The death penalty for those who leave Islam is based upon 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.”
Nonetheless, there is a growing group of courageous ex-Muslims who are standing up and speaking out. One of them operates the excellent new site ex-Muslim.tv, where he collects and presents videos of ex-Muslims explaining why they left Islam despite the risks, and who speak out now for their rights and human rights in general.
Ex-Muslim.tv is an extraordinary and worthy effort, especially in our strange age in which Islam is everywhere celebrated in the establishment media, without any attention paid whatsoever to the lives destroyed by its death penalty for apostasy, its institutionalized oppression of women, its Jew-hatred, etc. Please bookmark this site and visit it often, and contribute if you can to this important effort.
StellaSaidSo says
Apostates from Islam are the bravest people. They deserve our support.
Michael Copeland says
They are also “the horse’s mouth”, a truly valuable resource for the counter-jihad.
They deserve to be thanked, encouraged, and given a platform.
BC says
We hear all the time and especially from MSM that Islam is growing all the time, but Islam will never publish how many Muslims are leaving Islam or how many new converts leave after a short time. Or how many do not in fact practise their religion. And of course because of the apostasy laws, very few Muslims will declare their rejection of Islam.
Peter Buckley says
The ex-muslim movement is possibly the world’s largest growth industry. As is becoming clear, a lot of “muslims”, particularly in the West, aren’t muslims at all, except in name:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_-pYPWc26Gk&t=64s
As more and more PUBLICLY apostasize,, so it becomes safer for all the other “closet apostates” to leave the cult. Islam has no answer to apostasy other than exile or death, through Sharia laws. When these laws don’t apply, devout muslims (“Islamists”) are left in a state of hell: they have no option but to suffer in the knowledge that other (doubting) muslims will hear what apostates say, and apostasize themselves.
Islam is a house of cards, which is collapsing from the bottom up. Once those foundations which buttress it (i.e. Sharia) no longer apply, Islam becomes exposed. I am happy in the sure knowledge that I have lived at a time which has seen the beginning of the end of Islam.
http://www.islam-watch.org/AbulKasem/Sharia-Laws-Islam-Warden.htm
Lookmann says
This will help border-line muslims to see the light and muster enough courage to seek and attain freedom.
RichardL says
Thanks for the website. I like it. My wife is an ex-Muslim and CT scholar. These people are very brave.
Ursula says
A special thanks and kudos to your wife for her courage. History has shown that evil ideologies are ultimately defeated. Stay safe.
boakai ngombu says
” … But we bring in Sunni Muslims by the boatload and are gradually adopting Sharia….”
seems there must be a change in STATE preferences for that to occur.
and, oh how we HATE to discriminate ….
WorkingClassPost says
Great link.
This is important, not just for other Muslims to know about and question their own indoctrination, but for those of us, who all too quickly generalize about how all muslims are a threat, when there is clearly a large number looking for enlightenment, and perhaps ready to leave that awful cult.
Rene says
Thankful for ex-muslims speaking up, but that channel equated exmuslim Christians as equal to embracing sexual perversions 🙁 ? No thank you. Better sites are Acts17 apologetics and answering-islam.org and FrZakaria’s site.
sog says
Why not create another “school” of Islam? The new school could see Mohammad not as ideal man, but at quintessential man. Like all men, he can be mislead. Satan can sometimes appear as Gabriel, and Mohammad has recognized that he once was fooled, as referenced by Salmon Rushdie in “The Satanic Verses”.
Such a new school would truly make Mohammad the greatest prophet, in that all but one, Logos made man, can and will succumb to temptation.
I’d predict given such a new school, good and gentile Moslems would flock to such a new School of Islam.
simpleton1 says
“create another “school” of Islam” that is a good point, “Logos made man, can and will succumb to temptation”
Perhaps as “Jesus Muslims”
For the start they do recognize Jesus as a prophet that will return.
In looking in the koran, they will find him as returning and raising mayhem..
However can doubt be raised, that if Mohammad recognized Jesus as being so powerful, then surely he will be sitting on the right hand of God.
To find out more about Jesus to get muslims to look in the Bible, particularly the gospels where Jesus’s words, parables are.
Simultaneously get the followers of Mohammad to point out just where did Christians and Jews get it so wrong, as Mohammad never said exactly, so they can not; or was it the evil ginn whispering in Mohammad’s ear as he did with ‘satanic verses’
After all is needed is a disavowal of human violence, in support of Allah.
Jesus’s return in the islamic tradition is where Jesus does the violence, in his judgement,. not humans.
Well better theologians than I can figure some of that, as even in islam their can be some moderation, if it can be backed up by some verses.
More knowledge of Jesus Christ’s teachings from the Bible can not be a bad thing.! and so muslims do their own revamping.
A Wind in the house of Islam, by David Garrison
https://www.amazon.com/Wind-House-Islam-Drawing-Muslims/dp/B0119SX30A
How God Is Drawing Muslims Around The World To Faith In Jesus Christ
Mark Duries in another angle also picks up on this
http://www.meforum.org/3750/islam-second-crisis
It is not the way that ‘christians’ would expect as it is imperfect from an alleluia christian view.
However it may be another way of putting the “bell on the cat” or defanging islam from its violent aspect.
After all islam is being convicted by its own violence, and it is apparent to many muslims, in many countries. It raises the question that islam’s “success” is contrary to islam’s ability to solve the problems of living well in this world.
How much is it working? The book makes a lot of claims, but then we have to take any gain or change in islamic ideology to steer away from violence.
It is difficult to know in the numbers of gain, of increasing or decreasing believers, of either religion.
The other part is that Western Civilisation must remain strong, guarding “free speech” and control of it.
Stopping sharia laws about blasphemy and apostasy, will go a long way to breaking the brittleness of islam.
Like islamic countries, our downfall will be our own ideologies of ‘total tolerance for the intolerant’, when knowledge, tempered with wisdom, and love will prove to be the most helpful in these other countries.
We can not let up, discussion, politics, cartoons, lampooning, ridicule, songs, to pressure islam, to find that “Jesus” concept, or Bhudda or Hindi or atheism etc., and let the violence aspect go, as the old testament was rethought with Jesus’s understanding of the old stories and laws.
All thanks to RS and his contributors, and many of the commentators. May this knowledge be spread far and wide. Thank you.
Carol (the 1st) says
sog…what a sly sense of humor you have! Muhammad as “greatest prophet” ? And all he’d have to do would be to admit fallibility! You’ve really turned the tables and won us over with that one!
CRUSADER says
Please consider it “Book-Marked”
🙂
Lydia Church says
If apostates should be executed according to islam, then all muslims must be killed.
According to their own belief system. Since they are the infidels (unbelievers).
The true faith is Christianity.
FYI says
Ex-muslims are more than welcome to believe in God but they have to upgrade to God from allah.
Unlike allah,God speaks ALL languages and a Bible in your own language is available for you to read.
The fact that God reveals Himself in ALL languages is revealing.. because allah only exists for muslims
You can also pray and speak to God in your own language.
On one hand………
In any Bible,in any language in the world, you will find the most important aspect of God{Matthew 22 the great Commandment}The 2 chief commandmnents.
The entire contents of the Bible and the true nature of God is revealed in these 2 laws.It is the basis of both Judaism and Christianity.
God is not a tyrant.
on the other hand….
In any koran,In Arabic or in English translation,you will find NO REFERENCE whatsoever to these essential laws of God.They are missing in islam.
Thus, the true nature of God is not revealed in islam.
allah is a tyrant
So you have God who subscribes to the 2 chief Commandments and allah who doesn’t.
“If the Lord is God,
follow Him.
but if baal be your god,
follow him”
1 Kings 18 v 21
You choose the Lord God{the Biblical God}or “something else- even something that mimics God”
You have the God given choice to do so:but you need Wisdom to discen the difference between the Biblical God and the islamic allah.
They are NOT the same.They are NOT equivalent
UNCLE VLADDI says
Re: ” 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.”
BS! THERE ARE NO SHI’A MADDHAB FIQHS, AND I DARE ROBERT TO FIND PROOF OF ANY!
CRUSADER says
Sounds like a Dare.