The death penalty for apostasy is part of Islamic law. It’s based on the Qur’an: “They wish you would disbelieve as they disbelieved so you would be alike. So do not take from among them allies until they emigrate for the cause of Allah. But if they turn away, then seize them and kill them wherever you find them and take not from among them any ally or helper.” (Qur’an 4:89)
A hadith depicts Muhammad saying: “Whoever changed his Islamic religion, then kill him” (Bukhari 9.84.57). The death penalty for apostasy is part of Islamic law according to all the schools of Islamic jurisprudence.
This is still the position of all the schools of Islamic jurisprudence, both Sunni and Shi’ite. Sheikh Yusuf al-Qaradawi, the most renowned and prominent Muslim cleric in the world, has stated: “The Muslim jurists are unanimous that apostates must be punished, yet they differ as to determining the kind of punishment to be inflicted upon them. The majority of them, including the four main schools of jurisprudence (Hanafi, Maliki, Shafi’i, and Hanbali) as well as the other four schools of jurisprudence (the four Shiite schools of Az-Zaidiyyah, Al-Ithna-‘ashriyyah, Al-Ja’fariyyah, and Az-Zaheriyyah) agree that apostates must be executed.”
Qaradawi also once famously said: “If they had gotten rid of the apostasy punishment, Islam wouldn’t exist today.”
If the authorities don’t execute Nabila Umar Sanda, they must be moderate.
Notice, in any case, that there will be no international attention to this beyond the article below. But just imagine the international outcry if someone had been arrested for converting from Christianity to Islam. We never hear about such people — unless and until, of course, they blow something up.
“Nigerian student arrested after converting from Islam to Christianity,” World Watch Monitor, January 16, 2018:
A Nigerian university student who converted from Islam to Christianity has been arrested by state security forces, as has the man who introduced her to Christianity.
Nabila Umar Sanda, 19, is a student at Bingham University in Karu, in the central state of Nasarawa, which is owned by one of Nigeria’s major churches – Evangelical Church Winning All, or ECWA. It was while studying there that she became friends with Simput Dafup, a 33-year-old Christian, who, once she expressed an interest in Christianity, invited her to meet a local church leader, Jeremiah Datim.
Speaking to the press in Jos, capital of neighbouring Plateau state, Datim explained that after the young woman decided to become a Christian, he immediately made contact with the local Islamic organisation, as has become customary.
“Knowing the sensitive nature of conversion from lslam to Christianity, and given that between the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) and the Jama’atu Nasril lslam (JNI) … there is a working understanding, or protocol, that where such issues or situations arise relating to any of the two religions, the leaders of the affected religion should contact the leadership of the other religion from which the convert is coming, I immediately contacted the leadership of JNI in the state and informed them that I had one Miss Nabila Umar Sanda in my possession and that she had converted to Christianity,” he said.
Datim then went to meet a JNI leader, who made contact with Ms Sanda’s parents. Later that day, Monday 8 January, Datim said detectives from the Department of State Security Services “stormed my house, assaulted my wife, daughter and eight-month-old baby, and took Nabila away”.
Her friend, Simput Dafup, was arrested that same day, and both are still being held in an unknown location.
“I want to state, for the avoidance of doubt, that the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria guarantees the right to anyone to propagate his faith and the right to also practise any religion of one’s choice,” Datim said. “Miss Nabila told me she is 19 years old and therefore free to choose a religion for herself.
“After I met Miss Nabila for the first time … I interacted with her and asked her a lot of questions about both the Christian faith and Islamic faith. Nabila clearly said that she had made up her mind to join the Christian faith and was willing to be a Christian no matter what obstacles were placed on her way.
“I understand that her father has said he has all the ‘connections’ in this country to deal with me, Dafup and any other person found to have been involved in the conversion of his daughter to Christianity, and that he will ensure that we rot in jail. l want to state here without fear of contradiction that neither Dafup, myself or any other person that has established contact with Nabila has breached any law of this land.
“I also learnt that Nabila’s father reported to the DSS that we forcefully abducted and brainwashed her into becoming a Christian. l challenge the DSS to produce Nabila and put us side by side so they can ask her if she was forcefully converted to Christianity or abducted or brainwashed.”…
Vic says
“Qaradawi also once famously said: “If they had gotten rid of the apostasy punishment, Islam wouldn’t exist today.”
Right on, Mr. Spencer. This “Law” that one can never leave Islam is reminiscent of those that abound in cults. Perhaps we don’t speak out enough about it and quote Qadarawi more… I’m sure other people have commented on this. Islam or the sword (both literally and metaphorically).
Is there any other religious group that says that if you leave the fold, you need to be killed? I never heard of another. But then, there are so many laws within Islam that make it a hateful supremacist system. Subyugation of mankind in every way. It comes from the father of lies and deception. I feel so sorry for Muslims. They need the Light to shine in their hearts and their understanding so badly.
b.a. freeman says
U are correct about muslims; they are the *first* – and most numerous – victims of islam.
J D S says
Vic…..I had typed a long reply to your post but accidentally deleted it.
Anyway…You are right and it is Fear, from the very beginning, that has kept Islam going and along with all the atrocities associated with islam the world should put an end to it.
PATRICIA FRANCES KOENIG says
It is true that without punishment for leaving Islam…. Islam would shrink …then shrink to insignificance… then disappear…as more Muslims would learn the truth about Jesus Christ and the Gospel and share the truth with their families, friends and neighbors.
b.a. freeman says
islam is so nasty that were there *no* other religion to which to convert, it would *still* shrink to insignificant numbers were there no punishment for apostasy.
MFritz says
“The Word of Allah will trump every other law.” – As well as democracy, tolerance and humanity.
mortimer says
And Sharia contradicts the UN Charter of Human Rights allowing people to leave a religion and join another.
Billy Chickens says
Islam is pure evil.
maghan says
Yet millions of dumb blacks stay hooked on it. They just don’t understand that Islam is nothing more than Arab cultural imperialism on Africans. In Northern Nigeria, the foremost wish of a Hausa man is to “make Hajj”. This is no more than a willing black slave of Arab Islam running over to Empire Headquarters in Mecca to genuflect stupidly before primitive desert Arabs while embracing their primitive rituals.
Empire Day in the British colonies used to have the colonized Africans singing the song, “Rule Britannia, Britannia rules the Waves, Britons, Britons, never ever shall be slaves”. That has been discarded now–though many such useless practices remain–but that should not impede the correct kind of thinking to get rid of nonsensical, cruel, and primitive Arab Islam.
elee says
Ah the irony of the descendants of Africans, in America or in Africa, looking to the prime enslaver of all history, and taking up anti-Semitism against a people whose defining event was rebelling against Egyptian bondage! But remember, you can’t call them ignorant, I’m not even sure you can say “misinformed,” that’s Islamophobic and of course racist. Ah the power of the Big Lie, Hitler was a rank amateur compared to these guys.
Elizabeth Lawson says
In the modern age, this kind of conduct and persecution are anachronistic. Who doubts the successful ascendancy of this ideological journey by Islamists? Consider for a moment, adherents are not permitted to leave this cult under penalty of death. Converts to any other belief in God are murdered. There are NO hutches permitted in Muslim lands, nor are those of any other religious persuasion permitted to live in. Uslim la do. In the meantime, allthat led to the great European shccesin government and society is being attacked and destroyed – in favour of a totalitarian ideology. Europe is now being led by “ the blind” and their own cowardly representatives fearful of those who have emanated from savage lands – so afraid and cowardly are they indeed regarding what they HAVE to know is NOT socially or politically or religiously equivalent in any way to what they are now, increasingly yielding to. This will end badly. Europe is on a journey right back to the seventh century.
mortimer says
E-L, here’s the Universal Declaration of Human Rights:
Article 18.
Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion; this right includes freedom to CHANGE his religion or belief, and freedom, either alone or in community with others and in public or private, to manifest his religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship and observance.
Ray Jarman says
Mortimer, Article 18’s failure to live up to its words in today’s world and particular at the UN was expressed years ago by Nathaniel Hawthorne but is especially true at this time through his character in ‘Blithedale’ who said “I am weary of this place and sick to death of playing at philanthropy and progress. Of all varieties of mock-life, we surely blundered into the very emptiest mockery, in our effort to establish the one true system.” but later confessed after a loss of $524 to Brook Farm, Zenobia laments: “It was, indeed, a foolish dream! Yet it gave us some pleasant summer days, and bright hopes, while they lasted. It can do no more; nor will it avail us to shed tears over a broken bubble.” It is time to recognize that the UN is broken beyond repair, if indeed it was ever worth the effort. It has been relegated to defending Islam against truth.
This case reminds me of a sorry excuse for an ambassador, John Campbell. My wife was the Ambassador’s Self-Help Coordinator (I was the Information Officer) whose function was to work with and coordinate grants to worthy recipients (designed mostly to establish better relations with the Muslim states in Nigeria) and when one of the local Nigerians working in the political section refused to shake my wife’s hand at a meeting with the Political Councilor, I took the issue to Campbell and he said that she should not be offended since Muslims don’t shake hands with a woman. When I reminded him that we abide with American rules of conduct of not offending a woman since the embassy was part of American sovereignty and there are laws forbidding the discrimination of women and that the Emperor of Zamfara State shook her hand even in his residence, the ambassador threw me out of the office. I realize that compared to Nabila Umar Sanda, my wife’s issue was rather insignificant but this was in 2005 and things have only become exponentially worse. The whole world press should be in arms over this but they had rather take issue with President Trump for supposedly using foul language concerning certain nations, Nigeria being one and Haiti being the other and having worked in both nations, I can attest that the words he is accused of using are spot on target. They are horrible places for people to live (not applicable to journalist or diplomats) and I find it hard to blame them for trying to flee but they should stay and try to fix their nations. I pray that this lady and her friend are permitted to live their lives in peace.
elee says
How can a document fail us? It speaks to us, that’s it’s job. We however can fail it, as we can fail any other document, by failing to enforce it. Some documents should not be enforced. This one should.
Ray Jarman says
How since the UN contains not enforcement power. Gunnar Jarring, the great Swedish diplomat and historian once remarked that there is no such thing as international law and that treaties are only valid if all signatories agree. Only once has the UN acted as a military force, Korea, and only when the Stalin recalled his ambassador to the UN and only then did the Security Council vote a unanimous affirmation. So once again please explain how to enforce Article 18!!!
elee says
Thank you Mortimer for posting this text. It bears looking at.
Vic says
Great point, Mortimer. Several of the Muslim countries voted to adopt that HR Resolution in 1948; Saudi Arabia abstained because they said that many of the articles conflicted with Sharia. But it wasn’t until 1990 that the OIC got together and decided to craft the Cairo Declaration of HR in Islam. Why? Resolution 217 was based on the Judeo-Christian standards which were not those of Islam. And at that time, no one bothered to ask them to sit down and discuss how they were different. The Muslim countries were told to get together and draft what they thought would be agreeable to them.
And thus, the western world/UN other members accepted, without much understanding of the Quran or Sharia that Muslim countries were under a different standard. It was different for sure and deadly to the West. This acceptance in itself, demonstrates the Islamic supremacist attitude, that Islam and Sharia are above any other standard or inalienable human rights or truths; 2) it takes away the opportunity to discuss and debate with these countries any real or perceived violations, because “truth is now relative” and not subject to Res. 217, so they get away with murder, literally; and 3) the OIC can sit at the UN and craft, vote, and subject the other countries to “their standards” without much push-back.
Sounds like we have entered into areas of dhimmitude already and we don’t even realize it. So sad!
We cannot despair. Don’t let Robert Spencer be a lone voice. After all, we are called to be watchmen and watchwomen on the wall. After we have done all that we can, let’s stand firm on the Word of God, our Savior, Redeemer and the Lord of Hosts who does battle for us. Amen.
Elizabeth Lawson says
Heavens!my comments above have been adulterated by an over zealous spellcheck. Please read” there are no CHURCHES permitted in Muslim lands…….. or those of other faiths permitted to live in Muslim lands. In the meantime, all that lead to the great European ?SUCCESS IN government…..
My apologies.
gravenimage says
Lots of problems with spellcheck. I recognized that this is what happened with your post –no worries.
elee says
Hey Americans: unless you live in Puerto Rico or Washington D.C., each of you has two Senators. Email them and ask them to get involved. I just did that, it took maybe ten minutes because I’m slow on the computer, you can do it in five. Come on, do it.
mortimer says
Large numbers of Muslims in Nigeria are leaving Islam every day and joining the Nigerian churches. Exact numbers are not available for obvious reasons. Pastors baptise new Christians with secrecy.
CRUSADER says
Such ugliness.
Such beauty.
gravenimage says
Nigeria: Student arrested for converting from Islam to Christianity
“I want to state, for the avoidance of doubt, that the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria guarantees the right to anyone to propagate his faith and the right to also practise any religion of one’s choice,” Datim said. “Miss Nabila told me she is 19 years old and therefore free to choose a religion for herself.
…………………………..
Yes–except that the northern Nigerian states are allowed to practice Shari’ah law, an so this trumps any national Nigerian law. Victims there have also been arrested and threatened with being stoned to death.
boakai ngombu says
“Knowing the sensitive nature of conversion from lslam to Christianity, and given that between the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) and the Jama’atu Nasril lslam (JNI) … there is a working understanding, or protocol, that where such issues or situations arise relating to any of the two religions, the leaders of the affected religion should contact the leadership of the other religion from which the convert is coming, I immediately contacted the leadership of JNI in the state and informed them that I had one Miss Nabila Umar Sanda in my possession and that she had converted to Christianity,” he said.
here, Datim is to learn (as many have already) that TOLERANCE is not an ideal to those who are slaves (Muslims) of the allah god of Islam. and the brothers of the mosque shall never here that all religions are equal.
and the exemplar of the SHARIA cultists, Muhammad (lately contrived; full of lusts and lacking compassion) would urge the brothers to further advance across the grasslands into the tall bush and push on to the sea to please the allah god, despite old agreements not islamic, which would prefer a different course..
maghan says
Just another example how Africans have disgustingly become willing and stupid slaves of Arab Islam. Islam is mostly concocted nonsense about a cruel desert bandit who was not much more than a raping and murderous pedophile. Yet you have grown African men falling for such stupidity. Another instance of why the black man’s intelligence is always quietly assessed in very negative terms.
StellaSaidSo says
Why any African would choose to be mentally enslaved to an ideology which has, for centuries, physically enslaved millions of his countrymen, is a mystery. Massive ignorance must surely be a key factor. I suspect that a version of the Koran has been produced by the mullahs especially for African consumption, which omits all disparaging references to blacks (‘raisin heads’ etc), just as other versions are expurgated for other audiences (eg the word ‘beat’ – as in wife-beating – is changed to ‘chastise’ for Western audiences). There is no end to the deception, and plain cynical opportunism, practised by Islam.
elee says
Excellent example, that “chastise.” They’re getting smarter. It used to be a westerner could buy a translation of their Scripture and get insights into their thoughts. Now they’re putting out translations with pablum like “chastise” in lieu of the real word, beat. Now we’ll have to learn Arabic to know what they’re saying. And of course, being Arab supremacists and racists, they’re probably peddling pablum in Africa too. Except for the parts about killing people—-the real meaning of those verses is apparently getting across.
Wellington says
Prediction: The silence of the present Pope about this will be deafening, as it has been about so many other massive abuses of Christians by Muslims in our time.
To all Catholics out there reading this, you really have to wonder, I mean deeply and profoundly wonder, why, if Roman Catholicism is the true faith, as I was certainly taught it was during twelve years of Catholic schooling (I was even a pre-Vatican II altar boy), God would allow such a fool as Bergoglio to become pontifex maximus.
Oh yeah, any Catholic who doesn’t wonder at all about this is a useless Catholic. A religious robot and no more. And being a religious robot does not serve humanity really much at all, if at all. Actually, religious robots, which the Islamic faith excels at producing, are a giant negative for humanity. Easily so.
LeftisruiningCanada says
Good point. There is far too much ‘my church right or wrong’ thinking when it comes to the large organizations like the church of Rome and the Orthodox. It reminds me of football team loyalty in the UK, or hockey team tribalism here in Canada, as much as anything else.
Kepha says
While I certainly decry the arrest of the student for converting Christianity, this is actually good news. It shows cracks in the walls of Islam. I continue to pray for all those people of traditionally Islamic culture who are inquiring about Christ and being led to Him.
elee says
Touche Jay Boo!
LeftisruiningCanada says
Where is dear old Ibrahim to woo us with his gently worded apologies for islam?
LeftisruiningCanada says
Might he not wish to tell us that, far from being true islam which is only freedom and light, this arrest is really the work of evil zionist puppet USA of israel mossad??!!11
Cheer Bear Girl says
I wonder how many people are real Muslims or live like Muslims out of fear.