The Meaning and Nature of Sacrilege; a Critique of the Views of Non-Muslim Scholars

Sacrilege is composed of the two concepts of” disrespect” and “sacred things”, and different interpretations are put on them. For explaining the examples of "sacred things" and methods of realizing "disrespect", and for inferring the verdict on disrespect, the first step is to explain the meaning of these two terms. Therefore, in this research, the literal and terminological meaning of "sacred things" and "disrespect" is examined using jurisprudential and legal books and dictionaries. According to the findings of this research, a sacred thing is what is (intrinsically or in an acquired manner) pure, has no defect or shortcoming, and has a divine reverence; and disrespecting the sacred things in Islam means any deliberate or informed action, or abandonment of any action, that is not compatible with the religious dignity and status of scared things, such as: apostasy; underestimation (humiliation, mortification, abasement); mockery (scoffing); defilement (disgrace, dishonor, defamation); revilement and vilification (insulting and using abusive language) and disrespect. In the final section of this research, the views of three non-Muslim scholars, Emile Durkheim, Mircea Elide and Rudolf Otto are reviewed. There are different terms for "sacred and unsacred in the literature of non-Muslim scholars.