On Mockery

A partial translation of this article

Imam ash-Shaʿrāwī, may Allah have mercy on him, was asked for his opinion regarding a book that one of the mockers of Islam had written and that had generated a lot of discussion in the 1990s.

He replied, ‘I haven’t read it and I will never read it.’ They then said, ‘How, when there has been so much discussion about it?’ Imam ash-Shaʿrāwī, may Allah have mercy on him, then recited the words of Allah the Exalted in Sūrat an-Nisāʾ:

{It has been sent down to you in the Book that when you hear Allah’s signs being rejected and mocked at by the people, you must not sit with them until they start talking about other things. If you do, you are just the same as them. Allah will gather all the hypocrites and disbelievers into Hell.} [4:140]

The disbelievers from amongst the Quraysh used to recite poems and songs that criticised the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, as well as the noble Companions, but these poems and songs haven’t reached us because the Muslims didn’t relate them and spread them, nor did they pay them any attention, and thus they fell into oblivion and were forgotten. Therefore, we must disregard and ignore anything that insults the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, or Islam, so that we don’t contribute to its spread.

And implement the sincere advice of ʿUmar, may Allah be pleased with him: ‘Put falsehood to death by being quiet about it, and do not chatter about it lest the malicious come to know of it.’

And may Allah’s blessings and peace be upon His Messenger.