Hadrat
Umar Ibn Abdul Aziz [d. 97 AH/720 AD]
[popularly
known as Umar II and regarded as part of the Khulafa-i-Rashidoon]
Some
people accepted Islam during the period of Umar bin Abdul Aziz, who is called
the fifth rightful caliph of Islam. All these people renounced Islam sometimes
later. Maimoon bin Mahran the governor of the area wrote to the caliph about
these people. In reply Umar bin Abdul Aziz ordered him to release those people
and asked him to re-impose jizya on them. [Musannaf Abdur Razzaq, pp. 171-10,
cited in M. E. Subhani,Apostasy in Islam (New Delhi, India: Global Media
Publications, 2005), pp. 23-24. Abdur Razzaq ibn Humama (d. 211 AH). This is
the earliest musannaf (a hadith collection arranged in topical chapters) work
in existence.]
Ibrahim
al-Nakha'i [d. 95 AH]
[a
leading jurist and traditionist among the generation succeeding the Companions]
According
to al-Nakha'i, apostate should be re-invited to Islam, but should never be
condemned to death. [He] maintained the view that the invitation should
continue for as long as there is hope that the apostate might change his mind
and repent. [referred to in Chapter: Freedom of Religion in Mohammad Hashim
Kamali’s Freedom of Expression in Islam Islamic Text Society, 1997]
Sufyan
al-Thawri [d. 161 AH]
[known
as 'the prince of the believers concerning Hadith' (amir al-mu'minin
fi'l-Hadith) and is the author of two important compilations of Hadith, namely
al-Jami' al-Kabir, and al-Jami' al- Saghir]
According
to al-Thawri, apostate should be re-invited to Islam, but should never be
condemned to death. [He] maintained the view that the invitation should
continue for as long as there is hope that the apostate might change his mind
and repent. [cited in Kamali, as above]
Shams
al-Din al-Sarakhsi [d. 389 AH]
[An
eminent Hanafi jurist and author of al-Mabsut]
"The
prescribed penalties (Hudud) are generally not suspended because of repentance,
especially when they are reported and become known to the head of state (imam).
The punishment of highway robbery, for instance, is not suspended because of
repentance; it is suspended only by the return of property to the owner prior
to arrest. ... Renunciation of the faith and conversion to disbelief is
admittedly the greatest of offenses, yet it is a matter between man and his
Creator, and its punishment is postponed to the day of judgment (fa'l-jaza'
'alayha mu'akhkhar ila dar al-jaza'). Punishments that are enforced in this
life are those which protect the people's interests, such as just retaliation,
which is designed to protect life." [al-Mabsut, X, p. 110, quoted in
Kamali cited above.]
Abu
Al-Walid Al-Baji [d. 474 AH]
[a
noted Maliki jurist; a contemporary of Imam Ibn Hazm]
...
observed that apostasy is a sin which carries no prescribed penalty (hadd), and
that such a sin may only be punished under the discretionary punishment of
ta'zir ... [mentioned in Kamali cited above]
Imam
Abu 'Abdullah Al-Qurtubi [d. 1273 AD]
[Eminent
Malike Scholar of hadith and fiqh]
"Al-Samara'i
in his comment on this verse (an-Nahl:107) has quoted from Qurtubi's al-Jami
the remark that the verse conveys an admonition that the wrath of Allah will be
incurred by the apostate but there is no hint of any other punishment."
[S. A. Rahman's Punishment of Apostasy in Islam, p. 47, referring to Nu'man
'Abd al-Razzaq al-Samara'i. Ahkam al-Murtadd fi al-Shari'at al-Islamiyyah,
Beirut, Lebanon: Dar al-Arabiyyahya lil-Taba'at wal Nashr wal-Tauzi, 1968]
Abu
Hayyan al-Andalusi [d. 1355 AD]
[Maliki
scholar and author of Qur'anic commentary Bahrul Muhit]
"Ibn
Hayyan, a well-known exegetist, has expressly mentioned a definite opinion that
no apostate can be coerced into rejoining the Muslim community."
[mentioned in S. A. Rahman, Punishment of Apostasy in Islam, India, Kitab
Bhaban, 1996, p. 55]
Ibn
al-Hammam al-Hanafi [14th century AD]
[Eminent
scholar]
"There
is no punishment for the act of apostay, for its punishment is greater than
that, with God." [mentioned in S. A. Rahman, Punishment of Apostasy in
Islam, India, Kitab Bhaban, 1996, p. 45, citing Sharh Fath al-Qadir with
commentary by Chalpi on Fath al-Qadir, Vol. IV, pp. 388-9]
Shaikh
Rashid Rida [1865-1935]
[Eminent
Islamic scholar; disciple of Afghani/Abduh]
"This
verse reaffirms the one which occurs in Surat al-Baqarah (II:256), and both
proscribe compulsion in religion. Both of these passages proclaim and uphold
that people are free to pursue religious beliefs of their own choosing. No one
is to be compelled to abandon the religion he professes nor must anyone be
exposed to punishment and torture for the sake of religion." [quoted in
chapter Freedom of religion by Dr. Mohammad Hashim Kamali's Freedom of
Expression in Islam, Islamic Text Society, 1997]
Maulana
Muhammad Ali Jauhar [1878-1931]
[Indian
author, scholar and a leading figure of the Khilafat Movement]
"M.
Muhammad Ali Jauhar had, it seems, sponsored the thesis that Islam did not
sanction any punishment for apostasy." [mentioned in S. A. Rahman, Punishment
of Apostasy in Islam, India, Kitab Bhaban, 1996, p. 6]
Shaikh
Mahmud Shaltut [1893-1963]
[A
prominent Egyptian Islamic scholar. He was the shaykh or grand imam, i.e. the
leader, of Al-Azhar Islamic Institute in Egypt from 1958 to 1963]
"Mahmud
Shaltut analyses the relevant evidence in the Qur'an and draws the conclusion
that apostasy carries no temporal penalty, and that in reference to this
particular sin, the Qur'an speaks only of punishment in the hereafter ..."
[mentioned in chapter Freedom of religion by Dr. Mohammad Hashim Kamali's
Freedom of Expression in Islam, Islamic Text Society, 1997., Shaltut, al-Islam
‘Aqidah wa-Shari’ah, pp. 292-93; al-Samara'i, Ahkam al-Murtadd fi al-Shari’ah
al-Islamiyyah, p. 114 f]
Subhi
Mahmassani
[An
outstanding Islamic scholar and jurist from Lebanon; author of The Philosophy
of Jurisprudence in Islam, 1961]
Mahmassani
has observed that the death penalty was meant to apply, not to simple acts of
apostasy from Islam, but when apostasy was linked to an act of political
betrayal of the community .The Prophet never killed anyone solely for apostasy.
This being the case, the death penalty was not meant to apply to a simple
change of faith but to punish acts such as treason, joining forces with the
enemy and sedition. [Arkan Huquq al-Insan fi l-Islam (Bases of Human Rights in
Islam), Beirut: Dar al-‘Ilm li-l-Malayin, 1979, cited in Kamali, as above]
Shaykh
Muhammad Sayyid Tantawi
[Grand
Imam of al-Azhar since 1996]
"Shaykh
Tantawi's ruling on the subject of a Muslim apostasizing has certainly shed new
light on this subject, while making the non-Muslims realise that Islam is a
religion of moderation. To Shaykh Tantawi, a Muslim who renounced his faith or
turned apostate should be left alone as long as he does not pose a threat or
belittle Islam. If the Muslims were forced to take action against the apostate,
he said it should NOT be because he or she had given up the faith but because
he or she had turned out to be an enemy or a threat to Islam. Shaykh Tantawi,
in his views, shows clearly how simple and moderate Islam is, a religion that
is tolerant and not coercive on anybody. Shaykh Tantawi repeatedly stresses the
need for Muslims to acquire traditional Islamic knowledge as well as the modern
ones so that they could add to the strength of the Muslim community to defend
the religion." [Introduction of Grand Imams of Al-Azhar]
Islamic
Research Department, Al-Azhar University
"The
Islamic Research Department of Al-Azhar University has called the penalty for
apostasy as null and void and has said that the ways of repentance are open for
the whole life. ... So an apostate can repent over his mistake anytime during
his life and there would be no fixed period for it." [Al-Alamul Islami,
the weekly organ of Rabita Alam al-Islami, 23rd August 2002, quoted in Dr. M.
E. Subhani, Global Media Publications, 2005, p. 25]
Dr.
Jamal Badawi
[Professor
Emeritus, St. Mary's University, Canada]
"The
preponderance of evidence from both the Qur'an and Sunnah indicates that there
is no firm ground for the claim that apostasy is in itself a mandatory fixed
punishment (hadd), namely capital punishment." [Is Apostasy a Capital
Crime in Islam?"
"when
a man in Madinah apostated from Islam, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon
him) neither ordered his execution nor punished him in any other way, and when
the man finally left Madinah, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him)
never sent anyone to arrest him or punish him because of his apostasy."
[Apostasy-Dialogue with Dr. Jamal Badawi]
Dr.
Mohammad Hashim Kamali
[Professor
of law at the International Islamic University of Malaysia; author of
Principles of Islamic Jurisprudence, 2003 and Freedom of Expression in Islam,
1994]
"The
controversy been exacerbated further by reliance on the provision in the Sunnah
which authorizes the death penalty for apostasy without due consideration of
other evidence in the Sunnah to the effect that punishment by death was meant
only for apostasy accompanied by hostility and treason. ... The Prophet did not
treat apostasy as a proscribed offense (hadd), but, on the contrary, pardoned
many individuals who had embraced Islam, then renounced it, and then embraced
it again. ... [T]he Qur'an is consistent in its affirmation of the freedom of
belief and it fully supports the conclusion that the objectives of the Shari ah
cannot be properly fulfilled without granting people the freedom of belief, and
the liberty to express it." [Chapter: Freedom of Religion in Mohammad
Hashim Kamali’s Freedom of Expression in Islam Islamic Text Society, 1997]
Dr.
Tariq Ramadan
[Swiss
Muslim Academic and Scholar]
"Q
What about apostasy? What happens if you are born and educated a Muslim but
then say: I have now decided that Islam is not for me. Would you accept that
someone born into a Muslim family has a right to say that they no longer
believe, and that families and communities must respect that?
A) I
have been criticised about this in many countries. My view is the same as that
of Sufyan Al-Thawri, an 8th-century scholar of Islam, who argued that the Koran
does not prescribe death for someone because he or she is changing religion.
Neither did the Prophet himself ever perform such an act. Many around the
Prophet changed religions. But he never did anything against them. There was an
early Muslim, Ubaydallah ibn Jahsh, who went with the first emigrants from
Mecca to Abyssinia. He converted to Christianity and stayed, but remained close
to Muslims. He divorced his wife, but he was not killed." [Interview:
Tariq Ramadan]
Ayatullah
Murtadha Mutahari [d. 1979 AD]
[Prominent
and influential Iranian scholar, cleric, academic, and political figure].
The
late Ayatollah Mutahhari highlighted the incompatibility of coercion with the
spirit of Islam, and the basic redundancy of punitive measures in the
propagation of its message. He wrote that it is impossible to force anyone to
acquire the kind of faith that is required by Islam, just as 'it is not
possible to spank a child into solving an arithmetical problem. His mind and
thought must be left free in order that he may solve it. The Islamic faith is
something of this kind. ['Islam and the Freedom of Thought and Belief’,
Al-Tawhid, p.154, cited in Kamali mentioned above]
Dr.
Hassan Turabi
[Sudanese
Islamic leader and intellectual]
"Q)
You believe that apostasy should not be punishable by death. There has been a
recent case of an Afghan who was about to be killed for apostasy but was saved
under the pretense of mental illness. The case was recognized internationally
as Italy wants to grant him asylum.
A)
There are too many Quranic verses to recite (regarding this). We are ordered to
debate with Christians and Jews except those who are unjust. We believe in
their prophets who are our prophets too. We believe in their books even if some
distortion took place. We are ordered to treat them cordially." [Interview
with al-Sharq al-Awsat]
"To
be punishable [as a capital offence] apostasy has to be more than just
intellectual apostasy. It would have to translate into not only sedition but
actually insurrection against society.” [quoted in Globalization and the Muslim
World: Sub-Saharan Africa in a Comparative Context]
Kyai
Haji Abdurrahman Wahid
[former
President of Indonesia and leader of Nahdatul Ulama]
"Muslim
theologians must revise their understanding of Islamic law, and recognize that
punishment for apostasy is merely the legacy of historical circumstances and
political calculations stretching back to the early days of Islam. Such
punishments run counter to the clear Koranic injunction "Let there be no
compulsion in religion" (2:256).
People
of goodwill of every faith and nation must unite to ensure the triumph of
religious freedom and of the 'right' understanding of Islam, to avert global
catastrophe and spare millions of others the fate of Sudan's great religious
and political leader, Mahmoud Muhammad Taha, who was executed on a false charge
of apostasy." [Extremism Isn't Islamic Law]
Grand
Ayatollah Hossein-Ali Montazeri
...
a significant Shi'a religious authority, states that the above verses do not
prescribe an earthly penalty for apostasy and adds that it is not improbable
that the punishment was prescribed by Muhammad during early Islam due to
political conspiracies against Islam and Muslims and not only because of
changing the belief or expressing it. Montazeri defines different types of
apostasy. He does not hold that a reversion of belief because of investigation
and research is punishable by death but prescribes capital punishment for a
desertion of Islam out of malice and enmity towards the Muslim community.
[Wikipedia: Apostasy in Islam; direct BBC Persian link]
Dr.
Muhammad Ma'ruf al-Dawalibi
[former
Professor of Law in University of Damascus, Syria; member, Supreme
International Council for Mosques, Makkah]
"...
it has never been proved that the Messenger of God exacted punishment on
apostates by killing them. This was also what the caliph Omar Ibn Abd al-Aziz
did. ... Shaikh Mahmud Shaltut ... says that many scholars are of the opinions
that hudud punishment cannot be proved by hadiths reported by single
individuals. He also says that disbelief in itself is not justification for
shedding blood. The real justification would be aggression against Muslims,
fighting them ..." [quoted in Prof. Dr. Ala'Eddin Kharofa, Nationalism, Secularism,
Apostasy and Usury in Islam, A.S. Noordeen, 1994, p. 13]
Sheikh
Gamal Al-Banna
[Egyptian
Islamist thinker, author, and journalist]
In
an article titled "No Punishment for Ridda [Muslims leaving Islam];
Freedom of Thought is the Backbone of Islam," Al-Banna quoted all the
Koranic verses on the subject, and then said: "These verses are clear with
regard to ridda in Islam; they make no mention of any torture or punishment for
the murtadd in this world, like the punishments for thieves or murderers. The
[only] dreadful and terrifying punishment is the rage of Allah. This is
compatible with the policy and spirit of the Koran, and the many other texts
included in it, that are based on belief in persuading the individual and his
intent without coercion or pressure, and that state that his freedom is
maximal... [Sheikh Gamal Al-Banna: Social and Religious Moderation Vs.
Political Extremism]
Dr.
Abdul Aziz Sachedina
[Professor,
Religious Studies, University of Virginia]
"The
ethics of Islamic law allow for an interesting dilemma in regards to the issue
of free speech because there is no clear understanding between civil and
religious violations. There are certain acts, such as apostasy, that don’t fall
under the jurisdiction of the legal system and don’t have a defined penal
punishment as outlined in the Qu’ran. 'There can be no particular punishment
for apostasy from a legal point of view,' Sachedina said. 'From a religious
point of view, only God has the power to punish you.' [Cultural Differences
Explain Muslim Reaction to Danish Cartoons, Sachedina Says]
Dr.
Rachid Ghannouchi
[leading
Islamic thinker and philosopher, and also a scholar on the European Council for
Fatwa and Research]
"The
first challenge was that of ar-ridda (the turning away or back, or apostasy,
from Islam), which Ghannouchi views more as a military insurrection than an act
of apostasy." [quoted in Dr. Azzam Tamimi's Democracy: The Religious and
the Political in Contemporary Islamic Debate]
Organization:
Council of American-Islamic Relations [CAIR]
“Islamic
scholars say the original rulings on apostasy were similar to those for
treasonous acts in legal systems worldwide and do not apply to an individual's
choice of religion. Islam advocates both freedom of religion and freedom of
conscience, a position supported by verses in the Quran, Islam's revealed text
… ‘Religious decisions should be matters of personal choice, not a cause for
state intervention. Faith imposed by force is not true belief, but coercion.
Islam has no need to compel belief in its divine truth. As the Quran states:
‘Truth stands out clear from error. Therefore, whoever rejects evil and
believes in God has grasped the most trustworthy hand-hold that never breaks.’
(2:256)
‘We
urge the government of Afghanistan to order the immediate release of Mr. Abdul
Rahman.’Before issuing its statement, CAIR consulted with members of the Fiqh
Council of North America, an association of Islamic legal scholars that
interprets Muslim religious law.” [CAIR Calls For Release Of Afghan Christian]
Dr.
AbdulHamid AbuSulayman
[Former
Rector, International Islamic Univresity, Malaysia; former Chairman,
International Institute of Islamic Thoughts]
"The
conceptual confusion occurs in the early period of Islam, because this
political conspiracy took the form of apostasy while the real goal was to
destroy the Muslim community. The confusion lies in taking the act for what it
appeared to be and not for what it was meant to be. They mistook political
conspiracy for an exercise of the human right of freedom of belief and choice.
The jurists seemed to exercise little analysis concerning the whole question.
The word apostasy alone determined their position.
This
misunderstanding of the significance of the word apostasy in the Qur'an and the
punishment to it in the Hadith of the Prophet (PBUH) destroyed in the classical
jurisprudence the basis of the Islamic concept of tolerance and human
responsibility.
The
early Muslim position on apostasy ... was not directed against freedom of
conscience and belief but towards enforcing the policy of Islamization of the
warring Bedouin tribes and toward checking conspiracy." [The Islamic
Theory of International Relations: New Directions for Islamic Methodology and
Thought, IIIT, 1981, p. 104]
S.
A. Rahman
[former
Chief Justice of Pakistan]
...
the Qur'an is silent on the question of death as the punishment for apostasy,
despite this subject occurring no less than twenty times in the Holy Book.
Rahman then traces the chain of transmission of the Hadith which proclaims 'kill
whoever changes his religion'. ...
As
this is a solitary Hadith (ahad), Rahman finds some weakness in its
transmission (isnad). Rahman's conclusion is also supported by other evidence,
such as the fact that neither the Prophet himself nor any of his Companions
ever compelled anyone to embrace Islam, nor did they sentence anyone to death
solely for renunciation of the faith. [cited in Kamali, mentioned above]
Dr.
Khaled Abou El Fadl
[Distinguished
scholar and Professor of Law and Islamic Studies, University of California, Los
Angeles, USA]
But
while the Koran mentions ridda, it never calls for the execution of apostates.
There is no record of the prophet killing an apostate himself. And executions
of apostates have been rare in Islamic history. "The common argument is
that it clearly contradicts the Koran, which says there should not be
compulsion in religion," said Khaled Abou El Fadl, an Islamic law expert
and professor at the University of California, Los Angeles. [In Kabul, a Test
for Shariah]
Dr.
Fathi Osman
[Commenting
on 2:256]
"This
principle of freedom of faith is assured in many other Qur'anic verses. As
examples, we read 10:99, 11:28, 88:21-22. Forcing any person to act in any way
nullifies the moral and legal responsibility of that person in such an action,
whether it is good or evil; consequently, he/she cannot be respectively
rewarded or punished for that forced action. Accordingly, imposing Islam by
force on any human being will never bring out God's accpetance and reward to
the imposer or the one upon whom it was imposed. ...
Another
report attributed the reason of revelation [of 2:256] to another incident, in
which two sons of a Yathribi were persuaded to be Christians by some Syrian
merchants whom they joined. Their parents wanted to get them back by force, but
the Prophet stressed their right to make their own free decision, and the verse
was revealed to support what the Prophet had said. Al-Zamakhshari, the
distinguished linguist and commentator of the Qur'an, commented on the above verse:
'God has not conducted the matter of faith through compelling and forcing, but
through enabling] the person to make his/her own decision] and willfully
choosing.' " [Concepts of the Qur'an: A Topical Reading, 2nd Ed., Los
Angeles, CA: MVI Publication, p. 808]
Dr.
Sheikh Mohammed Ali Al-Hanooti
[Mufti
of Greater Washington]
"The
issue of apostasy falls under the umbrella of man’s free will, freedom of
expression and belief. The Holy Qur’an states unequivocally that nobody can be
compelled to either become a Muslim or remain one. In Surah 4: 137, Allah says,
“Behold, as for those who come to believe, and then deny the truth, and again
come to believe and again deny the truth and thereafter, grow stubborn in their
denial of the truth, God will not forgive them, nor will He guide them in any
way.” This ayah very clearly shows that even after rejecting Islam twice, no
punishment is prescribed for the apostates.
The
punishment for apostasy mentioned in Islamic literature is derived from hadiths
whose authenticity is not certain (as these hadiths are ahad -from one source,
but not mutawatir- from a consensus of sources). Even among those scholars who
accept them as authentic, there is vast difference of opinion on the
interpretation and elaboration of the hadiths. Such hadiths have been
traditionally cited as justification for executing apostates, but these were
circumstantial rulings where legal authorities of that time deemed the
punishment justified, as the act of apostasy in question, or in some cases, mass
apostasy was comparable to treason or to an organized crime outfit, where the
apostates would ally themselves with the opponents of the state.
Such
hadiths, which have, in the past, been cited to justify punishment for
apostasy, therefore, cannot stand against the Qur’an, which provides no textual
evidence for such action. On the contrary, the Qur’an states in Surah 10: 99:
“If it had been the will of your Lord that all the people of the world should
be believers, all the people of the world would have believed! Would you then
compel them against their will to believe?”
In
conclusion, the Qur’an is the definitive clear authority for protecting the
rights of an individual in expressing himself in faith and supercedes any of
the distorted interpretations of the hadiths in question. Executing a person
because of conversion to another faith contradicts the Qur’an, the ultimate
source of Shari’ah." [The Ruling on Apostasy]
Dr.
Mahmoud Ayuob
[Professor
of Islamic Studies, Temple University]
Summary:
After determining what constitutes apostasy (riddah), defined as 'an act of
rejection of faith committed by a Muslim whose Islam had been affirmed without
any coercion', the author looks at the understanding of riddah in the Qur'an
and the Tradition. From this study he concludes that there is no real basis for
the riddah law in either of these sources. ["Religious Freedom and the Law
of Apostasy in Islam," Islamachristiana, Vol. 20, 1994, pp. 75-91]
Islamic
Center of Long Island, New York
"The
Quran states categorically and unequivocally, there shall be no coercion in
matters of faith. (2:256). This cornerstone tenet of Islamic faith is violated
when an individual is put on trial for converting away from Islam. This verse,
very clearly teaches that faith is a personal matter between the individual and
God." [Islamic Center of Long Island’s Position Regarding Apostasy]
Dr.
Asghar Ali Engineer
[Director,
Institute of Islamic Studies, India]
"No
wonder than that Qur’an not only does not prescribe any punishment for apostasy
it is against any such punishment. … In view of such clear exposition how can
one maintain that one who becomes apostate (murtad) should be punished with
death? Such a punishment goes completely against the principle of freedom of
faith laid down in the Qur’an. Since according to the Qur’an human beings are
responsible for their acts, they have been created free and only a free agent
can be held responsible for ones acts, good or bad. This is quite clear from
the story of Adam who was warned not to go near a tree in paradise but was left
free to decide and he decided to test the fruit of the tree and as a result was
expelled from it. This story itself is sufficient to establish principle of
freedom of choice in the Qur’an. … Today human rights are of vital importance
and modern scholars are also engaged in the project of showing these rights as
quite compatible with Islam. And, if some ‘Ulama insist on death sentence for
apostasy it is not only crime against freedom of conscience and democratic rights
but also serious disservice against Islam." [Islam and Punishment for
Apostasy]
Dr.
Abdullah Saeed
[Director,
Centre for the Study of Contemporary Islam, University of Melbourne, Australia]
"This
book argues that the law of apostasy and its punishment by death in Islamic law
is untenable in the modern period. Apostasy conflicts with a variety of
foundation texts of Islam and with the current ethos of human rights, in
particular the freedom to choose one's religion. Demonstrating the early
development of the law of apostasy as largely a religio-political tool, the
authors show the diversity of opinion among early Muslims on the punishment,
highlighting the substantial ambiguities about what constitutes apostasy, the
problematic nature of some of the key textual evidence on which the punishment
of apostasy is based, and the neglect of a vast amount of clear Qur'anic texts
in favour of freedom of religion in the construction of the law of apostasy.
Examining
the significant challenges the punishment of apostasy faces in the modern
period inside and outside Muslim communities - exploring in particular how
apostasy and its punishment is dealt with in a multi-religious Muslim majority
country, Malaysia, and the challenges and difficulties it faces there - the authors
discuss arguments by prominent Muslims today for an absolute freedom of
religion and for discarding the punishment of apostasy." [Book Intro:
Freedom of Religion, Apostasy and Islam, Ashgate Publications, 2004]
Dr.
Mohamed Shahrour
[Islamic
Thinker and Scholar, Syria]
“Let
us consider how the history of Islamic jurisprudence has dealt with the issue
of freedom and justice in relation to apostasy (al‑riddah). We have to distin
guish between two types of apostasy: that of politics and that of creeds and
beliefs. To rebel against the government and attempt to oust it and rule in its
stead is political apostasy. … when we persuade or coerce people into believing
or disbelieving, we are actually disregarding and belittling God’s Word. … I
wish to emphasize that Islamic respect for freedom and Muslims’ awareness of
its value cannot be established by force and coercion, for the enforcement of
any democratic ideal would be no different from the ‘just tyrannical’
leadership.” [The Concept of Freedom in Islam]
Dr.
Irfan Ahmad Khan
[A
respected scholar of the Qur'an, president of the World Council of Muslims for
Interfaith Relations and Chair of the Interreligious Engagement Project. He is
also a trustee of the Council for a Parliament of the World's Religions. He is
the author of a new Qur'anic translation and commentary, Reflections on the
Quran: Understanding Surahs Al-Fatihah & Al-Baqarah. Chicago, Illinois]
“[N]o
one has any right to use pressure of any kind to make a person change or stop
from changing his/her religion. An individual out of his/her own free will
should himself or herself do entering into a religion or coming out of a
religion.” [Freedom to Change Ones’ Religion]
Dr.
Imad-ad-Dean Ahmad
[President/Director,
Minaret of Freedom Institute, Maryland, USA]
"Discussions
of Islamic law by non-Muslims (and, all too often, by Muslims as well) suffer
from confusion between the concepts of apostasy and treason. The majority view
is that the death penalty applies only to treason during wartime, including
providing aid and comfort to the enemy, rather than mere conversion. According
to the Constitution [Article III, section 3], treason consists only 'in levying
war against [the United States], or in adhering to their enemies, giving them
aid and comfort.' That Muhammad shared this view can be seen in the fact that
he never executed apostates except when they made war or propaganda against the
Muslims." [On the American Constitution from the Perspective of the Qur'an
and the Madinah Covenant by Dr. Imad-ad-Dean Ahmad]
Dr.
Mohammed Fadel
[Faculty
of Law, University of Toronto, Canada]
"It
is certainly true that the vast majority of Islamic legal scholars in the
middle ages prescribed the death penalty for apostates, after an appropriate
period for the defendant to repent. This was not, however, a universal
position, as an early (and quite respected and important authority, Ibrahim
al-Nakha'i, argued that an apostate has the rest of his natural life to repent.
More importantly, the origin of the crime of apostasy is political/military
treason, not freedom of conscience. Early works of Islamic law make this clear.
Almost inevitably, questions of apostasy are raised in the context of a Muslim
'defecting' and joining the ranks of the enemy.
This
should not be too surprising given the religious nature of polities in that day
and age. In today's world, polities are not religion-based, but based on
citizenship, and accordingly, the original logic behind the rules of apostasy
have lost their force. For that reason, many, but not all, contemporary Muslim
thinkers reject the notion that apostasy should be a capital offense. Of
course, that does not mean that, in times of crisis, demagogues cannot abuse
obsolete rules to wreak havoc." [Interview]
Shaikh
Dr. Taha Jabir al-Alwani
[former
Professor of Fiqh and Usul al Fiqh at Imam Muhammad b. Sa'ud University in
Riyadh. Founding member, the International Institute of Islamic Thought (IIIT)
in the USA in 1981; founder-member of the Council of the Muslim World League in
Makkah; , a member of the OIC Islamic Fiqh Academy in Jeddah since 1987; and
President of the Fiqh Council of North America since 1988.]
"Apostasy
is not a simple act. It has several parts. We cannot simply say that someone
left the religion. We must look at the reasons and actions that come before
leaving the religion. Suppose one becomes an expatriate and fights against the
U.S, (for example). This person would be tried and convicted of treason and
usually killed. But if one leaves a religion without causing harm to others or
engages in treason, then there is no punishment. The Qur'an is blatant about
the fact that there is no compulsion in religion. Some people at the time of
the Prophet would convert in the morning and leave Islam at night. The Prophet then
announced that those joining in Islam in good faith are welcome, but those who
join only to then leave and discredit Islam and then encourage others to fight
Islam, that is considered treason and treated as a crime in the same way as
U.S. law." [Interveiew]
Dr.
Mohammad Omar Farooq
[Associate
Professor of Economics and Finance, Upper Iowa University]
"Indeed
the Qur’an specifies no worldly punishment for apostasy. Hadith refers to only
those cases that involved political treason, not apostasy. Also, these hadiths
are not mutawatir and thus do not yield certainty of knowledge. In addition,
there is no ijma or consensus on this. On the contrary, even some Classical
jurists have rejected such punishment.
Of
greater importance is the fact that the Qur’an is explicit and insistent about
the freedom of faith for all. If Islam upholds the freedom of choice in faith
and if “Let there be no compulsion in deen” means anything, then orthodox
position on apostasy is unacceptable and unislamic. There is no ambiguity about
it. In this world we make precious choices. Muslims should propagate their
faith to the best of their ability: Islam in its essence represents the
ultimate truth. Nonetheless we are also to respect each other’s right to choose
in this world. Muslims’ responsibility is sincere and capable propagation. And
most assuredly there is no provision for compulsion of faith in Islam – before
embracing the faith or after." [Apostasy, Freedom and Da’wah: Full
Disclosure in a Business-like Manner]
Dr.
Louay Safi
[Executive
Director of ISNA Leadership Development Center; Ex-President, Association of
Muslim Social Scientists]
“Traditionalist
scholars have long embraced classical positions on apostasy that consider the
rejection of Islam as a capital crime, punished by death. This uncritical
embrace is at the heart of the drama that was played in the case of the Afghan
convert to Christianity, and which would likely be repeated until the debate
about shari’ah reform and its relevance to state and civil law is examined and
elaborated by authentic Muslim voices. … Indeed, one cannot find in the Qur’an
any support for the apostasy (ridda) penalty. … I am inclined to the
increasingly popular view among contemporary scholars, that ridda does not
involve a moral act of conversion, but a military act of rebellion, whose
calming justifies the use of force and the return of fire. … A Christian or a
Jew who converts to Islam is no more a Christian or a Jew, but a Muslim and
must be respected as such. By the same taken a Muslim who convert to
Christianity is no more a Muslim, but a Christian and must be respected as
such.” [Apostasy and Religious Freedom]
Dr.
Ingrid Mattson
[President,
Islamic Society of North America; Professor of Islamic studies at Hartford
Seminary in Connecticut]
"Given
the importance to her of individual choice, Mattson is well aware of the major
questions Westerners have about religious freedom in Muslim countries - and
whether Muslims have the right to convert to other faiths. A few converts have
had their children taken away or have been persecuted as a result. A specialist
in Islamic law, Mattson says this is an area that is now being widely examined
and contested.
'Many
scholars have convincingly argued that apostasy is not a crime, while treason
is, based on cases from the early days of Islam, where people who left the
community for other religions were not punished, while those who left the
political community and betrayed it were.'
What
happened historically in some Muslim societies, she says, was that no
distinction was made between community affiliation and religious affiliation.
But today's world makes other demands, and she supports the case being made for
separation of the two." [Muslim convert takes on leadership role]
Dr.
Zaki Badawi
[Principal
of the Muslim College; Chairman of the Imams and Mosques Council UK;, Chairman
of the Muslim Law (Shariah) Council UK;, Vice-Chairman of the World Congress of
Faiths;, and a Director and Trustee of UNICEF UK]
...
forcing people to believe things just makes them hypocrites. The Koran has no
compulsion, no punishment for going away. ... [Inter-faith meeting March 2005]
Organization:
Muslim Public Affairs Council
“...
[T]he Quran mandates that religious freedom be respected. Furthermore, the
Prophet Muhammad himself never sentenced an apostate to death. 'While apostasy
may be a sin in the eyes of God, it is not considered to be criminal behavior,'
Dr. Maher Hathout writes in his recent book 'In Pursuit of Justice: The
Jurisprudence of Human Rights in Islam' (available through Amazon.com).
'We
strongly oppose the state's use of coercion in regulating Islamic belief in
such a manner, since faith is a matter of individual choice on which only God
can adjudicate.'" [MPAC Joins Calls for Release of Afghan Christian]
Imam
Feisal Abdul Rauf
[Founder
and CEO of the American Society for Muslim Advancement (ASMA Society) and Imam
of Masjid Al-Farah, a mosque in New York City]
On
page 31 of What's Right With Islam, Imam Rauf maintains that: “What is right
about any religion or societal structure is therefore the extent to which
individuals and societies fully manifest the principles of the Abrahamic
ethic”. Just prior to this conclusion, he lists a number of failings of the
Muslim community in this respect after the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him)
passed away – namely, the disappearance of the rule of law applied by an
independent judiciary; the judgment that apostasy is the equivalent of treason;
continuation of the practice of slavery despite the many Quranic verses that
sought to eliminate that institution; and, the on-going oppression of women.
[What's Right With Islamby Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf -A Critical Commentary]
Dr.
Saif Ad-Deen 'Abdul-Fattah
[Professor
of political theory at Cairo University, known for his remarkable contribution
to the branch of jurisprudence that deals with al-maqasid (the objectives of
Shari`ah)]
"I
think that the rule that governs the issue here is Allah's saying [There is no
compulsion in religion] (Al-Baqarah 2:256). Religion cannot by any means be
compared to a trap; whoever is trapped in it can never get out. Muslims are in
no need of new hypocrites. From this point, I can assure that those who
apostatize are always to be asked to repent. The incidents of apparent apostasy
in our history are those of collective apostasy. This kind of collective
apostasy is considered as cases of state security and national security, in
which the penalty for apostasy is applied to protect the whole state."
[Freedom and the Cartoon Crisis: From the Incident to the Approach]
Dr.
M. Cherif Bassiouni
[President,
International Human Rights Law Institute at DePaul University]
“A
Muslim's conversion to Christianity is not a crime punishable by death under
Islamic law, contrary to the claims in the case of Abdul Rahman in
Afghanistan.While there is long-established doctrine that apostasy is
punishable by death, that has also long been questioned by Islamic criminal
justice scholars, including this writer.” [Leaving Islam Is Not a Capital
Crime]
Sheikh
Muhammad Al-Mukhtar Al-Shinqiti
[Director
of the Islamic Center of South Plains, Lubbock, Texas]
"What
I understand from different hadiths on the issue is that apostasy has two
different aspects: one, as an intellectual position, i.e. a Muslim who is no
longer convinced of the truth of Islam. The second apostasy is in the meaning
of political treason and military rebellion against Muslims. During the time of
the Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him), the person that changed
his religion joined the pagan army and fought against Muslims, and that is, in
my view, what meant by: 'one who reverts from Islam (apostate) and leaves the
Muslims.' Therefore, apostasy as purely an intellectual position has no
prescribed punishment in the Islamic law, but if a Muslim committed treason
against the Muslim Ummah and joined the enemy fighting against Muslims, then he
would deserved the death punishment, especially at times of war. Even in
secular laws in some countries the penalty for treason is capital punishment.
This
does not mean that apostasy is not a great sin – indeed it is the worst of all
sins, and Allah says that He will punish those who committed such a heinous
act. But not every sin that is punishable on the Day of Judgment has punishment
in this world." [Islamonline Live Fatwa Session]
Dr.
Asma Afsaruddin
[Associate
Professor of The Classics/Middle East Studies, University of Notre Dame]
"Asma
Afsaruddin, who teaches Islamic studies at the University of Notre Dame, said
that Islam 'threatens punishment in the next world, but that is God's
prerogative. The Qur'an has no penalty prescribed for apostasy.' [Afghan
Christian averts death for apostasy as Italy grants asylum]
Organization:
Muslim American Society [MAS]
"We
at MAS Freedom oppose the possible execution of Mr. Abdul Rahman on both
humanitarian and religious grounds. To purse such an action would not only be a
flagrant violation of the standards of human rights which the Karzai regime
claims to embrace, but it also runs contrary to the Holy Quran, which forbids
compulsion in religion." [MAS Freedom Foundation Responds to The Issue of
Apostasy in Afghanistan]
Dr.
Chandra Muzaffar
[A
Malaysian political scientist; President of the International Movement for a
Just World (JUST)]
"The
Noble Qur'an itself views those who leave Islam --- the murtadd( apostate)-with
utmost displeasure. It says, " Those who believe, and then disbelieve, and
then( again) disbelieve, and then increase in disbelief, Allah will never
pardon them, nor will He guide them to the (right) way ( Surah 4:137). But the
Qur'an does not prescribe capital punishment or any other form of punishment
for the apostate. Neither does the Sunnah. It was only when apostasy was
coterminous with rebellion against the nascent state that the Prophet( may
peace be upon him) had established in Medina, that the death penalty was
imposed. The Righteous Caliphs followed the Prophet's example. The jurists who
came after them adopted a different approach. They felt no necessity to
differentiate between mere peaceful change of faith and violent rebellions.
Consequently, their rulings evolved into mainstream jurisprudence which is what
the ulama of today have inherited." [From Fiqh to Qur'an: Resolving
Apostasy]
Dr.
Hesham A. Hassaballa
[M.D.;
author and scholar; Beliefnet columnist]
“This
entire “what to do with apostates” debate has raised an extremely important
question in my mind. Despite the overwhelming evidence in the Qur’an against
the death penalty for those who choose to leave the fold of Islam, despite the
fact that the hadith, when understood correctly, does not contradict the
Qur’anic position, it is amazing that some people still cling on to the
opinions of scholars on this issue. People continue to retort to me, “All of
the 4 imams have upheld death for apostates.” [Are The Scholars The Same As God
Himself?]
Dr.
Maher Hathout
[MPAC's
Senior Advisor; Charter Member of the Pacific Council on International Policy;
member, Board of Directors of the Interfaith Alliance; retired physician]
“The
problem with the argument for punishment for apostasy is that it cannot be
applied in any Islamic state without giving rise to the potential for abuse by
the state itself. Erroneously equating moral with political power in the
determination of law has led to the political repression that we see in Islamic
countries today.” [In Pursuit of Justice, p. 157, quoted in Statement on Afghan
Christian Convert]
Dr.
Riffat Hassan
[Chair,
Religious Studies, University of Louisville]
“In
the context of the human right to religious freedom, it is necessary to mention
that, according to traditional Islam, the punishment for apostasy is death. In
other words, a person who is born a Muslim or who becomes a Muslim is to be put
to death if he or she later chooses to renounce Islam. There is nothing in the
Qur’an which suggests any punishment at all, let alone the punishment of death,
for a Muslim who renounces Islam. There is absolutely no reason to assume that
the Qur’anic dictum, “Let there be no compulsion in religion” (Sura 2:256),
which modern Muslims apply with such magnanimity to non-Muslims does not or
should not apply to Muslims also. (I believe that the death penalty was not
meant to be a punishment for apostasy alone but for apostasy accompanied by
“acts of war” against the Muslims.” [On Human Rights and the Qur’anic
Perspective]
Dr.
M.E. Asad Subhani
[Head
of the faculty of Islamic Studies at the College of Education in Zanzibar,
Tanzania]
...
argues that the dominant Muslim position on apostasy as deserving death is, in
fact, not sanctioned in the primary sources of Islam, the Qur'an and the
Hadith, the traditions attributed to the Prophet Muhammad ... [Book review:
Apostasy in Islam]
Imam
Ziad Hamdan
[Islamic
Society of Milwaukee]
Speaking
at the main Friday prayer service, Imam Ziad Hamdan said that conversion is a
personal decision and is not subject to the intervention of the state. In doing
so, he drew upon his own understanding of the Qur'an, the Muslim holy book, and
echoed the opinions of many North American Islamic scholars and of the
Washington-based Council on American-Islamic Relations. ... Hamdan said in an
interview Friday that clerics have an obligation to enter into a discussion
with the man to point out his errors, but that judgment and punishment are up
to God. [Conversion is personal, area Islamic leaders says]
Dr.
Zulfiqar Ali Shah
[Religious
Director, Milwaukee Islamic Society; member of Fiqh Council of North America;
former President, Islamic Circle of North America; CEO, Universal Heritage Foundation]
That
view [of Imam Ziad Hamdan] was reinforced by Zulfiqar Ali Shah, the Milwaukee
Islamic society's religious director. He also is a prominent scholar and a
member of the Fiqh Council of North America, an association of Islamic legal
scholars that interprets Muslim religious law. Shah said in an interview that
the council and most other scholars in North America hold that an individual
has the freedom to choose a faith, or to leave a faith, without earthly
punishment.
"Islam
does not allow coercing anybody into the Islamic religion," Shah said.
"And even if it comes to apostasy, 'Irtidad,' the word which means
apostasy in the Qur'an appears 14 times, and all the 14 times the Qur'an does
mention that there is punishment in the life hereafter, but it says nothing
about this worldly life whatsoever." [Conversion is personal, area Islamic
leaders say]
Maulana
Inayatullah Asad Subhani
[Scholar;
author of many thought-provoking books on Islam; India]
And
there is no bigger misconception-strengthened with misinterpretation of Islamic
thoughts over the years-other than the belief that Islam doesn't tolerate
apostasy. Ulama have tried to strengthen it through their emphasis and several
leading Muslim reformists have failed to tackle the issue. This misconception
has also presented Islam as a medieval and killer religion. Islam baiters have
time and again tried to carry the point by pointing out that Islam orders the
killing of a person if he reverts to other religion from Islam.
And
there was none who could answer this widely held belief as well as put forth a
convincing argument about the misinterpretation of Qur'anic teachings by ulama.
Inayatullah
Subhani says that neither Islam forces any person to embrace Islam nor it
forces him to remain within its fold. He writes 'apostasy has been mentioned
several times in Qur'an. It also describes the bad treatment that will be meted
out for committing apostasy, but it never talks of punishment for the crime in
this world.' Maulana mentions three ayaat (verses) from Qur'an on apostasy
(Al-Baqara 217, Muhammad 25-27 and Al-Maida 54 )and then says that none of
these ayaat prescribes any punishment for that though these ayaat pass
strictures on the people who commit it. He mentions several other ayaat on the
same issue and then concludes that none of these ayat prescribes either death
penalty or any other punishment for apostasy in this world. He then adds that
had there been some punishment in Islam for apostasy there was no reason as to
why the issue was mentioned repeatedly in Qur'an but no punishment was
prescribed.
He
emphasizes that people who were awarded death penalty for reverting to other
religions from Islam during either the time of the Prophet (SAW) or during the
reign of his caliphs were not given the punishment for the crime of apostasy
but for the fact that they were at war with Muslims and Islamic government.
[Book Review: Apostasy doesn't carry death penalty in Islam]
Organization:
Islamic Center of Southern California
We
believe this trial, as well as apostasy laws in Afghanistan and other so-called
Muslim states mandating the killing of apostates, violates two fundamental
tenets of Islam.
a.
Freedom of religion – The Quran states categorically and unequivocally, “there
shall be no coercion in matters of faith.” (2:256). This cornerstone tenet of
Islamic faith is violated when an Islamic nation puts on trial individuals for
converting away from Islam. Based on this verse, we see that faith is an
intimate matter between a person and God. There is no room for a nation, or a
pseudo religious clergy, to take on a role that God has reserved for Himself in
judging the relationship between a person and the Almighty.
b.
Sanctity of human life - one of the paramount goals of Islamic law (Sharia) is
the protection of human life. [Statement on Afghan Christian Convert]
Dr.
Abidullah Ghazi
[Executive
Director, IQRA International Educational Foundation, Skokie, IL; USA]
"The
instances of mutual respect and cooperation afforded those Muslims living in
North America are too numerous, while incidents of impudence and intolerance,
seemingly inspired by the Shari’ah code, have displayed the exact opposite in
several Muslim-majority lands. ...
There
has also existed historically a long tradition of acceptance diversity of
culture and faith in Islamic civilization, a fact that has to be remembered by
those wishing to jettison this value in favor of insularity and
narrow-mindedness.The question nowadays for the Muslim community in the West is
how we want this very same culture of freedom and choice that we enjoy as
minorities reflected in Muslim-majority societies. In the globalized reality of
today, Western Muslims have a special duty to promote similar attitudes of
respect for human rights, tolerance and mutuality in Muslim-majority societies.
...
While
much has been made of the official radd penalty in the Western media these
days, the fact is that historically this penalty has been rarely enforced, and
usually when it was, it was due to some unmitigated political upheaval caused
by the said apostasy. ...
As a
believing and practicing Muslim who is deeply involved in inter-religious
dialogue and understanding, I call on all Muslim judicial systems and
legislatures worldwide (where the radd law exists) to contemplate the decorum
for this modern age in which we live and bring our age-old and well-tested
values in line with universal values. It is high time that Muslims learn to
respond to all such challenges intellectually and academically, not through
passionate or repellent reaction." [An Issue of Conversion]
Dr.
Ziauddin Sardar
[A
cultural critic, Muslim scholar, most prolific author, and editor of Futures:
The Journal of Planning, Policy, and Futures Studies]
"Most
Muslims consider the Shari'ah, commonly translated as ‘Islamic law’, to be
divine. Yet, there is nothing divine about the Shari`ah. The only thing that
can legitimately be described as divine in Islam is the Qur’an. The Shari`ah is
a human construction; an attempt to understand the divine will in a particular
context. This is why the bulk of the Shari`ah actually consists of fiqh or
jurisprudence, which is nothing more than legal opinion of classical jurists.
The very term fiqh was not in vogue before the Abbasid period when it was
actually formulated and codified. But when fiqh assumed its systematic legal
form, it incorporated three vital aspects of Muslim society of the Abbasid
period. At that juncture, Muslim history was in its expansionist phase, and
fiqh incorporated the logic of Muslim imperialism of that time. The fiqh
rulings on apostasy, for example, derive not from the Qur'an but from this
logic." [Rethinking Islam]
Dr.
Abdullahi Ahmed an-Naim
[Professor
of Law at Emory University School; the director of the Religion and Human
Rights Program at Emory; formerly the Executive Director of the African bureau
of Human Rights Watch.]
"To
Muslims, Shari‘a is the 'Whole Duty of Mankind,' moral and pastoral theology
and ethics, high spiritual aspiration, and detailed ritualistic and formal
observance; it encompasses all aspects of public and private law, hygiene, and
even courtesy and good manners. To attribute inadequacy to any part of Shari‘a
is regarded as heresy by the majority of Muslims, who believe that the whole of
Shari‘a is divine. This widespread view creates a formidable psychological
barrier, which is reinforced by the threat of criminal prosecution for the
capital offense of apostasy (ridda), a real threat today in countries such as
the Sudan." [Abdullahi Ahmed An-Na’im, Toward Islamic Reformation: Civil
Liberties, Human Rights, and International Law (Syracuse Uni. Press 1996), p.
11].
"
... although ridda (apostasy) is condemned by the Qur'an in the strongest
terms, the Qur'an does not prescribe any punishment for apostasy in this life.
Nevertheless, the majority of Muslim jurists have classified apostasy as a hadd
punishable by death as prescribed in the Sunna. Such classification violates
the fundamental right of freedom of religion, sanctioned by the Qur'an in
numerous verses. Relying on the higher authority of the Qur'an for freedom of
conscience, and arguing that the available Sunna imposing the death penalty can
be explained by the special circumstances of the cases in question, some modern
Muslim writers have mainteained that apostasy is not a hadd. This approach,
however, does not address the other negative consequences of apostasy under
Shari'a, under the discretionary power of ta'zir. To remove all constitutional
and human rights objections, the legal concept of apostasy and all its civil
and criminal consequences must be abolished. Whatever Sunna authority may exist
for penal and other legal conseuences of apostasy should be taken as
transitional and no longer applicable in accordance with the evolutionary
principle explaned in Chapter 3." [p. 109]
Dr.
Jeffrey Lang
[Professor
of Mathematics, University of Kansas, USA; author of three thought-provoking,
must-reading books]
"The
command, 'Let there be no compulsion in religion; truth stands out clear from
error' (2:256), would seem to argue against a penalty for apostasy ouside of a
manifest act of political treason. The majority trend of those traditions of
the Prophet related to incidents of apostasy also point to this conclusion. In
the first place, there are authenticated traditions in which no action was
taken against apostates. ... Secondly, there are the group of traditions that
associate apostasy with high treason. ... While the death penalty for apostasy
still has important implications for Muslims in countries like Iran, Saudi Arabia,
and perhaps Pakistan, it is of little immediate consequence to Muslims now
living in western countries, where the idea of killing someone for having
second thoughts about one's faith is highly repugnant. The evidence resorted to
in classical texts to justify execution for a mere change of faith might better
suggest limiting such a punishment only to cases of aiding and abetting an
enemy of the state." [Struggling to Surrender, Amana Publications, 1994,
pp. 210-211]
Dr.
Abdul Hakim Winter
[Professor
of Islamic Studies, University of Cambridge, U.K]
"The
issue of the punishment for apostasy is a fascinating example of debates
unfolding in Islamic law. Islam has four orthodox schools of law, and
traditionally the majority view in all four of them held that apostasy carries
the death penalty. In recent years, however, many Muslim scholars have pointed
out that even among the medieval writers there are leading figures who, on the
basis of the Muslim scriptures, have contested this. An example, from the Hanafi
school, would be al-Sarakhsi; and from the Malikis, al-Baji. The reason for the
difference of opinion (hardly an uncommon phenomenon in Islamic law!), is that
the Qur'an nowhere lays down a penalty for apostasy, and the Hadith texts have
been interpreted in very contrasting ways.
For
this reason, Shaykh Mahmud Shaltut, the highest religious authority in Egypt
during the 1960s, issues an opinion to the effect that apostasy was not a
criminal offence in Islamic law. This view has been followed widely in the
Muslim world." [Online Dialogue: The Future of Muslims in the West]
Dr.
Amir Hussain
[Department
of Theological Studies; Loyola Marymount University; California, USA]
Unfortunately,
many Muslims and non-Muslims alike are unaware of the historical contexts that
shaped the development of Islamic law. The harsh measures that some Muslims
impose on those who leave the faith must be understood in light of Islam's
beginnings as a persecuted tradition. Muslims were threatened by the
polytheists in Mecca, and a series of battles occurred between Muhammad's
community in Medina and the polytheists of Mecca. In that context the death
penalty as a punishment for apostasy was not so much a matter of religious
affiliation as a matter of political identity. By reverting back to polytheism
after having converted to Islam, one would actively be siding with the
polytheists of Mecca and would therefore undermine the Muslim community. In
effect, apostasy was comparable to treason, an offence which still carries the
death penalty in several jurisdictions in the United States, though no longer
in Canada
.In
the modern period, extremist Muslims seem almost to take delight in applying
those early precedents to apostates today. The classical jurists of Islamic
law, however, were hesitant to rule on cases of apostasy, however, precisely
because of the capital nature of the offence. They preferred to let God decide
the matter on the day of judgment. Indeed, the Qur'an is clear that ultimate
judgment belongs to God alone: "Whatever is in the heavens and whatever is
in the earth belongs to God; God forgives whom God pleases and chastises whom
God pleases; and God is Forgiving, Merciful" (3:129). This recourse to
God's judgment is applied differently throughout the Muslim world; today some
pacifist Muslims take it so far as to renounce not only the death penalty but
all violence in the defense of the faith. When Muslims take upon themselves
God's role as judge of a person's faith, they flout the Qur'anic injunction
given to the Prophet Muhammad himself, that he was to warn people but not force
them to obey: "So therefore remind, for you [Muhammad] are one to remind,
but you are not a warden over them. But whoever turns back and disbelieves, God
will punish him with a mighty punishment. For to Us [God] is their return, and
it will be for Us to call them to account" (88:21 - 26). It is therefore
God who will inflict punishment when human beings return to God at the end of
this life.
Of
course, Muslims believe that human beings still need law, or else there would
be chaos. Even those of us who value human freedom agree that certain
conventions such as traffic signals should be obeyed. The difficult issue is
the intersection of human justice in this world with God's justice in the world
to come. ["Apostasy: turning away from Islam," in Oil and Water: Two
Faiths, One God (Kelowna: Copper House, 2006), pp. 178-180]
Organization:
Muslim Women's League [MWL]
The
Muslim Women's League ... [calls] for the release of the Afghan Christian
convert recently on trial for apostasy. We follow the Qur'anic mandate that
"there is no compulsion in religion" and hope that this case will be
resolved justly, as required by Islam. [Calling for Release of the Afghan
Christian]
Imam
Yahya Hendi
[Muslim
chaplain at Georgetown University; Imam of the Islamic Society of Frederick; a
member and the spokesperson of the Islamic Jurisprudence Council of North
America; adjunct faculty with Evergreen Society of John Hopkins University’s
School of Professional Development, MD.]
"I
call on the government of Afghanistan to release Abdul Rahman, a man facing the
death penalty for converting from Islam to Christianity. According to my
understanding of Islamic law (Shari’ah), belief is a personal matter not
subject to the intervention of the state. Shari’ah Law safeguards the right of
every human being to choose his/her own faith and tradition. Shari’ah law
should not and must not be used by politicians to justify inhumane and cruel
treatment of converts and religious minorities living in so-called Muslim
Lands.
What
the Islamic Shari’ah terms Hadd ul-Riddah must be distinguished from the right
to convert out of Islam. Hadd ul-Riddah refers to the original rulings of early
Islamic scholars on apostasy, which were similar to rulings concerning treason
found in legal systems worldwide and do not apply to an individual's choice of
religion. ...
Let
it be known by all humanity, both Muslims and non-Muslims that religious belief
should be a matter of personal choice, not a cause for government intervention.
Faith imposed by force is not true belief, but rather coercion." [Imam
Yahya Hendi calls for the release of Afghan Christian]
Dr.
Azizah al-Hibri
["Azizah
Y. al-Hibri is a professor at the T. C. Williams School of Law, University of
Richmond; founder and president of KARAMAH: Muslim Women Lawyers for Human
Rights.]
"The
whole punishment for Muslims who leave their people is not about change of
religion at all, whether Christianity or even lack of belief in God, because
God guaranteed for Muslims freedom of faith and freedom of conscience. The
whole idea was, if they were in a state of war and this person left and joined
the enemy who is fighting them, then he becomes the enemy, and then you fight
him like you fight the enemy. That's what needs to be understood." [CNN
Interview]
Dr.
Radwan Masmoudi
[Founder,
member of the Board, and President of the Center of the Study of Islam &
Democracy (CSID)]
"Freedom
of religion is the only way to build a strong, moral society," says Radwan
Masmoudi, "where people can deal with each other with dignity, respect,
trust, and fairness." Progressive thinkers such as Masmoudi advocate
"liberal Islam," which considers freedom of conscience a sacred right
as well as a central democratic doctrine. They argue that Muslims must recover
the Koranic teaching that human beings are created free, and that violations of
basic liberties--including freedom of worship--contradict human nature and the
will of God. [The Unmentionable Freedom]
Ruqaiyyah
Waris Maqsood
[British
Muslim author and educator; authors of many books on Islam]
"As
regards the common misconception about issuing the death penalty for leaving
the faith (apostasy), or vilifying Allah (blasphemy), or speaking abusively
about Allah or his Messenger (pbuh), this was never the case. The Prophet
(pbuh) himself was frequently abused and hurt and jeered at, but exhorted his
followers going through equal or greater suffering than himself to stand firm
and accept the unpleasantness with patience, hating the evil, but never hating
the people who had been overtaken by evil. The death penalty could be issued
legally in cases of treason or murder, the treason being the cases of those who
had once accepted the rule of Islam in an Islamic country, but had then not
merely turned against it (which anyone might do - and be pitied for this
tragedy rather than attacked; their actual judgment rested with Allah in the
life to Come), but also actively led physical attacks upon it and coerced
others into doing so." [On the Hijacking of Islam]
Dr.
A. Rashied Omar
[Research
Scholar of Islamic Studies and Peacebuilding, Joan B. Kroc Institute for
International Peace Studies, University of Notre Dame]
“Contemporary
Muslim jurists are uncritically transporting medieval juristic positions that
were negotiated in radically different historical circumstances to present day
realities. … number of modern Muslim scholars have argued for more lenient and
humane positions on apostasy, marshalling strong support for their views. … Notwithstanding
these and other tolerant Islamic positions on religious conversion, Muslims
engaged in interreligious dialogue need to be more honest and forthcoming about
the enormous challenge they face in reforming the hegemonic traditional Muslim
position on apostasy.” [The Right to Religious Conversion: Between Apostasy and
Proselytization]
Imam
Farooq Abo-Elzahab
[Imam,
Islamic Center of Greater Toledo]
“A
person cannot be forced into being a Muslim, and neither should someone be
punished for peacefully abandoning the faith,” according to Imam Farooq
Abo-Elzahab.
"The
penalty is up to God in the hereafter, but there is no penalty on this Earth
for apostasy," Imam Farooq said yesterday. He called the Afghan
government's charges against Abdul Rahman "a kind of nonsense, a
misinterpretation of Islam." [No earthly penalty for converts, local imam
says]
Imam
Sadullah Khan
[Executive
Director of Religious Affairs at the Islamic Center of Irvine, California.]
“There
is not a single instance that Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) did treat apostasy as a
prescribed offence under hudud (capital punishment) only for leaving Islam. The
Prophet (pbuh) never put anyone to death for apostasy alone rather he let such
person go unharmed.” [Freedom, Tolerance and the Shari’ah]
Dr.
Najah Kadhim
[Executive
Director of the International Forum for Islamic Dialogue (IFID) and a senior
university lecturer, London, United Kingdom]
“…
why should we feel so insecure about the destiny of Islam and lose our
self-confidence when dealing with other people to the extent of imposing
Islamic ideas and beliefs by force? … We have not heeded the Qur’anic plea when
it has appealed to our senses, asking us to reflect, to seek to understand the
causes of phenomena, and therefore to be able to construct a great
civilization. What we now have is social retardation, far removed from the
civilization envisaged by the Qur’an. In our efforts to find solu tions to the
problems that continue to arise day after day, we retreat into the past to seek
readymade answers. The execution of the apostate reflects our distrust in the
intellect and our blind adherence to the use of violence, which are the result
of our yielding to inferior animal instincts and our imitating the shameful
attitudes of other nations.” [Has the Time Come for a Serious Reflective
Reassessment of the Fiqh of the Killing of an Apostate (and many other
issues)?]
Javed
Ahmad Ghamidi
Pakistani
Islamic scholar, exegete, and educationist; director of Al-Mawrid Institute of
Islamic Sciences; member of Council of Islamic Ideology since 2006]
"Instead
of interpreting the Hadith in the light of the relationship between the Qur’an
and Hadith, they [the jurists]have interpreted it in the absolute sense,
totally against the context of the Qur’an. Consequently, in their opinion the
verdict pronounced in the Hadith has a general and an unconditional
application. They have thereby incorporated in the Islamic Penal Code a
punishment which has no basis in the Shari‘ah." [Islamic Punishments: Some
Misconceptions]
Dr.
Reza Aslan
[Research
Associate at the University of Southern California's Center on Public
Diplomacy; author of "No God But God]
"It's
important, first of all, to understand that the Koran says nothing about
apostasy at all. There is no punishment in apostasy. This idea of death as a
punishment for apostasy actually arose at a time in which Islam and the state
were one. So, apostasy and treason were considered the same thing. And,
therefore, the punishment of death was for all of it.
Not
all Islamic law -- schools of Islamic law actually agree upon this, just the
very conservative ones. And there are few more conservative schools of law than
in Afghanistan." [Anderson Cooper 360 Degrees: Death to Christian
Converts?]
Dr.
Ahmad Shafaat
[Distinguished
Mathematician and currently, professor, Department of Decision Sciences and
MIS, Concordia University, Montreal, Quebec. A noted scholar in his own
profession, Shafaat also specialized in Comparative Religon and has authored
many books and pamphlets about Islam, Christianity, and Judaism.]
“It
is a significant fact that the Book of God does not prescribe any punishment
for apostasy. Many Muslims would immediately say, The Qur`an does not tell us
everything. We need to go to the Hadith to find guidance on matters not touched
by the Qur`an. But … The punishment for apostasy is not a detail that we can
expect God to leave for ahadith, especially if that punishment is death, since
taking the life of a person, if done without a just cause, is regarded by the Qur`an
as tantamount to killing all human beings (5:32).” [The Punishment of Apostasy
in Islam]
Shaikh
Dr. Ahmad Kutty
[Scholar,
Islamic Institute of Toronto]
“Even
though the penalty for treason was the death penalty (as was the case in the
Law of Moses as well), there was no targeting of people who simply chose to
leave Islam without any implication of treason. To simply kill anyone who
chooses to follow a religion other than Islam is against the fundamental
teachings of the Qur’an. Freedom of conscience is a fundamental principle of
the Qur’an that is clearly stated in many Qur'anic verses.” [On Apostasy]
Organization:
Islamic Center of San Deigo
The
position of ICSD on the apostasy case in Afghanistan is the position taken by
CAIR and MAS Freedom Foundation, namely that ICSD:
“oppose(s)
the possible execution of Mr. Abdul Rahman on both humanitarian and religious
grounds. To pursue such an action would not only be a flagrant violation of the
standards of human rights which the Karzai regime claims to embrace, but it
also runs contrary to the Holy Quran, which forbids compulsion in religion.”
[ICSD Response to Apostasy Case In Afghanistan]
Dr.
Shahid Athar
[Islamic
activist and author; Indianapolis, IN, USA]
"There
is no death penalty in the Qur’an for apostasy. The Qur’an says “Let there be
no compulsion in religion, truth stands out from falsehood. Whosoever rejects
falsehood and believes in one God has grasped the most trustworthy hand that
never breaks, and God hears and knows all things.” (2:26). In order to be a
true Muslim, the faith has to accepted in the heart of the person. A court
cannot force him to become Muslim." [Reflections on God’s Grace,
Salvation, Heaven & Hell]
Zainah
Anwar
[Executive
Director, Sisters in Islam, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia]
...
even though apostasy is a great sin it is not a capital offence in Islam.
Therefore a personal change of faith merits no punishment. Yet in its attempt
to introduce the hudud law in the 21st century, the Islamic party in power in
Terengganu chose the most extremist juristic opinion to codify into law. It is
a well-known fact that the Qur'an is explicit in its recognition of freedom of
religion and there exists as well within the Islamic juristic heritage a
position that supports freedom of religion. [Islamisation and its Impact on
Democractic Governance and Women's Rights in Islam]
Dr.
Muqtedar Khan
[Assistant
Professor in the Department of Political Science and International Relations at
the University of Delaware]
"...
religious minorities in some Islamic states, such as Afghanistan under the
Taliban, suffer institutionalized discrimination because of these states’
legalist orientation and their obsession with the Islamic jurisprudence. Some
of the legalist positions in Islamic states are so strict that non-Muslim
minorities find it a challenge to live normal lives. Blasphemy laws and
apostasy laws are well known for the problems they cause minorities."
[Islamic State and Religious Minorities]
Dr.
Ibrahim B. Syed
[President
of the Islamic Research Foundation International, Louisville, Kentucky]
“And
there is no bigger misconception-strengthened with misunderstanding of Islamic
beliefs over the years-other than the belief that Islam doesn't tolerate
apostasy. The Christian missionaries and the Western world are cashing in on
it. Ulama have tried to strengthen their point of view and several leading
Muslim reformists have failed to tackle the issue. This misconception has also
presented Islam as a medieval and killer religion. Islam bashers have time and
again tried to carry the point by pointing out that Islam orders the killing of
a person if he or she reverts to another religion from Islam.No body is
forthcoming to challenge this widely held belief as well as put forth a
convincing argument about the misinterpretation of Qur'anic teachings by
Ulama.The Qur’an is completely silent on any worldly punishment for apostasy
and the sole Tradition that forms the basis of rulings is open to many
interpretations.” [Is Killing An Apostate in the Islamic Law?]
Dr.
Hasan Zillur Rahim
[Former
editor of IQRA, South Bay Islamic Association; Physicist]
"Many
Muslims have already pointed out the absurdity, illegality and immorality of
apostasy-killing as the hapless Rahman's impending fate filtered out of
Afghanistan. The most powerful indictment comes, of course, from the Quran: Let
there be no compulsion in religion (2:256). ...
Hopefully,
killing for apostasy and stoning to death (only women need apply) for adultery
will soon be a thing of the past as absolutist clerics realize that their hold
over Muslim minds and hearts is rapidly dissipating. ...
Even
in conservative societies, Muslims are beginning to realize that faith is a
matter of personal responsibility and not a consequence of authoritarian
decree. The days of religious leaders thundering: 'I am right, you are dead'
will soon, let us pray, be over once and for all." [Lessons from the case
of the Afghan apostate]
Dr.
Shehzad Saleem
[Director,
Al-Mawrid, Institute of Islamic Sciences; Editor, Renaissance, a monthly
Islamic journal; Pakistan]
"It
is shown on the basis of the above mentioned feature that the following
directives of Islam are specific to the age of the last Rasul and his
companions and cannot be related to later Muslims: 1. Apostasy ..." [Understanding
the Qur’an: A Fundamental Premise]
Shah
Abdul Hannan
[Chairman,
Islamic Economic Research Bureau; former Chairman, Islami Bank Bangladesh Ltd.,
former deputy governor, Bangladesh Bank; Author/Scholar; Bangladesh]
"On
this issue of punisment of apostasy I hold the same view as that of Dr. Jamal
Badawi, Dr. Hashim Kamali, Dr. AbdulHamid AbuSulayman and such scholars ... who
hold that apostasy has no punishment unless in conjunction with rebellion or
violence. This is my view." [comment sent directly by email]
Adil
Salahi
[Journalist
and author of many books, including Muhammad: Man and Prophet]
"Many
are the Qur’anic verses that make clear that all people are free to choose the
faith they want. There can be no compulsion with regard to faith. Indeed, over
the fourteen centuries since Islam began, compulsion was never a policy of any
Islamic government anywhere in the world. On the contrary, followers of other
faiths, including those who worship idols, lived freely among Muslim
communities. Today, you find Christian and Jewish communities, as well as
followers of other faiths, in the overwhelming majority of Muslim countries.
This testifies to the fact that Islam operates a policy of freedom of faith and
worship. The Hadith you have mentioned is often quoted in support of the death
penalty for apostasy. Many scholars mention that this penalty is mandatory,
which means that it is prescribed and cannot be changed. However, a fair number
of profoundly perceptive scholars are of the view that this punishment is
discretionary, which means that it can be reduced or even waived. This is the
view that seems to be better supported by Qur’anic and Hadith texts.
...
It is 'deserting the community', which means that the person concerned did not
merely choose to follow a religion other than Islam, but also he deserted his
community and stood in opposition to it. Scholars make clear that the Arabic
statement implies rebellion. They cite cases of people who changed their faith
after adopting Islam during the time of the Prophet (peace be upon him) and his
two immediate successors, Abu Bakr and Umar, and none of them was executed. It
is to that early period of Islam that we look for practical guidance in
understanding Islamic rules. Had the death penalty for apostasy been mandatory,
none of them would have refrained from enforcing it." [What Is the
Punishment for Apostasy?]
Dr.
Bashir Ahmad
[Wildwood,
Missouri; USA]
"Islam
emphatically affirms full freedom of conscience and belief. Simple apostasy,
which is not aggravated by rebellion, treason or grave disorderliness, is not
punishable in any manner." [No Punishment for Apostasy in Islam]
Organization:
Islamic Networks Groups
[Based
in the San Francisco Bay Area, ING, an entreprenurial, educational outreach
organization with affiliates and partners in 20 states, Canada and the United
Kingdom. ING promotes interfaith dialogue and education]
"No
where in the Qur’an does it mention punishment for apostasy, although the
subject of disbelief is mentioned repeatedly, and the last verse mentioned
above specifically describes a person who disbelieves repeatedly without any
mention of punishment. ... according to numerous Islamic scholars, the death
penalty was meant, not for simple acts of apostasy, but for political betrayal
of the community, or treason, which is punishable in numerous societies. ...
ING calls on all Muslims to re-examine universal Islamic principals that uphold
the rights of all people to freedom of religion." [Apostasy in Islam]
Mustafa
Akyol
[a
Turkish Muslim writer]
"In
the early Muslim state, apostasy became regarded as a crime because it was seen
as a rebellion against the state. In other words, the real consideration was
political and, by time, this turned into a religious rule as well. This is, of
course, a deviation we Muslims should rid ourselves today." [Symposium:
Convert or Die]
Dr.
Mohd Asri Zainul Abidin
[Youngest
national mufti, Malaysia]
Islamic
leaders must squarely address the questions of apostates and other challenges,
and not further damage the Muslim community by their own failure to live up to
religious values. ...
Asked
to comment on tensions raised by the issue of apostasy, Asri said religious
leaders were culpable because they divert focus from the reasons that lead
Muslims to apostasise. Instead, they issued threats of punitive measures
against apostates and non-Muslim supporters. [Malaysia: Nation's youngest mufti
speaks out on apostasy]
Ibrahim
Hooper
[National
Communications Director for the Council on American-Islamic Relations]
"Islam
advocates both freedom of religion and freedom of conscience. That position is
supported by the Quran, Islam's revealed text, the traditions of the Prophet
Muhammad and the opinions of Islamic scholars both past and present. ...
Islamic scholars say the original rulings on apostasy were similar to those for
treasonous acts in legal systems worldwide and do not apply to an individual's
choice of religion. ... Freedom from coercion also implies freedom to practice
another faith. ... Religious decisions should be matters of personal choice,
not a cause for state intervention. Faith imposed by force is not true belief.
[Islam and religious freedom]
Ahmad
Faiz bin Abdul Rahman
[Researcher
with the Institute of Islamic Understanding, Malaysia (IKIM) and a Pro-temp
Committee Member of the International Movement for a Just World (JUST).]
One
of the manifestations of personal liberty is the freedom of the individual to
profess the religion of his or her choice without compulsion. ... Freedom of
religion under Islam would therefore imply that non-Muslims are not compelled
to convert to Islam, nor are they hindered from practicing their own religious
rites. However, many tend to forget or take for grant that this also applies to
Muslims, in that they are not to be compelled or be put under undue influence
so as to become apostates. In other words, both Muslims and non-Muslims are
entitled to propagate the religion of their following, as well as to defend it
against attacks or seditious provocation, regardless of whether such an action
is launched by their co-religionists or by others." [Malaysian Laws on
Apostasy Inadequate]
Mirza
A. Beg
[Geologist
and columnist; US]
“The
Quran has many references to apostasy. It does not call for a temporal
punishment; it specifically reserves the judgment for God. On the contrary
there are many verses that clearly prohibit compulsion in religion … It is
important and valid to oppose all the encroachments by others on the Muslim
lands and Islam, but it is suicidal to use it as an excuse to cover the
festering wound intolerance. The more grievous fault is lies within.” [Apostasy
Laws – An Injury To Islam By Muslims]
Iman
al-Qahtani
[Saudi
journalist. She is also an author and activist in Saudi Arabia]
"There
is no basis for executing an apostate in Islam. It is nothing more than an
invention by narrow-minded men who accuse everyone in disagreement with them of
apostasy." [I don't believe it]
Dr.
Sohirin Solihin
[Pofessor
of Qur'ranic studies, International Islamic University, Malaysia]
...
The Koran forbids Muslims to abandon their faith, but it doesn't specify the
penalties ... [Losing Faith in Malaysia]
Imam
Kamara AbdilHaqq Muhammad
[Isaamic
Teacher and Associate Imam at ADAMS Center of Northern Va., USA]
"Of
the many things we try to remember, we must remember this clear fact: Allah is
not in need of anyone or anything in His creation.' Therefore it is neither a
loss to Him nor a strain to Him if any of the Children of 'Aadam turn away from
His established agenda of Al-Islaam. 'Laa 'ikraha fid Diin' means exactly what
it says: 'No compulsion in the Diin (religion). Allah has not made it
compulsory that we must worship and pray to Him, rather He has allowed us to
make that choice with our free wills that He so kindly gave us. I have found
that the less educated people are in the Qur'aan and social life, the harder
they are on others. "The Prophet never punished those around him who
sometimes said shahaadah in the morning and change to something else in the
evening.
When
any among the Children of 'Aadam choose in their own heart to submit their will
to Allah it is their gain and blessing, likewise when any among the Children of
'Aadam elect to reject to submit their will to Allah it is their own loss and
their loss only. Be patient in all matters and we get the best outcome."
[comments sent directly by email, while endorsing the Statement presented in
this Blog]
Asim
Siddiqui
[Chairman
of the City Circle, a network body of mainly young Muslim professionals; UK]
"To
argue for capital punishment for apostasy goes against the very principles of
Islam." [Freedom of conscience in Islam]
Sherazad
Hamit
[Student,
Macalester College]
“ …
the sentencing to death of apostates goes against Qur’anic decrees on apostasy,
and is therefore un-Islamic, given the context of the apostate in question. …”
[Apostasy and the Notion of Religious Freedom in Islam]
Organization:
Sisters In Islam
[Sisters
in Islam (SIS) is an independent non-governmental organisation, formed in 1988,
which believes in an Islam that upholds the principles of equality, justice,
freedom and dignity]
“Based
on these three reasons and the Qur'anic principle of freedom of religion,
prominent ulama from the seventh to the twentieth centuries have come out with
the position that there can be no death penalty for apostasy. According to
Professor Hashim Kamali in his award-winning book, Freedom of Expression in
Islam, two leading jurists of the generation succeeding the Companions, Ibrahim
al-Naka'I and Sufyan al-Thawri, both held that the apostate should be
re-invited to Islam, but should never be condemned to death. The renowned
Hanafi jurist, Shams al-Din al-Sarakhsi wrote that even though renunciation of
faith is the greatest of offences, it is a matter between man and his Creator,
and its punishment is postponed to the Day of Judgement. The Maliki jurist Abul
Walid al-Baji and the renowned Hanbali jurist Ibn Taymiyyah have both held that
apostasy is a sin which carries no hadd punishment. …Those in the vanguard of the
Islamic movement that wants to turn this country into an Islamic state must ask
themselves, why would Malaysians support the concept of an Islamic state which
assert different rights for Muslim men, Muslim women and non-Muslims and
minorities, rather than equal rights for all? Why would those whose equal
status and rights are recognised by a democratic system support the creation of
such an Islamic state? If an Islamic state means a dictatorial theocratic
political system that condemns those who question or challenge its authority as
apostates or deviants, and then impose the death penalty on them, then why
would those whose fundamental liberties are protected by a democratic state
support such an intolerant concept of an Islamic state?” [Islam, Apostasy and
PAS]
Dr.
Mohamed Azam Mohamed Adil
[Lecturer
at the Centre for Islamic Thought and Understanding at Mara University of
Technology; Bachelor of Shari’a, University of Malaya; PhD, University of
London’s School of Oriental and African Studies].
"The
notion of the right to freedom of religion is one of the fundamental rights
guaranteed in Islam. ... However, most of the classical Muslim jurists’
writings, apparently, did not articulate the subject. ... The subject of the
rights of the individual especially in relation to the right to freedom of
religion seems lacking in most Islamic fiqh books. Indeed, the majority of
classical Muslim jurists think that the right to freedom of religion is not
applicable to Muslims. Muslims who leave the Islamic faith or who have
apostatised should be condemned and put to death. In reality, punishment of
apostasy has not been prescribed by the Qur’ān and had never been practised by
the Prophet (S.A.W.). The Muslim jurists have been confused with such
punishment, considering that all apostates must be put to death after they
refused to repent. The fact was that the Prophet (S.A.W.) had proclaimed a
death penalty upon apostates because their acts were contemptuous and hostile
towards Islam. Muslims who merely renounced the Islamic religion were only
required to undergo a process of tauba (repentance)." [Abstract:
Punishment for Apostasy: Conflict between criminal sentence and the right to
freedom of religion, p. 32]
Mike
Mohamed Ghouse
[Founder,
World Muslim Congress; Founder, Foundation for Pluralism; Dallas, Texas]
"We,
the Muslims request you to honor the life given by Allah toAbdul Rahmanand
grant him his freedom to practice his faith. Lakum Dinukum Waliya deen.To him
his faith is dear, as our faith is to us." [American Muslims' Plea to
Afghan Judges In the case of Apostate Abdul Rahman]
Haris
Aziz
[PhD
candidate and professional journalist at Warwick University]
“The
Quran talks about apostasy at least twenty times but does not mention any
worldly punishment. The only warning given is about the consequence in the life
here after. Moreover there is a good possibility that the referred ahadith have
a specific context of hirabah [high treason], breaking away from the authority,
breaking a treaty, defying the direct commands of a living prophet in violent
times and incitement to wage war against Muslims when the very survival of a
small Muslim community was in danger. Many celebrated jurists have alluded to
this kind of takhsis [specification] to conclude that an apostate should be
re-invited to Islam but not condemned to death. It is critical that the Ulema
[scholars] address this issue. Moreover if some Muslim country does not allow
non-Muslims to observe their religion freely, it is totally against Islamic
principles of justice and fair play and should be tackled.” [Affirmation of
Freedom of Expression and Belief in the Quran]
Shah
Abdul Halim
[Chairman
of Islamic Information Bureau, Bangladesh]
“In
fact there is not a single instance that Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) did treat apostasy
as a prescribed offence under hudud (capital punishment) only for leaving
Islam. The Prophet (pbuh) never put anyone to death for apostasy alone rather
he let such person go unharmed. No one was sentenced to death solely for
renunciation of faith unless accompanied by hostility and treason or was linked
to an act of political betrayal of the community. As a matter of fact the Quran
is completely silent on the question of death as a punishment for apostasy.
Apostasy does not qualify for temporal punishment.” [Islam & Pluralism: A
Contemporary Approach]
Imam
Ahmad Sa'd
[Ex-Imam
of Calgary Muslim Community, Alberta, Canada and now Imam in Ar-Rahma Mosque,
Egypt.]
"A
close study of the life of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), which
serves as an example for all Muslims to learn how to practice Islam and carry
out its injunctions, will show us that he never killed people who changed their
religion or left Islam, for the reason of their leaving Islam.
In
incidents when the Prophet commended the killing of some people, it was because
they had committed an offense to the Muslim community, threatening its safety,
or because they had killed someone and were killed themselves in retaliation.
Therefore, killing them had nothing to do with their apostasy.
In
fact, many Islamic scholars support the view that there is no prescribed
punishment (hadd) for apostasy. In doing this, they use both reason and strong
evidence from Qur'an and Sunnah." [Should an Apostate Be Killed?]
Kashif
Ahmed Shehzada
[Researcher
on the Qur'an and comparative religion; Karachi, Pakistan]
"The
question of forcing someone to believe does not arise at all, because the
Qur'an identifies 'Iman' i.e. belief as something not just professed by the
lips, but something which has entered one's heart deeply, and that is possible
only if a person analyses the message through his reason and accepts it
willingly. ... The Qur'an proclaims that man hasthe freedom of choice to accept
or reject the permanent values of God. He CANNOT be forced to accept those
values, but has the free will to accept them, ... Had the punishment for
Apostasy been prescribed as 'Death' then the above verse (3:89) would not have
accommodated the room for amending one's conduct and repentence, but with the
inclusion of a condition ofrepentance and amending one's conduct, the Qur'an
confirms that forApostates the punishment is not death." [Can People be
Forced to Accept Islam? A Qur’anic Perspective]
Muhammad
Ridzwan Rahmat
[Editor,
Ewadah.Com]
"Islam
is a religion that has never been forced upon. The very idea that a conversion
into Islam is one way street in which one can never turn from is a much
dissipated myth. The Quran prohibits Muslims to force Islam onto an individual.
Muslims past and present have largely converted into Islam out of their own
free will. ... Again, no authority has been granted to Muslims to specifically
kill the apostates of Islam should they mean no harm. Apostates are to be
treated fairly as non-Muslims. Compulsion will not make sense in Islam."
[Why Do Muslims Kill Apostates? A Muslim Explains]
Professor
Shahul Hameed
[Consultant
of the Discover Islam Section, Islamonline.net; former Head of the Department
of English, Farook College, Calicut University, India; President of Kerala
Islamic Mission, Jama'at-e- Islami, Hind, Kerala Zone) Calicut, Indi]
"the
Noble Qur'an does not prescribe death penalty for deserters of Islam, but
rather states that they would be in Hell in the hereafter (2:217) ... the
ruling was with reference to certain specific cases of miscreants who wished to
undermine Islam, by joining Islam first and then deserting it. ... the killing
of apostates would undermine the freedom of will Allah has bestowed on each
human, as is made clear in the verses ..." [Apostasy, Polygamy, and
Adultery]
Riaz
Hasan
[former
director of Outreach for the Tracy Islamic Center, California, USA]
"Muslims
have direct relationship with God. It is required that you inform others about
your way of life (your faith); not pus(, not force. What a person does with the
information is between the person and God. He or she will be answerable to God.
It is not our job to judge, just to provide information and share with others
what good we have." [Perceiving the Afghan Christian role]
Ibrahim
Abusharif
[Editor,
Starlatch Press]
“It's
important to note that apostasy rulings have rarely been used in the heyday of
Islamic civilization, a ranging world conglomerate stretching from the western
frontiers of China, [to] the Indian subcontinent, to North and Sub-Saharan
Africa, Eastern Europe, and the western shores of Spain. There's absolutely
nothing in the élan or sacred paradigms of Islam that makes a religious choice
an anathema to Muslims. Not one reference in the Qur’an that refers to people
leaving the realm of faith suggests the penalty of death.” [The Legal Tradition
of Islamic Apostasy]
Anwaar
Hussain
[Columnist,
PakTribune]
“In
a screaming instance of a heart rending paradox in the Muslim world, an Afghan
convert to Christianity is to be tried in a Kabul court for apostasy, a 'crime'
that is punishable by death in that country. Despite clear injunctions in the
Quran that "there is no compulsion in religion" and "to you your
own religion and to me, mine", an innocent man may be executed while we
stand by and watch this gruesome charade in the name of God. … Fortunately,
some highly distinguished contemporary Islamic scholars based on renewed
ijtihad, hold absolutely differing views on the subject of apostasy. … The
historic fact remains that the Prophet (PBUH) never put anyone to death for
apostasy alone. No one was sentenced to death solely for repudiation of faith
unless accompanied by certain other crimes. Those other crimes would have been
punishable by death in any contemporary state of the time. As a matter of fact
the Quran is completely silent on the question of death as a punishment for
apostasy. Apostasy simply does not qualify for temporal punishment.” [In the
Name of God]
Organization:
The Iraqi Women Leaders Conference
[A
joint-project of the American Islamic Congress, the Foundation for the Defense
of
Democracies
and the Independent Women’s Forum]
"It
is important to note that wine-drinking (shrub) and apostasy (riddah) are not
hudud
crimes and the Qur’an specifies no punishment for these two offences. Yet, Fiqh
manuals have, erroneously, included shrub and riddah in the category of
hudud." [Building and Planning]
Inayat
Bunglawala
[Media
secretary at the Muslim Council of Britain. He is also a co-presenter of the
weekly 'Politics and Media Show' on the Islam Channel (SKY 813)]
"To
force someone to remain in a faith they do not believe seems rather absurd as
it negates the whole basis of sincere belief and seems closer to officially
endorsing hypocrisy.
There
is a famous remark attributed to the 19th century Egyptian Muslim activist and
scholar Muhammad Abduh who visited various European countries and said 'I have
been to many Muslim countries and found many Muslims there, but little Islam. I
have also been to some European countries and found few Muslims there, but a
lot of Islam'." [Apostasy and Islam]
Dr.
Taj Hashmi
[Professor,
Security Studies at the Asia-Pacific Center for Security Studies, Honolulu,
Hawaii]
"
... the Islamic scripture or the Quran spells out: "Let there be no
compulsion in religion" [2:256] and does not prescribe any death penalty
for apostasy either: "Surely (as for) those who believe then disbelieve,
again believe and again disbelieve, then increase in disbelief, Allah will not
forgive them nor guide them in the (right) path" [4:137].
The
Quran sanctions death penalty for murder and other horrendous crimes, not
apostasy." [Death for apostasy and Shariah]
Ahmed
Bedier
[an
expert on Islam, media relations, civil rights, hate crimes and the mideast;
Tampa, FL, USA]
"A
couple of days ago I joined CAIR and others calling for his release.
Alhamdulilla the Afghan authorities did the right thing by dropping this case,
that should never have been one in the first place. For over a week now news
outlets reported that Abdul Rahman is facing the death penalty under Islamic
Law for leaving Islam, however they failed to point out that this is not a
unanimous opinion among all Muslim scholars. Also that there is not a single
verse in the Quran that commands the killing of an apostate (a person leaving
his faith)." [Afghan Court Drops Case Against Christian Convert]
Dr.
S. M. Ghazanfar
[Ph.D.
in Economics, 1968 (Wash. State University), University of Idaho faculty,
1968-2002]
"Arguments
favoring death penalty for apostasy being a pre-modern Islamic law, based on
dubious interpretations and weak hadith references, the subject has made
international headlines recently. And such issues further feed the prevailing
Western Islamophobia hysteria. Freedom of religion is fundamental to Islam,
mentioned in several verses of the Holy Qur'an ("Unto your religion, and
unto me my religion," "Whosoever will, let him believe,"
"There is no compulsion in religion," etc.), clearly, the law of
apostasy violates that fundamental principle (which, of course, accords with UN
Universal Human Rights). It is about time the Islamic world formulates a fresh
school of thought that reconciles Islam with the contemporary, modern world.
Islamic intellectuals, indeed, facilitated European exit out of Dark Ages, and
sometimes it appears the Islamic world is now reverting in that
direction."
And finally,
Fornication is not met with death. Show me the verse in question. It is
actually met with Lashings. About 80 of them. And as for homosexuality there is
no verse in the entire Quran that says to kill the homosexual. You must mean
Christianity...or Judaism...Those two religions have one thing in common: There
is a death penalty for every crime. And finally, I would like to end this
entire discussion, God Willing, with a beautiful Quotation from the glorious
Qur'an:
Allah also says in Surah Al Kafiroon (The Unbelievers) 109:1-6
1 Say: O ye that reject
Faith!
2 I worship not that which
ye worship
3 Nor will ye worship that
which I worship.
4 And I will not worship
that which ye have been wont to worship
5 Nor will ye worship that
which I worship.