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Islam and Apostasy: Difference between revisions
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__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>[http://www.alsunna.org/Questions-about-Apostasy-Blasphemy.html Questions about Apostasy (Blasphemy)] - Al Sunna.org ([https://web.archive.org/web/20110129035642/http://www.alsunna.org/Questions-about-Apostasy-Blasphemy.html archive])</ref> The punishment for apostasy attributed in hadiths to [[Muhammad]]'s instruction and as delineated in all [[Madh'hab|schools]] of [[Islamic law]] is execution. In [[Sahih Bukhari]], for instance, the companion Ibn 'Abbas recalls that Muhammad said, 'Whoever changed his Islamic religion, then kill him.'.<ref>{{Bukhari| | __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>[http://www.alsunna.org/Questions-about-Apostasy-Blasphemy.html Questions about Apostasy (Blasphemy)] - Al Sunna.org ([https://web.archive.org/web/20110129035642/http://www.alsunna.org/Questions-about-Apostasy-Blasphemy.html archive])</ref> The punishment for apostasy attributed in hadiths to [[Muhammad]]'s instruction and as delineated in all [[Madh'hab|schools]] of [[Islamic law]] is execution. In [[Sahih Bukhari]], for instance, the companion Ibn 'Abbas recalls that Muhammad said, 'Whoever changed his Islamic religion, then kill him.'.<ref>{{Bukhari|||6922|darussalam}} and {{Bukhari|||3017|darussalam}}</ref> Apostasy is also famously one of only three reasons, according to Muhammad, for which killing a Muslim is permitted.<ref>{{Bukhari|||6878|darussalam}}</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'). | ||
In modern times, reformists and some academic scholars have urged scepticism towards the relevant hadiths, which they argue run contrary to Quranic principles and may reflect hardened attitudes during the Riddah wars under the Caliphate of Abu Bakr.<ref>Wael Hallaq, ''Apostasy'' in The Encyclopedia of the Quran vol 1, Leiden: Brill, p. 122, 2004)</ref> | In modern times, reformists and some academic scholars have urged scepticism towards the relevant hadiths, which they argue run contrary to Quranic principles and may reflect hardened attitudes during the Riddah wars under the Caliphate of Abu Bakr.<ref>Wael Hallaq, ''Apostasy'' in The Encyclopedia of the Quran vol 1, Leiden: Brill, p. 122, 2004)</ref> | ||
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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. | 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. | ||
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 zandiqa ("atheists" in some translations, but probably simply meaning heretics)<ref>{{Bukhari| | 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 zandiqa ("atheists" in some translations, but probably simply meaning heretics)<ref>{{Bukhari|||6922|darussalam}}</ref> and a Jewish man <ref>{{Bukhari|||6923|darussalam}}</ref> 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: | 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: | ||
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*'''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>[http://formermuslimsunited.org/?page_id=2169 A Shiite Opinion on Apostasy] - Originally from Kayhan International, March 1986 ([https://web.archive.org/web/20111222053801/http://formermuslimsunited.org/?page_id=2169 archive])</ref> | *'''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>[http://formermuslimsunited.org/?page_id=2169 A Shiite Opinion on Apostasy] - Originally from Kayhan International, March 1986 ([https://web.archive.org/web/20111222053801/http://formermuslimsunited.org/?page_id=2169 archive])</ref> | ||
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). | 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). An apostate is also disqualified from child custody (hizanat) in all the main Sunni and the Shi'a schools of jurisprudence, especially in the case of apostate mothers.<ref>[https://www.pathlegal.in/Hizanat-Under-Muslim-Law:-An-Analysis-blog-2391757 Hizanat Under Muslim Law: An Analysis] - Pathlegal.in website 22 November 2022</ref> This is explicitly the law in some Muslim countries including Malaysia, Indonesia, Oman, Jordan and Pakistan. Even child visitation rights are also sometimes at risk for an apostate mother or father. | |||
===In scripture and scholarly writing=== | ===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| | {{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|||3017|darussalam}} | 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.''''"}}{{quote |{{Bukhari| | 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|||6878|darussalam}} |Narrated 'Abdullah: | ||