JAMIA MILLIA ISLAMIA

ISLAMIC JURISPRUDENCE

APOSTASY AND CONVERSION IN ISLAM

ZENE QAMAR

BALLB (HONS)

SEM III
APOSTASY
Apostasy a ​defection or ​revol​t is the formal ​disaffiliation from, or abandonment or
renunciation of a ​religion by a person. It can also be defined within the broader
context of embracing an opinion contrary to ​one's previous beliefs​. One who
undertakes apostasy is known as an apostate. Undertaking apostasy is called
apostatizing. The term apostasy is used by ​sociologists to mean renunciation and
criticism of, or opposition to, a person's former religion, in a technical sense and
without pejorative connotation.
The term is occasionally also used ​metaphorically to refer to renunciation of a
non-religious belief or cause, such as a political party, ​brain trust​, or a sports team.
Apostasy is generally not a self-definition: few former believers call themselves
apostates because of the negative connotation of the term.
Many religious groups and some states punish apostates; this may be the official
policy of the religious group or may simply be the voluntary action of its members.
Such ​punishment may include ​shunning​, ​excommunication​, ​verbal abuse​, physical
violence, or even ​execution​. Examples of punishment by death for apostates can be
seen under the ​Sharia law found in certain Islamic countries. As of 2014, about a
quarter of the world’s countries and territories (26%) had anti-blasphemy laws or
policies, of which 13 nations, all Muslim majority, have death penalty for apostasy.
APOSTASY IN ISLAM
Apostasy in Islam is commonly defined as the conscious abandonment of ​Islam by
a ​Muslim in word or through deed. It includes the act of ​converting to another
religion or non-acceptance of faith to be ​irreligious​, by a person who was born in a
Muslim family or who had previously accepted Islam.​[4] The definition of apostasy
from Islam, and whether and how it should be punished are matters of controversy
– Islamic scholars differ in their opinions on these questions.
Apostasy in Islam includes within its scope not only the wilful renunciation of
Islam by a Muslim through a declaration of renunciation of the Islamic faith
(whether for another religion or ​irreligiosity​), or (in the absence of a declaration)
by specific deed of undergoing the rites of conversion into another religion, but
also even denying, or merely questioning, any "fundamental tenet or ​creed​" of
Islam, such as the divinity of ​God​, prophethood of Muhammad, or mocking God,
or worshipping one or more ​idols​. Different Muslim denominations and schools of
thought may hold different additional views of what each considers a fundamental
tenet of the faith. It does not include individuals who were forced to embrace Islam
under conditions of duress, or acts against Islam or conversion to another religion
that is involuntary, forced or done as concealment out of fear of ​persecution or
during ​war​ (​Taqiyya​ or ​Kitman​).
Until the late 19th century, the vast majority of Islamic scholars in ​Madh'hab
(Sunni) and ​Imamah (Shia) schools of ​jurisprudence 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​, typically after a waiting period to allow the apostate time to
repent and to return to Islam. 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. ​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". Nevertheless,
Muslim jurists from the early period, from different Muslim denominations and
schools of thought, developed legal institutions to circumvent harsh punishment in
cases of allegations or charges of apostasy. These institutions set the standard for
what counts as apostasy from Islam so high that at least prior to the 11th century
practically no judgment of apostasy could be passed. ​Subsequently, authorities in
the ​Muslim World have not consistently applied these high standards of what
counts for apostasy. In the late 19th century, the use of criminal penalties for
apostasy fell into disuse, although civil penalties were still applied.
According to Abdul Rashied Omar, the majority of modern Islamic jurists continue
to regard apostasy as a crime deserving the ​death penalty​. Some regard apostasy in
Islam as a form of religious crime, although others do not. Others argue that the
death penalty is an inappropriate punishment, inconsistent with the Qur'anic
injunctions such as ​Quran 88​:21–22 or ​"no compulsion in religion"​; and/or that it
was a man-made rule enacted in the early Islamic community to prevent and
punish the equivalent of desertion or treason, and should be enforced only if
apostasy becomes a mechanism of public disobedience and disorder (​fitna​).
According to ​Khaled Abou El Fadl​, moderate Muslims do not believe that apostasy
requires punishment. ​Critics 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.
As of 2014, laws in various ​Muslim-majority countries prescribed for the apostate
sentences ranging from execution to a prison term to no punishment. ​Sharia courts
in some countries use ​civil code to void the Muslim apostate's ​marriage and to
deny ​child-custody rights as well as ​inheritance rights. In the years 1985-2006,
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."
Twenty-three Muslim-majority countries, as of 2013, additionally covered apostasy
from Islam through their ​criminal law​s.The Tunisian Constitution of 2014
stipulates protection from attacks based on accusations of apostasy.
Quran
The ​Quran discusses apostasy in many of its verses. For example: ​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.

— ​Quran ​3:90 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.

— ​Quran ​4:91 But if they repent, establish prayer, and give zakah, then they are
your brothers in religion and We detail the verses for a people who know. And if
they break their oaths after their treaty and defame your religion, then fight the
leaders of disbelief, for indeed, there are no oaths [sacred] to them; [fight them
that] they might cease.
— ​Quran ​9:11 - ​Quran ​9:12 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.

— ​Quran ​9:66 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.

— ​Quran ​16:106 Other Qur'anic verses refer to apostasy. According to professor

of anthropology Dale F. Eickelman, some verses in the Quran appear to justify
coercion and severe punishment for apostates. In contrast, legal historian ​Wael
Hallaq writes that "nothing in the law governing apostates and apostasy derives
from the letter" of the Quran. There is no mention of any specific corporal
punishment for apostates to which they are to be subjected in this world, ​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.

Hadith
In contrast to the Qur'an, ​hadith literature gives contradictory statements about
punishments for apostasy.
In ​Sahih al-Bukhari​, the most important book in Sunni Islam after the ​Quran​, and
Sahih Muslim​ punishments for apostasy are described as follows:
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."

— ​Sahih al-Bukhari​, ​9:83:17​, see also ​Sahih Muslim​, ​16:4152​, ​Sahih Muslim​,
16:4154 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.'"
— ​Sahih al-Bukhari​, ​4:52:260 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."

— ​Sahih al-Bukhari​, ​9:89:271 On the other hand, there are hadiths stating
apostates were not sentenced to death:

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

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.

— ​Sahih al-Bukhari​, ​4:56:814

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."
— ​Sahih al-Bukhari​, ​9:89:316

This is also sometimes cited as an example of open apostasy that was left
unpunished.
And in the ​Muwatta​ of ​Imam Malik​ one finds:

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!'

— ​Al-Muwatta​, ​36 18.16

According to the ​Fiqh Council of North America​, the above hadith are often
misunderstood as justifying the killing of people for changes in belief, when the
people cited in the hadith were actually guilty of changing their allegiances to the
armies fighting the Muslims. They point this out by showing the differences in the
oft-cited hadith to justify punishment of apostates from different books of the ​six
most important collections of hadith for Sunni Muslims. For example, here the
phrase "one who reverts from Islam and leaves the Muslims" is changed to "one
who goes forth to fight 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."

— ​Sahih al-Bukhari​, ​9:83:17 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

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. ​According to some, someone born to a Muslim parent or one who has
previously converted to Islam becomes a murtadd if he or she verbally denies any
principle of belief prescribed by Qur'an or a Hadith, deviates from approved
Islamic tenets (ilhad), or if he or she commits a ​blasphemy such as treating a copy
of the Qurʾan with disrespect. A person born to a Muslim parent 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.
The jurist Imam Ibnul Humam (d. 681 ​AH​) wrote in his book Fathul Qadir:

The reason to kill an apostate is only with the intent to eliminate the danger of war,
and not for the reason of his disbelief. The punishment of disbelief is far greater
with God. Therefore, only such an apostate shall be killed who is actively engaged
in war; and usually it is a man, and not a woman. For the same reason, the Holy
Prophet has forbidden to kill women. And for this very reason, an apostate female
could be killed if she in fact instigates and causes war by her influence and armed
force at her disposal. She is not killed because of her apostasy, but for her creating
disorder (through war) on earth.

— Imam Ibnul Humam

A person is considered apostate if he or she converts from Islam to another

religion. Apostasy can occur even if one does not formally renounce Islam. Those
who were forced to denounce Islam under conditions of duress or out of fear of
persecution​ or during ​war​ (​Taqiyya​ or ​Kitman​) are not considered apostates.
Evidence of apostasy in Islam, according to ​Reliance of the Traveller​, a
14th-century manual of the ​Shafi'i​ school of jurisprudence (​Fiqh​), includes:

(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.
In early Islamic history, after Muhammad's death, the declaration of Prophethood
by anyone was automatically deemed to be proof of apostasy. 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.
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 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).
Maliki scholars additionally require that the person in question has publicly
engaged in the obligatory practices of the religion. 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.
In the contemporary ​Islamic Republic of Iran​, at least one conservative jurist,
Ayatollah ​Mohsen Araki​, has attempted to reconcile following the traditional
doctrine while addressing the principle of freedom of religion enshrined in the
Islamic Republic's constitution. At a 2009 human rights conference at Mofid
University in ​Qom​, Araki stated that "if an individual doubts Islam, he does not
become the subject of punishment, but if the doubt is openly expressed, this is not
permissible." As one observer (​Sadakat Kadri​) noted, this "freedom" has the
advantage that "state officials could not punish an unmanifested belief even if they
wanted to".
While there are numerous requirements for a Muslim to avoid being an apostate, 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, 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.”
Regarding Muslim converts to Christianity, Duane Alexander Miller (2016)
identified two different categories:
 1. '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".
2. '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').
Wahhabism view on apostasy
Although the writings of ​Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab himself did not called for
killing apostates before they were properly instructed to his teachings, later
Wahhabism depicts Non-Wahhabis including ​Sunni and ​Shia Muslims, as
apostates who should be killed. Further Wahhabism condemns ​Falsafa​, ​Kalam and
other established Islamic practices, as heretical.
Punishment
Proselytization and apostasy of Muslims to leave Islam and join another religion is
considered a religious crime by many writers. ​Throughout the history of Islam,
proselytization and apostasy of Muslims was forbidden by law.
There are differences of opinion among Islamic scholars about whether, when and
how apostasy in Islam should be punished.
Execution
In Islamic law (sharia), the view among the majority of medieval ​jurists was that a
male apostate must be put to death unless he suffers from a ​mental disorder or
converted under duress, for example, due to an imminent danger of being killed. A
female apostate must be either executed, according to Shafi'i, Maliki, and Hanbali
schools of Sunni Islamic jurisprudence (​fiqh​), or imprisoned until she reverts to
Islam as advocated by the Sunni Hanafi school and by ​Shi'a​ scholars.
Many Islamic scholars have viewed apostasy as a ​hadd (pl. hudud) crime, i.e. a
crime with a scripturally prescribed punishment, ​although this classification has
been contested by Hanafi and Shafi'i jurists, as well as by some notable scholars of
other schools, such as the Malikite ​Abu al-Walid al-Baji and Hanbalite ​Ibn
Taymiyyah​.
Under traditional Islamic law an apostate may be given a waiting period while in
incarceration to repent and accept Islam again and if not the apostate is to be killed
without any reservations. This traditional view of Sunni and Shia Islamic ​fiqhs​, or
schools of jurisprudence (​maḏāhib) each with their own interpretation of Sharia,
varies as follows:
Hanafi – recommends three days of imprisonment before execution, although the
delay before killing the Muslim apostate is not mandatory. Apostates who are
men must be killed, states the Hanafi Sunni fiqh, while women must be held in
solitary confinement and beaten every three days till they recant and return to
Islam. Penalty for Apostasy limited for those who cause ​Hirabah after leaving
Islam, not for personal religion change.
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.
Shafi'i – waiting period of three days is required to allow the Muslim apostate to
repent and return to Islam. After the wait, execution is the traditional
recommended punishment for both men and women apostates.
Hanbali – waiting period not necessary, but may be granted. Execution is
traditional recommended punishment for both genders of Muslim apostates.
Ja'fari – waiting period not necessary, but may be granted according to this Shia
fiqh. 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.
However, according to legal historian ​Sadakat Kadri​, while apostasy was
traditionally punished by death, executions were rare because "it was widely
believed" that any accused apostate "who repented by articulating the ​shahada​"
(LA ILAHA ILLALLAH "There is no God but God") "had to be forgiven" and
their punishment delayed until after Judgement Day. This principle was upheld
"even in extreme situations", such as when an offender adopts Islam "only for fear
of death", based on the hadith that Muhammad had upbraided a follower for killing
a raider who had uttered the shahada​.
Other views on punishment
Various early Muslim scholars did not agree with the death penalty, among them
Ibrahim al-Nakha'i and ​Sufyan al-Thawri​ and their followers, who rejected the
death penalty and prescribed indefinite imprisonment until repentance. The Hanafi
jurist ​Sarakhsi​ also called for different punishments between the non-seditious
religious apostasy and that of seditious and political nature, or ​high treason​.
Medieval Islamic scholars also differed on the punishment of a female apostate:
death, enslavement, or imprisonment until repentance. ​Abu Hanifa​ and his
followers refused the death penalty for female apostates, supporting imprisonment
until they re-embrace Islam. Hanafi scholars maintain that a female apostate should
not be killed because it was forbidden to kill women under Sharia. In contrast,
Maliki, Shafii, Hanbali and Ja'fari scholars interpreted other parts of Sharia to
permit death as possible punishment for Muslim apostate women, in addition to
confinement.
Contemporary ​reform Muslims​ such as ​Quranist​ ​Ahmed Subhy Mansour​, ​Edip
Yuksel​, and ​Mohammed Shahrour​ have suffered from accusations of apostasy and
demands to execute them, issued by Islamic clerics such as Mahmoud Ashur,
Mustafa Al-Shak'a, Mohammed Ra'fat Othman and Yusif Al-Badri. Despite
claiming to have received death threats, Edip Yuksel also believes that high-profile
apostates who are controversial should be killed. He wrote, "Apostasy is not what
gets one killed. It's a combination of being controversial and having a high profile."
BIBLIOGRAPHY
● Frank Griffel, Apostasy, in (Editor: Gerhard Bowering et al.) The Princeton
Encyclopedia of Islamic Political Thought, ISBN 978-0691134840, pp.
40–41; Diane Morgan (2009), Essential Islam: A Comprehensive Guide to
Belief and Practice, ISBN 978-0313360251, pp. 182–83
● Hebatallah Ghali (2006), Rights of Muslim Converts to Christiani, Egypt, p.
2; "Whereas apostate (murtad) is the person who commits apostasy ('rtidad),
that is the conscious abandonment of allegiance, and renunciation of a
religious faith or abandonment of a previous loyalty.
● "No God, not even Allah". The Economist. 24 November 2012. Archived
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● Peters, Rudolph; Vries, Gert J. J. De (1976). "Apostasy in Islam". Die Welt
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● Abdelhadi, Magdi (27 March 2006). "What Islam says on religious
freedom".
● Friedmann, Yohanan (2003). "Chapter 4: Apostasy". Tolerance and
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● https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edip_Yuksel
● http://cmje.usc.edu/religious-texts/hadith/bukhari/089-sbt.php#0