Lets put your limited knowledge to test....We are Hanafi and here is what Abu Hanifa said:
Here is the complete text from which the
fatwa is ostensibly quoting:
"قال ابن المنذر: "أجمع عوام أهل العلم أن من سب النبي صلي الله عليه وسلم القتل، وممن قاله مالك والليث وأحمد وإسحاق، وهو مذهب الشافعي". قال: "وحكي عن النعمان: لا يقتل-يعني الذمي-ما هم عليه من الشرك أعظم". وقد حكي أبو بكر الفارسي۔۔
“There is a general consensus amongst scholars that he who insults the Prophet PBUH will be killed. This has been endorsed by Imam Malik, Imam Laith, Imam Ahmad, Imam Ishaq and Imam Shafi has the same position.
However, Abu Hanifa differs and states that a non-Muslim will not be killed for blasphemy. Shirk is a greater sin (and we do not kill him for that). Abu Bakr Farsi quotes Imam Shafi on the general consensus of Muslim.
The ellipses reveals itself — scan of
original Arabic text:
Translation: “Abu Hanifa differs and states that a non-Muslim will not be killed for blasphemy.
Shirk is a greater sin (and we do not kill him for that).”
It is surprising that the Binori Town scholars chose to omit a reference that prohibits the killing of a non-Muslim blasphemer, especially when one considers that the omitted source is none other than the very founder of their own
madhab (religious tradition), Imam Abu Hanifa.
In formulating a
fatwa, a Hanafi jurist is bound to refer to the ruling of his own school, and over here, what has occurred is the opposite, simply because the position endorsed by their own school in this case provides a more lenient and forgiving narrative towards non-Muslims.
Clearly, the internal biases and ‘otherising’ perspectives of the Ulema are interfering in their intellectual integrity in responding to issues of blasphemy.