Jalal Abualrub
Between the Sudanese Woman Sentenced to Death for Reverting from Islam and the Jordanian Woman Killed for Embracing Islam
The west, especially western media, went crazy –literally- over a Sudanese woman sentenced to death for reverting from Islam, pressuring the Sudanese government to free the woman: http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-27651483. Meanwhile, has anyone outside or even inside Jordan heard or read about the
What does the Bible say about those who revert from the faith?
Here is a question I received before on compulsion in religion vs. killing the apostate.
Question: Many Muslim groups in the US, like CAIR, MAS, MPAC, said that since there is no compulsion in Islam, how can [a Muslim government] execute the apostate … your website said that the apostate should be executed, this is not from Islam only, but in Christian times (pre-Islam) … And… what about a person who might have left Islam and then came back, and died Muslim … if s/he had been killed the first time, s/he would not have had the chance to return to Islam.
Answer: I do not have knowledge if these organizations actually take this position. Nevertheless, the answer is still clear and simple. Allah said in the Arabi Quran, this is the meaning in English, {There is no compulsion in religion} (2:256). This is the explanation of this Ayah: Imam Ibn Kathir said, “This Ayah means, ‘Do not force anyone to embrace the religion of Islam, because Islam is clear, plain, and its
This Ayah is about those who are not Muslim: Muslims are not allowed to force non-Muslims to embrace Islam. This does not have anything to do with the punishment of Muslims who commit crimes, such as abandoning Islam, thus, becoming non-Muslim after they had been Muslim. The opinion mentioned in the question does not give confidence in the type of knowledge that prevails among many Muslims these days. It seems that the reason behind using this logic to invalidate clear aspects of Islamic Law, is to suit modern-day disbelievers who will stop at nothing less than the complete corruption of Islam, {Never will the Jews nor the Christians
These are two completely different topics: forcing non-Muslims to embrace Islam vs. the punishment, carried out by the Islamic State –not individuals- of those who were Muslim but committed the crime of abandoning Islam. If we follow this faulty reasoning, then what about the remainder of the Hadeeth that legislates the law of punishment for reverting from Islam, reported by Bukhari and Muslim, from Allah’s Prophet, who said, “The blood of a Muslim who confesses that none has the right to be worshipped but Allah and that I am His (Allah’s) Messenger, cannot be shed except in three cases: In Qisas (Law of Equity) for murder; a married person who commits illegal sexual intercourse; and the one who reverts from Islam (apostates) and leaves the Muslims.” Should we also abandon the punishment for the adulterer, since ‘there is no compulsion in religion’? Should we only accept one or two out of
As for the second part of the question, about if we leave the apostate un-punished he or she might go back to Islam, then what is stopping them from doing so before being killed, even if to become a hypocrite? Before punishment for apostates from Islam is carried out, Muslim judges and scholars will investigate each case and argue with each individual about their reason for reverting from Islam. This will give the criminals ample time to repent and re-embrace Islam.
Additionally, what if the revert does not repent in the future and tempts others who have weak hearts and faith to follow them, should Muslims stand idle while whole segments of the Muslim society become non-Muslim? Hopefully, no Evangelical will pick up on this last sentence of mine to use it against Islam, because I will remind them of this ‘piece’ from the law that their ‘prince of peace (Jesus)’ allegedly revealed to the prophets of old: “If there arise among you a prophet, or a dreamer of dreams, and giveth thee a sign or a wonder. And the sign or the wonder come to pass, whereof he spake unto thee, saying, Let us go after other gods, which thou hast not known, and let us serve them. Thou shalt not hearken unto the words of that prophet, or that dreamer of dreams: for the Lord your God proveth you, to know whether ye love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul. Ye shall walk after the Lord your God, and fear him, and keep his commandments, and obey his voice, and ye shall serve him, and cleave unto him. And that prophet, or that dreamer of dreams, shall be put to death; because he hath spoken to turn you away from the Lord your God, which brought you out of the land of Egypt, and redeemed you out of the house of bondage, to thrust thee out of the way which the Lord thy God commanded thee to walk in. So shalt thou put the evil away from the midst of thee. If thy brother, the son of thy mother, or thy son, or thy daughter, or the wife of thy bosom, or thy friend, which is as thine own soul, entice thee secretly, saying, Let us go and serve other gods, which thou hast not known, thou, nor thy fathers. Namely, of the gods of the people which are round about you, nigh unto thee, or far off from thee, from the one end of the earth even unto the other end of the earth. Thou shalt not consent unto him, nor hearken unto him; neither shall thine eye pity him, neither shalt thou spare, neither shalt thou
The difference between the rulings of Islam, that punishes only the offender, and the fabricated edicts of the Old Testament, where wholesale killings
I should repeat here that, individual Muslims are not allowed nor should they on their own carry the punishment for reverting from Islam or stoning the adulterer, etc. Muslim scholars and judges are the only ones qualified to investigate these cases, and if there is punishment to be carried out, it has to be under the direction and direct control of Muslim rulers and governments.