A l­Qady ' Iyad ibn Musa (may Allah be merciful to him) said the following in his Book "Ash­Shifa' bi T a'rif Huquq Al­Mustafa" (Healing by the Recognition of the Rights of the Chosen one) p. 325: Let it be known that whoever makes light of the Qur'an or the Mus­haf (a copy of the Qur'an) or any part of it, or blasphemes them, or denies any letter or Ayah of it, or contradicts anything it stated whether it is a ruling or news, or knowingly asserts what it negates or negates what it asserts, or doubts any of it ­ is a Kafir (disbeliever) according to Ijma' (consensus of scholars).

A l­Qady ' Iyad said in his above­mentioned book regarding the ruling on blaspheming the Prophet (peace be upon him) p. 233 the following: Let it be known ­ may Allah grant me and you success ­ that anyone who curses the Prophet (peace be upon him), or defames him, or attributes to him a shortcoming in his person, lineage, religion or one of his characteristics, or speaks badly about him, or likens him to something in a way that implies reviling him, scorning him, belittling his status, disparaging him or criticizing him, will be a blasphemer and will come under the same ruling as those who blaspheme him; they must be executed as we shall elaborate.

None of the chapters of this section on this subject is to be excluded from the ruling, and we will not cast doubt, either explicitly or implicitly, on the ruling of killing the doer. The same applies to anyone who curses him, supplicates against him, or wishes harm upon him, or attributes to him something that does not befit his status by way of derogation, or trifles with his venerated position by speaking nonsense about him, or obscene words, or offensive statements, or falsehood, or criticizes him for trials or catastrophes that befell him, or tries to undermine his position because of some human trait that is possible for a Prophet. This is according to the consensus of Muslim scholars and head Muftis (Islamic scholars qualified to issue legal opinions) since the time of the Sahabah (Companions of the Prophet, may Allah be pleased with them) onwards.

Then he cited the words of Abu Bakr ibn Al­Mundhir which have been mentioned above in the statement of Al­Qady ' Iyad: then Shaykh­ul­Islam said the following: Abu Bakr Al­Farisy (one of the followers of Shafi'y) reported the unanimous agreement of the Muslims that the Had (ordained punishment for violating Allah's Law) incurred against the one who blasphemes the Prophet (peace be upon him) is killing, while the Had incurred for blaspheming others is lashing. The consensus which he reported is based on the unanimity of the earliest generation of the Sahabah and the Tabi'un (Followers, the generation after the Companions of the Prophet), or he might have intended by it their consensus that the reviler of the Prophet (peace be upon him) must be executed if the person is a Muslim. Al­Qady 'Iyad also restricted the ruling to Muslims.

know of any Muslim who disagreed on the obligation of killing such a person (the one who blasphemes the Prophet). Muhammad ibn Sahnun said: Scholars are agreed that the one who reviles or disparages the Prophet (peace be upon him) is a Kafir and is threatened with the Punishment of Allah and the ruling ­ according to the Ummah ­ is that such a blasphemer must be killed. Whoever doubts that this person is a Kafir or deserves Punishment, the denier will be committing Kufr (disbelief).

Shaykh­ul­Islam, Abu Al­'Abbas (may Allah be merciful to him) said: The summary of the view is: If the blasphemer is a Muslim, they have committed Kufr and must be executed without disagreement; this is the view of the Four Imams (Abu Hanifah, Malik, Al­Shafi'y, and Ahmad). As aforesaid, among the Imams who reported the unanimous view: Ishaq ibn Rahawayh and others, then he mentioned the disagreement if the blasphemer is a Dhimmy (protected non­Muslim living under Islamic rule) then he (may Allah be merciful to him) mentioned at the end of the book, p. 512 the following: The fourth issue concerning the explanation of the blasphemy in question and the difference between it and plain Kufr (disbelief).

Blaspheming Allah (Exalted be He) or His Prophet (peace be upon him) is manifest and hidden Kufr whether the blasphemer believes that it is prohibited, or deems it lawful, or is ignorant or unaware of its unlawfulness, which is the legal view maintained by the Fuqaha' (Muslim jurists) and the rest of Ahl­ul­Sunnah wal­Jama'ah (adherents to the Sunnah and the Muslim main body) who say that Iman (Faith) is composed of words and actions...to the saying in p. 538 the following:

Exemplifying the words of blasphemy against the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) is heavy on the heart as well as the tongue. We feel the gravity of uttering such words, even by way of mention, but because we need to explain the ruling on this matter, we will talk about the types of blaspheming in general without specification and the jurist can comprehend it from that. Blasphemy is of two types: invoking and informing.

As for invoking, one for example may say to another: "May Allah curse him," or "May Allah disfigure him," or "May Allah disgrace him," or "May Allah show no mercy to him," or "May Allah be displeased with him," or "May Allah cut off his descendants". All this and the like of it is a form of blaspheming the prophets and others. The same ruling applies to those who say about a prophet: "May Allah not send on him peace or blessings," or "May Allah not raise his repute," or "May Allah erase his name," and similar invoking of evil upon him in this world or in the Hereafter. If such phrases are uttered by a Muslim or a Dhimmy, they are considered to be blasphemy and as a result, the Muslim must be killed because of it under any circumstance and the Dhimmy will be killed if they declare it....

until he (may Allah be merciful to him) said in p. 540: The second type: As for informing, all that people consider as insult, blasphemy or disparagement entails killing. Kufr does not necessarily involve blasphemy. A person could be a Kafir but not a blasphemer. People are generally aware that a person may hate another and think ill of him, but does not revile him, and may add revilement to this. But even if the revilement is the exact thought in mind, still not all that can be thought can be said, and not all that can be said secretly can be said openly, and the same word can in one situation be a blasphemy and in another not a blasphemy. Thus, it is known that this matter differs according to words and situations. Since no boundary is defined for blasphemy in language or Shari'ah, the reference will be to custom. So what is customarily considered to be blasphemy against the Prophet (peace be upon him) will fall under the ruling given by the Sahabah and scholars. Otherwise, it will not.