[mukto-mona] Muslim Scholars Debate Apostates in Islam / Apostasy and Islam: Dr M Omar Farooq

In two parts:

 

At the end there is a partial re-post of an earlier posting on this subject, from a Bangladeshi forum asserting that according to the Qur'an, there is no death punishment for apostasy, converting or re converting from Islam. So read and view the Saudi debate keeping in mind that their word is not written in stone nor in the Qur'an.

Excerpts from the text:

<<...Al-Sweidan: But what if a person is not convinced?

Gamal 'Allam: Then there is something wrong in his head.

Al-Sweidan: That's what you think, but isn't he entitled to have something wrong in his head?

Gamal 'Allam: Anybody who is insane should go to a mental asylum, or else if he is insane, his head should be removed so that it does not contaminate the heads of others.

Al-Sweidan: We all agree that whoever violates the law must be punished. Nobody is disputing that. We are talking about a matter relating to one's belief, not about violation of the law.

Gamal Al-Bana: I believe that the freedom of thought and belief is absolute, because this freedom of thought leads to freedom of political opposition, which established democracy and got rid of kings and tyranny. It also led to freedom of the sciences, which has led progress, and freedom of justice, which led to fair treatment for laborers and women. Freedom of thought is indivisible, and the most important element of freedom is one's belief, because it has to do with one's conscience. Therefore, it cannot be restricted in any way...>>

November 5, 2007  MEMRI [The Middle East Media Research Institute]   To view the video in Arabic with English subtitles click here: http://www.memritv.org/clip_transcript/en/1623.htm	Clip No. 1623
Muslim Scholars Debate Apostates in Islam
Following are excerpts from a debate on apostates in Islam, which aired on Al-Risala TV on November 5, 2007. Of course you can view the video as well. Sheik Tareq Al-Sweidan: We have a question for the viewers at home, not in the studio, and they can respond with a text message. What is the best way to deal with apostates who converted from Islam? You have three possible responses. The first is through dialogue only. The second option is killing them, and the third option is to leave it up to the legal system. Enter your votes, send in your answers, and the results will appear on the screen. As for the young people with us in the studio, you can participate in a survey on which we will base our discussion with our guests. You've heard one opinion, and my question is very simple: Does a Muslim have the liberty to change his religion or not? Does a Muslim have the liberty to change his religion? [...] Al-Sweidan: If a person converted out of conviction, should he be declared an infidel? Abir: First, he should be allowed to repent. We should explain his error to him, and if he is adamant on rejecting this and insists on his interpretation, he should be allowed to repent and have the opportunity to... Al-Sweidan: And afterwards, he should be pronounced an infidel? Abir: I believe he should be. Al-Sweidan: Thank you, Abir. Let's move to Fatima. What's your opinion? Fatima: In my opinion, he should be declared an infidel. Why is there a problem with declaring people to be infidels? Al-Sweidan: I'm not saying there is, I'm just asking a question. Fatima: He should be declared an infidel. The Koran divided people into Muslims, infidels, and the People of the Book. So there is a group of people who should be declared infidels. [...] Gamal 'Allam: With regard to matters of faith, the Sunni scholars have agreed that some acts lead to the excommunication of a person. If a person commits any of these acts, he is considered an infidel. The first case is denying something that is irrefutably part of Islam. [...] Gamal 'Allam: Another case is when a person forbids something that is irrefutably permitted. If Allah permitted something, and along comes somebody and forbids it... Al-Sweidan: For example, some Muslim countries forbid polygamy. Gamal 'Allam: Someone who forbids polygamy is an infidel, who should be excommunicated, because he is defying Allah in his right to forbid and permit. [...] Gamal 'Allam: Whoever rules according to a law other than the law sent down by Allah, and who does so out of full awareness and conviction... [...] Gamal 'Allam: If he believes that his law is equal to the law of Allah, he is comparing Allah to human beings, and thus, he is an infidel. If he believes his law to be better than the law of Allah, then he prefers the creature over its Creator, and thus, he is an infidel. Gamal 'Allam: Anybody who calls people to worship him... Al-Sweidan: Obviously, like Pharaoh. Gamal 'Allam: Yes, anyone who called upon people...or who claimed he was the son of God, or that he... Al-Sweidan: This is obvious. [...] Gamal 'Allam: One is considered an infidel if one curses Allah, His messenger, or the Koran, or who mocks the Prophet's family. [...] Gamal 'Allam: Whoever mocks Muslim men or women because of their religion...I don't mean a person who has a dispute with someone, and says to him: You mock me as a Muslim, you are an infidel. I mean a person who mocks or curses a Muslim because he prays... Al-Sweidan: In other words, he mocks the religion. Gamal 'Allam: He mocks one of the religious rites. For example, a person who mocks a woman for wearing the veil... [...] Gamal Al-Bana: Whoever says: "There is no god but Allah, and Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah" is a Muslim. End of discussion. It is not our place to delve into the details of his belief. In addition, heresy and faith are, first of all, up to Allah, and secondly, they are personal issues. [...] Al-Sweidan: Before the break, I asked our audience for their views on this important issue. Does a Muslim have the liberty or the right to change his religion? The results are as follows: 24% said: "Yes, he has the right to change his religion." 76% of the people said: "No." Let's hear some opinions and then I will return to out guests. [...] Audience member: Sir, if you become an apostate, your punishment is death. There is a great problem that most of us, 70% of us, are Muslims because they were born to Muslim fathers and mothers. Before a person converts to Islam, he has the liberty to choose, but remember that if you want to convert from Islam, you will be punished by death. So you have the liberty to choose, but on the condition... Al-Sweidan: That's not liberty. Audience member: It has conditions... Al-Sweidan: What you are saying is: You have the right to become an apostate, but I will kill you. Audience member: That's right. I won't tell him not to. Al-Sweidan: What can be worse than being killed? Audience member: That's why he will not become an apostate. [...] Al-Sweidan: I'd like to give the floor to Dr. Gamal again. 76% of the young people here believe that a Muslim does not have the right to change his religion. How do you respond to that? Gamal Al-Bana: That is very saddening. This result indicates a lack of knowledge regarding the essence of Islam, which is faith and liberty. If belief is not based on awareness and conviction, it is worthless. As the Koran says: "If it had been thy Lord's will, they would all have believed." In other words, every Muslim has the right to change his religion as much as he likes, and nobody is allowed to stand in his way, because this is a question of freedom of conscience, and it is forbidden to intervene in matters of people's conscience. Talk to him, persuade him, hold a dialogue with him, but do not force him. You presented three options: Dialogue, killing, or the legal system. What do the legal system or killing have to do with people's conscience? [...] Gamal Al-Bana: That is very sad. Most of you are young and do not believe in freedom. Gamal 'Allam: I'd like to salute our young men and women for their natural and healthy belief and for their religious zeal. At the same time, it was sad to hear Mr. Gamal Al-Bana calling for "freedom of thought," but let me make a correction – what he is calling for is "freedom of heresy" in Muslim countries. Gamal Al-Bana: "Let him who want believe, and let him who want reject." [...] Al-Sweidan: If a person wants to go to hell, who are we to say "no"? Gamal 'Allam: Let him go to hell. [...] Gamal 'Allam: Islam is the only religion that begins with the imperative "Read." It is the only reasonable and convincing religion. Al-Sweidan: But what if a person is not convinced? Gamal 'Allam: Then there is something wrong in his head. Al-Sweidan: That's what you think, but isn't he entitled to have something wrong in his head? Gamal 'Allam: Anybody who is insane should go to a mental asylum, or else if he is insane, his head should be removed so that it does not contaminate the heads of others. [...] Al-Sweidan: We all agree that whoever violates the law must be punished. Nobody is disputing that. We are talking about a matter relating to one's belief, not about violation of the law. Gamal 'Allam: If this belief pertains to that person only, there would be no problem. The problem is that he is harming me, you, and Muslim society... Al-Sweidan: No, if he wants to become an infidel, he is free to go to hell. This does not harm me in any way. Take, for example, Salman Rushdie, who became an apostate. Good riddance. He did not affect me in any way. [...] Gamal Al-Bana: I believe that the freedom of thought and belief is absolute, because this freedom of thought leads to freedom of political opposition, which established democracy and got rid of kings and tyranny. It also led to freedom of the sciences, which has led progress, and freedom of justice, which led to fair treatment for laborers and women. Freedom of thought is indivisible, and the most important element of freedom is one's belief, because it has to do with one's conscience. Therefore, it cannot be restricted in any way

---------------------------------

 

Re-posting:

http://apostasyandislam.blogspot.com/

Apostasy and Islam

" ... Let there be no compulsion in religion: Truth stands out clear from Error ..." [2:256]

This is Islam's unambiguous affirmation of freedom of faith, which also applies to changing of faith. The Qur'an illuminates before the humanity the two highways [90:10], one of which leads to salvation. Islam is an invitation to the highway toward salvation, but it is based on FREEDOM OF CHOICE.

Monday, April 2, 2007

On Apostasy and Islam:
100+ Notable Islamic Voices affirming the Freedom of Faith

Dr. Mohammad Omar Farooq
Upper Iowa University

April 2, 2007
[Compilation in Progress; farooqm59@yahoo.com]

Freedom of faith is essential to Islam. Prophets and Messengers of Allah along with their communities had to struggle for their freedom of faith. That Islam is by choice is unambiguously stated in the Qur'an and reflected in the Prophetic legacy. However, throughout history, the issue has been clouded due to mixing the issue of apostasy with treason. Now one of the biggest tools of anti-Islam/anti-Muslim propaganda is based on the issue of apostasy, claiming that Islam does not uphold the freedom of faith. Even our own children are getting confused and many are quietly disavowing our wishy-washy position on as fundamental issue as freedom of faith/religion.

Undeniably, the traditional position of Muslim scholars and jurists has been that apostasy [riddah] is punishable by death. The longstanding problem of the traditional position, as held by Classical jurists or scholars, can be explained and excused as not being able to see apostasy, an issue of pure freedom of faith and conscience, separate from treason against the community or the state. However, the accummulated experience over the history in terms of abuse of this position about apostasy even against Muslims as well as the changed context of a globally-connected, pluralistic society should help us appreciate the contemporary challenges in light of the Qur'anic norms and the Prophetic legacy. In this context, while the classical misunderstanding about this issue of apostasy is excusable, the position of some of the well-known contemporary scholars is not.

Sayyid Abul A'la Maududi (commonly known as Maulana Maududi), the late founder and leader of Jamaat-e-Islami and a leading independent, revivalist Islamic personality of 20th century, is frequently referred to for his ardent argument for capital punishment for apostasy. He argued that there is an broad agreement of the leading jurists on this issue. He claims:

"To copy the consecutive writings of all the lawyers from the first to the fourteenth century A.H. would make our discussion very long. Yet we cannot avoid mentioning that however much the four Schools of Law may differ among themselves regarding the various aspects of this problem, in any case all four Schools without doubt agree on the point that the punishment of the apostate is execution." [The Punishment of the Apostate According to Islamic Law]

Such a sweeping claim is misplaced because the alleged agreement is about apostasy-cum-treason, not about solely apostasy. Furthermore, any claim of consensus (ijma) on almost anything should be taken with a great deal of circumspection. [see The Doctrine of Ijma: Is there a consensus?]

Another well-known Muslim scholar and jurist of our time, whom I also generally hold in high regard, is Dr. Yusuf al-Qaradawi. He asserts: "The duty of the Muslim community — in order to preserve its identity — is to combat apostasy in all its forms and wherefrom it comes, giving it no chance to pervade in the Muslim world." Similar to Maulana Maududi, he also claims ijma on this: "That is why the Muslim jurists are unanimous that apostates must be punished. ... apostasy is a criminal act." [Apostasy: Major and Minor]

Dr. Al-Qaradawi also fails to separate apostasy from treason. It is unfortunate that such scholars of high repute have shown such serious lapse in recognizing that, as Dr. Irfan Ahmad Khan, a scholar and Qur'anic exegete, argues: "Freedom of faith and religion is meaningless without the freedom to change one's faith."

Then, also there are scholars, even in the USA, who are either wishy-washy or ambivalent in regard to their positions. Some are too much beholden to the traditional views held in the past, right or wrong. Views and positions of scholars and leaders, such as Maududi and al-Qaradawi, not only provide powerful ammunition for propaganda against Islam and Muslims, but also confound the mind of our own community, including our youth, whose discerning mind sees through the double-standard or self-contraditiction quite transparently.

While many contemporary Muslim scholars have expressed their views affirming the freedom of faith, the collective voice of Muslims is still feeble and little known. In this write-up we have collated opinions and positions of various Muslim scholars, academics, intellectuals, imams, professionals, community leaders and others on this issue. Even young students are voicing against the double-standard that contradicts the Islamic values and principles.

These voices, representing a broad spectrum of Muslim community/ummah, are tipping the scale of the discourse on this issue in favor of affirming and upholding the pristine Islamic principle about freedom of faith. It also debunks the claim of unanimity (ijma), which was not quite true in the past, and it is even less true in the present.

Some additional explanatory notes: (a) Views of some of the early scholars might not be categorical or without variant reports. However, the excerpts included can be basis for identifying them as the precursors of the contemporary views on this issue. (b) There are (or have been) many scholars, early and contemporary, who hold that in case of apostasy capital punishment is not warranted, but have sanctioned or kept open the possibility of other punishments. There views have not been included here. (c) There are also scholars who belive that punishment of apostasy is not hadd (mandatory, specified punishment based on the Qur'an or sunnah), but it is subject to ta'zir [discretionary punishment, determined by the proper Islamic judicial system]. In this collection, there views have not been included either.

Before the views and opinions of a broad spectrum of Islamic voices are presented below, two brief statements about apostasy in the Qur'an and in hadith are in order.

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Punishment of Apostasy in the Qur'an

As presented in excerpts from numerous sources below, and links to works available online, there is no worldly punishment solely for apostasy [i.e., changing of one's faith/religion] mentioned in the Qur'an.

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Punishment of Apostasy in Hadith

Reader are invited/urged to explore a vast amount of resources/links presented at this blog, where scholars authoritatively have shown that none of the hadiths about apostasy is without problem or weakness. Also, there is no hadith confirming punishment or retribution solely for apostasy. In every single case, where punishment has been meted out, riddah involved treason or rebellion

To read (and review) the views of about 100 other Muslim scholar's you can click on:

http://apostasyandislam.blogspot.com/

 

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