Question
Suppose a Kafir publicly defames, slanders and mocks the messenger of Allah in a country where doing so is legal for him, and executing him for his slander against the messenger would be illegal.
Is it permissible in such a case for a muslim citizen of that country to break the law of the country and execute the slanderer for his crime of blasphemy in a vigilante fashion?
Research Effort
Regarding the permissibility of breaking the law to execute a slanderer of the messenger, in this hadith
It has been narrated on the authority of Jabir that the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said:
Who will kill Ka'b b. Ashraf? He has maligned Allah, the Exalted, and His Messenger.Muhammad b. Maslama said: Messenger of Allah, do you wish that I should kill him? He said: Yes. He said:Permit me to talk (to him in the way I deem fit). He said: Talk (as you like).So, Muhammad b. Maslama came to Ka'b and talked to him, referred to the old friendship between them andsaid: This man (i. e. the Holy Prophet) has made up his mind to collect charity (from us) and this has put us to a great hardship.When be heard this, Ka'b said: By God, you will be put to more trouble by him. Muhammad b.Maslama said: No doubt,now we have become his followers and we do not like to forsake him until we see what turn his affairs will take. I want that you should give me a loan. He said: What will you mortgage? He said: What do you want? He said: Pledge me your women. He said: You are the most handsome of the Arabs; should we pledge our women to you? He said: Pledge me your children. He said: The son of one of us may abuse us saying that he was pledged for two wasqs of dates, but we can pledge you (cur) weapons. He said: All right. Then Muhammad b. Maslama promised that he would come to him with Harith, Abu 'Abs b. Jabr and Abbad b. Bishr. So they came and called upon him at night. He came down to them. Sufyan says that all the narrators except 'Amr have stated that his wife said: I hear a voice which sounds like the voice of murder. He said: It is only Muhammad b. Maslama and his foster-brother, Abu Na'ila. When a gentleman is called at night even it to be pierced with a spear, he should respond to the call. Muhammad said to his companions: As he comes down, I will extend my hands towards his head and when I hold him fast, you should do your job. So when he came down and he was holding his cloak under his arm, they said to him: We sense from you a very fine smell. He said: Yes, I have with me a mistress who is the most scented of the women of Arabia. He said: Allow me to smell (the scent on your head). He said: Yes, you may smell. So he caught it and smelt. Then he said: Allow me to do so (once again). He then held his head fast and said to his companions: Do your job.And they killed him.[ Muslim ]
it (In my fallible interpretation) appears that the messenger permitted Ibn Maslama to deceive the maligner (Ka’b) in order to execute him. From this I thought that a muslim citizen’s breaking of the law in order to execute a slanderer of the messenger would be analogous to the deception Ibn maslama used in killing ka’b. On the other hand, a Muslim citizen is bound by a covenant to the laws of the country that he agrees to simply by being a citizen, while as far as I know Ibn Maslama did not have any similar covenant. So in this respect I’m unsure if the Hadith provides a sound basis for breaking the law of the land to implement a blasphemy death penalty.
Regarding the permissibility of executing a slanderer of the messenger in a vigilante manner:
Ibn 'Abbas narrated that : There was a blind man during the time of the Messenger of Allah who had an Umm Walad by whom he had two sons. She used to slander and defame the Messenger of Allah a great deal, and he would rebuke her, but she would not pay heed, and he would forbid her to do that, but she ignored him. (The blind man said) One night I mentioned the Prophet , and she slandered him. I could not bear it so I went and got a dagger which I thrust into her stomach and leaned upon it, and killed her. In the morning she was found slain. Mention of that was made to the Prophet and he gathered the people and said: "I adjure by Allah; a man over whom I have the right, that he should obey me, and he did what he did, to stand up." The blind man started to tremble and said: "O Messenger of Allah, I am the one who killed her. She was my Umm Walad and she was kind and gentle toward me, and I have two sons like pearls from her, but she used to slander and defame you a great deal. I forbade her, but she did not stop, and I rebuked her, but she did not pay heed. Finally, I mentioned your name and
she slandered you, so I went and got a dagger which I thrust into her stomach, and leaned on it until I killed her. The Messenger of Allah said: “I bear witness that her blood is permissible."[ Sunan Nasa’i ]
It appears ( to me ) the messenger permitted the application of the blasphemy death penalty in what appears to me, a vigilante fashion. But in this case, the slanderer was a slave under the authority of the one who killed her, and l’m unsure if the statement
I bear witness that her blood is permissible
Can be applied to cases other than in which the slanderer of the messenger is a slave of a Muslim. Although, Nasai’s chapter heading for this Hadith is:
Chapter: The Ruling on the One Who Defames the Prophet
So I consider this as somewhat of an evidence that the permissibility of the vigilante execution of the blasphemous slave woman is to be extended to free persons as well.
An answer would be very much appreciated, Jazakallah.
