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is it true that those who refuse to acknowledge apostasy from islam of apostates are themselves apostates (look for fatwa) Have found nothing
Apostasy in Islam (Arabic: ردة, riddah or ارتداد, irtidād) is commonly defined as the conscious abandonment of Islam by a Muslim in word or through deed.[1][2][3] It includes the act of converting to another religion or non-acceptance of faith to be irreligious,[4] by a person who was born in a Muslim family or who had previously accepted Islam,[5] or heresy.[6] While classical Islamic law calls for the execution of those who refuse to repent of apostasy from Islam, the definition this act and whether and how it should be punished, are matters of controversy and opinions of Islamic scholars differ on these questions.[7][5][8]
According to the classical legal doctrine, apostasy in Islam includes not only an explicit renunciation of the Islamic faith (whether for another religion or irreligiosity), but also any deed or utterance implying unbelief, such as one denying a "fundamental tenet or creed" of Islam.[9] Those who were originally forced to embrace Islam, or who repented of their apostasy, should not be subject to execution.[10][11]
Until the late 19th century, the vast majority of Sunni and Shia jurists held that for adult men, apostasy from Islam was a crime as well as a sin, an act of treason punishable with the death penalty,[5][12] typically after a waiting period to allow the apostate time to repent and to return to Islam.[5][13][14][15] The kind of apostasy which the jurists generally deemed punishable was of the political kind, although there were considerable legal differences of opinion on this matter.[16] Wael Hallaq states that "[in] a culture whose lynchpin is religion, religious principles and religious morality, apostasy is in some way equivalent to high treason in the modern nation-state".[17] Early Islamic jurists developed legal institutions to circumvent this harsh punishment and the standard for apostasy from Islam was set so high that practically no apostasy verdict could be passed before the 11th century.[18] However, later jurists lowered the bar for applying the death penalty, allowing judges to interpret the apostasy law in different ways,[18] which they did sometimes leniently and sometimes strictly.[19] In the late 19th century, the use of criminal penalties for apostasy fell into disuse, although civil penalties were still applied.[5]
In modern times the majority of modern Islamic jurists continue to regard apostasy not only as a sin but as a crime deserving the death penalty (according to Abdul Rashied Omar),[13] although others[7][5][20] argue its punishment should not be death, or should just be left to God,[21][22][23][24] punishment being inconsistent with Quranic injunctions against compulsion in belief.[25][26] and should be enforced only if apostasy becomes a mechanism of public disobedience and disorder (fitna).[Note 1] Critics[28][29] argue that the death penalty or other punishment for apostasy in Islam is a violation of universal human rights and an issue of freedom of faith and conscience.[21][30]
As of 2019[update], there are 12 Muslim-majority countries with a death penalty for apostasy,[31][32][33] whereas in 13 other countries apostasy is illegal and the government prescribes some form of punishment for apostasy including: torture, imprisonment, annulment of marriage, loss of inheritance rights or custody rights, amongst others.[34] From 1985 to 2006, three governments executed four individuals for apostasy from Islam: "one in Sudan in 1985; two in Iran, in 1989 and 1998; and one in Saudi Arabia in 1992."[35] The Tunisian Constitution of 2014 stipulates protection from attacks based on accusations of apostasy.[36] In a Pew Research Center poll, public support for capital punishment for apostasy among Muslims ranged from 78% in Afghanistan to less than 1% in Kazakhstan.
REVISED LEDE. PRETTY MUCH READY TO GO
An apostasy in Islam (Arabic: ردة, riddah or ارتداد, irtidād, an apostate from Islam is a murtad (Arabic: مرتد) is commonly defined as the abandonment of Islam by a Muslim, in word or through deed.[37][38][39] It includes not only explicit renunciations of the Islamic faith by converting to another religion (or abandoning religion altogether),[40][5] but also blasphemy or heresy,[6][41] through any action or utterance implying unbelief, including those denying a "fundamental tenet or creed" of Islam.[9]
While classical Islamic law calls for execution of those who refuse to repent of apostasy from Islam, the definition of this act and whether and how it should be punished, are disputed among Islamic scholars[7][5][8] and international supporters of the universal human right to freedom of faith and conscience.[21][42][Note 2]
As of 2019[update], there were twelve Muslim-majority countries where apostasy from Islam was punishable by death,[31][45][46] and another thirteen where there were penal or civil penalties.[47] From 1985 to 2006, only four individuals were officially executed by governments for apostasy from Islam,[Note 3] but apostates have suffered from other legal and vigilante punishments -- imprisonment, annulment of marriage, loss of rights of inheritance and custody of children,[48] and even torture.[47] Mainly loss of life has come from killings by "takfiri" insurgents (ISIL, GIA, Taliban) and secret executions (in Iran) that are thought to have numbered in the thousands.
Until the late 19th century, the vast majority of Sunni and Shia jurists held that for adult men, apostasy from Islam was a crime as well as a sin, an act of treason punishable with the death penalty,[5][12] often (depending on the school of law) after a waiting period to allow the apostate time to repent and to return to Islam.[5][13][14][15] But to protect against abuse, exemption was granted to those who were originally forced to embrace Islam, or who apostasized out of fear, or (according to the Hanafi, Maliki, Shafi'i schools) who repented.[10][11] In addition, early Islamic jurists developed legal standards to limit the harsh punishment[18] to apostasy of the political kind,[16] which in a religious culture was "in some way equivalent to high treason".[17]
Later jurists lowered the bar for applying the death penalty,[18][49][5] allowing judges to interpret the apostasy law in different ways,[18] which they did sometimes leniently and sometimes strictly.[50] In the late 19th century, the use of legal criminal penalties for apostasy fell into disuse, although civil penalties were still applied.[5]
In the contemporary world, public (Muslim) support for capital punishment varies from 78% in Afghanistan to less than 1% in Kazakhstan;[Note 4] among Islamic jurists the majority continue to regard apostasy as a crime whose punishment is death.[13] Those who disagree[7][5][20] argue its punishment should be less than death, should be left to God,[21][22][23][24] (human punishment being inconsistent with Quranic injunctions against compulsion in belief),[25][52] or should be enforced only if apostasy becomes a mechanism of public disobedience and disorder (fitna).[Note 5] Secular critics[53][54] argue that the death penalty or other punishment for apostasy in Islam is a violation of universal human rights and an issue of freedom of faith and conscience.[21][55]
Issues and criticisms edit
HOPELESS. MOVE STUFF TO OTHER PLACES BELOW MAYBE MOVE IT BELOW
Apostasy can be applied narrowly or broadly.
In the case of a self-professed apostates, traditional, conservative and revivalist Muslim are in agreement -- depending upon the school of fiqh -- that punishment should be applied to the apostate after precautions have been taken (they was been educated of their error, given a chance to repent, evaluated for mental soundness, etc.), as a matter of obedience to sharia and to protect the faith. (In modern times capital punishment has usually been applied in Muslim majority countries by vigilantes or insurgent groups rather than the state.)
Non-Muslims and liberals Muslims disagree, arguing it is a violation of the human right to freedom of religion, and somewhat hypocritical for a religion that enthusiastically encourages non-Muslims to apostacize from their current faith and convert to Islam.
Etymology and terminology edit
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Apostasy is called irtidād (which literally means relapse or regress) or ridda in Islamic literature; an apostate is called murtadd, which means 'one who turns back' from Islam.[56] A person born to a Muslim father who later rejects Islam is called a murtad fitri, and a person who converted to Islam and later rejects the religion is called a murtad milli.[57][58][59]
Scriptural references edit
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Quran edit
The Quran mentions apostasy in many of its verses, expressing anger towards those who have left the faith. For example:[60]
But those who reject Faith after they accepted it, and then go on adding to their defiance of Faith, – never will their repentance be accepted; for they are those who have (of set purpose) gone astray.
You will find others who desire that they should be safe from you and secure from their own people; as often as they are sent back to the mischief they get thrown into it headlong; therefore if they do not withdraw from you, and (do not) offer you peace and restrain their hands, then seize them and kill them wherever you find them; and against these We have given you a clear authority.
Make ye no excuses: ye have rejected Faith after ye had accepted it. If We pardon some of you, We will punish others amongst you, for that they are in sin.
He who disbelieves in Allah after his having believed, not he who is compelled while his heart is at rest on account of faith, but he who opens (his) breast to disbelief-- on these is the wrath of Allah, and they shall have a grievous chastisement.
Other Qur'anic verses (4:137, 2:217, 5:54, 2:108, 88:23–24) also refer to apostasy.
While talk of God's wrath, punishment, and not accepting repentance in some verses may "appear to justify coercion and severe punishment" for apostates (according to Dale F. Eickelman),[61] others have pointed out there is no mention in the verses of any specific corporal punishment which apostates are to be subjected to in this world,[62][63][64] nor do Qur'anic verses refer, whether explicitly or implicitly, to the need to force an apostate to return to Islam or to kill him if he refuses to do so.[65] Legal historian Wael Hallaq writes that "nothing in the law governing apostates and apostasy derives from the letter" of the Quran.[66]
In fact, other verses give no indication that apostasy is considered a crime to be punished by execution:[67][68][69] There should be "no compulsion in religion" (2:256), "let him who will, reject" the truth of Islam (18:29), "your Lord" could have forced everyone to believe but did not (Quran 10:99), Muhammad was "only a reminder" and "not a watcher" of his people (88:21–22), "my Lord" has sent "mercy" to Arab pagans (11:28). (see below)
Hadith edit
Sahih ("authentic") Hadith literature gives differing statements about punishments for apostasy:[23][70][71][72]
Allah's Apostle said, "The blood of a Muslim who confesses that none has the right to be worshipped but Allah and that I am His Apostle, cannot be shed except in three cases: In Qisas for murder, a married person who commits illegal sexual intercourse and the one who reverts from Islam (apostate) and leaves the Muslims."
Ali burnt some people and this news reached Ibn 'Abbas, who said, "Had I been in his place I would not have burnt them, as the Prophet said, 'Don't punish (anybody) with Allah's Punishment.' No doubt, I would have killed them, for the Prophet said, 'If somebody (a Muslim) discards his religion, kill him.'"
A man embraced Islam and then reverted back to Judaism. Mu'adh bin Jabal came and saw the man with Abu Musa. Mu'adh asked, "What is wrong with this (man)?" Abu Musa replied, "He embraced Islam and then reverted back to Judaism." Mu'adh said, "I will not sit down unless you kill him (as it is) the verdict of Allah and His Apostle."
Other hadith state apostates were spared execution by repenting, by dying of natural causes or by leaving their community (the last case sometimes cited as an example of open apostasy that was left unpunished).[73]
A man from among the Ansar accepted Islam, then he apostatized and went back to Shirk. Then he regretted that, and sent word to his people (saying): 'Ask the Messenger of Allah [SAW], is there any repentance for me?' His people came to the Messenger of Allah [SAW] and said: 'So and so regrets (what he did), and he has told us to ask you if there is any repentance for him?' Then the Verses: 'How shall Allah guide a people who disbelieved after their Belief up to His saying: Verily, Allah is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful' was revealed. So he sent word to him, and he accepted Islam.
— Al-Sunan al-Sughra 37:103[74]
There was a Christian who became Muslim and read the Baqarah and the Al Imran, and he used to write for the Prophet. He then went over to Christianity again, and he used to say, Muhammad does not know anything except what I wrote for him. Then Allah caused him to die and they buried him.
A bedouin gave the Pledge of allegiance to Allah's Apostle for Islam and the bedouin got a fever where upon he said to the Prophet "Cancel my Pledge." But the Prophet refused. He came to him (again) saying, "Cancel my Pledge.' But the Prophet refused. Then (the bedouin) left (Medina). Allah's Apostle said: "Medina is like a pair of bellows (furnace): It expels its impurities and brightens and clears its good."
The Muwatta of Imam Malik offers a case were Rashidun (rightly guide) Caliph Umar admonishes a muslim leader for not giving an apostate the opportunity to repent before being executed:
Malik related to me from Abd ar-Rahman ibn Muhammad ibn Abdullah ibn Abd al-Qari that his father said, "A man came to Umar ibn al-Khattab from Abu Musa al-Ashari. Umar asked after various people, and he informed him. Then Umar inquired, 'Do you have any recent news?' He said, 'Yes. A man has become a kafir after his Islam.' Umar asked, 'What have you done with him?' He said, 'We let him approach and struck off his head.' Umar said, 'Didn't you imprison him for three days and feed him a loaf of bread every day and call on him to tawba that he might turn in tawba and return to the command of Allah?' Then Umar said, 'O Allah! I was not present and I did not order it and I am not pleased since it has come to me!'
The argument has been made (by the Fiqh Council of North America and Mohamed Ghilan)[75] that the above hadiths -- traditionally cited as proof that apostates from Islam should be punished by death -- have been misunderstood. In fact (the council argues), the victims were actually executed for changing their allegiances to the armies fighting the Muslims, i.e.for treason.[76] As evidence they point to two hadith from two different "authentic" (sahih) Sunni hadith collections [Note 6] where Muhammad calls for the death of apostates or traitors. The wording of the hadith are almost identical, but in one, the hadith ends with the phrase "one who reverts from Islam and leaves the Muslims", and in the other it ends with "one who goes forth to fight Allah and His Apostle" (in other words, the council argues the hadith were likely reports of the same incident but had different wording because "reverting from Islam" was just another way of saying "fighting Allah and His Apostle"):
Allah's Apostle said, "The blood of a Muslim who confesses that none has the right to be worshipped but Allah and that I am His Apostle, cannot be shed except in three cases: In Qisas for murder, a married person who commits illegal sexual intercourse and the one who reverts from Islam (apostate) and leaves the Muslims."
Allah's Apostle said: "The blood of a Muslim man who testifies that there is no god but Allah and that Muhammad is Allah's Apostle should not lawfully be shed except only for one of three reasons: a man who committed fornication after marriage, in which case he should be stoned; one who goes forth to fight Allah and His Apostle, in which case he should be killed or crucified or exiled from the land; or one who commits murder for which he is killed."
What constitutes apostasy in Islam? edit
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Scholars differ as to what constitutes apostasy in Islam and what kind of apostate is subject to the death penalty.
Describing what qualifies as apostasy Christine Schirrmacher writes
there is widespread consensus that apostasy undoubtedly exists where the truth of the Koran is denied, where blasphemy is committed against God, Islam, or Muhammad, and where breaking away from the Islamic faith in word or deed occurs. The lasting, willful non-observance of the five pillars of Islam, in particular the duty to pray, clearly count as apostasy for most theologians. Additional distinguishing features are a change of religion, confessing atheism, nullifying the Sharia as well as judging what is allowed to be forbidden and judging what is forbidden to be allowed. Fighting against Muslims and Islam (Arabic: muḥāraba) also counts as unbelief or apostasy;[77]
Kamran Hashemi identifies three different acts by a Muslim that qualify:[41]
- Converting from Islam to another religion (or abandoning religion altogether),[41][78][79][5] also described as "explicit" apostasy;[9]
- blaspheming (sabb)[41] (by a Muslim) against God, Islam, its laws or its prophet.[77][80] An example being the drawing/publishing images of the Islamic Prophet Muhammad;[41]
- heresy;[41] or "implicit" apostasy (by a Muslim),[9] where the alleged apostate does not formally renounce Islam,[79][6] but has (in the eyes of their accusers) verbally denied some principle of belief prescribed by Qur'an or a Hadith; deviated from approved Islamic tenets (ilhad).
- Overlap with blasphemy
In Islamic law (Sharia) and literature, apostasy and blasphemy are "treated separately", but there is "often considerable overlap" between them (according to Javaid Rehman).[81][Note 7] Because blasphemy in Islam includes rejection of fundamental doctrines,[84] blasphemy has historically been seen as an evidence of rejection of Islam, i.e. apostasy. Some jurists believe that blasphemy automatically implies a Muslim has left the fold of Islam.[85] A Muslim may find himself accused of being a blasphemer, and thus an apostate on the basis of a single action or utterance.[86][87]
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- Collective apostasy
In collective apostasy, a self-proclaimed Islamic group/sect are declared to be heretics/apostates. The difference between legitimate Muslim sects and illegitimate apostate groups can be subtle and Muslims have not agreed on were the line dividing them lies. According to Gianluca Parolin, "collective apostasy has always been declared on a case-by-case basis". Groups treated as collective apostates include zindiq, sometimes Sufis, and more recently Ahmadis and Bahais.[88]
- Fetri and national apostates
Among Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini and others in Ja'fari fiqh a distinction is made between "fetri" or "innate" apostates who grew up Muslims and remained Muslim after puberty until converting to another religion, and "national apostates" -- essentially people who grew up non-Muslim and converted to Islam. "National apostates" are given a chance to repent, but "innate apostates are not.[89]
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- Children raised in apostacy
Orthodox apostasy fiqh can be problematic for someone who was raised by a non-Muslim (or non-Muslims) but has an absentee Muslim parent, or was raised by an apostate (or apostates) from Islam. A woman born to a Muslim parent is considered an apostate if she marries a non-Muslim,[90][91] even if her Muslim parent did not raise her and she has always practiced another religion. Someone born to an apostate from Islam, raised in their parent's new religion and who stays within that religion, is also an apostate. This is because if one of their parents was born a Muslim their offspring are considered Muslim ("according to scholarly consensus"),[92] and whether or not they know anything about Islam, by simply practicing the (new) religion of their parent(s) they become apostates (according to the committee of fatwa scholars at Islamweb).[93]
FORGET THIS PART
On the other hand, there are provisions in classical fiqh to prevent unfair punishment of alleged apostates. Those individuals who were forced to embrace Islam under conditions of duress or acts against Islam and then leave Islam, or convert to another religion involuntarily, by force or as concealment out of fear of persecution or during war (Taqiyya or Kitman),[10][11] are not subject to execution. Nor are those who mistreat a copy of a Quran or do not pray Salat out of ignorance and misunderstanding (if they continue to do so after being warned not to they are subject to punishment).[6]
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- Characteristics of apostasy in classical Islam
Traditionally, Islamic jurists did not formulate general rules for establishing unbelief, instead compiling sometimes lengthy lists of statements and actions which in their view implied apostasy.[9]
Evidence of apostasy in Islam, according to Reliance of the Traveller, a 14th-century manual of the Shafi'i school of jurisprudence (Fiqh), includes:[94][95]
- (a) bowing before sun, moon, objects of nature, idols, cross or any images symbolically representing God whether in mere contrariness, sarcastically or with conviction;
- (b) intention to commit unbelief, even if one hesitates to do so;
- (c) speak words that imply unbelief such as "Allah is the third of three" or "I am Allah";
- (d) revile, question, wonder, doubt, mock or deny the existence of God or Prophet of Islam or that the Prophet was sent by God;
- (e) revile, deny, or mock any verse of the Quran, or the religion of Islam;
- (f) to deny the obligatory character of something considered obligatory by Ijma (consensus of Muslims);
- (g) believe that things in themselves or by their nature have cause independent of the will of God;
Al-Ghazali held that apostasy occurs when a Muslim denies the essential dogmas: monotheism, Muhammad's prophecy, and the Last Judgment.[96]
In early Islamic history, after Muhammad's death, a declaration of Prophethood (i.e. the declaration by someone that they were a prophet) was automatically deemed to be proof of apostasy (because Islam teaches Muhammad was the last prophet, there could be no more).[97] This view has continued to the modern age in the rejection of the Ahmadiyya sect of Islam as apostates by mainstream Sunni and Shia sects of Islam, because Ahmadis consider Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, founder of Ahmadiyya, as a modern-day Prophet.[97][98][99]
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While there were numerous doctrinal fine points whose violation could render someone an apostate in fiqh manuals on apostasy, this was compensated for by hurdles and exacting requirements for convicting a Muslim of apostasy.
It is also an act of apostasy (in Shafi'i and other fiqh) for a Muslim to accuse or describe another devout Muslim of being an unbeliever,[100] based on the hadith where Muhammad is reported to have said: "If a man says to his brother, 'You are an infidel,' then one of them is right."[101][102]
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- Who can be judged for the crime of apostasy
There are disagreements among Islamic scholars, and Islamic schools of jurisprudence, as to who can be judged for the crime of apostasy in Islam. Some in Shafi'i fiqh scholars such as Nawawi and al-Misri state that the apostasy code applies to a Muslim who
- (a) has understood and professed that "there is no God but God, Muhammad is the messenger of God" (shahada),
- (b) knows the shariah necessarily known by all Muslims,
- (c) is of sound mind at the time of apostasy,
- (d) has reached or passed puberty, and
- (e) has consciously and deliberately rejected or consciously and deliberately intends to reject any part or all of Quran or of Islam (Sharia).[103][verification needed][104][need quotation to verify]
Maliki scholars additionally require that the person in question has publicly engaged in the obligatory practices of the religion.[105][need quotation to verify] In contrast, Hanafi, Hanbali and Ja'fari fiqh set no such screening requirements; a Muslim's history has no bearing on when and on whom to apply the sharia code for apostasy.[5]
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- Before they can be convicted
Because a false accusation of apostasy is itself anact of apostasy, Muslim must be careful in finding someone guilty of being a murtad.
In Saheeh al-Bukhaari (6104) and Saheeh Muslim (60) it is narrated from ‘Abd-Allaah ibn ‘Umar (may Allaah be pleased with him) that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “If a man declares his brother to be a kaafir, it will apply to one of them.”
The transgression that renders the accused a kaafir or faasiq
- must be explained to him, if he (she) is new to Islam.[106]
- or if they have some confusion and some misinterpretation, or he ma"y have grown up in a remote region"[106]
- He cannot have been forced to do the transgression[106]
- another exemption is if they were "not thinking straight" (said something in extreme joy or fear)[106]
- they must be "one who understands the message brought by the Messenger, but deliberately goes against the way of the Messenger (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) after true guidance has become clear to him"[106]
Judgement should be left to knowledgable Muslims (according to Islam Question and Answer)[106] not lay Muslims [107]
WHAT TO DO? ADDED BUT NEEDS WORK
Issues in defining heresy edit
In deciding to declare a self-professed Muslim an apostate and punish them, Muslims agree it is important not to accuse (takfir) a believing Muslim of apostasy because this itself an act of apostasy.[108][106] One conservative source (Islam Question and Answer) states that "No one may be judged to be a kafir or fasiq except the one whom the Qur’an and Sunnah indicate is a kafir or fasiq".[106] Gilles Kepel writes that "used wrongly or unrestrainedly, this sanction would quickly lead to discord and sedition in the ranks of the faithful. Muslims might resort to mutually excommunicating one another and thus propel the Ummah to complete disaster." [109] ISIL, for example, tafiring all those who oppose it policy of enslaving Yazidis. The open letter to ISIL by 126 Islamic scholars includes one of its points of opposition to ISIL: "It is forbidden in Islam to declare people non-Muslim unless he (or she) openly declares disbelief".[110]
What to do in a situation where self-professed Muslim(s) -- post-modernist academic Nasr Abu Zayd or the Ahmadiyya movement -- disagree with their accusers on an important doctrinal point, is more controversial. In the case of the Ahmadiyya -- who are accused of denying the basic tenet of the Finality of Prophethood -- the Islamic Republic of Pakistan has declared in Ordinance XX of the Second Amendment to its Constitution, that Ahmadis are non-Muslims and deprived them of religious rights. Several large riots (1953 Lahore riots, 1974 Anti-Ahmadiyya riots) and a bombing (2010 Ahmadiyya mosques massacre) have killed hundreds of Ahmadis in that country. Whether this is unjust takfir or applying sharia to collective apostasy is disputed.
ADDED FINISHED,WHAT TO DO? SHOULD I CREATE A SIMILAR SECTION FOR ATHEISTS?
- Christian apostates
Regarding Muslim converts to Christianity, Duane Alexander Miller (2016) identified two different categories:
- 'Muslims followers of Jesus Christ', 'Jesus Muslims' or 'Messianic Muslims' (analogous to Messianic Jews), who continue to self-identify as 'Muslims', or at least say Islam is (part of) their 'culture' rather than religion, but "understand themselves to be following Jesus as he is portrayed in the Bible".
- 'Christians from a Muslim background' (abbreviated CMBs), also known as 'ex-Muslim Christians', who have completely abandoned Islam in favour of Christianity.
Miller introduced the term 'Muslim-background believers' (MBBs) to encompass both groups, adding that the latter group are generally regarded as apostates from Islam, but orthodox Muslims' opinions on the former group is more mixed (either that 'Muslim followers of Jesus' are 'heterodox Muslims', 'heretical Muslims' or 'crypto-Christian liars').[111]
Punishment edit
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There are differences of opinion among Islamic scholars about whether, when and how apostasy in Islam should be punished.[7][5][112]
Throughout the history of Islam, apostasy of Muslims from Islam was forbidden by Islamic law,[113][114][115] punishable by death and also by civil liabilities such as seizure of property, children, annulment of marriage, loss of inheritance rights.[5][116] (A subsidiary law forbade non-Muslims from proselytizing Muslims because it encouraged Muslims to commit a crime.)[117] When the legal code of a Muslim state no longer includes the death penalty for apostasy, some Islamic scholars have called for vigilante justice of hisbah to be applied. (see Apostasy_in_Islam#Colonial_era_and_after)
In modern times the majority of Islamic jurists still regard apostasy as a crime deserving the death penalty, (according to Abdul Rashied Omar),[13] although "a growing body of Islamic jurists" oppose this,[Note 8] (according to Javaid Rehman)[7][5][20] as inconsistent with "freedom of religion" as expressed in the Quranic injunctions (Quran 88:21-88:22)[25] and Quran 2:256 ("there is no compulsion in religion");[35] and a relic of the early Islamic community when apostasy was desertion or treason.[118]
Apostasy of Muslims from Islam to another religion and the proselytizing of Muslim to do so, is considered a religious crime by many writers.[119][120]
Still others suggest a "centrist or moderate position" opposing "calls for execution of those whose apostasy is not unambiguously provable"; and reserving the death penalty for those who make their apostacy public. According to Christine Schirrmacher, "a majority of theologians" embrace this stance.[121]
In classical fiqh edit
Traditional Sunni and Shia Islamic fiqhs, or schools of jurisprudence (maḏāhib) agree on some issues -- that male apostates should be executed, and that most but not all perpetrators should not be given a chance to repent (the excluded include those who practice magic "(subhar), treacherous heretics (zanādiqa and recidivists").[122] They disagree on issues such as whether women can be executed,[123][124][125] whether apostasy is a violation of the rights of God,[5][126] whether apostates who were born Muslim may be spared if they repent,[127] whether conviction requires the accused be a practicing Muslim,[127] or whether it is enough to simply intend to commit apostasy rather than actually doing it.[128]
- Hanafi – recommends three days of imprisonment before execution, although the delay before killing the Muslim apostate is not mandatory. Unlike in other schools it is not obligatory to call on the apostate to repent.[127] Apostates men must be killed, while women must be held in solitary confinement and beaten every three days till they recant and return to Islam.[129] Penalty for Apostasy limited for those who cause Hirabah after leaving Islam, not for personal religion change.[130]
- Maliki – allows up to ten days for recantation, after which the apostate must be killed. Both men and women apostates deserve death penalty according to the traditional view of Sunni Maliki fiqh.[125] Unlike other schools, the apostate must have a history of being "good" (i.e. practicing) Muslim.[127]
- Shafi'i – waiting period of three days is required to allow the Muslim apostate time to repent and return to Islam, failing repentance execution is the recommended punishment for both men and women.[125]
- Hanbali – waiting period not necessary, but may be granted. Execution is traditional recommended punishment for both genders of Muslim apostates.[125]
- Ja'fari – Male apostates must be executed, states the Jafari fiqh, while a female apostate must be held in solitary confinement till she repents and returns to Islam.[125][129] The "mere intention of unbelief" without expression qualifies as apostasy.[128] Unlike the other schools only "national apostates" who were not born Muslims but converted to Islam before apostasizing can be spared execution by repenting. "Innate" apostates, who grew up Muslims and remained Muslim after puberty and until converting to another religion, should be executed whether or not they return to Islam.[127][89]
Civil liabilities edit
In Islam, apostasy has traditionally had both criminal and civil penalties. In the late 19th century, when criminal penalties -- death or prison -- fell into disuse, civil penalties were still applied.[5][5][116] In all madhhabs of Islam, the civil penalties include:
- (a) the property of the apostate is seized and distributed to his or her Muslim relatives;
- (b) his or her marriage annulled (faskh);
- (1) if they were not married at the time of apostasy they could not get married[131]
- (c) any children removed and considered ward of the Islamic state.[5]
- (d) In case the entire family has left Islam, or there are no surviving Muslim relatives recognized by Sharia, the apostate's property is liquidated by the Islamic state (part of fay, الْفيء).
- (e) In case the apostate is not executed -- such as in case of women apostates in Hanafi school -- the person also loses all inheritance rights.[23][24][not specific enough to verify] Hanafi Sunni school of jurisprudence allows waiting till execution, before children and property are seized; other schools do not consider this wait as mandatory.[5]
- Social liabilities
The conversion of a Muslim to another faith is often considered a "disgrace" and "scandal" as well as a crime,[132] so in addition to penal and civil penalties, loss of employment,[132] ostracism and proclamations by family members that they are "dead", is not at all "unusual".[133] For those who wish to remain in the Muslim community but who are considered unbelievers by other Muslims, there are also "serious forms of ostracism". These include the refusal of other Muslims to pray together with or behind a person accused of kufr, the denial of the prayer for the dead and burial in a Muslim cemetery, boycott of whatever books they have written, etc.[134]
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Vigilante application edit
In contemporary situations where apostates, (or alleged apostates), have ended up being killed, it is usually not be through the formal criminal justice system, especially when "a country's law does not punish apostasy." It is not uncommon for "vigilante" Muslims to kill or attempt to kill apostates or alleged apostates (or force them to flee the country).[44] In at least one case, (the high profile execution of Mahmud Muhammad Taha), the victim was legally executed and the government made clear he was being executed for apostasy, but not the technical "legal basis" for his killing was another crime or crimes[44] "heresy, opposing the application of Islamic law, disturbing public security, provoking opposition against the government, and re-establishing a banned political party."[135] Post-modernist professor Nasr Abu Zayd loss of his case for apostasy in the Giza Lower Personal Status Court meant only forcable divorce from his wife (who did not want to divorce), but it put the proverbial target on his back and he fled to Europe.[44][136]
Supporters and opponents of death penalty edit
- Support among contemporary Preachers and scholars
"The vast majority of Muslim scholars both past as well as present" consider apostasy "a crime deserving the death penalty", according to Abdul Rashided Omar writing circa 2007.[13] Some of the leading lights include:
Abul A'la Maududi (1903-1979),[117] who "by the time of his death had become the most widely read Muslim author of our time", according to one source.
Mohammed al-Ghazali (1917–1996), considered an Islamic "moderate"[138] and "preeminent" faculty member of Egypt's preeminent Islamic institution—Al Azhar University− as well as a valuable ally of the Egyptian government in its struggle against the "growing tide of Islamic fundamentalism",[139] was "widely credited" with contributing to the 20th century Islamic revival in the largest Arabic country, Egypt.[140] (Al-Ghazali was on record as declaring all those who opposed the implimentation of sharia law to be apostates who should ideally be punished by the state, but "when the state fails to punish apostates, somebody else has to do it";[141] he also called on the government to appoint a committee to measure the faith of the population and give wayward Egyptian Muslims time to repent, but "those who did not should be killed".)[140]
Yusuf al-Qaradawi (b.1926), another "moderate" Islamist,[142] chairman of the International Union of Muslim Scholars,[143] who is "considered one of the most influential" Islamic scholars living today,[144][145][146]
Zakir Naik, Indian Islamic televangelist and preacher,[147] whose Peace TV channel, reaches a reported 100 million viewers,[148][149] and whose debates and talks are widely distributed,[150][151][149] supports killing apostates from Islam but only those who "propagate the non-Islamic faith and speak against Islam".[152][153]
Sayyid Muhammad Rizvi, a Shia scholar born in India, studied in Qum, Iran, and as of 2021 the Imam-e Jum‘a and Resident ‘Ãlim of the Jaffari Islamic Center in Canada.[154]
Muhammad Saalih Al-Munajjid, a Syrian Islamic scholar, considered a respected scholar in the Salafi movement (according to Al Jazeera);[155] and founder of the fatwa website IslamQA,[156] one of the most popular Islamic websites, and (according to Alexa.com as of November 2015) the world's most popular website on the topic of Islam generally (apart from the website of an Islamic bank).[157][158][159]
===Applying punishment===
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Some of whom argue apostasy should have a lesser penalty than death,[21][22][23][24]
and/or that the death penalty for apostasy was a man-made rule enacted in the early Islamic community to prevent and punish the equivalent of desertion or treason,[161]