I have watched the video of the man slapping the pastor who had reportedly been arrested over comments considered offensive to the Holy Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), and I believe Muslims must be among the loudest voices condemning what happened.

Whatever one thinks about the pastor's comments, there is something fundamentally wrong with what happened at the police station.

The man was already under arrest. He was reportedly in handcuffs. He was in the custody and presence of the police. At that point, the matter was no longer for any private citizen to settle with his hands.

If a person has committed an offence, there are laws, courts and lawful processes for determining guilt and imposing punishment. Nobody acquires the right to become complainant, prosecutor, judge and executioner simply because he feels offended.

You cannot seek to correct what you believe to be wrong by committing another wrong.

You cannot condemn disrespect and respond with lawlessness.

And most importantly for Muslims, you cannot claim to be defending the honour of the Prophet Muhammad (SAW) while behaving in a manner that is completely at variance with the character and example of the Prophet you claim to defend.

That slap, in my view, did not defend the Prophet. It insulted his example.

The Prophet Muhammad (SAW) endured insults, mockery, hostility and rejection during his mission. Yet his defining weapons were patience, wisdom, restraint, mercy and excellent character. His approach to people who disagreed with him was not to abandon reason and descend into uncontrolled violence.

Indeed, the Qur'an gives Muslims a very clear instruction on how to engage people: “Invite to the way of your Lord with wisdom and good instruction, and argue with them in a way that is best.” - Qur'an 16:125

There is nothing ambiguous about that instruction.

Wisdom. Good instruction. The best manner. Not fists, not slaps, not mob action, not intimidation and certainly not assaulting a handcuffed man who is already in the custody of the state.

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The Qur'an goes even further. In Surah Fussilat, Allah teaches that good and evil are not equal and commands the believer to “respond to evil with what is best.” The verse explains that such conduct can transform hostility into friendship.

Think about that carefully. The Qur'an does not say, when somebody behaves badly, prove that you can behave worse. It teaches moral superiority, restraint, and to respond in a manner that demonstrates the beauty of the faith we profess.

Islam does not become stronger when an angry Muslim slaps somebody. If anything, such actions hand ammunition to people who desperately want to portray Islam as a religion incapable of tolerating disagreement.

Millions of peaceful Muslims may spend decades demonstrating compassion, discipline and coexistence, and then one reckless individual commits an act of violence and gives those who misunderstand Islam a video they can circulate around the world.

That is why Muslims themselves must condemn extremism without hesitation, qualification or excuses. We must never develop the dangerous habit of saying, “Yes, what he did was wrong, but the other person provoked him.”

No!!!

Wrong remains wrong even when you are angry. Our faith is not so fragile that it needs an illegal slap to defend it. The Prophet Muhammad (SAW) is not honoured by Muslims losing control of themselves. He is honoured when Muslims demonstrate the character he taught.

And Islam itself recognises that faith cannot be forced upon people. The Qur'an declares:

“Let there be no compulsion in religion, for the truth stands out clearly from falsehood.” - Qur'an 2:256

Our responsibility, therefore, is to explain, educate, persuade and demonstrate through our conduct why we love the Prophet and why Muslims consider attacks on his personality deeply painful. Where speech crosses the boundaries established by law, we should use the law.

But the moment we replace the law with fists, we lose the moral argument. There is also a broader issue that should concern every Ghanaian.

What does it say about the authority of the state if a person can allegedly be assaulted while handcuffed and standing in a police station?

Once a person has been arrested, the state assumes responsibility for his safety. Being arrested does not cancel a person's human dignity. A suspect is not a convicted criminal, and even a convicted criminal does not cease to have rights.

If citizens begin assaulting suspects in police custody because they believe those suspects deserve punishment, we are travelling down a very dangerous road.

Today it may be somebody accused of insulting a religious figure. Tomorrow it may be somebody accused of insulting a chief. The next day it may be somebody accused of insulting a politician. Soon, anger rather than law becomes the standard by which punishment is administered.

That cannot be the Ghana we want. And it certainly cannot be the Islam we want people to see.

This is why Muslim scholars, Imams, youth leaders and ordinary believers must be courageous enough to isolate extremist behaviour from Islam. Condemning such conduct is not betraying Islam. It is protecting Islam from being misrepresented by people whose anger is louder than their understanding of the faith.

We must teach our young people that loving the Prophet is demonstrated through emulating his character, not merely reacting emotionally whenever his name is mentioned.

Love for the Prophet should make us more patient, more merciful, more disciplined. More truthful, more just, and more respectful of human dignity.

If our supposed defence of him produces the opposite qualities, then somewhere along the line, we have misunderstood what it means to defend his honour.

The pastor may have said things that Muslims found deeply offensive. Let those comments be challenged intellectually. Let Muslim scholars respond. Let the public hear why Muslims consider such statements offensive. And if any law has been violated, let the law take its course.

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But a handcuffed man should never become a punching bag for somebody's religious anger.

Two wrongs do not suddenly produce righteousness. And we Muslims must be confident enough in the beauty, strength and truth of our faith to say clearly: Not in our name and not in the name of Islam. And certainly not in the name of Prophet Muhammad (SAW), whose honour is better defended by displaying his character than by abandoning it.

It’s a shame!