Opinion

No Punishment for Apostasy in Islam
By Dr. Bashir Ahmad
Wildwood, MO

There is absolutely no punishment for apostasy in Islam. Abdul Rahman, a convert to Christianity from Islam, shall be tried for a charge of apostasy, punishable with death in Afghanistan. Prosecutor in the case called Mr. Rehaman “a microbe” who should be killed.
There is absolutely no punishment prescribed for apostasy in the Qur’an. It is obvious that no action of the Holy Prophet or any of his immediate successors could possibly be in conflict with the Qur’an. All that Holy Prophet did or said was illustrative of some direction or injunction of the Holy Qur’an. He himself warned that if anything was attributed to him which was in conflict with the Qur’an, it must be rejected as false.
The freedom to change one’s religion is granted by the Qur’an
The Qur’an does not permit any type of compulsion in matters of faith, whether it should be the case of presenting Islam to a non-Muslim and inviting him to accept it, or it should be the case of persuading one who has abjured Islam to revert to it. The Holy Qur’an is very emphatic about it: “There shall be no compulsion in matters of faith.” Qur’an 2/257
Again, it says: “Proclaim O Prophet: This is the truth from your Lord; then let him who will, believe, and let him who will, disbelieve. We have prepared for the wrong doers a fire which covers them like a canopy.” Qur’an 18/30
It is extremely sad that some ulema, finding no support in the Qur’an for their thesis that punishment in Islam for apostasy is murder, have made Hadees and the alleged policy of the successors of the Holy Prophet, peace be upon him, the principal prop of this outrageous theory.
If the instances mentioned on those Hadees are carefully examined, it will be found that in every one of them the apostate or apostates concerned had been guilty of rebellion or murder, or armed support of the enemies of Islam. These cases I shall discuss in greater detail later in this article. One prominent Muslim divine with considerable following in Pakistan has coined the cliché that the door of Islam opens only inwards and does not open outwards, and that, therefore, whoever attempts to emerge from Islam forfeits his life – a virtual mouse trap.
Qur’anic verses related to apostasy prescribe no punishment
“Those who believe, then disbelieve, then again believe, then disbelieve, and then increase in disbelief, Allah will never forgive them nor will He guide them to his way” Qur’an 4/138
This verse forcefully refutes the allegation that apostasy in Islam is punishable with death. If such had been the law of Islam, apostates would have had no opportunity of apostatizing from Islam again and again, as appears from this verse.
Other verses about apostasy
“O ye who believe! Who so among you turns back from his religion, then let it be known that in his stead Allah will soon bring people whom He will love and who will love Him, and who will be kind and humble towards believers, hard and firm against disbelievers. They will strive in the cause of Allah and will not fear the reproach of a faultfinder. That is Allah’s grace; He bestows it upon whosoever he pleases, Allah is bountiful, all knowing.” Qur’an 5/55
In this verse there is no mention of any punishment for an apostate in this world.
“ . . . And who so from among you turns back from his faith and dies while he is a disbeliever, it is they whose worlds shall be vain in this world and the next. These are the inmates of fire and there in shall they abide”. Qur’an 2/218
“And whoever takes disbelief in exchange for belief has undoubtedly gone astray from the right path’’ Qur’an 2/109
Punishment of apostasy: Hadees
Realizing that there is not a single verse in the Holy Qur’an that supports the concepts that in Islam death is the punishment for apostasy, these ulema then attempted to find some supports from a Hadees. Some apostate had been punished with death, but not on the basis of their apostasy but for the acts of murder, rebellion and fighting alongside the enemies of Islam against Muslims. These ulema absolutely fail to mention the real reason for the punishment of those apostates. Following are few historical facts:
Ali Qalabah reports on the authority of Anas: Some people of Akal or Uraninah came to Medina and found that its climate disagreed with them. The Holy Prophet told them to go and stay among the camels outside Medina and drink their milk. They followed his instruction, and when they were fully restored they killed the Holy Prophet’s keeper of the camels and drove away the camels. When the Holy Prophet was informed of this incident, he sent some men after them who caught them and brought them to the Holy Prophet. He directed that they should be punished.
It is true that those people had become apostate, but it is clear that the penalty imposed upon them was not in respect of apostasy, but on account of the offenses which they had committed on a person of the Holy prophets’ keeper of his camels. This hadees therefore does not in any manner lend support to the thesis that apostasy is punishable with death.
Another instance cited in support of this thesis is that apostasy is punishable with death in the case of ibn Khatal who was one of the four people who were executed on the occasion of the fall of Mecca. It is true he was an apostate, but he was not executed on account of this apostasy. His case is set out in Mawahibal Ludunniyyah where it is stated: The Holy Prophet directed this execution of ibn Khatal. He had been a Muslim and the Holy Prophet SAS, had sent him to collect the Zakat. He was accompanied by an Ansari and a freed man of his who served him and who was a Muslim. They arrived at a place were they were to spend the night and he directed the freed man to slaughter a goat and to prepare dinner. Having given this direction, he went to sleep and when he woke up, he found that the freedman had done nothing for the preparation of dinner. He was intensely annoyed and in his anger killed the freed man. He then repudiated Islam and reverted to paganism, and went to Mecca and settled down there.
This background of the story makes it quite clear that ibn Khatal was not executed as a punishment for his apostasy, but on account of his murder of the freed Muslim man.
The third case which is cited in support of the advocates of the penalty of death for apostasy is that of Maqees Bin Sababah who was also executed on the occasion of the fall of Mecca. Concerning him Zarqani has recorded in his commentary on Mawahibal Ludunniyyah. Maqees Bin Sababah had become a Muslim and thereafter he killed an Ansari who had killed his brother Hisham during the campaign of Zeeqard, mistakenly thinking that he was one of the enemy. After the incident Maqees had accepted blood money in respect of his brother from the Ansari, and yet he killed that Ansari. He then repudiated Islam and went to Mecca and joined the Quraish. This again is a case where an apostate was executed on account of a treacherous murder that he had committed.
Hazrat Abu Bakr and apostates
Hazarat Abu Bakr’s fighting against apostates is offered as a proof that simple apostasy is punishable by death, by the Ulema who completely ignore the real basis of the fighting against the apostates by Hazaral Abu Bakr. Naïve Mullahs who cite this instance assume that those apostates were harmless people, whose only fault was that they did not consider themselves bound to pay Zakat to the Khalifa and had given up Salat. In reality those apostates had repudiated their allegiance to the Islamic state and had taken up arms against it. Those who continue to adhere to Islam were killed, and forces were readied to wage war with the Islamic state. In fact they had advanced upon Medina and laid siege to it in their efforts to destroy the Muslims altogether. Hazral Abu Bakr took up the sword against them and defeated and subdued them. This lends no support to the thesis that the punishment of simple apostasy is death.
Following are historical facts: Tabari has recorded that Abs and Zeeban were the tribes who were the first to attack Medina and Hazrat Abu Bakr fought them before the return of Usamah (a commander of Muslim force) (Tabari Vol IV, Page 1873).
Ibn Khalladun has recorded: Abs and Zeehan were the first to attack Hazrat Abu Bakr and the others collected together at Zil Qassah. (Ibn Khalladun, Vol. 11, Page 65)
Khamees has recorded: Kharajah bin Hasan, who was one of the apostates, advanced upon Medina with some mounted men of his tribe so as to deliver his attack unexpectedly before the Muslims emerged from Medina to oppose him. Thus he attacked Abu Bakr and those Muslims who had been left in Medina and took them unaware (Khamees, Vol. II, Page 237).
Some of the apostates sent a delegation to Medina begging the Khalifa to release them from the obligation to pay the Zakat and to observe Salat. When Hazarat Abu Bakr rejected their request categorically, they went back to prepare their people for an attack on Medina. After they left, Hazrat Abu Bakr called the Muslims of Medina and addressed them the following:
The whole country has reverted to disbelief. Their delegation has observed the smallness of your number in Medina. You do not know whether they might attack you by night or by day. Their vanguard is only at a distance of one stage from Medina. They had desired that we should accept their proposals and make an arrangement with them, but we have rejected their request. So, make ready to defend yourselves against their attack. Within three days they attacked Medina at night, having left some forces at Zil Hussay as their support. (Tabari, Vol IV, Page 1875)
The apostates had not only made preparations to advance upon Medina, they had, immediately after the death of the Holy Prophet, slaughtered the sincere Muslims among them who persisted in their adherence to Islam. ibn Khalladun has said that on receiving the intimation of the death of the Holy Prophet, Banu Zeeban and Abs attacked those among themselves who were Muslims and the same was done by other tribes who had become apostates. (Ibn Khalladun Vol. 11, Page 66)
Tabari has said: As soon as intimation was received of the death of the Holy Prophet S.A.S., Banu Zeeban and Abs attacked those who still adhered to Islam and slaughtered them in diverse manners and so did other tribes around them. (Tabari Vol. IV, Page 1817)
To sum up, 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.

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