Apostasy in Islam
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[Excerpt]
Punishment
From 11th century onwards, apostasy of Muslims from Islam was forbidden by Islamic law, earlier apostasy law was only applicable if a certain number of witnesses testify which for the most past was impossible.[118][119][120] Apostasy was punishable by death and also by civil liabilities such as seizure of property, children, annulment of marriage, loss of inheritance rights.[6] (A subsidiary law, also applied throughout the history of Islam, forbade non-Muslims from proselytizing Muslims to leave Islam and join another religion,[121][122][118][119][120] because it encouraged Muslims to commit a crime.)[50] Starting in the 19th century the legal code of many Muslim states no longer included apostasy as a capital crime, and to compensate some Islamic scholars called for vigilante justice of hisbah to execute the offenders (see Apostasy in Islam#Colonial era and after).
In contemporary times the majority of Islamic jurists still regard apostasy as a crime deserving the death penalty, (according to Abdul Rashied Omar),[23] although “a growing body of Islamic jurists” oppose this,[Note 10] (according to Javaid Rehman)[10][6][33] as inconsistent with “freedom of religion” as expressed in the Quranic injunctions (Quran 88:21-88:22)[37] and Quran 2:256 (“there is no compulsion in religion”);[20] and a relic of the early Islamic community when apostasy was desertion or treason.[38]
Still others support a “centrist or moderate position” of executing only those whose apostasy is “unambiguously provable” such as if two just muslim eyewitnesses testify; and/or reserving the death penalty for those who make their apostacy public. According to Christine Schirrmacher, “a majority of theologians” embrace this stance.[123]
Who qualifies for judgement for the crime of apostasy
Further information: Takfir § Exemptions_and_extenuating_circumstances
As mentioned above, there are numerous doctrinal fine points outlined in fiqh manuals whose violation should render the violator an apostate, but there are also hurdles and exacting requirements that spare (self-proclaimed) Muslims conviction for apostasy in classical fiqh.
One motive for caution is that it is an act of apostasy (in Shafi'i and other fiqh) for a Muslim to accuse or describe another innocent Muslim of being an unbeliever,[90] based on the hadith where Muhammad is reported to have said: “If a man says to his brother, 'You are an infidel,' then one of them is right.”[124][125]
According to sharia, to be found guilty the accused must at the time of apostasizing be exercising free will, an adult, and of sound mind,[6] and have refused to repent when given a time period to do so (not all schools include this last requirement). The free will requirement excludes from judgement those who embraced Islam under conditions of duress and then went back to their old religion, or Muslims who converted to another religion involuntarily, either force or as concealment (Taqiyya or Kitman) out of fear of persecution or during war.[26][27] Also excluded are those who have mistreated a copy of a Quran or do not pray Salat out of ignorance and misunderstanding (provided they do not continue to do so after being warned not to).[7]
Some of these requirements have served as “loopholes” to exonerate apostates (apostasy charges against Abdul Rahman, were dropped on the grounds he was “mentally unfit”).[126])
Death penalty
In classical fiqh
Traditional Sunni and Shia Islamic fiqhs, or schools of jurisprudence (maḏāhib) agree on some issues—that male apostates should be executed, and that most but not all perpetrators should not be given a chance to repent (the excluded include those who practice magic (subhar), treacherous heretics (zanādiqa, and recidivists”).[6] They disagree on issues such as whether women can be executed,[127][128][129] whether apostasy is a violation of “the rights of God”,[6][130] whether apostates who were born Muslim may be spared if they repent,[6] whether conviction requires the accused be a practicing Muslim,[6] or whether it is enough to simply intend to commit apostasy rather than actually doing it.[6]
Hanafi – recommends three days of imprisonment before execution, although the delay before killing the Muslim apostate is not mandatory. Apostasy is not a Hudood crime.[131] Unlike in other schools it is not obligatory to call on the apostate to repent.[6] Apostate men must be killed, while women must be held in solitary confinement and beaten every three days till they recant and return to Islam.[132] Penalty for Apostasy limited for those who cause Hirabah after leaving Islam, not for personal religion change.[133]
Maliki – allows up to ten days for recantation, after which the apostate must be killed. Apostasy is a Hudood crime.[131] Both men and women apostates deserve death penalty according to the traditional view of Sunni Maliki fiqh.[129] Unlike other schools, the apostate must have a history of being “good” (i.e. practicing) Muslim.[6]
Shafi'i – waiting period of three days is required to allow the Muslim apostate time to repent and return to Islam. Failing repentance, execution is the recommended punishment for both men and women.[129] Apostasy is not a Hudood crime.[131]
Hanbali – waiting period not necessary, but may be granted. Apostasy is a Hudood crime.[131] Execution is traditional recommended punishment for both genders of Muslim apostates.[129]
Ja'fari – Male apostates must be executed, while a female apostate must be held in solitary confinement till she repents and returns to Islam.[129][132] Apostasy is a Hudood crime.[131] The “mere intention of unbelief” without expression qualifies as apostasy.[6] Unlike the other schools, repentance will not save a defendant from execution unless they are “national apostates” who were not born Muslims but converted to Islam before apostasizing. “Innate” apostates, who grew up Muslims and remained Muslim after puberty and until converting to another religion, should be executed whether or not they return to Islam.[6][112]
Vigilante application
In contemporary situations where apostates, (or alleged apostates), have ended up being killed, it is usually not be through the formal criminal justice system, especially when “a country's law does not punish apostasy.” It is not uncommon for “vigilante” Muslims to kill or attempt to kill apostates or alleged apostates (or force them to flee the country).[15] In at least one case, (the high profile execution of Mahmud Muhammad Taha), the victim was legally executed and the government made clear he was being executed for apostasy, but not the technical “legal basis” for his killing was another crime or crimes,[15] namely “heresy, opposing the application of Islamic law, disturbing public security, provoking opposition against the government, and re-establishing a banned political party.”[134] When post-modernist professor Nasr Abu Zayd was found to be an apostate by an Egyptian court, it meant only an involuntary divorce from his wife (who did not want to divorce), but it put the proverbial target on his back and he fled to Europe.[15][135]
Civil liabilities
In Islam, apostasy has traditionally had both criminal and civil penalties. In the late 19th century, when the use of criminal penalties for apostasy fell into disuse, civil penalties were still applied.[6] The punishment for the criminal penalties includes death or prison, while [6][136] In all madhhabs of Islam, the civil penalties include:
(a) the property of the apostate is seized and distributed to his or her Muslim relatives;
(b) his or her marriage annulled (faskh) (as in the case of Nasr Abu Zayd);
(1) if they were not married at the time of apostasy they could not get married[137]
(c) any children removed and considered ward of the Islamic state.[6]
(d) In case the entire family has left Islam, or there are no surviving Muslim relatives recognized by Sharia, the apostate's property is liquidated by the Islamic state (part of fay, الْفيء).
(e) In case the apostate is not executed — such as in case of women apostates in Hanafi school — the person also loses all inheritance rights.[35][36][not specific enough to verify] Hanafi Sunni school of jurisprudence allows waiting till execution, before children and property are seized; other schools do not consider this wait as mandatory.[6]
Social liabilities
The conversion of a Muslim to another faith is often considered a “disgrace” and “scandal” as well as a sin,[138] so in addition to penal and civil penalties, loss of employment,[138] ostracism and proclamations by family members that they are “dead”, is not at all “unusual”.[139] For those who wish to remain in the Muslim community but who are considered unbelievers by other Muslims, there are also “serious forms of ostracism”. These include the refusal of other Muslims to pray together with or behind a person accused of kufr, the denial of the prayer for the dead and burial in a Muslim cemetery, boycott of whatever books they have written, etc.[140]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apostasy_in_Islam
DOS First-Line Slaves with their master in the middle.
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