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.”
“Muslim Allegedly Kills His Mother for Accepting Christ,” Morning Star News, December 28, 2023:
NAIROBI, Kenya (Morning Star News) – Before Sawuba Naigaga succumbed to injuries her 25-year-old son inflicted on her in Uganda this month, she described the assault to a friend from her hospital bed.
The friend said Naigaga’s son, Ashirafu Basalirwa, returned home to Busia town, Busia District from four years of working in Saudi Arabia on Dec. 15 and found his mother mentioning the name of Jesus as she prayed.
“As I was praying with my eyes closed, my son called me, saying ‘Mum, Mum – you are becoming a disgrace to the family and the religion of Allah,’” the 46-year-old Naigaga told her friend before she died on Dec. 17. “I kept quiet, and he pushed me hard to the wall, then I fell down. He then took a blunt object and hit me at the head. Since then, I lost all my consciousness, only to find myself in the hospital bed.”
The friend said she had told Naigaga the gospel and led her to Christ.
“I preached the Good News of Jesus to Sawuba, who gave her life to Christ in 2022,” said the friend, whose name is withheld for security reasons. “We had been attending church. One thing which I know is that she kept her faith silent from her family members, including her son.”
Basalirwa had gone to Saudi Arabia to look for employment after graduating from an Islamic university in Uganda, the friend said….
Ade Fegan says
The notion that islam is benign … it has to go
Mike says
How large is the Christian community in Uganda? The late dictator Idi Amin Dada was a Muslim, but he expelled all South Asian Ugandans, even though many of them were also Muslim.
Also, the musical comedy The Book of Mormon is set in Uganda. In real life, would LDS missionaries even be allowed to go there to proselytize? Even if it is legal, it would probably be dangerous, especially if they preached the Mormon faith to Muslims there.
James Lincoln says
Still, Leftists believe that all cultures are of equal value.
tunde says
Genuinely saddening. Equally infuriating…
Tony Rice says
The death penalty for those leaving Islam tells me Muhammad and the ” Leaders ” were and are frightened of something, what could it be ? NO other religion has such an unbelievable penalty. Love and Peace, they don’t know the meaning of the words. In direct contrast, one CANNOT become a Jew except by 3 years study and ” banging on the door ” plus providing proof one is genuine and sincere. What a contrast.
OLD GUY says
The so called religion of love and peace at its finest. The answer to any problem in Islam is violence and killing. And we want this in modern society? Are we trying to go back to the cave.