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<metadesc>Summaries of articles: Apostasy and Human Rights, Persecution of Ex-Muslims, People Who Left Islam, Notable Former Muslims, and more</metadesc>
'''Apostasy''' (ارتداد, irtidād and ridda) i.e. the rejection of faith has been, and still is, a serious offense in [[Islam]]. The punishment for apostasy as prescribed by Prophet [[Muhammad]] is death. An '''apostate''' (مرتد murtad) who hides his apostasy is referred to as a '''munāfiq''' (منافق hypocrite).
{{Core}}
==An Introduction to Apostasy==
In Islam, the rejection in part (of any of the pillars, or individual principles of Islam), or discarding the faith as a whole, amounts to apostasy.<ref>[{{Reference archive|1=http://www.alsunna.org/Questions-about-Apostasy-Blasphemy.html|2=2011-02-25}} Questions about Apostasy (Blasphemy)] - Al Sunna.org</ref> It is not a quick or easy affair for an apostate or heterodox believer of Islam, as the punishment for apostasy in the Islamic faith is death. Though it may be argued that this is not clear through the [[Qur'an]] alone, scholars have found justification for the penalty from [[Qur'an, Hadith and Scholars:Apostasy|within its pages]], and there are also numerous [[Sahih]] (authentic) [[hadith]]s confirming this punishment as attested by Prophet Muhammad. In Sahih Bukhari, we see it as “Allah's Apostle said, 'Whoever changed his Islamic religion, then kill him'”,<ref name="apostasy">M. Muhsin Khan (Translator) - [{{Reference archive|1=http://www.cmje.org/religious-texts/hadith/bukhari/084-sbt.php#009.084.057|2=2011-10-30}} Sahih Bukhari Volume 9, Book 84 - Dealing with Apostates, Number 57] - USC-MSA, [[Compendium of Muslim Texts]]</ref> and it was also one of only three reasons given by him where killing a Muslim is permitted.<ref>M. Muhsin Khan (Translator) - [{{Reference archive|1=http://www.cmje.org/religious-texts/hadith/bukhari/083-sbt.php#009.083.017|2=2011-10-30}} Sahih Bukhari Volume 9, Book 83 - Blood Money (Ad-Diyat), Number 17] - USC-MSA, [[Compendium of Muslim Texts]]</ref>


An evaluation of Islam's attitude to apostasy would not be complete without expounding on the political make up of the religion. Islam is essentially a tribal system that once was the social composition of Arabia in the north. Society, in its absolute sense, had never been in existence in the north prior to Islam. All that existed there were certain assemblages that never flourished or evolved into a fully fledged society for several reasons; one being, that most at that time were nomads wandering throughout the desert. Religion was not a personal but communal affair in pre-Islamic Arabia. Deserting religion thus amounted to treason and so was punishable by death. The death penalty being incorporated into Islam for apostasy is better understood when viewed through this tribal prism. Muhammad once belonged to this way of life, but reshuffled society and he did so by organizing certain tribes under one roof without sacrificing much of the already existing norms. Muhammad was successful and, thus, did not venture to get rid of the pre-existing tribal prescripts; instead, he assimilated them into his new religion. The prescribed punishment for apostasy was one such backward practice which Muhammad annexed conveniently to his ‘frame of reference’.  
__NOEDITSECTION__{{QualityScore|Lead=3|Structure=4|Content=3|Language=4|References=3}}'''Apostasy''' (ارتداد, irtidād and ردة ridda), or leaving the religion, is a serious offense in [[Islam]]. Rejecting any part of Islamic doctrine, whether derived from the [[Quran]] or from what are held by Islamic scholars to be incontrovertibly reliable [[hadith]], amounts to apostasy.<ref>[{{Reference archive|1=http://www.alsunna.org/Questions-about-Apostasy-Blasphemy.html|2=2011-02-25}} Questions about Apostasy (Blasphemy)] - Al Sunna.org</ref><ref>{{Quran|2|85}}</ref> The punishment for apostasy as prescribed by [[Muhammad]] and as delineated in all [[Madhhab|four schools]] of [[Islamic law]] is execution. Numerous [[Sahih]] (authentic) [[hadith]]s attribute this punishment as explicitly prescribed by Muhammad. In [[Sahih Bukhari]], for instance, it is recorded that “Allah's Apostle said, 'Whoever changed his Islamic religion, then kill him'”.<ref name="apostasy2">M. Muhsin Khan (Translator) - [{{Reference archive|1=http://www.cmje.org/religious-texts/hadith/bukhari/084-sbt.php#009.084.057|2=2011-10-30}} Sahih Bukhari Volume 9, Book 84 - Dealing with Apostates, Number 57] - USC-MSA, [[Compendium of Muslim Texts]]</ref> Apostasy is also famously one of only three reasons, according to Muhammad, for which killing a Muslim is permitted.<ref>M. Muhsin Khan (Translator) - [{{Reference archive|1=http://www.cmje.org/religious-texts/hadith/bukhari/083-sbt.php#009.083.017|2=2011-10-30}} Sahih Bukhari Volume 9, Book 83 - Blood Money (Ad-Diyat), Number 17] - USC-MSA, [[Compendium of Muslim Texts]]</ref> One who commits apostasy is called a ''murtad'' (مرتد, or 'apostate'). One who hides his apostasy is referred to as a ''munāfiq'' (منافق, or 'hypocrite').
==Historical Context==
Islamic law draws heavily on the desert tribal norms that characterized its birthplace in 7th century Arabia. In this context, as in much of the ancient world, religion was a primarily communal rather than personal affair - commitment to the belief system of one's people was at the same time the basis of one's membership among those people. To abandon one's religion was to renounce not only a system of belief, but also (in the absence of strong secular notions of nationhood) the the society or community that was founded upon that belief. Thus, the norm in Arabia at the birth of Islam was to view apostasy as tantamount to a form of treason and renunciation of one's belonging to one's community. This did not, however, merit execution in all cases. After all, Muhammad himself was allowed to live in [[Mecca]] despite abandoning the 'religion of his forefathers', even if he was made to face some amount of persecution. Once Muhammad's movement of military conquest based out of Medina began, however, his group of believers was in a constant state of war with his neighbors. Since Muhammad cemented rather than overturned most of the contemporary tribal norms, this meant that apostasy at any point amounted to treason during a state of war, and thus merited execution. Islamic scholars, drawing on Muhammad's life, took these norms and turned them into the perennial dictates of Islamic law. Even among classical scholars born hundreds of years after Muhammad, the Islamic [[Khilafah (Caliphate)|caliphate]] was held to be in what was essentially a perpetual state of conquest, based on the [[Dar al-Harb and Dar al-Islam (the Abodes of War and Peace)|Dar al-Harb and Dar al-Islam (the Abode of War and the Abode of Peace)]] dichotomy, perpetuating the justification of this ruling. Since Islamic law is unchanging, however, and since a collapse of the Islamic state was not anticipated, the overwhelming majority of traditional Islamic scholars today continue to hold execution as the proper punishment for apostasy. Today, the punishment for apostasy is execution in 11 Muslim-majority countries and is outlawed and otherwise punishable in many, many more.<ref>https://persecution.exmuslims.org/map</ref>
===In early Islam===
There are no accounts in the [[Hadith|hadith]] considered authentic by traditional Islamic scholars of Muhammad executing apostates, largely due to the absence of individuals apostatizing during Muhammad's life. Academic historians have also shown that, despite the pretensions Islamic orthodoxy, Muhammad's original criteria for one to qualify as a 'believer' was in all likelihood a minimal monotheistic faith rather than the outright acceptance of the entirety of the Quran or Muhammad's individual dictates, which may account for the lesser number of apostates. Nonetheless, there is an incident in Sahih Bukhari where Muhammad is reported to to have banished a Bedouin who expressed the desire to discard his religion. This may, however, be due moreso to the very early Medinan stage of Islam at which this event is said to have taken place, a time when most of Islamic law and doctrine had not yet been formulated, rather than what the Islamic tradition holds to have been Muhammad's ultimate judgement on apostasy.


We do not know of any apostates being killed during the lifetime of Muhammad for the specific crime of apostasy. This is largely due to the lack of individuals apostatizing during Muhammad's life. However in one Sahih Bukhari hadith, Muhammad is seen deporting a Bedouin who desired to discard his religion. This incident alone does not indicate Muhammad viewing apostasy as anything less than treason or a crime worthy of death. This alleged incident occurred during the early stages of Islam in Medina where Muhammad’s Islam and its 'revelations' were incomplete and a far cry from the all encompassing way of life it was to become by the time of his death. After the [[Circumstances Surrounding Muhammad's Death|death of Muhammad]] and under the [[Caliph|Caliphate]] of Abu Bakr, many apostates had been killed during the lengthy “Riddah (apostasy) wars”. This attests to the fact that apostasy had already become a serious crime within Islam and was not some later innovation. In fact, it was a Qur’anic verse<ref>"''But when the forbidden months are past, then fight and slay the Pagans wherever ye find them, an seize them, beleaguer them, and lie in wait for them in every stratagem (of war); but if they repent, and establish regular prayers and practise regular charity, then open the way for them: for Allah is Oft-forgiving, Most Merciful.''" - {{Quran|9|5}}</ref> which prompted Abu Bakr to fight against the people who refused to pay tithe. These people were not rejecting Islam as a whole but only refusing to abide by one of its five pillars ([[Zakat]]). As historians will testify, Abu Bakr took up arms against them in a bloody war which lasted for over a year (632–633 CE). The Caliph did not put down his arms until all rejectors were either killed or had reverted back into the fold of Islam. There are also many narrations which record Muhammad's command being followed by his [[Sahabah|companions]], with atheists,<ref name="apostasy"></ref> Christians,<ref>Abul Ala Maududi - [http://www.answering-islam.org/Hahn/Mawdudi/index.htm The Punishment of the Apostate According to Islamic Law] - Islamic Publications Ltd., Lahore, 1963</ref> and Jews<ref>M. Muhsin Khan (Translator) - [{{Reference archive|1=http://www.cmje.org/religious-texts/hadith/bukhari/084-sbt.php#009.084.058|2=2011-10-30}} Sahih Bukhari Volume 9, Book 84 - Dealing with Apostates, Number 58] - USC-MSA, [[Compendium of Muslim Texts]]</ref> being put to death for leaving Islam.
The ruling of execution given by Muhammad according to numerous hadith falls into sharp relief upon [[Muhammad's Death|Muhammad's death]] and under the caliphate of [[Abu Bakr Abdullah ibn Uthman|Abu Bakr]], when thousands of converts to Islam "apostatized" and were summarily killed in what became known as the ''Riddah'' (lit. "apostasy") Wars (632–633 CE). These "apostates" had, in fact, only refused to pay the [[Zakat]] tithe and not openly renounced Islam. Refusing to accept even a single part of Islamic doctrine, however, is considered apostasy, and Abu Bakr dealt with them as such, reportedly prompted by a {{Quran|9|5}}, which commands Muslims to embattle Islam's enemies until they surrender the tithe and commit to offering prayers. Abu Bakr did not bring the bloody Riddah Wars to an end until all the apostates were either killed or had reverted to Islam. Several other narrations report Muhammad's [[Sahabah|companions (''sahabah'')]] implementing his command and executing atheists,<ref name="apostasy2" /> Christians,<ref name="Maududi2">Abul Ala Maududi - [http://www.answering-islam.org/Hahn/Mawdudi/index.htm The Punishment of the Apostate According to Islamic Law] - Islamic Publications Ltd., Lahore, 1963</ref> and Jews<ref>M. Muhsin Khan (Translator) - [{{Reference archive|1=http://www.cmje.org/religious-texts/hadith/bukhari/084-sbt.php#009.084.058|2=2011-10-30}} Sahih Bukhari Volume 9, Book 84 - Dealing with Apostates, Number 58] - USC-MSA, [[Compendium of Muslim Texts]]</ref> for leaving Islam.


Islamic jurisdiction on Apostasy is derived from the words of Muhammad and the aforementioned actions of the Caliph and other companions. If rejecting one of the [[Five Pillars of Islam|pillars of Islam]] is considered to be a crime warranting war against such people, it is only logical for the prescribed punishment for apostasy in Islam to be death. Imam Abu Hanifa’s prescript as seen in Al-Shybani's Kitab al-Siyar grants the apostate a stipulated period (no more than a couple of days) to revert back to Islam or face the death penalty. All [[Madh'hab|four schools]] of Islamic [[Fiqh|jurisprudence]] are in agreement with this ruling, with only slight variations on whether to allow the grace period.<ref>Silas - [http://www.answering-islam.org/Silas/apostasy.htm The Punishment for Apostasy from Islam/ Jurisprudence - E. Agreement of the Leading Mujtahids (Jurists)] - Answering Islam</ref> The Hanafi school of Islamic jurisprudence believe female apostates are an exception to the rule and are not to be killed, but beaten and put under confinement until death or repentance, while the remaining Shafi'i, Maliki, and Hanbali schools all agree the verdict for the female apostate is the same as for the male.<ref>'Abdurrahmani'l-Djaziri - [http://www.light-of-life.com/eng/ilaw/l5721et1.htm#p19 The Penalties for Apostasy in Islam According to the Four Schools of Islamic Law] - "The Case of the Female Apostate" (Pg. 19)</ref>
By the time of the Abbasid Empire, execution for apostasy as well as for aiding and abetting the crime had become routine. Amira K. Bennison, a Cambridge historian, records the following incident:


So with all points considered, we can rightly conclude that the ruling of Islam is to put apostates to death if they refuse to revert back to their Islamic faith. This ruling remains true even among the [[Shi'ite]] sect,<ref>[{{Reference archive|1=http://formermuslimsunited.org/?page_id=2169|2=2011-10-04}} A Shiite Opinion on Apostasy] - Originally from Kayhan International, March 1986</ref>  whom together with the [[Sunni]]s constitute almost the entirety of the world's Muslim population.<ref>[{{Reference archive|1=http://www.religionfacts.com/islam/comparison_charts/islamic_sects.htm|2=2011-10-04}} Comparison of Sunni and Shia Islam] - ReligionFacts, accessed October 4, 2011</ref><ref>Tracy Miller - [http://pewforum.org/newassets/images/reports/Muslimpopulation/Muslimpopulation.pdf Mapping the Global Muslim Population: A Report on the Size and Distribution of the World's Muslim Population] - Pew Research Center, October 2009</ref>
{{Quote|{{citation|author=Amira K. Bennison|publisher=Yale University Press|year=2014|isbn=0300154895|title=The Great Caliphs: The Golden Age of the 'Abbasid Empire|page=127|url=https://books.google.com/books/about/The_Great_Caliphs.html?id=NBNkzhvf7z4C&source=kp_book_description}}|In 859 Leocritia, a girl of Muslim parentage with a Christian aunt, decided to become Christian and run away from herparents. Eulogius and his sister harboured the runaway in direct opposition to her parents’ wishes and encouraged her to stand firm. Both were arrested and subsequently executed, Eulogius for proselytizing and assisting in the abduction of a Muslim girl and Leocritia for refusing to return to the faith of her parents.}}


==Primary Articles Exploring Islam and Apostasy==
==In Islamic law and scripture==
===In the Qur'an===


The following are summaries of pages discussing Islam, in relation to Apostasy:
The Qur'an does not assign a specific punishment for leaving the religion, as it does for instance for [[zina]]. Rather the Qur'an promises the punishment and wrath of Allah upon the believer who later leaves the faith:


===Islamic Writing and Apostasy===
{{Quote|{{Quran|16|106}}|Whoever disbelieves in Allah after his belief... except for one who is forced [to renounce his religion] while his heart is secure in faith. But those who [willingly] open their breasts to disbelief, upon them is wrath from Allah, and for them is a great punishment;}}This verse was, according to the traditional reckoning, revealed to the prophet in the case of 'Ammar ibn Yasir, a Mekkan who had been put under pressure of torture of himself and his family to renounce Islam. The prophet ruled that upon the end of this persecution, 'Ammar could be allowed back into the Muslim community. This is a stark departure from the Christian tradition, which sees holding fast to the faith under persecution as the ultimate virtue of the believer. This story and verse would end up providing the grounding for the (largely realized as Shi'ite) doctrine of [[Taqiyya]]. Although usually thought of as a Shi'a idea, ibn Kathir himself provides grounding for this idea:{{Quote|Tafsir of ibn Kathir on Quran 16:106|(except one who was forced while his heart is at peace with the faith) This is an exception in the case of one who utters statements of disbelief and verbally agrees with the Mushrikin because he is forced to do so by the beatings and abuse to which he is subjected, but his heart refuses to accept what he is saying, and he is, in reality, at peace with his faith in Allah and His Messenger. The scholars agreed that if a person is forced into disbelief, it is permissible for him to either go along with them in the interests of self-preservation, or to refuse, as Bilal did when they were inflicting all sorts of torture on him, even placing a huge rock on his chest in the intense heat and telling him to admit others as partners with Allah.}}As such, this verse provides for no hadd punishment for apostasy, but rather gives excuse to Muslims who have apostasized under pressure of persecution to return to the community when it is safe to do so.{{Quote|{{Quran|2|217}}|They ask you about the sacred month - about fighting therein. Say, "Fighting therein is great [sin], but averting [people] from the way of Allah and disbelief in Him and [preventing access to] al-Masjid al-Haram and the expulsion of its people therefrom are greater [evil] in the sight of Allah. And fitnah is greater than killing." And they will continue to fight you until they turn you back from your religion if they are able. And whoever of you reverts from his religion [to disbelief] and dies while he is a disbeliever - for those, their deeds have become worthless in this world and the Hereafter, and those are the companions of the Fire, they will abide therein eternally.}}In addition to providing a rational for fighting the mushrikeen (idolators or unbelievers), this verse again deals with the punishment in the hereafter of those who leave the faith and lacks any mention of the punishment to be meted out to unbelievers. Qurtubi notes in his tafsir on this verse:
{{Main|Qur'an, Hadith and Scholars:Apostasy}}
{{Quote|Tafsir of Qurtubi on Qur'an 2:217|Scholars disagree about whether or not apostates are asked to repent. One group say that they are asked to repent and, if they do not, they are killed. Some say they are given an hour and others a
Islamic scriptures and scholars have much to say in regards to apostasy.
month. Others say that they are asked to repent three times. That is related from ‘Umar and ‘Uthmān and that is the view of Mālik. Ibn
{{ quote |{{Bukhari|4|52|260}} | Narrated Ikrima:  
al-Qāsim related it from him. Al-Ḥasan said they are asked a hundred times. It is also said that they are killed without being asked to repent. Ash-Shāfi‘ī says that in one of his two views and it is one
of the positions of Ṭāwūs and ‘Ubayd ibn ‘Umayr. Saḥnūn mentioned that ‘Abd al-‘Azīz ibn Abī Salmah al-Mājishūn said that apostates are killed without being asked to repent. He argues that
based on the ḥadīth of Mu‘ādh and Abū Mūsā. It says: ‘When the Prophet f sent Abū Mūsā to Yemen, he sent Mu‘ādh ibn Jabal after
him. When he came to him, he dismounted and Abū Mūsā gave him a cushion. There was a man in shackles beside him. Mu‘ādh asked, “Who is this?” He replied, “He is a Jew who became Muslim
and reverted and returned to Judaism.” He stated, “I will not sit down until he is killed. This is the judgment of Allah and His Messenger.” “Sit,” Abū Mūsā said. He repeated, “No, I will not sit
down until he is killed. This is the judgment of Allah and His Messenger.” He said it three times and he commanded that he be killed.’ Muslim and others transmitted it.}}
Qurtubi clearly believes that some manner of punishment is due for apostates, but justifies his belief in this punishment with reference to the hadith. It's clear that Qurtubi does not see the Qur'an itself as supporting this punishment and feels the need to reach outside of it into other traditions in order to justify this recieved belief.


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.' "}}
===In the four schools===
Islamic jurisprudence is derived from the reported words of Muhammad, especially as interpreted and implemented by the ''Rashidun'' ("rightly guided") Caliphs and his other companions.


===Apostasy and Human Rights===
{{Main|l1=[https://wikiislam.net/wiki/Qur%27an,_Hadith_and_Scholars:Apostasy#Fiqh Qur'an, Hadith and Scholars: Apostasy#Fiqh]}}Imam Abu Hanifa’s prescription, as found in his student al-Shaybani's ''Kitab al-Siyar'', grants the apostate a period of three days to revert back to Islam before facing the death penalty. All four schools of [[Sunni]] [[Fiqh|jurisprudence]] are in agreement with this ruling, with only slight variations on whether and how the grace period and punishment are to be applied to females.<ref name="Maududi2" /> The Hanafi school of jurisprudence, the most popular school of jurisprudence in the world today, holds that female apostates form an exception to the rule and, rather than being killed, ought to be beaten every three days and put under confinement until death or repentance, while the remaining Shafi'i, Maliki, and Hanbali schools all agree the verdict for the female apostate is the same as for the male.<ref>'Abdurrahmani'l-Djaziri - [http://www.light-of-life.com/eng/ilaw/l5721et1.htm#p19 The Penalties for Apostasy in Islam According to the Four Schools of Islamic Law] - "The Case of the Female Apostate" (Pg. 19)</ref> In [[Shi'ism|Shia]] Islam, according to the Ja'fari school, the male is to be executed, but females imprisoned and beaten at the times of the [[Salah|daily prayers (salah)]].<ref name="PetersDeVries2">Peters, R.and G.J.J.De Vries (1976-77), 'Apostasy in Islam'. Die Welt des Islams 17, 1/4:1-25 [dare.uva.nl/document/228850 pdf of the article] or [https://www.jstor.org/stable/1570336?seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents jstor article with free read access]</ref> All four schools also hold that the apostate must be: performing an act of free will, of adult age (beyond the puberty, in Islamic law), is of sound mind, and acting intentionally.<ref name="PetersDeVries2" /> It is important to note that the Islamic ruling on apostasy only applies to apostates from Islam, not to those who apostatize from other religions, and especially not to those who apostatize from other religions in order to convert to Islam, as this final act is considered to be highly meritorious.
{{Main|Apostasy and Human Rights}}
The full text taken from a paper that was presented by scholar Ibn Warraq at a panel discussion on "Apostasy, Human Rights, Religion and Belief" held at the the 60<sup>th</sup> Session of the UN Commission on Human Rights, held in Geneva, 18<sup>th</sup> April 2005.


===Apostasy Laws and Their Impact on the Real World===
The specific rulings for the four Sunni schools as well as the Ja'fari school of Shia Islam are as follows:
{{Main|Persecution of Ex-Muslims}}


Ex-Muslims are often persecuted, abused and killed by Muslims. This treatment of apostates is not simply down to the issue of state-enforced religion as some may suggest. The violence or threats of violence against apostates in the Muslim world usually derives, not from government authorities, but from family members and individuals from the Islamic communities themselves, who operate very often with impunity from the government. This point is further emphasized by the persecution and murder of ex-Muslims which has now become evident in many Western non-Muslim societies. For example; in 2007 the daughter of a British Imam was taken under police protection after receiving death threats from her father (a leader of a mosque in Lancashire) for converting to Christianity.<ref>[{{Reference archive|1=http://www.standard.co.uk/news/imams-daughter-in-hiding-after-her-conversion-to-christianity-sparked-death-threats-7291664.html|2=2012-10-12}} Imam's daughter in hiding after her conversion to Christianity sparked death threats] - London Evening Standard, December 6, 2007</ref> While the plight of the ex-Muslim is largely ignored by the mainstream media, thanks to the internet we can often catch a glimpse of their untold suffering.
*'''The Hanafi school''' recommends three days of imprisonment before execution to allow repentance and reversion, although the delay before killing the apostate is not mandatory. Male apostates must be executed, while female apostates must be held in solitary confinement and beaten every three days until they recant and return to Islam.


===Notable Former Muslims===
*'''The Maliki school''' allows a waiting period of three days for repentance and reversion, after which the apostate must be killed. This applies to both males and females.
{{Main|Notable Former Muslims}}


Whilst apostatizing from the Islamic faith is a dangerous thing to do, in addition to movie stars and rappers, many outspoken Muslim preachers, mullahs, imams, scholars, missionaries and even terrorists have apostatized and become atheists, Buddhists, Christians, Hindu's etc. In doing so, many (including Ibn Warraq and Mark Gabriel) have taken it upon themselves to oppose the Islamic ideology and have become celebrities in their own right.
*'''The Shafi'i school''' requires a waiting period of three days for repentance and reversion, after which the apostate must be killed. This applies to both males and females.


===Muslims Leaving Islam by the Millions===
*'''The Hanbali school''' recommends a waiting period of three days for repentance and reversion. Then, the apostate is to be invited three times to repent and revert. If the apostate refuses this invitation, they must be executed. This applies to both males and females.
: ''Main Article: [[People Who Left Islam]], See also: [[Comments from Former Muslims]]''


Muslims often (sometimes [[Fake Conversions|falsely]]) advertise news of non-Muslims converting to Islam, but they don't tell the other side of the story, where Muslims are also leaving Islam. There are more Muslims leaving Islam today than there are new converts joining it.<ref>[http://www.formermuslims.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=972 6 Million Muslims LEAVE Islam every year!] Shiekh Ahmed Katani, speaking with Maher Abdallah</ref> In Sub-Saharan Africa alone, 6 million Muslims are leaving Islam each and every year. Once the majority faith of the continent, they are now the minority with Christianity being the majority. The sheer volume of recent apostates is unprecedented in the history of Islam. Here at WikiIslam, we document this news and host hundreds of written testimonies. [[Image:Crystal Clear action edit add.png|15px]] [[Special:Form/newapostate|Add your testimony.]]
*'''The Ja'fari school''' does not require a waiting period, but allows one to be granted if the apostate was born a disbeliever (rendering them a ''murtad al-milli''). Male apostates must be executed, while female apostates must be held in solitary confinement and beaten at the times of the daily prayers and restricted to light rations of food until she repents and reverts.<ref name="PetersDeVries2" /><ref>[http://statics.ml.imam-khomeini.ir/en/File/NewsAttachment/2014/0000-tahrir%20j4-nA4.pdf imam-khomeini.ir] Imam Khomeini, Tahrir al-Wasilar Volumie IV (English translation), Tehran: Institute for Compilation of Imam Khomeini's works, 2011, p.255</ref><ref>[{{Reference archive|1=http://formermuslimsunited.org/?page_id=2169|2=2011-10-04}} A Shiite Opinion on Apostasy] - Originally from Kayhan International, March 1986</ref>


==Other Important Articles==
Civil law penalties for apostates who are imprisoned, awaiting execution, or who have taken flight have also been prescribed.<ref name="PetersDeVries2" /><ref>[https://islamqa.info/en/134339 islamqa.info] Fatwah 134339: Effect of apostasy on marriage before and after consummation]</ref> In all schools other than the Hanafi school, the apostate's right to dispose of property is suspended pending repentance. An apostate also loses the right to inherit (from anyone, Muslim or otherwise). The four schools and the individual jurists within them differ on whether all an apostate's property goes to their Muslim heirs, or just that acquired before his apostasy (if the apostate is a male). The apostate's marriage contract is annulled upon the act of apostasy, even if they repent, or is suspended pending repentance for the length of the wife's 'waiting period' in the Shafi'i school (if their marriage was already consummated) and Shia Ja'fari school (if the apostate was born a disbeliever).
===In scripture and scholarly writing===
{{Main|Qur'an, Hadith and Scholars:Apostasy|l1=Qur'an, Hadith and Scholars: Apostasy}}Authoritative Islamic sources (the Qur'an, hadith, and both classical and modern scholars) have commented at length on what constitutes apostasy and how apostates are to be dealt with.{{quote |{{Bukhari|4|52|260}} | Narrated Ikrima:


===Helpful Hints for Ex-Muslims===
{{Main|Helpful Hints for Ex-Muslims}}


Even in the free West, life for the Islamic apostate is often a difficult and dangerous one, as a recent poll in the UK found out (1 out of 3 British Muslims aged 16 to 24 believe that Muslim apostates should be executed).<ref>Stephen Bates - [http://politics.guardian.co.uk/thinktanks/story/0,,2000984,00.html More young Muslims back sharia, says poll] - The Guardian, January 29, 2007</ref> This article offers Practical advice for new apostates.
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.''''"}}{{quote |{{Bukhari|9|83|17}} |Narrated 'Abdullah:


===Help Others to Leave Islam===
{{Main|Enlightening Others to Leave Islam}}


An article that focuses on convincing others to leave Islam. By examining important issues and questions, it can serve as a starting point for further research and discussion. We should always remember to respect the individual Muslim, but be critical of Islam. After-all, they're in need of our help.
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'''." }}
===Modern revisionary perspectives===
A select few modern Islamic scholars, flouting more a millennium of scholarly consensus, have interpreted {{Quran|2|256}} as annunciating a principle which, they say, overrides all scriptural commandments with contrary implications. The Islamic scholars espousing this revision point to reports of apostates who were permitted to continue living during Muhammad's lifetime, despite his ruling. They also reference a small number of early Islamic figure who punished apostasy with punishments lesser than the death penalty. These scholars also read the version of one relevant hadith which prescribes execution for those individuals who leave Islam and "the Muslims" as only being applicable in a context where the apostate's 'leaving the Muslims' amounts to political treason. Interestingly, however, for many of these scholars, speaking openly about one's apostasy in an Islamic state is considered a type of insurrectionary treason which necessarily seeks to undermine the political order.


===Apostasy Discussed in Arabic/Islamic Media===
While this revisionary perspective has had effectively no purchase among establishment traditionalists and has widely been ridiculed as an instance of 'succumbing to Western influence', it has nonetheless helped a number of modern Muslims, especially those living in liberal cultures in the West, reconcile their faith with the dictates of modern society.{{Quote|{{quran|2|256}}|(There is) no compulsion in the religion. Surely has become distinct the right (path) from the wrong. Then whoever disbelieves in false deities and believes in Allah, then surely he grasped the handhold - [the] firm, (which) not (will) break [for it]. And Allah (is) All-Hearing, All-Knowing.}}
{{Main|Apostasy (Translations of Arabic/Islamic Media)}}
==In the Muslim world==
===Popular Muslim opinion===
====2013 Pew poll====
A Pew poll released on April 30, 2013 asked Muslims in 39 countries between 2008 and 2012 questions about religion, politics and society based on 38,000 face-to-face interviews. In one question, asked in 37 of these countries with a combined Muslim population of just over 1 billion people, the survey asked participants whether they favored or opposed the death penalty for leaving Islam. Using the complete dataset for this question on page 219 of the full report<ref>[http://assets.pewresearch.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/11/2013/04/worlds-muslims-religion-politics-society-full-report.pdf The World’s Muslims: Religion, Politics and Society] Pew Research Centre, 30 April 2013, p.219 (responses by country to the question on apostasy)</ref>, and weighing the responses by Muslim population<ref>[http://assets.pewresearch.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/11/2011/01/FutureGlobalMuslimPopulation-WebPDF-Feb10.pdf Future Global Muslim Population] Pew Research Centre, 2011, pp.156-163 (Estimated Muslim population by country in 2010)</ref> indicates that overall, 40% of Muslims in these countries favor the death penalty for apostasy from Islam. The percentage was below 10% in Central Asia, Turkey and Balkan countries included in the survey. It was above 50% in Afghanistan (79%), Egypt (88%), Jordan (83%), Malaysia (58%), Pakistan (75%), Palestinian Territories (62%), and Djbouti (62%).


This hub page contains English translations of various Arabic/Islamic media discussing apostasy.
One noteworthy mistake has frequently been made by commentators on the 2013 Pew poll, likely as a result of neglecting the full dataset made available by Pew at the end of the report. The table found in chapter one of the report shows support for the death penalty for apostasy among those who had answered that they were 'in favor of Sharia in their country' in an earlier question. Multiplying the percentages in these two tables yields significantly lower percentages compared to those mentioned above (Egypt, for example appears by this calculation to have 64% support for the death penalty, and overall support in the countries surveyed falls to approximately 35% after weighing by Muslim population). This approach fails to account, however, for the support for the apostasy death penalty among those who answered that they 'do not support' or 'don't know whether they support' Sharia being the official law in their country, which, perhaps surprisingly, makes a significant difference. Only the table on page 219 near the end of the report reveals support for the apostasy death penalty for all respondents in each country. This was confirmed by an independent analysis of the data and correspondence with Pew's Director of International Survey Research.<ref>[https://uncertaintyblog.com/2015/02/12/check-the-original-source-how-so-many-writers-got-the-facts-wrong-after-the-maher-vs-affleck-islam-debate/ Check the original source! How so many writers got the facts wrong after the Maher vs. Affleck Islam debate] [http://www.webcitation.org/6yi5XIFbb Archive]</ref> Nevertheless, a strong correlation can be seen in the results for the two questions on support for Sharia and support for the death penalty for apostates.<ref>Survey Reports - [http://www.pewforum.org/2013/04/30/the-worlds-muslims-religion-politics-society-beliefs-about-sharia/#sharia-as-the-official-law-of-the-land The World’s Muslims: Religion, Politics and Society - Chapter 1: Beliefs about Sharia] - Pew Research Center, April 30, 2013</ref>
 
====Changes since 2013====
{{Quote|1=[{{Reference archive|1=http://www.fatawah.com/Fatawah/348.aspx|2=2011-04-21}} What is the expiation for he who insults the religion, and if he has performed the hajj, does he need to perform it (again)?]<BR>Islamic Fatwa Council of Jerusalem, February 10, 2009|2=Whoever insults Allah, the angels, and the religion, has apostatized from Islam, and become an infidel -- (agreed).  
It is possible and even likely that support for the penalty has fallen in the years since the survey was conducted due to near-global outrage at the actions of ISIS and subsequent attempts by leading Muslim figures to distance Islam from the actions of that group. A similar decline in support may also have resulted from generally the negative experience of Muslim Brotherhood government in Egypt between 2011 and 2013.
 
===Persecution of apostates===
The apostate is the legally competent one who voluntarily withdraws from Islam, whether he openly declares his infidelity, or utters something which makes him an infidel, or does something which makes him an infidel. In this case, this man has uttered something which makes him an infidel! For he insulted the religion, or in other words mocked, ridiculed, and belittled it. We take this from Islam -- (agreed).
{{Main|l1=[https://persecution.exmuslims.org/ EXMNA Persecution Tracker]}}Apostates from Islam are regularly persecuted and killed in the Muslim world. While a great deal of this violence comes from government authorities, an equally great deal (if not the majority) of this violence is meted out by private citizens, often including the victim's family members and persons though to be friends. Very often, those operating outside the bounds of or on independent behalf of the law, in this respect, are allowed by the government to act with impunity. Similar persecution and even murder has recently been observed among Western Muslim diasporas. In 2007, for instance, the daughter of a British Imam was taken under police protection after receiving death threats from her father (a leader of a mosque in Lancashire) for converting to Christianity.<ref>[{{Reference archive|1=http://www.standard.co.uk/news/imams-daughter-in-hiding-after-her-conversion-to-christianity-sparked-death-threats-7291664.html|2=2012-10-12}} Imam's daughter in hiding after her conversion to Christianity sparked death threats] - London Evening Standard, December 6, 2007</ref>
 
====Apostasy and human rights====
The ruling on the apostate is for him to seek forgiveness within three days, and if not he is killed, according to the saying of the Prophet (peace be upon him): "The blood of a Muslim man is not permissible except under one of three conditions:  1) he commits adultery, 2) he takes an innocent life, or 3) he abandons his religion and separates himself from the community" (narrated by al-Bukhari and Muslim from Ibn Mas'ud).  
In 2005, the ex-Muslim writer Ibn Warraq presented a paper at the panel discussion on "Apostasy, Human Rights, Religion and Belief" held at the the 60<sup>th</sup> Session of the UN Commission on Human Rights on April 18th, 2005 in Geneva, Switzerland. The following is an excerpt:{{Quote||It is clear quite clear that under Islamic Law an apostate must be put to death. There is no dispute on this ruling among classical Muslim or modern scholars... Sura II.217 is interpreted by no less an authority than al-Shafi'i [d. 820], the founder of one of the four orthodox schools of law of Sunni Islam to mean that the death penalty should be prescribed for apostates. Sura II.217 reads: "... But whoever of you recants and dies an unbeliever, his works shall come to nothing in this world and the next, and they are the companions of the fire for ever." Al-Thalabi and al-Khazan concur. Al-Razi in his commentary on II:217 says the apostate should be killed.
 
Let us beware, servants of Almighty Allah, to not be careless or reckless in our words and deeds, and to fear Almighty Allah in that which we say. For it is a great disaster for insults to the religion and the like to be found on our tongues, rather than remembrance and thanks for Almighty Allah.}}
 
===Websites and Blogs Created by Former Muslims===
{{Main|List Islam: Ex-Muslim}}
 
There are a number of websites and blogs created by former Muslims. We offer links and a brief summary to many of them. {{plainlink|url=http://www.wikiislam.com/wiki/index.php?title=List_Islam:_Add_site&action=edit&section=2 Add your site}} [[Image:Crystal Clear action edit add.png|15px]]
 
===An Apostate outside of the Muslim world - Rifqa Bary===
{{Main|Rifqa Bary}}
 
While the persecution of people who decide to apostatize from Islam in the West has been acknowledged by some, no case has been more publicized than that of teenager Fathima Rifqa Bary. As a Sri Lankan immigrant to the U.S. Rifqa secretly converted to Christianity aged thirteen. In June 2009, Rifqa's religious beliefs were discovered by a member of the Noor Islamic Cultural Center. This article tells her story.
 
===Avoiding the Same Fate===
: ''Main Articles: [[Before Converting to Islam]] and [[Concerns with Islam: Thoughts from an American Convert]] ''
 
Many converts to Islam are Christians, Jews, Hindus, atheists etc., who claim to have seen the light and believe that Islam is the one and only true religion. Muslims welcome these new converts and encourage them to share their stories on the Internet, magazines, and television. They are often featured on various Muslim media outlets to demonstrate that Islam's appeal reaches further than simply those who are born into the faith. To Muslims these new converts are proof that Islam is the truth.
 
However, most individuals who convert rarely choose to study Islam objectively before making such an important decision. Instead they choose to be taken in by the propaganda, only to discover that they have made one of the biggest mistakes of their lives. This is confirmed with research carried out by the respected Pakistani-born American Muslim Dr. Ilyas Ba-Yunus (1932 - 2007),<ref> Dr. Ilyas Ba-Yunus, Emeritus Professor of Sociology, State University of New York at Cortland</ref><ref>Faraz Rabbani, Former SunniPath Instructor - [http://blog.sunnipath.com/2007/10/05/dr-ilyas-ba-yunus-pioneer-msa-and-isna-activist-leader-passes-away/ Dr. Ilyas Ba-Yunus – Pioneer MSA and ISNA Activist & Leader Passes Away] - SunniPath, October 5, 2007</ref> who found that 75% of new Muslim converts in the US leave Islam within a few years.<ref>[{{Reference archive|1=http://www.radioislam.com/_asx/PublicAffairs/whynewmleave.asx|2=2011-11-19}} Listen to the clip] detailing this research ([http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v8EC8-aVlrE listen on Youtube])</ref> This article aims to help non-Muslims avoid the same fate suffered by millions of apostates around the globe.
 
===Videos Documenting Persecution of Ex-Muslims===
{{Main|Videos on Islam: Islamic Persecution}}
 
*{{flag|the United Kingdom}} UK - [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OXF-rJAOHGQ Persecution of 3000 Muslim Converts to Christianity]
*{{flag|Turkey}} Turkey - [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yLGt2skCVhk Muslim converts to Christianity face upto 3 year jail]
*{{flag|Germany}} Germany - [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yxAf_t0_IB8&feature=PlayList&p=7CF74F7D5EB58567&playnext=1&playnext_from=PL&index=11 Persecution of Muslim Converts to Christianity]
*{{flag|Egypt}} Egypt - [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=niVL_LQEpco&feature=PlayList&p=7CF74F7D5EB58567&playnext=1&playnext_from=PL&index=9  Persecution of Muslim Converts to Christianity]
*{{flag|Malaysia}} Malaysia - [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=08AeiUoont0 Persecution of Muslim Converts to Christianity]
 
==Majority of Today's Muslims favor Death for Apostates==
 
For almost 1,400 years, the punishment for apostasy has been death. Only recently has this been challenged, mainly by Islamic apologists in the West. A Pew poll released on December 2, 2010,  found that even today “The majority of Muslims would favor changing current laws in their countries to “allow stoning as punishment for adultery, hand amputation for theft, and death for those who convert from Islam as their religion”.<ref>Devonia Smith - [http://www.examiner.com/political-transcripts-in-national/pew-poll-most-muslims-favor-law-to-allow-islam-stoning-amputation-death Pew Poll: Most Muslims favor law to allow Islam stoning , amputation & death] - Examiner, December 8, 2010</ref><ref>Survey Reports - [http://pewglobal.org/2010/12/02/muslims-around-the-world-divided-on-hamas-and-hezbollah/ Muslim Publics Divided on Hamas and Hezbollah] - Pew Research Center, December 2, 2010</ref>  
 
To give you an idea of the kind of figures we're dealing with, we'll use Pakistan as an example; the 2010 poll found that 76% of Pakistanis agree apostates are to be killed. In a country with a population of 172,800,000<ref>[http://www.prb.org/pdf08/08WPDS_Eng.pdf 2008 World Population Data Sheet] - Population Reference Bureau</ref> (96% of whom are Muslim)<ref>[http://www.statpak.gov.pk/depts/pco/statistics/other_tables/pop_by_religion.pdf Population By Religion] - Statistics Division, Government  of Pakistan</ref> that would be 126,074,880 individuals in a single country. Conversely only a mere 13% of Muslims opposed killing apostates. If we are to assume the politically-correct position that, Muslims who espouse such views are extremists who misunderstand the 'peaceful' teachings of Islam, then we must also concede the fact that [[Are the Overwhelming Majority of Muslims Peaceful Moderates|the majority of Muslims in the world are extremists]]. They are not simply a 'fringe group'.


<br>Similarly, IV. 89: "They would have you disbelieve as they themselves have disbelieved, so that you may be all like alike. Do not befriend them until they have fled their homes for the cause of God. If they desert you seize them and put them to death wherever you find them. Look for neither friends nor helpers among them..." Baydawi [d. c. 1315-16], in his celebrated commentary on the Koran, interprets this passage to mean: "Whosover turns back from his belief (irtada), openly or secretly, take him and kill him wheresoever ye find him, like any other infidel. Separate yourself from him altogether. Do not accept intercession in his regard". Ibn Kathir in his commentary on this passage quoting Al Suddi [d. 745] says that since the unbelievers had manifested their unbelief they should be killed.}}
===Apostasy rates===
The number recent apostates is unprecedented in the history of Islam.
====Sub-Saharan Africa====
According to one estimate made in 2000, In Sub-Saharan Africa alone, 6 million Muslims leave Islam every year. In the recent past, Christianity has traded places with Islam as the majority faith of the African continent.<ref>{{Citation|url=https://www.aljazeera.net/programs/shareea/articles/2000/12/12-12-6.htm|author1=Sheikh Ahmed Katani|author2=Maher Abdullah|publication-date=12/12/2000|publisher=Al Jazeera|trans_chapter=Christianization in Africa|chapter=al-Tansir fi Ifriqiya}} An English translation of the article has been [https://web.archive.org/web/20080330082127/http://www.formermuslims.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=972 made available here].</ref>
====North America====
According to a Pew survey conducted in 2014, "About a quarter of adults who were raised Muslim (23%) no longer identify as members of the faith, roughly on par with the share of Americans who were raised Christian and no longer identify with Christianity (22%)". According to a Pew survey conducted in 2017, "a similar estimate (24%) of the share of those who were raised Muslim but have left Islam". According to the 2017 survey, 55% of these ex-Muslims thereafter identified with no religion, 22% converted to Christianity, 21% became "something else", and 3% said they "didn't know" how to describe themselves.<ref>{{Citation|url=https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2018/01/26/the-share-of-americans-who-leave-islam-is-offset-by-those-who-become-muslim/|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20200414092507/https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2018/01/26/the-share-of-americans-who-leave-islam-is-offset-by-those-who-become-muslim/|chapter=The share of Americans who leave Islam is offset by those who become Muslim|publisher=Pew Research Center|author1=Besheer Mohamed|author2=Elizabeth Podrebarac Sciupac|publication-date=January 26, 2018}}</ref>
==See Also==
==See Also==


'''Articles'''
*[[Qur'an, Hadith and Scholars:Apostasy|Qur'an, Hadith and Scholars: Apostasy]]


* [[Converts to Islam]]
*[[Islam and Freedom of Speech]]
* [[Fake Conversions]]
* [[Islam and Freedom of Speech]]


'''Multimedia'''
==External Links==
 
* [[Videos on Islam: Former Muslims Speak about Islam]]
* [[Videos on Islam:Christianity|Videos on Islam: Muslim Converts to Christianity]]
 
'''Satire'''
 
* [[Farsideology: Lesson 7 - Apostates]]
 
'''Other Core Articles'''
 
''Core articles contain an overview of other articles related to a specific issue, and serve as a starting point for anyone wishing to learn about Islam:''


* [[Islam and Homosexuality]]
*[http://www.answering-islam.org/Index/A/apostasy.html Apostasy] ''- Answering Islam''
* [[Islam and Miracles]]
* [[Islam and Pedophilia]]
* [[Islam and Propaganda]]
* [[Islam and Science]]
* [[Islam and Scripture]]
* [[Islam and the People of the Book]]
* [[Islam and Women]]
 
==External Links==


* [http://www.answering-islam.org/Index/A/apostasy.html Apostasy] ''- Answering Islam''
*[http://www.memri.org/bin/articles.cgi?Page=archives&Area=ia&ID=IA20805 Accusing Muslim Intellectuals of Apostasy] ''- MEMRI''
*[http://www.memri.org/bin/articles.cgi?Page=archives&Area=ia&ID=IA20805 Accusing Muslim Intellectuals of Apostasy] ''- Aluma Dankowitz, MEMRI: Inquiry and Analysis No. 208, February, 18,2005''
* [http://www.faithfreedom.org/2009/06/11/apostasy-in-islam/ Apostasy in Islam] ''- Ibn Kammuna''
* [http://frontpagemag.com/2010/10/12/throwing-apostates-to-the-wolves/ Throwing Apostates to the Wolves] ''- Nonie Darwish''


==References==
==References==
{{reflist}}
{{Reflist|30em}}


[[Category:Core Article]]
[[Category:Apostasy]]
[[Category:Apostasy]]
[[Category:Islamic Law]]
[[Category:Atheism]]
__NOEDITSECTION__
[[Category:Shariah (Islamic Law)]]
[[Category:Kafir (infidel)]]
[[Category:Human rights]]
[[Category:Criticism of Islam]]
[[Category:Freedom of speech]]

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Apostasy (ارتداد, irtidād and ردة ridda), or leaving the religion, is a serious offense in Islam. Rejecting any part of Islamic doctrine, whether derived from the Quran or from what are held by Islamic scholars to be incontrovertibly reliable hadith, amounts to apostasy.[1][2] The punishment for apostasy as prescribed by Muhammad and as delineated in all four schools of Islamic law is execution. Numerous Sahih (authentic) hadiths attribute this punishment as explicitly prescribed by Muhammad. In Sahih Bukhari, for instance, it is recorded that “Allah's Apostle said, 'Whoever changed his Islamic religion, then kill him'”.[3] Apostasy is also famously one of only three reasons, according to Muhammad, for which killing a Muslim is permitted.[4] One who commits apostasy is called a murtad (مرتد, or 'apostate'). One who hides his apostasy is referred to as a munāfiq (منافق, or 'hypocrite').

Historical Context

Islamic law draws heavily on the desert tribal norms that characterized its birthplace in 7th century Arabia. In this context, as in much of the ancient world, religion was a primarily communal rather than personal affair - commitment to the belief system of one's people was at the same time the basis of one's membership among those people. To abandon one's religion was to renounce not only a system of belief, but also (in the absence of strong secular notions of nationhood) the the society or community that was founded upon that belief. Thus, the norm in Arabia at the birth of Islam was to view apostasy as tantamount to a form of treason and renunciation of one's belonging to one's community. This did not, however, merit execution in all cases. After all, Muhammad himself was allowed to live in Mecca despite abandoning the 'religion of his forefathers', even if he was made to face some amount of persecution. Once Muhammad's movement of military conquest based out of Medina began, however, his group of believers was in a constant state of war with his neighbors. Since Muhammad cemented rather than overturned most of the contemporary tribal norms, this meant that apostasy at any point amounted to treason during a state of war, and thus merited execution. Islamic scholars, drawing on Muhammad's life, took these norms and turned them into the perennial dictates of Islamic law. Even among classical scholars born hundreds of years after Muhammad, the Islamic caliphate was held to be in what was essentially a perpetual state of conquest, based on the Dar al-Harb and Dar al-Islam (the Abode of War and the Abode of Peace) dichotomy, perpetuating the justification of this ruling. Since Islamic law is unchanging, however, and since a collapse of the Islamic state was not anticipated, the overwhelming majority of traditional Islamic scholars today continue to hold execution as the proper punishment for apostasy. Today, the punishment for apostasy is execution in 11 Muslim-majority countries and is outlawed and otherwise punishable in many, many more.[5]

In early Islam

There are no accounts in the hadith considered authentic by traditional Islamic scholars of Muhammad executing apostates, largely due to the absence of individuals apostatizing during Muhammad's life. Academic historians have also shown that, despite the pretensions Islamic orthodoxy, Muhammad's original criteria for one to qualify as a 'believer' was in all likelihood a minimal monotheistic faith rather than the outright acceptance of the entirety of the Quran or Muhammad's individual dictates, which may account for the lesser number of apostates. Nonetheless, there is an incident in Sahih Bukhari where Muhammad is reported to to have banished a Bedouin who expressed the desire to discard his religion. This may, however, be due moreso to the very early Medinan stage of Islam at which this event is said to have taken place, a time when most of Islamic law and doctrine had not yet been formulated, rather than what the Islamic tradition holds to have been Muhammad's ultimate judgement on apostasy.

The ruling of execution given by Muhammad according to numerous hadith falls into sharp relief upon Muhammad's death and under the caliphate of Abu Bakr, when thousands of converts to Islam "apostatized" and were summarily killed in what became known as the Riddah (lit. "apostasy") Wars (632–633 CE). These "apostates" had, in fact, only refused to pay the Zakat tithe and not openly renounced Islam. Refusing to accept even a single part of Islamic doctrine, however, is considered apostasy, and Abu Bakr dealt with them as such, reportedly prompted by a Quran 9:5, which commands Muslims to embattle Islam's enemies until they surrender the tithe and commit to offering prayers. Abu Bakr did not bring the bloody Riddah Wars to an end until all the apostates were either killed or had reverted to Islam. Several other narrations report Muhammad's companions (sahabah) implementing his command and executing atheists,[3] Christians,[6] and Jews[7] for leaving Islam.

By the time of the Abbasid Empire, execution for apostasy as well as for aiding and abetting the crime had become routine. Amira K. Bennison, a Cambridge historian, records the following incident:

In 859 Leocritia, a girl of Muslim parentage with a Christian aunt, decided to become Christian and run away from herparents. Eulogius and his sister harboured the runaway in direct opposition to her parents’ wishes and encouraged her to stand firm. Both were arrested and subsequently executed, Eulogius for proselytizing and assisting in the abduction of a Muslim girl and Leocritia for refusing to return to the faith of her parents.

In Islamic law and scripture

In the Qur'an

The Qur'an does not assign a specific punishment for leaving the religion, as it does for instance for zina. Rather the Qur'an promises the punishment and wrath of Allah upon the believer who later leaves the faith:

Whoever disbelieves in Allah after his belief... except for one who is forced [to renounce his religion] while his heart is secure in faith. But those who [willingly] open their breasts to disbelief, upon them is wrath from Allah, and for them is a great punishment;

This verse was, according to the traditional reckoning, revealed to the prophet in the case of 'Ammar ibn Yasir, a Mekkan who had been put under pressure of torture of himself and his family to renounce Islam. The prophet ruled that upon the end of this persecution, 'Ammar could be allowed back into the Muslim community. This is a stark departure from the Christian tradition, which sees holding fast to the faith under persecution as the ultimate virtue of the believer. This story and verse would end up providing the grounding for the (largely realized as Shi'ite) doctrine of Taqiyya. Although usually thought of as a Shi'a idea, ibn Kathir himself provides grounding for this idea:

(except one who was forced while his heart is at peace with the faith) This is an exception in the case of one who utters statements of disbelief and verbally agrees with the Mushrikin because he is forced to do so by the beatings and abuse to which he is subjected, but his heart refuses to accept what he is saying, and he is, in reality, at peace with his faith in Allah and His Messenger. The scholars agreed that if a person is forced into disbelief, it is permissible for him to either go along with them in the interests of self-preservation, or to refuse, as Bilal did when they were inflicting all sorts of torture on him, even placing a huge rock on his chest in the intense heat and telling him to admit others as partners with Allah.
Tafsir of ibn Kathir on Quran 16:106

As such, this verse provides for no hadd punishment for apostasy, but rather gives excuse to Muslims who have apostasized under pressure of persecution to return to the community when it is safe to do so.

They ask you about the sacred month - about fighting therein. Say, "Fighting therein is great [sin], but averting [people] from the way of Allah and disbelief in Him and [preventing access to] al-Masjid al-Haram and the expulsion of its people therefrom are greater [evil] in the sight of Allah. And fitnah is greater than killing." And they will continue to fight you until they turn you back from your religion if they are able. And whoever of you reverts from his religion [to disbelief] and dies while he is a disbeliever - for those, their deeds have become worthless in this world and the Hereafter, and those are the companions of the Fire, they will abide therein eternally.

In addition to providing a rational for fighting the mushrikeen (idolators or unbelievers), this verse again deals with the punishment in the hereafter of those who leave the faith and lacks any mention of the punishment to be meted out to unbelievers. Qurtubi notes in his tafsir on this verse:

Scholars disagree about whether or not apostates are asked to repent. One group say that they are asked to repent and, if they do not, they are killed. Some say they are given an hour and others a

month. Others say that they are asked to repent three times. That is related from ‘Umar and ‘Uthmān and that is the view of Mālik. Ibn al-Qāsim related it from him. Al-Ḥasan said they are asked a hundred times. It is also said that they are killed without being asked to repent. Ash-Shāfi‘ī says that in one of his two views and it is one of the positions of Ṭāwūs and ‘Ubayd ibn ‘Umayr. Saḥnūn mentioned that ‘Abd al-‘Azīz ibn Abī Salmah al-Mājishūn said that apostates are killed without being asked to repent. He argues that based on the ḥadīth of Mu‘ādh and Abū Mūsā. It says: ‘When the Prophet f sent Abū Mūsā to Yemen, he sent Mu‘ādh ibn Jabal after him. When he came to him, he dismounted and Abū Mūsā gave him a cushion. There was a man in shackles beside him. Mu‘ādh asked, “Who is this?” He replied, “He is a Jew who became Muslim and reverted and returned to Judaism.” He stated, “I will not sit down until he is killed. This is the judgment of Allah and His Messenger.” “Sit,” Abū Mūsā said. He repeated, “No, I will not sit

down until he is killed. This is the judgment of Allah and His Messenger.” He said it three times and he commanded that he be killed.’ Muslim and others transmitted it.
Tafsir of Qurtubi on Qur'an 2:217

Qurtubi clearly believes that some manner of punishment is due for apostates, but justifies his belief in this punishment with reference to the hadith. It's clear that Qurtubi does not see the Qur'an itself as supporting this punishment and feels the need to reach outside of it into other traditions in order to justify this recieved belief.

In the four schools

Islamic jurisprudence is derived from the reported words of Muhammad, especially as interpreted and implemented by the Rashidun ("rightly guided") Caliphs and his other companions.

Imam Abu Hanifa’s prescription, as found in his student al-Shaybani's Kitab al-Siyar, grants the apostate a period of three days to revert back to Islam before facing the death penalty. All four schools of Sunni jurisprudence are in agreement with this ruling, with only slight variations on whether and how the grace period and punishment are to be applied to females.[6] The Hanafi school of jurisprudence, the most popular school of jurisprudence in the world today, holds that female apostates form an exception to the rule and, rather than being killed, ought to be beaten every three days and put under confinement until death or repentance, while the remaining Shafi'i, Maliki, and Hanbali schools all agree the verdict for the female apostate is the same as for the male.[8] In Shia Islam, according to the Ja'fari school, the male is to be executed, but females imprisoned and beaten at the times of the daily prayers (salah).[9] All four schools also hold that the apostate must be: performing an act of free will, of adult age (beyond the puberty, in Islamic law), is of sound mind, and acting intentionally.[9] It is important to note that the Islamic ruling on apostasy only applies to apostates from Islam, not to those who apostatize from other religions, and especially not to those who apostatize from other religions in order to convert to Islam, as this final act is considered to be highly meritorious.

The specific rulings for the four Sunni schools as well as the Ja'fari school of Shia Islam are as follows:

  • The Hanafi school recommends three days of imprisonment before execution to allow repentance and reversion, although the delay before killing the apostate is not mandatory. Male apostates must be executed, while female apostates must be held in solitary confinement and beaten every three days until they recant and return to Islam.
  • The Maliki school allows a waiting period of three days for repentance and reversion, after which the apostate must be killed. This applies to both males and females.
  • The Shafi'i school requires a waiting period of three days for repentance and reversion, after which the apostate must be killed. This applies to both males and females.
  • The Hanbali school recommends a waiting period of three days for repentance and reversion. Then, the apostate is to be invited three times to repent and revert. If the apostate refuses this invitation, they must be executed. This applies to both males and females.
  • The Ja'fari school does not require a waiting period, but allows one to be granted if the apostate was born a disbeliever (rendering them a murtad al-milli). Male apostates must be executed, while female apostates must be held in solitary confinement and beaten at the times of the daily prayers and restricted to light rations of food until she repents and reverts.[9][10][11]

Civil law penalties for apostates who are imprisoned, awaiting execution, or who have taken flight have also been prescribed.[9][12] In all schools other than the Hanafi school, the apostate's right to dispose of property is suspended pending repentance. An apostate also loses the right to inherit (from anyone, Muslim or otherwise). The four schools and the individual jurists within them differ on whether all an apostate's property goes to their Muslim heirs, or just that acquired before his apostasy (if the apostate is a male). The apostate's marriage contract is annulled upon the act of apostasy, even if they repent, or is suspended pending repentance for the length of the wife's 'waiting period' in the Shafi'i school (if their marriage was already consummated) and Shia Ja'fari school (if the apostate was born a disbeliever).

In scripture and scholarly writing

Authoritative Islamic sources (the Qur'an, hadith, and both classical and modern scholars) have commented at length on what constitutes apostasy and how apostates are to be dealt with.

Narrated Ikrima:


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.'"
Narrated 'Abdullah:


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."

Modern revisionary perspectives

A select few modern Islamic scholars, flouting more a millennium of scholarly consensus, have interpreted Quran 2:256 as annunciating a principle which, they say, overrides all scriptural commandments with contrary implications. The Islamic scholars espousing this revision point to reports of apostates who were permitted to continue living during Muhammad's lifetime, despite his ruling. They also reference a small number of early Islamic figure who punished apostasy with punishments lesser than the death penalty. These scholars also read the version of one relevant hadith which prescribes execution for those individuals who leave Islam and "the Muslims" as only being applicable in a context where the apostate's 'leaving the Muslims' amounts to political treason. Interestingly, however, for many of these scholars, speaking openly about one's apostasy in an Islamic state is considered a type of insurrectionary treason which necessarily seeks to undermine the political order.

While this revisionary perspective has had effectively no purchase among establishment traditionalists and has widely been ridiculed as an instance of 'succumbing to Western influence', it has nonetheless helped a number of modern Muslims, especially those living in liberal cultures in the West, reconcile their faith with the dictates of modern society.

(There is) no compulsion in the religion. Surely has become distinct the right (path) from the wrong. Then whoever disbelieves in false deities and believes in Allah, then surely he grasped the handhold - [the] firm, (which) not (will) break [for it]. And Allah (is) All-Hearing, All-Knowing.

In the Muslim world

Popular Muslim opinion

2013 Pew poll

A Pew poll released on April 30, 2013 asked Muslims in 39 countries between 2008 and 2012 questions about religion, politics and society based on 38,000 face-to-face interviews. In one question, asked in 37 of these countries with a combined Muslim population of just over 1 billion people, the survey asked participants whether they favored or opposed the death penalty for leaving Islam. Using the complete dataset for this question on page 219 of the full report[13], and weighing the responses by Muslim population[14] indicates that overall, 40% of Muslims in these countries favor the death penalty for apostasy from Islam. The percentage was below 10% in Central Asia, Turkey and Balkan countries included in the survey. It was above 50% in Afghanistan (79%), Egypt (88%), Jordan (83%), Malaysia (58%), Pakistan (75%), Palestinian Territories (62%), and Djbouti (62%).

One noteworthy mistake has frequently been made by commentators on the 2013 Pew poll, likely as a result of neglecting the full dataset made available by Pew at the end of the report. The table found in chapter one of the report shows support for the death penalty for apostasy among those who had answered that they were 'in favor of Sharia in their country' in an earlier question. Multiplying the percentages in these two tables yields significantly lower percentages compared to those mentioned above (Egypt, for example appears by this calculation to have 64% support for the death penalty, and overall support in the countries surveyed falls to approximately 35% after weighing by Muslim population). This approach fails to account, however, for the support for the apostasy death penalty among those who answered that they 'do not support' or 'don't know whether they support' Sharia being the official law in their country, which, perhaps surprisingly, makes a significant difference. Only the table on page 219 near the end of the report reveals support for the apostasy death penalty for all respondents in each country. This was confirmed by an independent analysis of the data and correspondence with Pew's Director of International Survey Research.[15] Nevertheless, a strong correlation can be seen in the results for the two questions on support for Sharia and support for the death penalty for apostates.[16]

Changes since 2013

It is possible and even likely that support for the penalty has fallen in the years since the survey was conducted due to near-global outrage at the actions of ISIS and subsequent attempts by leading Muslim figures to distance Islam from the actions of that group. A similar decline in support may also have resulted from generally the negative experience of Muslim Brotherhood government in Egypt between 2011 and 2013.

Persecution of apostates

Apostates from Islam are regularly persecuted and killed in the Muslim world. While a great deal of this violence comes from government authorities, an equally great deal (if not the majority) of this violence is meted out by private citizens, often including the victim's family members and persons though to be friends. Very often, those operating outside the bounds of or on independent behalf of the law, in this respect, are allowed by the government to act with impunity. Similar persecution and even murder has recently been observed among Western Muslim diasporas. In 2007, for instance, the daughter of a British Imam was taken under police protection after receiving death threats from her father (a leader of a mosque in Lancashire) for converting to Christianity.[17]

Apostasy and human rights

In 2005, the ex-Muslim writer Ibn Warraq presented a paper at the panel discussion on "Apostasy, Human Rights, Religion and Belief" held at the the 60th Session of the UN Commission on Human Rights on April 18th, 2005 in Geneva, Switzerland. The following is an excerpt:

It is clear quite clear that under Islamic Law an apostate must be put to death. There is no dispute on this ruling among classical Muslim or modern scholars... Sura II.217 is interpreted by no less an authority than al-Shafi'i [d. 820], the founder of one of the four orthodox schools of law of Sunni Islam to mean that the death penalty should be prescribed for apostates. Sura II.217 reads: "... But whoever of you recants and dies an unbeliever, his works shall come to nothing in this world and the next, and they are the companions of the fire for ever." Al-Thalabi and al-Khazan concur. Al-Razi in his commentary on II:217 says the apostate should be killed.
Similarly, IV. 89: "They would have you disbelieve as they themselves have disbelieved, so that you may be all like alike. Do not befriend them until they have fled their homes for the cause of God. If they desert you seize them and put them to death wherever you find them. Look for neither friends nor helpers among them..." Baydawi [d. c. 1315-16], in his celebrated commentary on the Koran, interprets this passage to mean: "Whosover turns back from his belief (irtada), openly or secretly, take him and kill him wheresoever ye find him, like any other infidel. Separate yourself from him altogether. Do not accept intercession in his regard". Ibn Kathir in his commentary on this passage quoting Al Suddi [d. 745] says that since the unbelievers had manifested their unbelief they should be killed.

Apostasy rates

The number recent apostates is unprecedented in the history of Islam.

Sub-Saharan Africa

According to one estimate made in 2000, In Sub-Saharan Africa alone, 6 million Muslims leave Islam every year. In the recent past, Christianity has traded places with Islam as the majority faith of the African continent.[18]

North America

According to a Pew survey conducted in 2014, "About a quarter of adults who were raised Muslim (23%) no longer identify as members of the faith, roughly on par with the share of Americans who were raised Christian and no longer identify with Christianity (22%)". According to a Pew survey conducted in 2017, "a similar estimate (24%) of the share of those who were raised Muslim but have left Islam". According to the 2017 survey, 55% of these ex-Muslims thereafter identified with no religion, 22% converted to Christianity, 21% became "something else", and 3% said they "didn't know" how to describe themselves.[19]

See Also

External Links

References

  1. Questions about Apostasy (Blasphemy) - Al Sunna.org
  2. Quran 2:85
  3. 3.0 3.1 M. Muhsin Khan (Translator) - Sahih Bukhari Volume 9, Book 84 - Dealing with Apostates, Number 57 - USC-MSA, Compendium of Muslim Texts
  4. M. Muhsin Khan (Translator) - Sahih Bukhari Volume 9, Book 83 - Blood Money (Ad-Diyat), Number 17 - USC-MSA, Compendium of Muslim Texts
  5. https://persecution.exmuslims.org/map
  6. 6.0 6.1 Abul Ala Maududi - The Punishment of the Apostate According to Islamic Law - Islamic Publications Ltd., Lahore, 1963
  7. M. Muhsin Khan (Translator) - Sahih Bukhari Volume 9, Book 84 - Dealing with Apostates, Number 58 - USC-MSA, Compendium of Muslim Texts
  8. 'Abdurrahmani'l-Djaziri - The Penalties for Apostasy in Islam According to the Four Schools of Islamic Law - "The Case of the Female Apostate" (Pg. 19)
  9. 9.0 9.1 9.2 9.3 Peters, R.and G.J.J.De Vries (1976-77), 'Apostasy in Islam'. Die Welt des Islams 17, 1/4:1-25 [dare.uva.nl/document/228850 pdf of the article] or jstor article with free read access
  10. imam-khomeini.ir Imam Khomeini, Tahrir al-Wasilar Volumie IV (English translation), Tehran: Institute for Compilation of Imam Khomeini's works, 2011, p.255
  11. A Shiite Opinion on Apostasy - Originally from Kayhan International, March 1986
  12. islamqa.info Fatwah 134339: Effect of apostasy on marriage before and after consummation]
  13. The World’s Muslims: Religion, Politics and Society Pew Research Centre, 30 April 2013, p.219 (responses by country to the question on apostasy)
  14. Future Global Muslim Population Pew Research Centre, 2011, pp.156-163 (Estimated Muslim population by country in 2010)
  15. Check the original source! How so many writers got the facts wrong after the Maher vs. Affleck Islam debate Archive
  16. Survey Reports - The World’s Muslims: Religion, Politics and Society - Chapter 1: Beliefs about Sharia - Pew Research Center, April 30, 2013
  17. Imam's daughter in hiding after her conversion to Christianity sparked death threats - London Evening Standard, December 6, 2007
  18. Sheikh Ahmed Katani; Maher Abdullah, "al-Tansir fi Ifriqiya [Christianization in Africa]", Al Jazeera, 12/12/2000, https://www.aljazeera.net/programs/shareea/articles/2000/12/12-12-6.htm  An English translation of the article has been made available here.
  19. Besheer Mohamed; Elizabeth Podrebarac Sciupac, "The share of Americans who leave Islam is offset by those who become Muslim", Pew Research Center, January 26, 2018 (archived from the original), https://web.archive.org/web/20200414092507/https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2018/01/26/the-share-of-americans-who-leave-islam-is-offset-by-those-who-become-muslim/