Protests against the "Innocence of Muslims" film continue across the Muslim world, with rallies in Afghanistan, the Philippines, Pakistan, Yemen and Palestine. Hassan Nasrallah, leader of Lebanon's Shiite movement Hezbollah, has now joined the fray, calling for a week of protests against the US, which is accused of turning a blind eye to blasphemous material (see BBC report).
Is it a religious duty for Muslims to protest against blasphemy, or even to punish the perpetrators? Actually, the concept of blasphemy in Islam is contentious, because the holy scriptures offer no unequivocal guidance on the issue. The Holy Quran, the primary authority in Islamic jurisprudence, offers no explicit definition of blasphemy.
Read more about what is blasphemy in Islam.
Photo by Sean Gallup/Getty Images.
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