Pakistan. Raza’s defence attorney said his client had been charged with two unrelated sections of the law to ensure the maximum penalty. “Initially, it was a case of insulting remarks on sectarian grounds and the offence was 298A, which punishes for derogatory remarks about other religious personalities for up to two years,” said Fida Hussain Rana, the defence counsel. Raza was later charged unde section 295C of the penal code, related to “derogatory acts against prophet Muhammad”, Rana said. Social media represents a new battleground for the Pakistani fight against blasphemy. Authorities have asked Twitter and Facebook to help identify users sharing blasphemous material, and have distributed text messages encouraging Pakistanis to report fellow citizens. Human rights defenders have expressed concern that the country’s blasphemy laws, and the authorities’ zealous application of them, provide a tool for people to carry out personal vendettas, particularly because nobody is ever punished for making false accusations. Interesting fact :Raza was arrested last year after a debate about Islam on Facebook with a man who turned out to be a counter-terrorism agent. He was one among 15 people arrested by the counter-terrorism department last year, accused of blasphemy, according to the HRC, Pakistan. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/jun/11/pakistan-man-sentenced-to-death-for-blasphemy-on-facebook How easy it is for anyone to frame people by doing this. Start a facebook discussion and shias will say what they say about the three caliphs and Ayesha and you can sentence them to death for blasphemy.

09May17 Gubernatorial candidate Purnama, Christian and popularly known as Ahok, was sentenced to two years imprisonment for blasphemy by his comments over on an Ayat in the Quran, Sura Maida(5) :51. According to the news, Purnama's opponents proclaimed this Ayat prohibited Muslims for voting for non-Muslims. Purnama said this Ayat was being mis-used. The news reports say that Purnama's comment on video where he 'warns' people of being "deceived" is the basis of the conviction. The news is not very explanatory. Does anyone have more complete information? Such as, what and how the scholars ruled? Did the scholars rule on the initial use of 5:51 by Purnama's election opponents? Something the news has completely ignored? Thanks.

The Pakistani blasphemy machine came into action with another incident in which singer-turned-tableeghi Junaid Jamshed is involved. But this time, comically and paradoxically, the Sunnis are eating each other over Mother Ayesha's role as Prophet's 'favourite' wife. The image of a sassy teenage girl, a jealous demanding beauty who had the Prophet in thrall to her girlish charms gets validation from the Sunni narrations. What Junaid Jamshed did was give a light-hearted interpretation to what's already in Sunni books. With it comes the hypocrisy of the mullahs. The head of his tableeghi group asked for him to be 'forgiven' for a 'mistake' of this kind, but others who have been put behind bars and even lynched and killed were not given opportunity to put on a sad face and apologise for offending the religion. http://www.ucanews.com/news/islamic-preacher-accused-of-blasphemy-in-pakistan/72520 The offending video: http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x2bc7cs_junaid-jamshed-ki-ummul-momineen-bibi-ayesha-ki-shaan-mein-gustakhi_shortfilms

Touch upon even the absurdest beliefs of the masses and have them call for your blood. Interesting story from India, for a change. Read the full article HERE

(salam) I like Javed Ahmad Ghamidi for his liberal and moderate thoughts. But I didn't post this thread for his publicity. I wanted to know your thoughts about his view that there's no death penalty for blasphemy in Islam. I'm speaking not openly because the matter I'm discussing, is a bit controversial and in my homeland, Pakistan, people are killed just because of doubt that they've disrespected the Prophet (pbuh) in some case. Once a youth who used to lead his people in prayers in a mosque, was killed because of the same doubt. I myself believe that Ghamidi's stance is weighty because he's based his opinion on Q. 5:32 according to which only two kinds of people can be killed i.e. murderer or insurgent. He believes that insulting the Prophet is a hideous and condemn-able crime but it's penalty is, in no way, death. (It can be fine/prison) http://www.ghamidi.net/article/Punishment%20for%20Blasphemy.pdf He explained his stance in a debate with Mufti Muneeb which is available on internet. On the other hand, the mainstream Muslims refer to three verses in order to justify Blasphemy Law (Q. 33:60 and 61; 5:33) But those three verses deal with other matters. Briefly, I wanna know what your thoughts are upon this issue. Please don't mind if you hate such discussions because I don't wanna create any problem for anyone.

(salam) What's the Shia Islamic ruling on blasphemy; on those who insult the Prophet (pbuh)? I listened to Javed Ahmad Ghamidi and he seems to be 100% accurate in his views. References: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eXKKHN0q-jc http://www.ghamidi.net/article/Punishment%20for%20Blasphemy.pdf Moreover, what do you all think of Salman Taseer who was killed because of his opposition to the Blasphemy Law of Pakistan?

Pakistan orders report into 'disabled girl's blasphemy case' Pakistan's president has ordered a report into the arrest of a young Christian girl, reportedly with mental impairments, accused of desecrating pages of the Koran. Police say the girl was arrested last week in a Christian area of the capital, Islamabad, after a furious crowd demanded she be punished. Officials said the girl could not properly answer police questions. Her parents have been taken into protective custody following threats. Many other Christian families have fled the neighbourhood after unrest erupted. Reports say that police arrested her under pressure from the large crowd. But there are conflicting reports about the details of the incident. It is unclear whether the girl burned pages of the Koran or if she was found with pages of the Koran in a bag. Christian leaders say she is as young as 11 but police quoted in some media reports also say she may be older and that she had no mental impairments. Some Christian groups suggested that the girl has Down's syndrome, which is a congenital condition that causes various degrees of learning difficulties and certain physical abnormalities. State media said that President Asif Ali Zardari had "taken notice" of the reports of the arrest and asked Pakistan's interior ministry to present a report to him. Controversial laws The incident comes amid a debate about Pakistan's strict anti-blasphemy laws. Rights activists have long urged Pakistan to reform the laws, under which a person can be jailed for life for desecrating the Koran. Many of those accused of blasphemy have been killed by violent mobs, while politicians who advocate a change in legislation have also been targeted. Last month, an angry crowd seized a man accused of blasphemy, and who was also said to be mentally unstable, from a police station and burnt him to death in the Bahawalpur area of Punjab province. Last year, Shahbaz Bhatti, the minister for minority affairs, was killed after calling for the repeal of the blasphemy law. His death came just two months after the murder of Punjab Governor Salman Taseer, who also spoke out about the issue. Paul Bhatti, Pakistan's minister for national harmony, earlier told the BBC that the girl was known to have a mental disorder and that it seemed "unlikely she purposefully desecrated the Koran". "From the reports I have seen, she was found carrying a waste bag which also had pages of the Koran," he said. "This infuriated some local people and a large crowd gathered to demand action against her. "The police were initially reluctant to arrest her, but they came under a lot of pressure from a very large crowd who were threatening to burn down Christian homes." The BBC's Orla Guerin visited the poor slum neighbourhood where the incident took place. Many Christian families have fled the area and although some men have returned to their homes, a sense of unease remains, our correspondent reports. Police said they had no choice but to intervene, saying the angry crowd was threatening to set the girl alight. Rights groups have condemned the arrest. The Women's Action Forum (WAF) demanded the girl's immediate release and expressed outrage at the "total inhumanity" of those who lodged the case with police, AFP reports. WAF said the case should have been dealt with under the juvenile justice system. http://www.bbc.co.uk...d-asia-19315210 I don't want to stand on the side of people who would burn the Qur'an, but can we really be sure there aren't witch hunts going around? The country isn't doing to well at the minute, a lot of people are poor, and perhaps need an outlet for their anger. It just doesn't seem plausable to me that christians would keep doing these things after seeing how brutal the reaction is, unless, as claimed they are mentally ill. What is the state of christians over there? I've actually heard people bragging that they are all toilet cleaners...maybe they would have been better off trying to go to india, or get taken in by some other christian country, they seem to be oppressed (as far as i can tell with the limited infomation I have)