In the wake of the killings at the Charlie Hebdo office in Paris, people pontificated on freedom of speech, violence and tolerance. As a young Muslim man, I found myself, once again, having to contemplate the essence of my religion.

Even as millions mourned, marched and took to social media to condemn the violence, radical “Islamic” voices emerged, even within India, supporting the retributive actions of the Charlie Hebdo killers.

The image of the vengeful, extremist Muslim, now an image that has been perpetuated throughout the media is one at complete odds with my identity as a Muslim and my ideas of Islam as a religion. I found myself questioning not just the killer’s actions but also their Islam.

In today’s world, with Islamic extremism becoming an inescapable reality, there is an increased perception of Islam and its followers as being inherently inclined towards violence. It’s not hard to understand either given that the perpetrators of these attacks claim to be defending Islam.

The irony that through their misinterpretation and re-invention of Islam, they are doing more harm to the religion is clearly lost on the extremists. Irony is not all that is lost on them, the teachings of the Qur’an are seemingly alien to them as well.

Several Qur’anic verses not only forbid taking matters into human hands but repeatedly suggest tolerance as the way forward instead. The Qur’an even puts an emphasis on ignoring those who insult the Prophet or beginning a dialogue with them. Conflict verses only emphasise on dialogue or ignorance (those who insults Prophet) as an antidote for potential conflict issues.

The shootout in Paris is both contradictory to the teachings of the Qur’an as well as the Prophet’s conduct. The Qur’an emphasises the need for restraint, or sheer avoidance of blasphemous persons or situations. If, for a moment we put hardliners, politics and their penchant for vengeance and violence aside, and instead go by the holy book they claim to be defending, the truth is overwhelmingly different.

“When ye hear the signs of Allah held in defiance and ridicule, ye are not to sit with them unless they turn to a different theme.”
[Qur’an 4:140]

“And when they hear vain talk, they turn away therefrom and say: “to us our deeds and to you yours; peace be to you.”
[Qur’an 28: 55]

“Hold to forgiveness, command what is right; but turn away from the ignorant.”
[Qur’an 7:199]

“Have patience with what they say, and leaves them with noble (dignity).”
[Qur’an 73:10]

“And the servants of Allah . . . are those who walked on the earth in humility, and when the ignorant address them, they say ‘Peace'” [Qur’an 25:63]

“Allah is with those who restrain themselves.”
[Qur’an 16: 128]

While the above verses do acknowledge blasphemy, the emphasis is not on vengeance, but on tolerance. In fact, forgiveness and compassion are overtly commended. Peace, according to the teachings of the Holy Scriptures, is a fundamental tenet of the religion.

The Qur’an does speak of punishment, but sets, in no uncertain terms, limits on punishment for a crime. Still, even in punishment, the Qur’an advises a better, more virtuous, course of action:

“And if you punished, let your punishment be proportionate to the wrong that has been done to you; but if you show patience, that is indeed the best course.” [Qur’an 16:126]

“The recompense for an injury is an injury equal thereto: but if a person forgets and makes reconciliation, his reward is due from Allah.” [Qur’an 62:40]

“Twice will they be given their reward, for that they have persevered, (and) they avert evil with good.” [Qur’an 28:54]

The emphasis again is on forgiveness and reform. Islamic fanatics responsible for the Charlie Hebdo attack and others terrorist acts across the world need to introspect and reflect on Qur’anic teachings rather than defending a book that they desecrate more than defend with their actions.

Islam makes no excuses for such acts and those who perpetrate them are nothing short of anti-Islamic.

Still, despite these verses, the question “Does worldly punishment for blasphemy really exist in Islam?” played repeatedly in my head, so I looked further.

The Qur’an also tells us that blasphemy was committed against almost all the Prophets of God but never was a “worldly” punishment was even suggested. The Qur’an mentions instances of blasphemous utterances against Prophet Muhammad, but does not mention any physical punishment for these.

Allah says: “…There is no people to whom a Warner has not been sent.” (35:25) “But there never came to them a Prophet but they mocked at him.” (43:8)

Blasphemy was committed against Mary and Jesus, peace be on them. God says: “For their disbelief and for their uttering against Mary a grievous calumny.” (4:157)

“And follow not the disbelievers and hypocrites, and overlook their annoying talk and put thy trust in Allah; for Allah is sufficient as a guardian” (33:49); and “bear patiently what they say” (20:131).

It doesn’t take a scholar to interpret these verses. Islam makes it clear that God alone will deal with those who blaspheme against God, the Holy Prophet or the Holy Qur’an. The Qur’an doesn’t call followers to violent action but rather, advises believers to avoid those who blaspheme.

“When you hear the Signs of God being denied and mocked at, sit not with those (who indulge in such talk) until they engage in some other talk; for in that case you would be like them…”
(4:141)

There are plenty of events mentioned in the Qur’an about the Prophet life which highlight, not only his impeccable character, but peace and forgiveness as key traits of his personality. There are instances of The Prophet pardoning the worst of his enemies; the Qur’an records the statement of Abdullah bin Ubayy who, in the company of others, proclaimed himself ‘the most exalted’ and condemned the Prophet as ‘most mean’. (63:9)

He was not awarded any punishment, lived peacefully in Medina until he died of old age. Not only did the Prophet not answer words with violence, but even performed the funeral prayer for Ubayy.

He pardoned Abu Sufyan, the leader of Mecca who led wars against the Prophet, and Wahshi, who had killed the Prophet’s uncle, Hazrat Hamzah.

He also did not punish Habbar, whose actions resulted in the eventual death of the Prophet’s daughter. All these instances challenge the ideology of extremists who deal death in his name.

What happened at Charlie Hebdo or, for that matter, recently in Peshawar are blatant acts of disobedience against the Qur’an, and dare I say, most religious scriptures in existence.

No Muslim is vested with the authority to punish those who commit blasphemy. Delusional extremists are not serving Islam. They are adding chaos to a world and denigrating that which they claim to defend – Islam. These people are not Islamic extremists. They are terrorists, because terrorism doesn’t have a religion. Terrorism is borne of hate and anger, and that just isn’t Islam.