Islam and Apostasy: Difference between revisions

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===Modern Muslims===
===Modern Muslims===


For almost 1,400 years, the punishment for apostasy has been death. Only recently has this been challenged, mainly by a few [[apologists]] from among the tiny 3% of the world's Muslims living in "more-developed regions".<ref>''"As of 2010, about three-quarters of the world’s Muslims (74.1%) live in the 49 countries in which Muslims make up a majority of the population. More than a fifth of all Muslims (23.3%) live in non-Muslim-majority countries in the developing world. About 3% of the world’s Muslims live in more-developed regions, such as Europe, North America, Australia, New Zealand and Japan."'' - [{{Reference archive|1=http://www.pewforum.org/The-Future-of-the-Global-Muslim-Population.aspx|2=2012-12-02}} The Future of the Global Muslim Population], The Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life, January 27, 2011</ref> 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>  
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 the survey asked participants whether they favored or opposed making Sharia the law of the land in their country, and in a later question to those who favored Sharia, it asked whether they favored or opposed the death penalty for leaving Islam. 20 countries were covered by both questions. Multiplying the percentages for the first and second question for each country and weighing by Muslim population indicates that overall, approximately 35% of Muslims in those countries support the death penalty for apostates who leave Islam. The percentage was below 10% in Central Asia, Turkey and Balkan countries included in the survey. It was above 50% in Afghanistan, Egypt, Jordan, Malaysia, Pakistan, and The Palestinian Territories. 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>  


To give you an idea of the kind of figures we are dealing with, we will 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 position that, Muslims who espouse such views are extremists who misunderstand the 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.
So with all points considered, we can rightly conclude from religious texts, history and even modern Muslim opinion in most of the countries with the strongest support for Sharia, 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 [[Shiite|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>
 
So with all points considered, we can rightly conclude from religious texts, history and even modern Muslim opinion, 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 [[Shiite|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>


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