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.”
“Malaysian state’s Sharia law criminalizes conversion from Islam,” UCA News, November 9, 2021 (thanks to Henry):
Malaysia’s Kelantan state has enacted new Sharia laws that create 24 new offenses, including attempts of conversion from Islam to other faiths, triggering concerns from Christian and rights groups.
Authorities in the northeast state made effective the Kelantan Syariah (Sharia) Criminal Code (I) Enactment 2019 on Nov. 1, local media reported.
The new laws are based on amendments to the Syariah Criminal Code (II) 1993 and the existing 1985 Syariah Criminal Code. Sultan Muhammad V, the head of the state, agreed and passed the new laws in July last year.
The state’s chief minister Ahmad Yakob reportedly said that the enactment allows Sharia courts to deliver verdicts on cases relating to a specific list of offenses. The punishments include a maximum jail term of three years, a fine of up to 5,000 ringgit (US$1202) or six strokes of the cane.
Among the 24 listed punishable offenses are attempts to convert from Islam, distortion of Islamic teachings, disrespecting the month of Ramadan, destroying houses of worship, disobeying parents, tattooing and undergoing plastic surgery, reported The Star.
Other offenses include sexual intercourse with corpses and non-humans, witchcraft and false claims.
We find these developments concerning and dangerous as they violate fundamental principles of democracy by suppressing critical thought and expression
During a media briefing on Oct. 31, minister Ahmad said that the new laws aim at educating and bringing offenders back to the right path of Islam, not just merely punishing them.It would would be beneficial in strengthening Sharia law not only in Kelantan but also in other states in Malaysia, he added.
Earlier, Indris Ahmad, minister in-charge of religious affairs in the Prime Minister’s Department, had said that Islamic-related enactments including hudud (Islamic Penal Code) would not affect non-Muslims in Malaysia….
Christians, who make up about 10 percent of Malaysian citizens, have been targeted with hate speech from radical clerics and Islamist politicians who term Christians as “enemies of Islam” engaged in a secret conspiracy to weaken the hold of Islam on the land.
mortimer says
This local law is a matter to be overturned by the Malaysia’s high court which should be guided by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Article 18 says:
“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.”
Under the UDHR, Muslims implicitly have the right in Malaysia to leave Islam and to teach another religion besides Islam and also to have tattoos and eat during Ramadan if they like. The high court has a responsibility to declare discriminatory laws unconstitutional.
Even though, Indris Ahmad, minister in-charge of religious affairs said that Sharia-based laws “would not affect non-Muslims in Malaysia”, that is a lie, because Sharia supremacism never ends, once it has started. Sharia law is a boa constrictor that crushes and then swallows minorities.
No matter how Muslim politicians try to soft-peddle discriminatory Sharia law, SHARIA SUPREMACISM is one of the biggest enemies of freedom.
Aussie Infidel says
Mortimer, Muslims couldn’t care less about the Universal Declaration of Human Rights; that was drafted by kafirs who don’t appreciate that Muslims are the “best of people” (Q98:7). And as I’m sure you know, the Islamic countries rejected the UDHR, and drafted their own Cairo Declaration of Human Rights in Islam, which conforms to the Sharia. But the CDHRI discriminates against non-Muslims; and if it were enacted fully (and you can bet your last dinar that this is just the thin end of the wedge), they would have virtually no rights at all.
As you rightly say, “SHARIA SUPREMACISM is one of the biggest enemies of freedom”.
And as I’ve often said before, “Islam has no place in a civilized society”!
gravenimage says
Mortimer, what makes you think that Malaysia’s high court is interested in human rights?
In fact, Malaysia is a signatory of the Cairo Declaration on Human Rights in Islam (CDHRI), which negates all human rights and instead asserts the primacy of Islam.
This is what Malaysia said about human rights in 2018:
“The United Nations’ Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) should not be the sole benchmark for human rights,..”
“…Putrajaya said OIC members may adhere to their own interpretations of human rights based on CDHRI’s Article 25 that states: “The Islamic Shariah is the only source of reference for the explanation or clarification of any of the articles of this Declaration.”
https://www.malaymail.com/news/malaysia/2018/03/12/in-action-plan-putrajaya-wants-human-rights-balanced-with-islam/1596489
john smith says
This article states, “Other offenses include sexual intercourse with corpses and non-humans.” why should having sex with a corpse or an animal be made an offence, this is going against the teachings of islam. As far as I’m concerned I think they are a load of kill joys, because muslims have always enjoyed these two activities.
Keith O says
Anyone else ever noticed that the only places where Islamic teachings and sharia law seem to hold power is in backward, uneducated, squalid countries?
And if a civilised nation is not backward and barbaric, then Islamists and those who kiss their arses will try everything in their power to drag a nation into that state.
Malaysia was, at one point making a lot of headway as the government tried to bring it into the 21st century, then the mullars started to gain more power.
peace says
Don’t you love how “peaceful” islam is ..
gravenimage says
Malaysia: Kelantan state criminalizes leaving Islam, penalty is three years prison, $1200 fine or caning
……………………
So much for Malaysia being “moderate”…
More:
Among the 24 listed punishable offenses are attempts to convert from Islam, distortion of Islamic teachings, disrespecting the month of Ramadan, destroying houses of worship, disobeying parents, tattooing and undergoing plastic surgery, reported The Star.
……………………
“Distortion of Islamic teachings” could include almost anything. And the claim that this will not affect non-Muslims is obvious bs, since “disrespecting the month of Ramadan” almost certainly includes eating or having a resaurant or shop open during the daytime during Ramadan–even if you are not Muslim.