I don't insult him, but I have a clear disbelief. At best, I certainly don't think he was a prophet to Israel, my people. At worst, he was a false prophet. How am I viewed?
You're viewed as a Jew who has rejected his message, and that's your business... between you and God.
You have rights upon me as a human.... even more as the peace-loving human you are.
You have rights upon me as my neighbor.. online, you are my online 'neighbor'... if we worked together, you'd be my work 'neighbor' and if you lived beside my home, you'd be my physical neighbor... the closer you are, the more right you deserve, regardless of your religion. 'Whoever believes in Allah and the Last Day must honor his neighbor." (Bukhari)
Had you been my blood relative, you would even have more right upon me... again, regardless of your religion. The closer the relative, the more right.
Had you been Muslim, the kinship of faith would be another factor giving you even more right upon me.
----------
Before I mentioned the hadith where the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) and his wife, 'Aa'ishah, were walking in the streets of Madinah, when a group of Jews who had animosity towards him said, 'As-Saamu 'alaikum' (which means 'death be upon you') instead of 'As-Salaamu 'alaikum' (peace be upon you). He replied, 'and upon you'. 'Aa'ishah got mad and started saying 'May God curse you' to the Jews when the Prophet instructed her that that wasn't right. She asked him.. But didn't you hear what they just said to you?! And he replied that he had heard, and he asked her.. Didn't you hear what I said to them? I said, 'And upon you'. Whatever prayer they meant for him, he returned, and that was the end of it. They didn't deserve a death sentence for it, nor any other kind of material punishment. Mind you, that many Jews of Madinah are described in our texts as knowing that he was a prophet that they should follow yet refused knowingly due to racial pride. If that were the case of this group of people who said that, that would even make them very different than Jews like you who appear to be very honest in their quest for knowledge and accepting what is true.
--------
Other reports of 'insults' that were punished during Muhammad's time (that have been posted on these forums) are very different. They were people who were trying to incite violence with their words. They were actively at war with the state.
-------
No punishments can be issued or carried out by other than the state. Everything has to go through the court system. People will be appointed to talk to the person, show them the other viewpoint, the person's motives judged to the best that the judge can tell... sure a judge COULD abuse the system, but that's wrong, and such a judge will have to answer before God. Not a good situation to be in.
--------
Non-Muslims living in an Islamic State could have their own court systems. They did not have to go to the Islamic courts. Only if they committed a crime against a Muslim (killed a Muslim, stole from a Muslim, etc.) would they be required to go through the Muslim court system.
------
Remember that an Islamic State is a theocracy. Publicly inciting violence against the state by attacking God, Islam, or Prophet Muhammad would not be allowed. Apostasy is viewed as treason, and that is why it is assigned the death sentence. It's not about what the person wants to believe. That's their call.
-----
An Islamic State would have to take good care of all of its residents. Yes, historically there has been some forms of sanctioned discrimination against non-Muslim citizens of the Islamic State. (I'm talking about different taxes, acceptance into certain offices, and such things.) In the US, a resident does not get the same rights as a citizen. I am a US citizen, but had I not met my 5 year residency requirements, any of my children born 5 minutes on the other side of the border would not have been able to get the same rights as a child I gave birth to on this side of the border. One could label that discrimination, but it is accepted, because one kid is a citizen and the other is not. Yes, an Islamic State made being a Muslim slightly more convenient. You could still be a happy, well-taken care of resident enjoying all of the benefits of living in a secure, well-managed state (which is what it's also supposed to look like) as a non-Muslim, but there would always exist those incentives to become Muslim should you chose to be. That's the way it was, and I don't see a problem with it, especially considering that we believe that becoming a Muslim will benefit the person himself/herself more than anyone else.
-------
How such things would apply in today's political world, I don't know... but we have to take care of all people.
------
You cannot just go out and kill someone based on a fatwa given by someone. The offender would have to go through the complete legal system first.
-----
All of this is hypothetical, since none of us live in an Islamic State.
-----
Before anyone says anything, do note that I do not want to transform the US into an Islamic State. That would be low.. to live in a country and reap the benefits of living in it and then betray it and attempt to destroy it. That's sick and very un-Islamic.
-----
There's a lot more that can be said about this.
-----
I wish my husband had the time to sit with me some time so that I could get references and he could alert me to important things I may be missing out on. Anyway.. he's busy helping Muslims, a lot of whom are very ignorant about our religion and some of whom are REALLY messed up.
These are just some points that I've generally learned from all my teachers though.
