Being merciful is the Prophet’s way

I WRITE in response to the recent 10-year jail sentence imposed on a social media user for insulting Islam and the Prophet. I have a strong conviction that we must relook this law. It is not justly balanced. Ironically, it is also not in accordance with the Quran’s and the Prophet’s way of doing things.

Muslims must remember how the Prophet behaved at the conquest of Mecca – when he was at the zenith of his power. For more than a decade before the conquest, the people of Mecca insulted and boycotted him, refused to listen to his mission, tortured him and his followers, persecuted them, drove them to exile and tried very hard to kill him. At that moment of power, did he act with cruelty or mercy? With vengeance or love?