In the name of Allah, the compassionate, the merciful

I hope this helps muslims as well as non muslims willing to learn. Insha Allah

Islam does not allow killing someone just because they do not believe in God. This has never been a proper teaching of true Islam.
To quote from the Quran Itself: "There is no complusion in religion" 2:256,

Over the centuries since the inception of Islam, we can find cases of people leaving Islam and what was their example and what the pervailing jurists decided in their particular situation. Most all of these were not punished except in the cases of treason, other acts of violence or for propagating corruption, dissention and promoting evil along with their apostasy. Those who were found to be causing sedition or of being enemy spies during times of war or advocating the overthrow of Islamic government could understandably be courtmartialed and executed.

We will discuss the subject of how Islam views the one who leaves Islam, if God Wills (inshallah).

To begin, there is not a hard and fast rule concerning this subject because there are perhaps as many reasons why people do what they do as there are people in the world. The answer must be based on each individual situation, as it depends largely on the person, his or her knowledge, intention and understanding as well as the conditions surrounding the circumstances.

Before we can begin, to be fair to those not familiar with Islamic terms and words, we must start by explaining to both Muslims and the non-Muslims alike, who might be wondering about the answer to such a question, what Islam is really all about and set the stage for them to better understand the actual ramifications of entering and/or leaving Islam.

First, they have to understand what all of the relevant Arabic words and terms actually mean. You should explain exactly what "ISLAM" means and what is: Tawhid (monotheism); Ibadah (worship); Shar'iah (God's Commandments in Islamic Law); Fatwah (Islamic Judge's findings in Law and their subsequent rulings); Hudud (punishment); Murtid (apostasy). It is important for anyone desiring to understand Islam's position on any subject, especially in such matters as this, to gain a firm grip on the importance of words being used and their meanings regarding the issues at hand.

The first word to explain is:
"Allah" - believe it or not, most people do not know the word "God" is a deficiency in the English language. There is no word for the "God" of Adam, Abraham, Moses, David, Solomon and Jesus, (peace be upon them all) in English. The word "god" is used both for the pagans and the monotheists. In order to distinguish between the two, the first letter "g" in the word is capitalized when written. However, this approach does help very much when beginning a sentence with the word as all sentences begin with capital letters. Nor does it provide for any type of distinction when speaking as there would be no way to differentiate between "god" and "God. "Allah" is the appropriate word for the "God" of Jews, Christians and Muslims alike. There is a word in Arabic for "god" (note the small 'g'); it is "elah." The word "Allah" in Arabic comes from the same root, but it can not be made plural (as in: 'gods') nor can the word imply actual gender (as in: 'goddess'). Allah is the perfect word to describe the One God Almighty of the universe and it has been the word used by the writers of the Bible for both the Jews and Christians in the Arabic language for centuries. (www.GodAllah.com)

"ISLAM" means; surrender, submission, obedience, sincerity and peace between God and His Creatures (us); to do "God's Will on earth, as it is in Heaven" (www.WhatsIslam.com)

"Muslim" comes from the same root as "Islam" and it means: the one who believes in Allah and is complying with the Shari'ah of Islam) (www.IslamTomorrow.com/word/)

Tawhid (monotheism) in Islam is - to believe in the One God of Adam, Abraham, Moses and Jesus and Muhammad, peace be upon them all, and to obey the Commandments of Allah according to His Will. It is to worship Allah, Alone without any partners (see: First Commandment; Exodus, chapter 20) and to obey the prophets of Allah, worshiping Allah according to the way they did, and to be dutiful to the parents. (examples: Fifth Commandment; Exodus, chapter 20, Duet., chapter 5) feed the poor and care for the orphan, to always tell the truth, encourage good and forbid evil. Basically, it is to believe as mentioned by the New Testament (Mark: chapter 12:29) "Know O Israel, the Lord your God is One Lord; and you have to worship Him with all your heart and all your mind and all your strength. And I give you another Commandment like unto it, to love your neighbor as yourself."

Ibadah (worship) only for Allah and not to worship anything in or of His Creation. All praise, worship, thanksgiving and supplications are for Him only.

Quran (Recitation and actual Speech of Allah recorded in memory of Muhammad, peace be upon him, from the Angel Jibreel [Gabriel]. It was then passed on from mouth to ear and recorded in manuscripts perserved until now. Quran is memorized by over 10,000,000 Muslims living on the earth today - 90% of whom are not even Arab, by the way. Quran is the Final Revelation and Last Testament from Allah to all mankind, as such it is considered by Muslims as the foundation for everything in the Shari'ah.

Shar'iah (God's Commandments in Islamic Law) The Commandments of Allah in the Quran and the Sunnah (teachings of Muhammad, peace be upon him, as understood by the first generation of companions to Muhammad, peace be upon him). The shar'iah only applies to Muslims and those who live under the protection of the Islamic State (khalifate).

Fatwah Findings in Law and their subsequent rulings, by jurists and Islamic scholars who have memorized the Quran and are experts in the classical Arabic language and have correct knowledge of the meaning of the revelation of Quran and the hadeeth.

Hadeeth Authentically recorded and preserved testimonies of eyewitnesses to accounts taking place concerning Muhammad, peace be upon him, and the revelation of the Quran.

Hudud (punishment) The punishments to be initiated by those in authority according to Shar'iah as ordered according to appropriate fatawah (plural of fatwah).

Murtid (apostasy) a Muslim who makes the choice to leave Islam (submission to God's Will).
Next let them know, no one is ever forced or coerced into accepting Islam. This always was and always will be a matter of choice left up to the individual.

Muslims are not ordered to "convert" people to Islam. Rather, they are ordered to deliver the message of Islam to others through their own righteous living as an example and in respectful "reminding" as taught in the Quran.

Islam (willful submission) to Allah's Shar'iah (God's Commandments in Islamic Law) and is the very balance needed for all humans for all times and in all places (according the teachings of Islam). The Paradise is reserved for only those who submit themselves to the Commandments and Judgments of Almighty Allah.

There is never to be forced conversion to Islam (if it were forced, then the word "Islam" would not really apply anyway), and it is forbidden according to the Quran, in the second chapter, verse 256: "Let there be no complusion in the religioin ("deen": actually means way of life as opposed to "religion". From this we understand no one can be made to believe anything by force. Rather, it must be by their own decision.

Now be sure they understand the difference between "Islam" and "Muslims", meaning: "Islam" is perfect, but we as humans (Muslims) are not. Therefore, we can and do make mistakes. This lets us know immediately if anyone is calling for something in the name of "Islam" or the "Shar'iah", this should be viewed in the evidence of the Shar'iah itself and not just what some jurist or scholar may conclude.

Finally, judges and scholars over the centuries have held different opinions and given various rulings based on all of the above. No one can make a blanket statement and say the same rule applies to all people in all situations.
Let us review some of the evidences starting at the time of our prophet, peace be upon him.

Even during the time of our prophet, peace be upon him, there were some who "left Islam" and then they were allowed to come back if they wanted to or stay away if they so desired. One example is from the Muslims who migrated in the first migration to Ethiopia and one of them left Islam, became a Christian (the people of Abyssinia were Christians at that time) and then even told people there he was an "author" of the Quran. Of course such actions are most despicable and worthy of some kind of reprimand, especially considering the extent of the lies against the Quran and the prophet, peace be upon him. Yet, nothing was done to this man by the Muslims. His wife, Zainab, could not tolerate his lies and his turning his back against the truth of Islam and she returned back to the Muslims in Arabia. After the man died the Christians attempted to bury him, but the next day they found his body out of the grave and laying on the ground. Considering the Muslims must have done this act, they moved him to another area and buried him there. Again, the next day they found his body out of the grave and on top of the ground. So, they took him far from there and made another grave and buried him in it. But again, the next day his body was out of the grave and laying on the ground. At this point they decided the ground would not accept his body and they left it for the wild animals. We learn from this example Allah will be the One to finally deal with these people and He may even do so in this world as well as on the Day of Judgment.

Other examples include those who entered Islam in the presence of our beloved prophet, peace be upon him, yet when they were returned back to their people (during an agreement between the pagans and Muhammad, peace be upon him) some of them reverted back to their old pagan religion. Some of them did come back to Islam again later on after Islam came to be the governing state. In this case we observe what can happen in the case of the one who is in Islam and then for whatever reason decides not to stay.

Yet another example that occurred at the time of our blessed prophet, peace be upon him, was that of some who pretended they wanted to be Muslims only to take advantage of the believers, gain some worldly benefits and then abused and slaughtered an entire group of shepherds that memorized the entire Quran, who were caring for them. They killed them in cold blood and took everything for themselves. The prophet, peace be upon him, was very disturbed over this and ordered them to be severely punished and left to die without any food or water. From this example we learn how to deal with traitors and terrorists who have no intention of doing anything except evil and spreading fitnah (evil and terror) throughout the land.

Undeniably, the traditional position of Muslim scholars and jurists has been that apostasy [riddah] is punishable by death.The longstanding problem of the traditional position, as held by Classical jurists or scholars, can be explained and excused as not being able to see apostasy, an issue of pure freedom of faith and conscience, separate from treason against the community or the state. However, the accumulated experience over the history in terms of abuse of this position about apostasy even against Muslims as well as the changed context of a globally-connected, pluralistic society should help us appreciate the contemporary challenges in light of the Qur'anic norms and the Prophetic legacy.


For those willing to learn about apostasy in islam, i found this very interesting blog

http://apostasyandislam..com/

Assalamu aleikum,