Answer: Before I answer your question, I would like to
point out a fundamental premise in understanding various directives of Islam:
With the termination of the institution of Risālah, there are certain directives
which cannot be applied in a period which is devoid of Rusul. The basic reason
is that in the period of Rusul:
a. The fact that the truth has been revealed in its
ultimate form can be ascertained.
b. People who have knowingly denied the truth revealed by a
Rasūl can be pinpointed.
Today, no Muslim preacher is in a position to reveal the
truth in a manner a Rasūl is able to nor can he pinpoint who among his
addressees is guilty of knowingly denying the truth. Consequently, all such
directives as relate to people who knowingly deny the basic truths about which
it was certain that they had been delivered in their ultimate form are not
related to this second period of history, which is without such personalities as
Rasūl.
Cursing
non-Muslims or expressing ill-intention towards them is one such directive. It
is only allowed if the two above mentioned conditions are fulfilled. Today,
since a Muslim preacher can neither ascertain that he has revealed the ultimate
truth nor can he pinpoint people who have denied the truth, he must continue his
efforts of propagation all his life, and remain a well-wisher of all the
non-Muslims of the world. Therefore, as far as the Qunūt-i-Nāzilah is concerned,
it was only the Prophet (sws) and his companions who had the prerogative to read
it. We later Muslims do not have this right. |