Vigilante Justice in the Name of the Prophet ﷺ: A Jurisprudential and Sociological Critique of Self-Appointed Defenders of the Sacred in Pakistan

Abstract The killing of individuals accused of blasphemy against the Prophet Muḥammad ﷺ by self-appointed vigilantes — individuals and groups who claim the authority to execute what they regard as the divine sentence for insulting the Prophet ﷺ — represents one of the most urgent and most theologically misunderstood phenomena in contemporary Pakistani society. Between 1987 and 2023, at least 89 individuals were killed extrajudicially in Pakistan in connection with blasphemy accusations, and hundreds more were subjected to mob violence, arson, and forced displacement. Organised movements — most prominently Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) — have institutionalised the claim that the defence of the Prophet's ﷺ honour justifies extrajudicial killing and mass civil disruption. This article undertakes a systematic jurisprudential and sociological critique of this claim. It demonstrates, first, that classical Islamic jurisprudence assigns the authority to apply ḥadd punishments exclusively to the legitimate state (sulṭān) and categorically prohibits private individuals from executing such punishments — making vigilante killing a jurisprudential contradiction in terms. Second, it shows that the Prophet's ﷺ own documented Sunnah — his responses to personal insult, mockery, and attack — consistently demonstrates sabr (patience), ʿafw (forgiveness), and prayer, not demands for execution. Third, it examines the sociological and political origins of the vigilante "defender of the Prophet" identity in Pakistan, tracing its roots to colonial-era identity politics, the Zia ul-Haq Islamisation programme, and the specific institutional development of TLP. The article concludes that vigilante killings in the name of the Prophet ﷺ represent not the fulfilment of Islamic duty but its profound violation — a usurpation of divine and state authority by private individuals whose actions the Islamic jurisprudential tradition unambiguously condemns. Keywords: Blasphemy, vigilante justice, Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan, Prophet Muhammad ﷺ, Islamic jurisprudence, ḥadd, Pakistan Penal Code 295-C, mob violence, nāmūs-e-risālat, Islamisation, fasad fil-arḍ, Sunnah