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.”
“Baha’i Man Sentenced to Public Execution in Yemen. His Crime? Practicing His Faith,” by Aleesha Matharu, The Wire, January 14, 2018:
In December 2013, Hamed Kamal Muhammad bin Haydara disappeared into the maze that is Yemen’s National Security Bureau (NSB). Over the course of four years, he was tortured and denied a fair trial. His wife and daughters were not allowed to visit, nor did he get to meet legal counsel. Finally, on January 2, 2018, Haydara, was sentenced to public execution by the specialised criminal court in Yemen’s capital Sana’a. He wasn’t even present in court.
One of around 2,000 Baha’is in Yemen, he was picked up for something one would take for granted in a secular country: practicing his faith.
The Baha’i faith, founded in Iran in the 1800s, essentially believes in the oneness of humanity and the unity of all religions. Incidentally, the Lotus Temple, a landmark in New Delhi, is a Baha’i house of worship.
Though no date has been given so far for when the execution will take place, the verdict also asks that all Baha’i spiritual assemblies, the governing bodies for Baha’is, be disbanded.
In Yemen, an Islamic society, the constitution does not recognise any other religion barring Judaism. This is why the trumped up charges against Haydara are, in most part, for “insulting Islam”, “apostasy” and urging Muslims to “embrace the Baha’i religion”.
As an official from the ministry of justice toldRudaw, “The Baha’i faith is not recognised in the constitution, the tradition or by Islam. Therefore, it is a forbidden religion. If a Yemeni renounces his religion and declares himself a Baha’i, this is a crime to be tried at court.”
The authorities in this case, or rather the Iranian-backed Shiite rebels known as Houthis who seized the capital in 2014, have also alleged that Haydara is a spy for Israel and an Iranian citizen who crossed into Yemen in 1991 using a false name.
This accusation has been refuted time and again by his wife, Elham Muhammad Hossain Zara’i, during her long fight for justice, but her appeals to have her husband freed have fallen on deaf years. More so, she has submitted documentation, which shows that he was born in Yemen in 1964.
The sentence has been met with protests by international human rights groups. Philip Luther, Amnesty International’s Middle East and North Africa research and advocacy director, said:
“The Houthi authorities must immediately quash the death sentence against Hamid Haydara. He is a prisoner of conscience who has been tried on account of his conscientiously held beliefs and peaceful activities as a member of the Baha’i community. This sentence is the result of a fundamentally flawed process, including trumped up charges, an unfair trial and credible allegations that Hamid Haydara was tortured and ill-treated in custody. It is also part of a wider crackdown on critics, journalists, human rights defenders and members of the Baha’i community that is causing entire families to live in fear for their safety and the safety of their loved ones.”
On January 11, UK’s minister of state at the foreign office Alan Duncan responded to a question about the death sentence in the House of Commons. Duncan said that though Haydara isn’t a British citizen, the “indignation at what is happening and our wish to try to defend his interests and see him released” would not be diminished.
He highlighted how the United Nations Human Rights Council had in a resolution in September 2017 called for the immediate release of all Baha’is in Yemen imprisoned for their religious beliefs. As of now, five other Baha’is are in detention….
elee says
Is this the sort of place our President spoke about recently? And is it conceivable that the former colonial governments could have been worse than what they’ve got now?
brenrod says
Yemen is another muslim shiithole
Champ says
The unholy quran is a manual for murder …
tim gallagher says
Disgusting, totally intolerant Islam doing the usual evil garbage it always does everywhere that it has power. But I was struck by the description of Baha’i in the article, that it “essentially believes in the oneness of humanity (whatever that means, it’s so vague) and the unity of all religions.” Sounds like utter garbage. Is it saying all religions are the same? That total garbage again. Christianity is a million kilometres away from Islam and a million times more decent and peaceful than Islam. So are many other religions. So Baha’i, which I know pretty much nothing about, sounds like it inhabits a utopian fantasyland. But, of course, it is disgusting how the MUslim scumbags are treating this man. It’s the same way they treat all non-Muslims, just as their unholy book, the Koran, tells them to do whenever they have the power.
LeftisruiningCanada says
“crossed into Yemen in 1991 using a false name”
Terrible. No Yemeni has ever done that.
Terry Gain says
No one is beyond the reach of this evil ideology which ridiculously claims that it is a religion. Islam is a satanic death cult which is the scourge of the earth. They actually believe in a paradise of carnal pleasure, with women cast in the role of sexual providers – not you Linda Sarsour. You are too ugly. But the question remains. Will the moderate Muslims only get 36 virgins?
Islam needs to be mocked out of existence.
Champ says
“Islam needs to be mocked out of existence.”
Indeed, well put …
John Swallow says
Are these animals running low on virgins in paradise? I thought that they got 73 of them for martering themselves. What reward do the femail marters get? A date with Linda Sarsour
J D S says
I thought the evil ISIS might be the downfall of islam…remember all that grisly grotesque pictures of people being beheaded, thrown from tops oh buildings, drowned and all kinds of atrocities they committed in their early stage…….well I sure was wrong…The world just turned their heads and said…… that’s just happening over there…. Well now it’s all over the world and the world stands still and is being swallowed up in a ….a cess pool of murky Islamic madness…cess pool ?? Hmmmm …Maybe President Trump should have used those two words..same meaning, not so colorful though
How long world before laws are passed….and it will take laws to rid the world of a so called religion that condones their madness…Unbelievable!!!…..Think on this……AT ONE TIME, MOST ALL OF THE ISLAMIC WORLD WAS CHRISTIAN… AND AT ONE TIME MOST ALL OF THE WESTERN WORLD WAS CHRISTIAN.
What a shame..God is shedding tears.
Matthieu Baudin says
“… The authorities in this case, or rather the Iranian-backed Shiite rebels known as Houthis who seized the capital in 2014, have also alleged that Haydara is a spy for Israel and an Iranian citizen who crossed into Yemen in 1991 using a false name…”
This latest ‘clean out’ of Yemeni Bahai has probably come about at the instigation of Iranian authorities who have a pathological hatred for this home grown Iranian religious movement. The Bahai are pacifist and therefore sitting ducks for the violence and cruel ongoing harassment that the Theocracy prides itself in being able to deliver.
gravenimage says
True. But all Muslims hate Baha’is, most of all because they have a prophet after Muhammed.
Matthieu Baudin says
I’ve never heard a Muslim comment on Mormonism. Would you expect them to heap as much contempt upon Latter Day Saints as they do upon the Bahai?
ElderlyZionist says
There’s a reason that the Latter Say Saints don’t go on mission in Muslim countries.
CT says
There’s this guy who converted to Mormonism and got sent to prison in Egypt: https://www.amazon.com/My-Name-Used-Muhammad-Christian/dp/160907968X
Pretty much anyone who openly leaves Islam, no matter what the religion/worldview they choose instead, comes in for condemnation (the deathly kind, not just the verbal kind) in the hadith.
LeftisruiningCanada says
LDS doctrine makes it the most polytheistic religion possible, so i’m sure the muslims aren’t too keen on it.
gravenimage says
Yemen: Bahai sentenced to death for “insulting Islam” and “apostasy”
………………..
*Horrible*. Baha’i are oppressed and murdered by orthodox Muslims, despite Baha’is whitewash of Islam and the “Prophet” Muhammed.
tim gallagher says
gravenimage, I had heard a couple of times over the years that Bahais were pretty soft on Islam. For this reason I’ve never had much time for the Bahai religion. You know a lot about these subjects, so when you say Bahai whitewashes Islam and Muhammad, I guess you mean they know how murderous and violent Islam is and yet they don’t tell the truth about Islam. I can’t cop groups of people who behave like that. If people just don’t know about the nature of Islam, then OK, they’re just ignorant. If they know the evil in Islam yet choose to cover up for Islam, that’s morally wrong. But, of course, it is disgusting what is happening to this man, especially as Bahai is peaceful. Your comments always display plenty of knowledge on many issues.
gravenimage says
Tim, there was a Baha’i who commented regularly here for a long time, worldcitizen1919. He was personally a pretty decent guy, but tied himself into knots whitewashing Islam–particularly the “Prophet” Muhammed. He would tell us that we were misinterpreting the texts of Islam, and that they were either all actually non-violent or that they were justified in some way or another.
He never had an answer for why Muslims themselves interpreted the texts and tenets of Islam and the model of the “Prophet” so violently.
I think he–and most Baha’i–are in denial over the real nature of Islam, although many of them must know deep down how awful it is.
I do not hate Baha’i–at least they are non-violent. I also had a boss back when I was in college who was a convert to Baha’i, and he was a wonderful guy. (I knew next to nothing about Islam back then, and the topic never came up with him).
I feel for this Baha’i under sentence of death in Yemen, and all the Baha’i persecuted in Iran.
But as the Jihad gets worse and worse, I have less and less patience with those who carry water for the savagery of Islam.
tim gallagher says
Thanks for the reply, gravenimage. I feel the way you do in having very little, actually none at all, patience for people who know the vile content of Islam and yet seem to try to protect it. If people just know nothing about Islam, even though that is an unbelievable level of ignorance when Islam is causing so much trouble, then I understand that, but it’s complicit in evil not to tell the truth about it when you do know the nature of Islam.. And being “non-violent” doesn’t count for all that much if you are a defender of violent Islam. I suppose I’m a pretty literal type of person. I feel sure all those calls for violence in Islam are just that. I don’t understand that “misinterpreting” nonsense that the Bahai commenter to JW was alleging.
gravenimage says
Absolutely agree, Tim.
Howard D Enslow says
Greetings Gravenimage,
Pretty sure we discussed the Baha’i Faith but it has been several years ago. A couple of points for now:
– The Baha’i Faith has been standing up to promote a new vision and understanding of reality since the day it was first shared heart to heart May 23, 1844. (Interestingly 36 hours later Samuel Morse tapped out the first Morse Code Message “What hath God Wrought?” — The first Tweet.) The Shah of Iran and the Sultan of Turkey tried to stamp it out. The Baha’i World Center on the slopes of Mount Carmel next to he Cave of Elijah is evidence of how successful their efforts, and the suppressive later Muslim of efforts have been. (see, http://www.bahai.org)
– Baha’is believe that in so far as Muhammad was standing up to promote the unity of a spiritual God in the oppression of an idol worshipping environment, like unto Abraham, it should at its basic level, worth considering.
– Baha’i Founders acknowledge that there is warrior thread within Islam but that it was necessary due to the conditions of that context. Christ did not have to motivate anyone to stand up and fight against what would be equivalent to violent narco gangs thus the admittedly major difference between Christianity and Islam re. War & Peace. But then the US has had a warrior tradition of our own based on context, consider Native Americans and World Wars I & II.
– Baha’u’llah at several places in His Writings (1853 -1892) will state that the ‘First Glad Tidings in His Revelation is that the law of holy war should be blotted out from the book (of God). The second Glad Tidings is to consort with the followers of all religions in a spirit of friendliness and fellowship.’ (See Tablets of Baha’u’llah – Glad Tidings)
– Baha’u’llah admonished the Turkish Sultan’s Grand Vizier in 1868 that nothing could overcome His Cause, this right with the Vizier was having Baha’u’llah packed up from Adrianople/Edirne and shipped off to the Sultan’s Gitmo-Abu’Ghraib-Alcatraz for extermination. Within 2-3 years the Vizier was dismissed and died,
Howard D Enslow says
PART 020:
(Sorry was worried the post would be lost so sent it on.)
…. After 9.5 years Baha’u’llah was so loved and respected for His knowledge and wisdom by the people of the Prison of Akka (where He was sent above) that the Mufti, the leading Muslim cleric of the prison city (probably Sunni), came to Baha’u’llah to beg Him to walk out of the that confinement and live in the beauty of the surrounding country side, where He lived from 1878-1892. It was after His release that He would designate the location of the future Baha’i World Center and chant a very special Tablet with His vision of the future next to the Cave of Elijah that is at the South end of Haifa’s Mount Carmel peninsula. Essentially He had established this fundamental reality – Shah of Iran and Sultan of Turkey, you cannot touch me. Can you stop My effort to eliminate the concept of jihad from religion?
– It is tragic and unfortunate that the Yemeni Baha’i is facing eminent execution but Baha’is have been dying for a long time and it is not going to stop this Cause now. As early Christians sacrificed their lives for the Truth of a then “seemingly insignificant crucified carpenter”, Baha’is too are following in their footsteps.
– One way to put all this into perspective: Is it possible that about every 1,000 years the Creator sends a new “software upgrade” that provides a new wine and a new wineskin for changing needs of humanity, that rewrites the code for what no longer works. Consider Moses standing before Pharaoh. Consider, 2,000 years ago Christ would state: “There are many things I have to tell you but you cannot bear to hear it…..” — the world is round, it goes around the sun, He could not talk about how to establish a unifying global vision for a harmonious global civilization.
– Baha’u’llah will state He has come to promote the harmony of the religions and the “peace, prosperity, wealth and tranquility” of all the people’s of the planet.
Respectfully yours, Truthseeker
Flavius Claudius Iulianus says
Interesting note:
Baha’i believe in a one-whole government and work towards its implementation.
gravenimage says
True. They believe that one-world government will be all sweetness and light, but this is based in likely reality as much as their whitewashed vision of Islam is.
Flavius Claudius Iulianus says
IOC
UN
FIFA
WHO
etc.
All are world governments in their respective domains. All are corrupt. All are ineffective and bureaucratic. All are expensive. All are dictatorial in nature. No need to proceed with this project to create a world government; we know from these “pilot projects” that it will fail miserably.
Matt Dillon says
I spend every spare minute i have educating the ignorant about the evil Islam preaches. Expose the Koran. The truth will be the death of Allah.
peter says
Here! Herre!
gravenimage says
Good for you, Matt!
Flavius Claudius Iulianus says
Stay safe.
Gordon Thomson says
Wonder what it would cost to buy him out? They will have a price I’m sure and probably no quibbles about selling him (and his family to the right State). Finally, something useful that Trudeau could do with our money
LeftisruiningCanada says
Yeah, it would be a real twofer for him.: help his terrorists brothers and also get to look good to the public.
Gordon Thomson says
Yes, agreed that is the downside, however, given his track record of paying money to terrorists, and the fact that I’m sure he would deal with another “Khadr” exactly the same way, in the case at hand he could at least save a life in the process.
Karen says
“Insulting Islam”……what a tiresome concept. Get over yourselves, Muslim world.
gravenimage says
If only they would…
Cheer Bear Girl says
This is the future of any nation foolish enough to take in Muslim migrants. Any place that is Muslim majority is a place where freedom is nonexistent.