Clearing the misconceptions regarding apostasy and its punishment
_A common accusation against Islam is that it orders killing of those who convert to other religions while Muslims go around converting people to Islam..!!!._
_If u have come across this question....read on.._
★ *Did Prophet Muhammad ﷺ kill apostates who converted to another religion?*
★ *Islam prescribes the death penalty for apostasy. Does this mean there is no freedom of religion in Islam?*
🔥 _Apostasy is divided into two types: major and minor._
_There is a distinction between an apostate who intends to physically harm the community and an apostate who only spiritually harms himself._
*Minor apostasy* is when a person embraces Islam while knowing its virtues and later rejects it.
▪ _There is no legal punishment for the minor apostate as long as they do not try to physically harm the Muslim community._
*Major apostasy* is when a person embraces Islam while knowing its virtues and later rejects it and adds to this a call for violent rebellion against the Muslim authorities.
_*Such a crime is equivalent to high treason and in its most severe case can carry the death penalty as an act of self-defense for the community.*_
*إِنَّ الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا ثُمَّ كَفَرُوا ثُمَّ آمَنُوا ثُمَّ كَفَرُوا ثُمَّ ازْدَادُوا كُفْرًا لَّمْ يَكُنِ اللَّهُ لِيَغْفِرَ لَهُمْ وَلَا لِيَهْدِيَهُمْ سَبِيلًا*
*Verily, those who believed and then disbelieved, then believed and then disbelieved and increased in disbelief, never will Allah forgive them nor will He guide them to a right way.*..Surah An-Nisa 4:137
▪ _In this verse, Allah ﷻ describes a person who apostates from Islam twice and He does not prescribe legal punishment for him, but rather He only warns the apostate about severe punishment in the Hereafter._
▪ This demonstrates that the general rule is an apostate should be left alone, as the Quran prohibits compulsion in religion.
*لَا إِكْرَاهَ فِي الدِّينِ قَد تَّبَيَّنَ الرُّشْدُ مِنَ الْغَيِّ*
*There is no compulsion in religion. The truth is distinct from misguidance.*...Surah Al-Baqarah 2:256
*وَقُلِ الْحَقُّ مِن رَّبِّكُمْ فَمَن شَاءَ فَلْيُؤْمِن وَمَن شَاءَ فَلْيَكْفُرْ*
*Say: The truth is from your Lord. So whoever wills let him believe, and whoever wills let him disbelieve.*...Surah Al-Kahf 18:29
Because of this, the Prophet ﷺ did not punish people simply because they rejected Islam.
▪ _Jabir reported: A bedouin came to the Prophet, ﷺ, and gave the pledge of allegiance for embracing Islam._
_The next day he came with a fever and said, “Please cancel my pledge.” The Prophet ﷺ refused three times and he said:_
*Medina is like a furnace. It expels its impurities and collects what is pure.*....Sahih Bukhari 1784
▪ In this example, a man rejected Islam after embracing it but the Prophet did not apply legal punishment to him.
*Regarding the major apostasy, the Prophet ﷺ was clear in advising us that legal punishment is not applied to a minor apostate, but only a major apostate.*
_Abdullah ibn Mas’ud reported: The Messenger of Allah ﷺ, applied legal punishment in the following case:_
*The one who leaves his religion and separates from the community.*..Sahih Muslim 1676
▪ The reference to one who “separates from the community” (al-mufariq lil-jama’ah) indicates that a *person is not legally punished simply for not practicing Islam, but rather for high treason against Muslim authorities.*
_This is made even clearer in another narration in which the Prophet ﷺ describes the major apostate as:_
*A man who rejects Islam and wages war against Allah the Exalted and His Messenger.*...Sunan An-Nasa’i 4048
Ibn Abbas said:
_*Whoever kills others, spreads corruption in the land, wages war against Allah and His Messenger, and he joins the unbelievers before he is subdued, then there is nothing to prevent the legal punishment from being applied to him because of what he did.*_.. Sunan An-Nasa’i 4046
▪ What can be understood from these narrations is that
1. legal punishment is only applied to a person who combines apostasy with high treason.
_*This is because the Quran prohibits compulsion in religion as a general rule and because the believers should be the most restrained of the people when it comes to taking life.*_
▪ Furthermore, cases of major apostasy do not necessitate the death penalty if a single Muslim seeks protection for the apostate.
Ibn Abbas reported:
_Abdullah ibn Sa’d ibn Abi Sarh would write to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ but the devil deceived him and he joined the unbelievers._
_The Messenger of Allah ﷺ ordered that he should be killed on the day of liberation, but Uthman ibn Affan sought protection for him, so the Messenger of Allah ﷺ granted him protection._
Sunan Abu Dawud 4358, Grade: Sahih
▪ In this example, a man embraced Islam and then rejected it by joining the idolaters of Mecca who at the time were waging war against the Muslims.
When Mecca surrendered to the Prophet without a fight,......
*Uthman ibn Affan sought protection for this apostate and the Prophet honored this covenant.*
This is because, as a general rule, the protection granted by a single Muslim should be honored by all Muslims
Allah knows best.
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