Ridda or Irtid Literally means, “turning
back”. The act of apostasy—leaving Islam
for another religion or for a secular
lifestyle.
Murtadd: Literally means “one who turns
the back.” An apostate.
Murtad Fitri: Literally means apostate -
natural. A person born of a Muslim parent
who later rejects Islam.
Murtad Milli: Literally means apostate -
from the community. A person who
converted to Islam and later rejected the
religion.
Due lack of education and critical thinking
several myths or misconceptions have
taken root in the Muslim world over the
ages. No efforts have been made to clear
them. On the contrary, there has been a
sort of effort to strengthen these myths
and misconceptions. This has resulted in
a misplaced perception that Islam is a
symbol of obscurantism, a religion of
intolerance and answers everything with
the sword . Consequently, this has made some Muslims renounce their faith.
One grave misunderstanding of Islamic
beliefs over the years is 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 paint the picture that
Islam orders the killing of a person if he
or she reverts to another religion from
Islam.
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.
Prophet (pbuh) is reported to have said:
“Whosoever changes his religion, Kill Him
(man baddala Dinahu faqtuluhu)”. It is
this quote from the Prophet that forms
the basis of the said ruling.
But this is a weak foundation because this
hadith was only transmitted from
Muhammad (pbuh) by one individual. It
was not confirmed by a second person.
According to Islamic law, this is
insufficient confirmation to impose the
death penalty. The Shari`ah has not fixed
any punishment for apostasy.
The hadith is so generally worded that it
would require the death penalty for a
Christian or Jew who converted to Islam.
This is obviously not the prophet’s intent.
The hadith is in need of further
specification, which has not been
documented. Many scholars interpret this
passage as referring only to instances of
high treason. (e.g. declaring war on Islam,
Muhammad (pbuh), God, etc.). There is
no historical record, which indicates that
Muhammad (pbuh) or any of his
companions ever sentenced anyone to
death for apostasy.
There was a case at the time of the
Prophet (peace and blessings be upon
him) where a man came to him in three
consecutive days and told him that he
wanted to apostate. The Prophet (peace
and blessings be upon him) never took
any action against him, and when the man
finally left Madina, the Prophet (peace
and blessings be upon him) never sent
anyone to arrest him, let alone kill him.
This is why some scholars distinguished
between individual apostasy and apostasy
which is accompanied by high treason. So,
it cannot be confused with the freedom
of conscience for every individual, which
has been guaranteed in the Qur’an
through hundreds of verses. For example,
one version of a hadith narrated by
`A’isha (RA) concerning apostasy relates
to one who left his religion and fought
against Muslims.
Scholars argue that the death sentence is
not for “simple apostasy” (mujarrad al-
ridda), but for apostasy accompanied by
treason and sedition, or by the abuse and
slander (sabb) of the Noble Prophet.
Freedom to convert to or from Islam
Article 18 of the Universal Declaration of
Human Rights states, “Everyone has the
right to freedom of thought, conscience
and religion; this right includes freedom
to change his religion or belief, and
freedom, either alone or in community
with others and in public or private, to
manifest his religion or belief in teaching,
practice, worship and observance.”
The Glorious Qur’an says, “Let there be
no compulsion in the religion: Surely the
Right Path is clearly distinct from the
crooked path.” Al Baqarah, 2:256.
“Those who believe, then disbelieve, then
believe again, then disbelieve, and then
increase in their disbelief - Allah will
never forgive them nor guide them to the
path.” Surah An-Nisa’, 4:137.
For example, the Qur’an says: “Let him
who wishes to believe, do so; and let him
who wishes to disbelieve, do so.” (Al-
Kahf: 29)
The quotation from Surah An-Nisa’,
4:137, shown above, seems to imply that
multiple, sequential apostasies are
possible. That would not be possible if
the person were executed after the first
apostasy.
From the above verses it can be argued
that religious freedom and the absence of
compulsion in religion requires that
individuals be allowed adopt a religion or
to convert to another religion without
legal penalty. Hence the death penalty is
not an appropriate response to apostasy.
The former Chief Justice of Pakistan, SA
Rahman, has written that there is no
reference to the death penalty in any of
the 20 instances of apostasy mentioned
in the Qur’an.
QUR’ANIC VIEWS
The Qur’an has referred to the issue of
apostasy at more than one place (for
example see Al-Baqarah 2: 217, Al-
Baqarah 2: 108, A?l Imra?n 3: 90, Al-
Nisa? 4: 137 and Al-Nahl 16: 106). But at
none of these places does the Qur’an
mention the punishment of death for
such people who change their religion.
The Qur’an does mention that such
people shall face a terrible punishment in
the hereafter but no worldly punishment
is mentioned at any of these instances in
the Qur’an. This situation obviously raises
a question mark in the mind of the reader
that if Allah had wanted to give the
punishment of an apostate a permanent
position in the Shari`ah, the punishment
should have been mentioned, at least at
one of the above mentioned places.
Furthermore, the Qur’an has strictly
disallowed the imposition of the death
penalty except in two specific cases. One
of them is where the person is guilty of
murdering another person and the other
is where a person is guilty of creating
unrest in the country (fasa’d fil-ardh) like
being involved in activities that create
unrest in a society, for example activities
like terrorism etc. The Qur’an says:
Whoever kills a person without his being
guilty of murder or of creating unrest in
the land, is as though he kills the whole of
mankind. (Al-Ma?idah, 5: 32)
Obviously, apostasy can neither be
termed as “murder” nor “creating unrest
in the land”. Thus, in view of the above
facts, we are left with one option only.
We can only say that either the hadith
has been wrongly ascribed to the Prophet
(pbuh), as it is clearly contradictory to the
Qur’an and the Prophet could not have
said anything contradictory to the Qur?an,
or that the saying ascribed to the Prophet
(pbuh) relates not to all apostates but to
a particular and specific people.
Shaykh Subhani
Shaykh Inayatullah Subhani (author of the
Book Apostasy doesn’t carry death
penalty in Islam) says that neither Islam
forces any person to embrace Islam nor
forces him/her to remain within its fold.
He writes, “Apostasy has been mentioned
several times in Qur’an, but it never talks
of punishment for the crime in this
world.” The learned scholar 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. There are several other Ayaat on the
same issue and none of them prescribes
either death penalty or any other
punishment for apostasy in this world.
Apostasy is mentioned repeatedly in
Qur’an but no punishment is prescribed.
Misinterpretation of the hadith, Man
baddala Dinahu faqtuluh (kill him who
changes his religion) has caused the
problem. This order has been made to
look general and permanent, though it
was said in a particular circumstance for a
particular group. Shaykh Subhani writes
that this order was made to counter a
plan prepared by Jews of Madinah. They
had premeditated that some of them
embrace Islam for some time and then
return to their old religion. Then some
other people do the same. It was aimed
to create restiveness among Muslims
against their own leadership so that the
strong Muslim unity should start
collapsing. It was made clear in Qur’an in
(Aal Imran, 3: 72-73).
To oppose this scheme the Prophet
(SAW) ordered his companions to act in
such a manner. Despite this order
extensive investigations were made to
determine that the case was true and the
person concerned was given sufficient
time to make clear before the sentence
was carried out.
Shaykh Subhani says lack of clear grasp of
Qur’an misguided even leading Ulama.
Otherwise it was not difficult to
understand the hadith. Qur’anic teachings
on the issue were not kept in mind.
Like other scholars the learned Shaykh
concludes that people who were awarded
death penalty for reverting to other
religions from Islam during 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 the Islamic government.
A number of Islamic scholars from past
centuries, Ibrahim al-Naka’I, Sufyan al-
Thawri, Shams al-Din al-Sarakhsi, Abul
Walid al-Baji and Ibn Taymiyyah, have all
held that apostasy is a serious sin, but
not one that requires the death penalty.
In modern times, Mahmud Shaltut, Sheikh
of al-Azhar, and Dr Mohammed Sayed
Tantawi have concurred.
This essay was written by
Dr. Ibrahim B. Syed
President
Islamic Research Foundation
International, Inc.
Louisville, KY

Thanks so much for this. I have been waiting for someone to bring a conclusive statement to this apostasy issue. بارك الله فيك