In Islam, the concept of treason is not limited to political and military aspects; it also has a spiritual and cultural dimension to it.open rejection of the fundamental beliefs of Islam by a Muslim is an act of treason. Apostasy, i.e., the public declaration of rejecting the fundamentals of Islam, has also negative influence on the Muslim society; it is indeed a major fitna. And that is why Islam has prescribed harsh punishment for irtidãd.
A former kãfir who became a Muslim and then apostates (murtad milli), he is given a second chance: if he repents, then he is not to be killed; but if he does not repent, then he is to be killed.
· But one who is born as a Muslim and then apostates (murtad fitri), he is to be killed even if he repents. It is important to understand that in case a murtad fitri repents, Allãh may accept his repentance and he may be forgiven in the hereafter, but he still has to go through the punishment prescribed for his treason in this world.[7]
This punishment is only applicable in case of apostasy by men; in case of women, the punishment is not death but life imprisonment. And if such a woman repents, then her repentance is accepted and the punishment is lifted.
Here is a selection of the ahãdíth on this issue:
- Shaykh al-Kulayni narrates a sahíh (correct) hadith from
Ammãr as-Sãbãti who said: I heard (Imam) Abu Abdullãh (as-Sãdiq) (a.s.) saying, “A Muslim from among the Muslims who renounces Islam and rejects the prophethood of Muhammad and considers him untrue, then verily his blood is lawful (mubãh) for anyone who hears that from him, his wife is to be separated from him the day he became murtad, his wealth will be divided among his heirs, and his wife will observe the `idda of a widow (i.e., four months). The Imam is obliged to kill him, and not ask him to seek forgiveness.”[11]
. Shaykh at-Tusi narrates a sahíh hadíth from al-Husayn bin Sa`íd who said: I read (a question) in handwriting of a person addressed to (Imam) Abu ‘l-Hasan ar-Rizã (a.s.): “A person born as a Muslim, then becomes an unbeliever (kãfir), polytheist (mushrik), and leaves Islam–should he be asked to seek forgiveness, or should he be killed and not be asked to seek forgiveness?” The Imam (a.s.) wrote: “He should be killed.”
Shaykh al-Kulayni narrates a sahíh hadíth from
Ali ibn Jafar from his brother (Imam) Abu ‘l-Hasan (Musa al-Kãzim) (a.s.).
Ali ibn Jafar said, “I asked him about a Muslim who became Christian.” He answered, “He should be killed and not be asked to seek forgiveness.” Then I asked: “What about a Christian who becomes a Muslim and then turns away from Islam (i.e., becomes murtad)?” He replied, “He should be asked to seek forgiveness; so if he returns (to Islam, then okay), otherwise he should be killed.”[13] This hadíth covers both types of murtad: fitri as well as milli.
Shaykh as-Sadūq quotes a sahíh hadith from Muhammad bin Muslim who said that (Imam) Abu Ja`far (al-Bãqir) (a.s.) said, “Whoever rejects the prophethood of a prophet/messenger and considers him untrue, then his blood is lawful.”
Even the scholars of the past centuries had the same views; for example, Shaykh at-Tusi (d. 460 AH) in an-Nihãya; Ibn Idris (d. 598 A.H.) in as-Sarã’ir; Ibn Hamza at-Tusi in al-Wasila, al-Muhaqqiq al-Hilli (d. 676 AH) in Sharãya
u ‘l-Islãm, al-Allãma al-Hilli (d. 726 AH) in Qawã
idu ‘l-Ahkãm, and the First Martyr (d. 786 AH) and the Second Martyr in Sharhu ‘l-Lumati ‘d-Dimishqiyya. Those who might suspect a division on this issue between the “usuli” and the “akhbãri” schools, should know that even the muhaddithínhadith on “the punishment for murtad” citing the ahãdíth on this subject. See, for example, Shaykh Hurr al-
Ãmili, who has seven pages of ahãdíth under the title “abwãb haddi ‘l-murtad — sections on the punishment for murtad” in the 18th volume of his Wasiã’ilu ’sh-Shía.
that was Shia fiqh
Now Sunni fiqh
The Sunni fiqh is also in agreement with the views mentioned above on the punishment for apostasy. Soon after the Prophet’s death, the Sunni caliphate started a widespread campaign of fighting some tribes in the interior of the Arabian Peninsula. The justification used by the caliphate was that the tribes had turned away from Islam; they had become murtad. Even historians describe it as “waq
atu ‘r-ridda — the event of apostasy”. Although we do not agree with the accusation leveled against some of those who were killed as “apostates,”[18] but the justification presented by the caliphate shows that the Sunnis also agree with the Shiah fiqh on punishment for those who become murtad.
The Sunni author of the authoritative al-Fiqh
ala ‘l-Madhãhibi ‘l-Arbaah writes, “The four (Sunni) Imams agree that it is obligatory to kill a person whose apostasy against Islam is proven.”[19] The Sunni jurists, however, do not differentiate neither between the fitri and the milli apostate, nor between male and female apostate.[20]