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.”
“Kyrgyzstan: ‘We are going to lock you in prison and you are going to beg me for your life,” Barnabas Fund, April 9, 2019 (thanks to The Religion of Peace):
A Kyrgyz man who was almost beaten to death by three angry Muslims after converting to Christianity has become a victim yet again.
Eldos, who is in his mid-20s, was held captive for ten hours in a prosecutor’s office in the capital Bishkek by the lawyer of his attackers.
The lawyer tried to force Eldos to drop the charges against the three men who viciously attacked him in October.
“We are going to lock you in prison and you are going to beg me for your life,” was just one of the threats made by the lawyer during the latest ordeal.
Eldos and his Christian uncle, fearing for their lives, fled to another country two days later.
The persecution of Eldos began on 17 October 2018 when the three Muslim extremists broke into a house in the village of Tamchi, Issyk-Kul, looking to beat up his Christian uncle.
Instead they found Eldos and asked if he was a Christian too. When he said he was they punched and kicked him to the ground.
They shouted at him that he was a kaffir (a derogatory term for a non-Muslim) and that he had betrayed Islam (the classic Islamic view of Muslims who leave Islam).
Then they tried to force him to say the shahada (the Islamic creed), which is considered conversion or re-conversion to Islam, but Eldos bravely refused.
They then repeatedly kicked him in the head as he lay helpless on the floor, fracturing his jaw and smashing his teeth and leaving him semi-conscious.
They then threatened that they would come back to kill him if he did not leave the village by the morning….
Photo by A.Savin (Wikimedia Commons · WikiPhotoSpace) – Own work, FAL, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=49324427
Michael Copeland says
Village life under Islam….. an everyday tale of muslim folk.
Michael Copeland says
In Kyrgyzstan it is a criminal offence to possess a Bible.
Alexander Pierce says
Sorry, that’s not true. I’ve been there, and know many Christians there. But, as we see, it’s not easy being a Christian there, especially in villages.
Halal Bacon says
no compulsion in religion, that’s OK, islam is a cult with “religious” dogma
mortimer says
No compulsion? The verse K. 2:256 should be translated ‘There is no IMPEDIMENT in (true Islamic) religion.’ Namely, there is no valid impediment or excuse to prevent anyone from joining Islam.
Mohammed in fact practiced FORCIBLE CONVERSION … Muslims expect you to join … just say the words, even if you don’t believe in your heart.
[Muhammad] said: “Woe to you Abu Sufyan, isn’t it time that you recognize that I am God’s apostle?” [Sufyan] answered, “As to that I still have some doubt.” [Ibn Abbas] said to [Sufyan], “Submit and testify that there is no God but Allah and that Muhammad is the apostle of God before you lose your head,” so [Sufyan] did so.”
– Tabari pt2,p.157; Ibn Kathir ‘Biography of the Prophet’
Islam does not protect the Universal Declaration of Human Rights which says people have a right to change their religion or to adhere to no religion.
John Allan says
Islam and Muslims = a right PITA.
James Lincoln says
The following website appears to provide an accurate description of the Shahada in Islam:
http://islamiclearningmaterials.com/shahada/
FYI says
It is strange how muslims hate the Bible.
“He hath revealed{the koran}……… CONFIRMING that which was revealed before it,even as he revealed the Torah and Gospel”
koran 3:3
muslims who say the Bible is corrupted are quite mistaken;the koran begs to differ!
That’s because at the time when the koran was written,the koran clearly CONFIRMS the Bible k3:3:so ANY Bible that existed in the World up to the day when the koran was written down cannot have been corrupted as allah CONFIRMS the Bible as being true at that time.
“And if thou muhammed art in doubt concerning that which WE reveal unto thee,then question those who read the Scripture that was before thee[=the Bible:Gospel and Torah}”
koran 10:94
This too confirms that the Bible cannot have been corrupted and certainly not up to the time when the koran was written down.
If muslims read the Bible and then compared it with the koran they would see how wrong the koran is!
{for example the Exodus 20 laws of the Bible are brazenly flouted by the koran,the 2nd chief commandment is contradicted by k5:51 ,the essential role of the Jews is dismissed etc,allah’s EPIC theology fail of k4:171 where he unwittingly reveals that he has no idea regarding the existence God’s Holy Spirit of Wisdom:one of the 3 that allah tells muslims not to believe in is..God’s Holy Spirit.. }
That’s probably why the BIble is banned in islamic countries…muslims would see how wrong the koran is.
By falsely claiming the Bible is corrupted,that too would keep muslims away from the Truth.
In koran 5 v 46 allah claims to have given the Gospel to Jesus ” WE bestowed on him the Gospel wherein are guidance and a light,CONFIRMING that which was revealed before it in the Torah-a guidance and an admonition unto those who ward off EVIL”
In koran 5:47 allah condemns those who attack “That which allah hath revealed”{which in this case is the Gospel which he claims to be he source of} as Evil
keith says
Yes, they do say the bible is ok. But they are talking about the OLD TESTAMENT not the one that is currently in use which is only at best a couple of hundred years old.
Remember, the new testament has a lot of different versions, whereas the Old Testament and the Torah only have one version.
Sentinel says
Not sure what you mean when you say one version of the Old Testament. There are many versions even in Hebrew and changes over the years. In any case they have all been translated and all translations inevitably contain the translaters’ interpretations.
keith says
My bad, talking about the New Testament, which was cobbled together after the council of Nicaea.
Sentinel says
A faith that has no confidence in itself and forces people to remain Muslim by fear of death cannot be true.