Punishment for Apostasy (Part 2)

 

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

In the Name of Allah, the Rahman, the Merciful

الصلاة والسلام عليك يا خاتم النبيين

Prayers and peace be upon you, Seal of the Prophets

In a previous article I mentioned my madhhab which is that apostasy from Islam is deserving of capital punishment in the Shari’a, regardless of whether such an apostasy entails rebellion against the State or not. I quoted the Hadith

مَنْ بَدَّلَ دِينَهُ فَاقْتُلُوهُ

ًWhoever changes his Religion then kill him (Sahih al-Bukhari)

Here I shall present a powerful, irrefutable argument from the Holy Quran which establishes that the death penalty is prescribed for apostasy. Allah says,

مَنۡ کَفَرَ بِاللّٰہِ مِنۡۢ بَعۡدِ اِیۡمَانِہٖۤ اِلَّا مَنۡ اُکۡرِہَ وَقَلۡبُہٗ مُطۡمَئِنٌّۢ بِالۡاِیۡمَانِ وَلٰکِنۡ مَّنۡ شَرَحَ بِالۡکُفۡرِ صَدۡرًا فَعَلَیۡہِمۡ غَضَبٌ مِّنَ اللّٰہِ ۚ وَلَہُمۡ عَذَابٌ عَظِیۡمٌ

Whoso disbelieves in Allah after he has believed — save him who is forced thereto while his heart finds peace in the [aith — but such as open their hearts to disbelief, on them is Allah’s wrath; and they shall have a mighty punishment

(Sura 16:106)

Those who claim there is no prescribed punishment for apostasy in this world argue that the words “on them is Allah’s wrath” that here the غضب refers to punishment in the Afterlife. Yet if that is granted it would appear that the next sentence “and they shall have a mighty punishment” referring to the punishment in the Afterlife is redundant. What is more sensible is that the words “upon them is a wrath from Allah” refers to the prescribed hadd of execution for apostasy in this world while “and for them is a great punishment” refers to their being sentenced to burn in Hell in the Afterlife. Going by the principle of tafsir ul-Quran bil-Quran—interpreting passages of the Quran in light of its other passages—we can determine that the purport of the words “upon them is a wrath from Allah” is a worldly punishment of execution:

إِنَّ الَّذِينَ اتَّخَذُوا الْعِجْلَ سَيَنَالُهُمْ غَضَبٌ مِّن رَّبِّهِمْ وَذِلَّةٌ فِي الْحَيَاةِ الدُّنْيَا

Indeed, those who took the calf [as a god] wrath from their Lord shall come upon them, and disgrace in the life of this world

(Sura 7:152)

Here too Allah uses the word غضب from Himself but in this instance against the Israelite apostates who took the Golden Calf as their god. Elsewhere, it is made clear in the Holy Quran that those apostates were executed as per a divine order delivered through the Prophet Moses:

وَإِذْ قَالَ مُوسَىٰ لِقَوْمِهِ يَا قَوْمِ إِنَّكُمْ ظَلَمْتُمْ أَنفُسَكُم بِاتِّخَاذِكُمُ الْعِجْلَ فَتُوبُوا إِلَىٰ بَارِئِكُمْ فَاقْتُلُوا أَنفُسَكُمْ

And when Moses said to his people, O people, verily you have wronged yourselves by your taking of the calf, so turn back to your Maker and kill yourselves

(Sura 2:54)

Here the order to “kill yourselves” means that the Israelites should atone for their collective, nationwide sin by having the innocent among them, which may also include those among them who were repentant, slay all those who were worshipping the false god. This is made clear in the Torah: “And he said unto them, Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, Put every man his sword by his side, and go in and out from gate to gate throughout the camp, and slay every man his brother, and every man his companion, and every man his neighbour. And the children of Levi did according to the word of Moses: and there fell of the people that day about three thousand men.” (Exodus 32:27-28)

It is countered that this order and example of Allah ordering the slaying of the apostates that worshipped the Golden Calf is restricted to the Mosaic Law and has no applicability in the Shari’a of Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him. Allama Shabbir Ahmad Usmani has answered this doubt:

کہا جاسکتا ہے کہ یہ واقعہ موسوی شریعت کا ہے۔ امّہ محمدیہ کے حق میں اس سے تمسک نہیں کیا جا سکتا۔ لیکن آپ کو معلوم ہونا چاہۓ کہ پہلی امتوں کو جن شرائع اور احکام کی ہدایت کی گئی ہے اور قرآن نے ان کو نقل کیا ہے وہ ہمارے حق میں بھی معتبر ہیں اور ان کی اقتداء کرنے کا امر ہم کو بھی ہے جب تک کہ خاص طور پر ہمارے پیغمبر یا ہماری کتاب اس حکم سے ہم کو علیدہ نہ کردیں۔

It can be said that this incident is of the Mosaic law. It cannot be relied upon in favor of the Muhammadan Umma. But you should know that the laws and rulings that guided the previous nations and that the Quran has narrated are valid for us too, and we are also commanded to follow them unless our Prophet or our Scripture specifically dissuades us from this ruling (Al-Shihab, p.19)