Punishment for Insulting Fellow Muslim
1-5-2017 | IslamWeb
Question:
What is the ruling on a Muslim calling his fellow Muslim a pig?
Answer:
All perfect praise be to Allah, the Lord of the worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allah and that Muhammad, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, is His slave and Messenger.
It is impermissible for a Muslim to say to his fellow Muslim, "You are a pig," or similar disgraceful words that indicate insult and offense because this is a sin and an act of disobedience to Allah, the Exalted. The Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, said, "Reviling a Muslim is fusooq (disobedience of Allah) and killing him is (tantamount to) disbelief." [Al-Bukhari and Muslim]
An-Nawawi 
wrote: "Reviling linguistically means insulting and defaming a person, highlighting his faults and flaws. The Arabic word fisq means disobedience of Allah, the Exalted. The hadith means that insulting one's fellow Muslim is impermissible according to the consensus of the Muslim nation and that whoever insults his Muslim brother is considered a defiantly disobedient person, as the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, clarified." [Sharh Saheeh Muslim]
According to the Maliki scholars, the person who says to his fellow Muslim, "You are a pig", should be punished and disciplined by the Muslim ruler. The Maliki scholar, Muhammad ‘Ulaysh wrote, "When a person says to another, 'O fasiq', 'O wicked', 'O drunkard', 'O son of a dissolute', 'O consumer of interest, 'O donkey or pig', or the like of such disgraceful expressions and words, then he should be disciplined." [Sharh Mukhtasar Khaleel Al-Kharashi]
However, according to the correct opinion of the Hanafi scholars, the person is not to be subject to discipline in this case. The following is stated in Al-Fatawa Al-Hindiyyah, a book on the Hanafi school of Fiqh: "In principle, ta‘zeer (discretionary punishment) is due for the perpetrator who commits an evildoing or harms a Muslim unlawfully (without a sharia-approved cause) either by words or action. However, this is not applicable if the person verbally abuses another in a way that involves manifest lying, such as when a person says to another, 'you are a dog, a pig', or something like that. This was explained in Sharh At-Tahawi, and this is the correct opinion as mentioned in Fatawa Qadhi Khan."
Allah knows best.