What should Muslims do about apostasy?

Calls for the death of apostates only deepen the impression that Islam is harsh and push more Muslims to leave the religion.

COMMENT

All over social media, young Malaysian Muslims are calling for the death of those who have left the religion to become atheists. Many claim that this is the appropriate Islamic punishment for apostasy.

The problem with this kind of talk is not that apostates from Islam will ever be punished with death in Malaysia, at least not legally. The problem is that it doesn’t address the Muslim community’s concern because one could argue that it only serves to encourage apostasy.

Consider that this issue pops up at a time when all over the world Muslims are seen as merciless, barbaric and bloodthirsty. Whether or not the so-called Muslims on our television screens are representative of Islam, the fact is that they are making headlines and not painting a very pretty picture of the religion.

Shouldn’t we then assume that this is one of the reasons some Muslims are leaving the religion? Perhaps they don’t want to be associated with a religion whose adherents are bloodthirsty. The calls for the killing of apostates only deepen that impression.

Is God smiling upon Muslims who make public calls for the capture and killing of apostates in the name of Islam or is He frowning upon them for making Islam look so ugly?

Exegetes agree that the Quran does not prescribe any worldly punishment for apostasy. In the authenticated sayings of the Prophet, such punishment is prescribed in specific circumstances as a means to protect the community, particularly in times of war. Many commentators have said that the “apostasy” that calls for capital punishment should therefore be understood as treason.

For example, the 9th century jurist Ibnu Humam wrote:

“It is necessary to punish apostasy with death in order to avert the evil of war, not as punishment for the act of unbelief, because the greatest punishment for that is with God. This punishment is specifically for those who wage war and this is for the man. The Prophet prohibited killing women because they do not fight.”

If we give more weight to the words of a renowned scholar than to the Twitter messages of young Malaysian Muslims and perhaps even a statement from a minister in the prime minister’s department, then we should logically conclude that since we are not currently engaged in a war and since there is little possibility that these apostates will instigate any kind of war, there is no justification for calling for their execution.

Yes, people like the Negeri Sembilan mufti may have their own sources for saying that the penalty for apostasy under Islam is death “if they are stubborn and refuse to repent”. But considering that Muslims throughout the ages have believed that Islam was sent down as a mercy to mankind, should we not spare these apostates? It was, after all, the Prophet himself who said, “God is more merciful to His servants than a mother is to her child.”

Remember that out of the 99 attributes of God mentioned in the Quran, the attributes of compassion and mercy are the most frequently mentioned and are among those that are obligatory for Muslims to invoke every time they pray. - Mkini