Apostasy in Islam

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Execution of the Moroccan Jewish woman and alleged apostate Sol Hatschuel , drawing by Alfred Dehodencq (1860)

Apostasy in Islam , in Arabic Ridda ( Arabic ردة) or Irtidād (ارتداد) called, denotes "apostasy from Islam ". The renegade himself becomes Murtadd (مرتد) called. On the basis of hadiths and idschmāʿ , the apostasy is punishable by the death penalty under Islamic law , although the Koran itself does not provide for any punishment in this world .

In countries whose state legal system is based on Sharia law , but which no longer have Islamic courts of justice, the declared “apostasy from the Islamic faith” can have consequences under civil law ( inheritance law , marriage law ) and criminal law .

Ridda as a historical phenomenon

The scene of the Ridda Wars

In the Arabic works dealing with early Islamic history , Ridda describes the uprising movement of the Arab tribes after the death of the Prophet Mohammed , which resulted in the refusal of zakat payments to the first Caliph Abū Bakr and the appearance of "false prophets" (e B. Musailima ) was connected. The apostate tribes were then forced to adopt Islam in the so-called Ridda Wars . The fact that Muslim historiographers of the 8th century compiled the oral records of these events in separate Ridda books ( kutub al-ridda ) speaks for the great importance of the Ridda .

As the British Orientalist Bernard Lewis notes, most of the later treatises on the legal treatment of apostates were based on these wars and “on the measures and decisions taken in this connection by the Muslim authorities (...) They also served as a model or paradigm for dealing with rulers or groups who were viewed as apostates. "

Apostasy in the Koran and in the Koran exegesis

The apostasy is mentioned several times in the Koran. According to the traditions of the Koranic exegesis on the reasons for revelation (asbāb an-nuzūl), these verses concern both individuals and groups who fell away from Islam at the time of Muhammad. The corresponding verses always emphasize the divine punishment for apostasy that the apostate has to expect in the hereafter. Probably as early as the late Meccan period of prophecy, or only in Medina, the following verse was written:

“Those who do not believe in God after they have believed ... no, those who (freely and freely) give room to unbelief, God's wrath comes over them (w. Wrath of God) and they (one day) have one enormous punishment to be expected. "

- Sura 16 , verse 106 : Translation: Rudi Paret

The following passage from the Qur'an is directed against apostates who question both true faith and Muhammad's prophecy:

“How should God guide people who have disbelieved after believing and (after) bearing testimony that the Messenger (of God and his message) is true and (after) receiving the clear evidence! The reward is that the curse of God and the angels and men as a whole should be upon them ... "

- Sura 3, verse 86–91 : Translation: Rudi Paret

The famous Koran exegete at-Tabarī interprets the last words as “the eternal duration of the punishment in the hereafter” . Then it says at the Koran:

“(They are condemned to Hellfire ) to dwell in it (forever) with no relief or respite, except for those who repent and reform afterwards. God is merciful and ready to forgive. Those (but) who have disbelieved after believing and then become more and more unbelieving, their (belated) repentance will not be accepted. These are the ones who (finally) go astray. "

The Koranic exegesis interprets the above verses the one hand, to the effect that they were originally against the Jews , of whom previously or already in the verses mentioned as al-Hasan al-Basri against, the Book par excellence - as to the Ibadite exegete Hūd ibn Muhakkam points - are directed. On the other hand, the passage is interpreted as a description of those who fell away from Islam in the Medinan period of prophecy. The admonition to repentant repentance expressed in this verse and also in other passages of the Koran (e.g. sura 9, verse 74) - literally: "those who show repentance " or "if they are now converted" - is given in the Islamic jurisprudence its legally relevant meaning (see below). This interpretation of the rule: “ How should God guide people who have disbelieved after they believed ” also connects the traditional literature with an unnamed member of the Al-Ansar who, after falling away from Islam, wanted to return to Muhammad ruefully. The question of whether his repentance would be accepted is said to have answered the prophet with the revelation of the verse with the conclusion God is merciful and ready to forgive . The episode is updated several times by the traditionarians in the hadith chapters about "repentance of the apostate" with reference to the above Quran verse.

A saying traced back to Mohammed , however, suggests that the repentance and conversion recommended in the Koran cannot avert punishment in the hereafter: " God does not accept any deed from a polytheist who, after his acceptance of Islam, provides (another God) with him, as long as he does not part with the polytheists and join the Muslims. "

The threat of eternal hellish punishment with the possibility of converting to Islam before death is the basic motive behind the repeated mention of the apostates in the Koran; but it is not connected with a punishment in this world. Rather, those who allow themselves to be dissuaded from Islam die as unbelievers:

“… Their works are invalid in this world and in the hereafter. They will be inmates of Hellfire and dwell in it (forever) "

- Sura 2, verse 217

Deeds and works of unbelievers are already meaningless and void in this world. At-Tabari describes the inmates of the Hellfire as "those who have fallen away from Islam and have died in a state of disbelief (read: as unbelievers)." Exegesis does not derive a punishment from this world either from this or any other verse of the Koran.

This interpretation of the Koran is also documented by az-Zamachschari († 1144), in his comment, valued by Islamic orthodoxy: Because of religious apostasy, works in this world only become null and void if death occurs in the state of apostasy. Fachr ad-Dīn ar-Rāzī († 1209) takes the same view and in his exegesis of sura 2, 217 still quotes sura 5, 5 as a parallel in terms of content: “And who denies the (right) faith (w. Who does not believe in the faith believes), whose work is obsolete. And in the hereafter he is one of those who (ultimately) have the damage. ” According to the Andalusian Koran exegete al-Qurtubi, the verse in question is even understood as a warning to Muslims so that they hold onto Islam. Earlier deeds of the apostate are therefore not invalid until he finds his way back to Islam before his death: the pilgrimage made before the apostasy is then, according to Ash-Shafii , still valid and recognized under ritual law. According to the teaching of Mālik ibn Anas, however , the former apostate has to repeat the pilgrimage, since his previous deeds have become null and void - according to the Koran verse - through his apostasy.

The Hanafi jurist as-Sarachsi († 1090) endeavors in his legal compendium to provide legal justification for sura 48 , verse 16, revealed in connection with the events of al-Hudaiybiyya, as Koranic evidence for the death penalty of apostates. However, in the paragraph in question, “ You will have to fight them unless they surrender (without first letting it come to a fight) (or: unless they accept Islam) ” in the interpretations of the Koran exegetes there is no question of apostasy. Rather, this is to be seen as an attempt to create a justification already anchored in the Koran for the death penalty in case of apostasy.

The best-known representative of the Islamic reform movement of the 20th century, Raschīd Ridā († 1935), a student of Muhammad Abduh († 1905), refers to sura 4, verse 1 in his fatwa in the magazine al-Manār , the mouthpiece of the reform movement in Egypt 90 in order to justify the fact that the Quran does not provide for a death penalty for apostasy:

"If they (now) stay away from you and do not fight against you and declare their willingness to (in the future) to behave peacefully (and no longer offer any resistance), God gives you no opportunity to act against them."

- Translation by Rudi Paret

He continues:

“In response to those who believe that they (those named in the Qur'an) were either Muslim or (just) pretended to belong to Islam and then apostate, the verse states as a law that the apostates should not be killed if they are peaceful and don't fight. There is no evidence in the Qur'an for the killing of the apostate who abrogates the word of God 'If they stay away from you (now) and do not fight against you ...' etc. "

In Islamic studies , the prevailing view is that no text passage in the Koran contains a request to punish apostates with death in this world. “The Koran calls for apostates, i. H. 'Those who disbelieve after believing', no death penalty. If some verses are interpreted in the opposite sense, then these are apologetic efforts to unify the Koran and later developments in the traditional literature on the prophets and in jurisprudence (...). "

Assessment in classical Islamic law

Hadith and Jurisprudence

In the hadith literature , the order to kill those who change religion is recorded in several traditions. According to the generally valid Islamic legal conception, apostasy from Islam is punishable by death. The oldest source of law that legitimizes the death penalty for apostasy is, as shown above, not in the Koran, but - as mentioned at the beginning - in the second most important source of jurisprudence, in the hadith and in the related consensus (Idschmāʿ) of legal scholars. The Prophet saying: " whoever changes his religion, must kill her " (Arabic to baddala dīnahū fa-qtulūhu ) appears in the codified legal literature for the first time in the Muwatta of Medinan scholar Malik ibn Anas with a first incomplete isnaads as a legal directive Muhammad. At that time, there was still no agreement as to whether one should attempt repatriation beforehand (istitāba, see below), which would result in the death penalty, or whether the death penalty should be imposed without a previous attempt at repatriation.

This legal norm, which was handed down at the beginning of the 8th century at the latest, had a parallel in content in the Iraqi schools of law: kills those who change their religion .

This prophetic saying refers exclusively to the apostasy from Islam, because the Sharia naturally does not care about the change of religion of the members of the other monotheistic religions. This is evident not only from Malik's comment on the above tradition; the question can already be proven in legal practice and the legal instructions from the early days, which u. a. Malik's disciple, the Egyptian Abdallāh ibn Wahb in his Muwaṭṭaʾ lecture. The view that this tradition relates not only to apostasy from Islam, but also to apostates from other religious communities, can only be found sporadically in Islamic scholarship. Because the change of religion among non-Muslims was only subject to Islamic regulations if economic or social disadvantages for the Islamic community came to fruition.

Invitation to repentance ( istitāba )

In the implementation of the death penalty in Islamic law when a Muslim changes religion, another aspect that is not undisputed in legal doctrine was important: the question of repentance and conversion of the apostate, which is already mentioned in the Koran, as mentioned above, as salvation from God's punishment in the Beyond is stressed. In the case of an apostasy, legal doctrine initially dictates the “invitation to repentance” ( istitāba ), which, however, has been applied differently in traditional legal practice. In the development of intra-Muslim jurisdiction, the apostate's request to repent has established itself in all schools of law in the legal categories between mandatory and desirable. However, in the early days of Islamic jurisprudence, a distinction was made between an apostate born as a Muslim and a person who converted to Islam. The former was - according to the teaching of the Meccan ʿAṭāʾ ibn Abī Rabāḥ (d. 732) - to be killed without attempting to convert, while the convert first had to be asked to repent.

Legal uncertainty also characterizes the assessment of religious affiliation of the newborn child, whose parents had apostatized from Islam before he was born. One direction in legal doctrine also regards the newborn as an apostate who is asked to return when they are of legal age; According to other views, he is treated as a born infidel ( kāfir aṣlī) and obliged to pay the jizya . According to the teaching of Malikites, such a person will be forced to Islam upon reaching maturity. The decisive factor here is the opinion that minors have no religion and are therefore forced to accept Islam "so that they do not follow a false religion."

Although there is no direct instruction from Muhammad as a prophetic dictum about the apostate's request to repent and return to Islam in the hadith literature, it is nevertheless regarded in jurisprudence as the Sunnah of the Prophet. He is said to have asked an apostate who has relapsed four times to repent four times. It was necessary that repentance be confirmed by pronouncing the Shahāda , using a saying traced back to Mohammed as a guide: “ I have been commanded to fight people until they say: there is no God but the (one) God and Mohammed is the Messenger of God. They perform the prayer and pay the zakat. If you do this, both your life and your assets will be spared ... "

The legal practice of the Istitāba , the invitation to repentance by the authorities and the pronouncement of the Islamic creed by the apostate, does not apply in the case of Muslim heretics ( zindīq / zanādiqa ) and magicians, conjurers ( sāḥir / suḥḥār ) because of the lack of credibility of their statements.

The trial of Ibn Ḥātim aṭ-Ṭulayṭulī, who was charged with heresy and various blasphemous remarks, is particularly well known in Islamic legal history . The traditional indictment contained, among other things, the denial of the divine attributes, the disdain and abuse of the prophet Mohammed as well as A'ishas and other people. Neither these charges nor the denial of divine predestination (qadar) required the istitāba . The convicted man was crucified on March 26, 1072 at the bridgehead of the Guadalquivir in Cordoba and killed by lances.

For Jews and Christians who became Muslims but then apostatized from Islam, in the event of their repentance, according to classical legal doctrine, special regulations have been in effect since al-Shafiʿī at the latest. Not only do they have to pronounce the Islamic creed, but also renounce their previous beliefs. Their declaration of faith (iqrār bi-l-īmān) is only effective when they confirm "that the religion of Muhammad represents the true faith and when they renounce everything that contradicts his teaching."

In the development of jurisprudence, it was initially controversial whether a follower of the Qadarīya , the doctrine of liberum arbitrium , could be killed without being asked to repent. The already mentioned ʿAbdallāh ibn Wahb in his Kitāb al-muḥāraba deals with the question in a chapter dedicated to it and refers to discussions in this regard in the time of the Umayyad caliph ʿUmar ibn ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz (reigns 717-720), who himself ruled against the Doctrine of free will polemicized when those openly opposed the government. According to the available evidence, the invitation to repent was the usual legal practice in the case of Qadarites. However, the implementation of the Istitāba was accompanied by the use of violence of various kinds, as the Hanafi lawyer Abū Yūsuf knows about with reference to the Caliph Umar II.

Takfīr and avoidance

Takfīr and avoidance can result from a Muslim's apostasy . In takfīr, a court or an Islamic clergyman declares a Muslim to be an unbeliever (apostasy judgment). Takfīr can be used to impose a penalty, in particular the death penalty . Avoidance can also follow. In avoidance, people are excluded from the community of the Ummah according to the rule of al-Walā 'wa-l-barā' and ostracized as Murtadd .

Impunity in certain cases

Apostasy is not punishable under Sharia law in the case of:

  • Minority; apostasy will only be punished at the age of majority. But even at the age of majority, the death penalty is not imposed, but the apostate who has come of age is forced to revoke the apostasy. Asch-Schafii dealt with this legal question in his basic legal work of his school, in the Kitab al-Umm, with reference to precedents: "If someone apostates from the religion before or after attaining legal age and shows no repentance when he is of legal age, there is no death, for when he came of age he had no faith; he is urged to believe and forced to believe without being killed. "

Restrictive regulations:

In the Hanbali school of law, efforts are made to define the age of the adolescent on the basis of the corresponding prophetic dicta, in which both the ritual-based affiliation to Islam - the practice of religious doctrine - and the criminal liability for religious apostasy are regulated. Ibn Qudama († 1223), in his commentary on the legal compendium of the Hanbalite al-Ḫiraqī († 945), who was also recognized outside the Hanbalite school of law, subjects the problem of apostasy of young people (ṣabīy) to a detailed analysis. Islamic laws are to be applied between the ages of eight and ten, because a prophetic hadith says: "Instructs young people in prayer at the age of seven and forces them to pray with blows at the age of ten !" Thus, a young person is at the age of ten Years of legal age; in the case of apostasy, he is asked to repent for three days. If he persists in his unbelief, he will be killed even if he claims to have not understood what he - as an apostate - said.

Due to controversial doctrines , no legal certainty has been achieved about the question of the religious affiliation of the children of converted parents. As a prophetic sun it is narrated that Mohammed should have left the choice of religion to the daughter of the father who converted to Islam and to the non-Muslim mother. Nevertheless, one generally follows the view that the children of the "better religion" (ie Islam) have to follow, because, as it is said in an Islamic principle, "Islam is superior." According to legal doctrine, the offspring of such mixed marriages can be forced into Islam. The choice of the minor child mentioned in the Sunna can only be asserted in the case of guardianship, but not in the case of a choice of religion. This view is also followed in the case of parental apostasy; when they come of age, children are either forced to follow the Islam they were born into, or are encouraged to repent. In the teaching of the Hanbalites and Shafiites, the view is also held that the children of apostates when they come of age are considered originally unbelievers ( kāfir alī ) and are obliged to pay the jizya .

  • Mental illness; neither the conversion to Islam nor the apostasy of a mentally ill person have any legal effect.
  • Drunkenness; the Hanbalites and the Shafi'ites are - according to the classical view of their schools of law - of the opinion that the offense of apostasy is also present in this case; according to the Hanafis, there is no apostasy when drunk. However, a drunk's admission of guilt (iqrār) is as invalid as his repentance; they are only legally effective when consciousness is regained.
  • Predicament according to Sura 16: 106:

“Those who do not believe in God after they have believed - unless one is forced (outwardly to disbelief) while his heart has found rest (finally) in faith - no, those who (freely and freely) have disbelief within themselves Give space for the wrath of God to come, and they will (one day) have to expect a huge punishment. "

According to this verse of the Koran, there is no penalty for forced apostasy. Those under protection must not be forced to follow Islam. If they have become Muslims under duress, they will not be considered apostates when they return to their own religion. However, those who can be forced to accept Islam, e.g. B. an apostate, but also a non-Muslim who is not contractually protected in Dar al-harb ( ḥarbī ), are considered apostates if they abandon the religion imposed on them.

Types of apostasy

Islamic law, also in its contemporary understanding, lists four types of apostasy - hereinafter referred to as "Ridda" after the Islamic term:

1. Ridda on questions of faith;
2. Ridda through statements;
  • the denial of God's attributes; To ascribe other beings to God (such as the Son of God );
  • deny the Koran or parts of it;
  • Accusing Muhammad of lying;
  • Declare forbidden things (haram: like “fornication”, alcohol consumption or the like) as permitted (halal);
  • Blasphemy, be it out of conviction, fun, or mockery; because in the Koran it says:

“And if you ask them (and hold them accountable for their mocking remarks), they'll say, 'We were just chatting and joking (w. Played).' Say: How could you make fun of God and his signs (or: verses) and his messenger? You don't need to make excuses. You became unbelieving after you believed ... "

- Sura 9: 65-66
  • The mockery, abuse or insult of the Prophet ( sabb ). There is agreement among scholars of all schools of law that the abuse of Muhammad, his parentage, is the denial of his mission as Prophet Ridda. Because in such a case there is a change of religion and could therefore be punished just as any apostate: such as the Hanafites and Hanbalites . According to the teaching of the Shafiites, this offense is more than just Ridda: the one who mocks, insults or denies the prophet is on the one hand a kafir , on the other hand a blasphemer of the prophet. It is comparable to blasphemy.
3. Ridda through action
  • Disregarding the Koran by throwing it away or parts of it is considered disregard of God's Word ; thus the fact of the Ridda is considered fulfilled.
  • The worship of idols, the sun or the moon is "unbelief" ( kufr ) and thus ridda of the Muslim who practices it.
4. Ridda by omission
  • Failure to pray out of conviction is considered Ridda, because it is equated with unbelief ( kufr ). The prophetic saying “I was forbidden to kill the one who performs the prayer”, which is documented several times in the canonical collections of traditions , is understood in legal doctrine as follows: “The meaning of the hadith is that those who do not perform the prayer , can be killed, because prayer is one of the cornerstones of Islam ”.
  • The omission of prayer or other duties out of laziness, without denying or disregarding their obligation , is also punished as ridda according to the traditional statements of many prophet companions in the teaching of the Malikites, Hanbalites and Shafiites. According to the Hanafites, such a person is a wrongdoer / sinner; he is imprisoned in the course of the call to repentance (istitāba) until he repeats the prescribed five prayers or fulfills the other religious duties. Intimidation, beatings and threats of execution are permitted in this case. If he refuses, such an apostate can be punished with death according to the teaching of all schools of law.

The four types of apostasy presented here are not only indicative of apostasy, nor are they mere conjectures, but in Islamic jurisprudence each of them fulfills the complete fact of apostasy. "Because what one firmly believes in is expressed through statement or action or omission."

The punishment of the apostate is incumbent on the ruler or his representative; but if another Muslim kills him, he is merely reprimanded (ta'zir) for having ignored the rights reserved for the ruler to impose the death penalty. According to al-Shāfidī, in this case the perpetrator is neither subject to retaliation nor has he to pay blood money for his act .

Legal situation in the present

Countries whose legal system provides for the death penalty for apostasy in accordance with Islamic law

Even in cases in which the apostasy from Islam does not have any criminal consequences, there is a risk of civil law consequences in some Islamic countries, which are justified there by classical Islamic law. Penalties can be:

  • the marriage between the apostate and the Muslim spouse is dissolved (e.g. Nasr Hamid Abu Zaid ),
  • the children together remain Muslim and are to be brought up by the Muslim parent,
  • Inheritance claims of an apostate have expired under Islamic law,
  • the property of the apostate is confiscated by the state.

In Sudan (StGB from 1991, Art. 126), Yemen and Iran as well as in Saudi Arabia , Qatar , Pakistan , Afghanistan , Somalia and Mauritania (StGB from 1984, Art. 306), apostasy from Islam can still be found today are punished with death , and there are also occasional executions , for example in the year 2000 of a Somali citizen. In addition, atheists in Malaysia , Nigeria , the United Arab Emirates and the Maldives can be sentenced to death.

Afghanistan

Afghanistan is an Islamic republic, so Islam is the state religion. In 2006, Abdul Rahman faced the death penalty in Afghanistan for converting to Christianity , until the trial - according to official information because of procedural deficiencies - was discontinued before the trial opened. He was declared insane and was given asylum in Italy by Silvio Berlusconi .

Egypt

The case law on apostasy in Egypt is contradicting itself. In 2005, a man who converted to Christianity was forcibly admitted to the mental institution and later tortured by the police.

Egypt is otherwise a country that does not provide for the killing of apostates and severely prosecutes the murder committed by religious fanatics, as the fate of the writer Faraj Fauda shows, whose murderers were executed. Furthermore, the scholar Mohammed Al-Ghazali declared the killing of apostates on the occasion of the murder of Faraj Fauda to be the duty of the individual Muslim, if government agencies did not comply. Admittedly, Fauda's murderers were executed in accordance with the Criminal Code of the Arab Republic of Egypt.

In an unrealized draft constitution for Egypt from 1978, scholars from Al-Azhar University proclaimed the elevation of apostasy, contrary to traditional legal opinion, to the punishment of hadd . This would have denied the judge and political authorities any intervention with regard to a death sentence (see text document below).

In addition, the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt used the term apostasy to intimidate opponents of its political demands.

The Grand Mufti of Egypt , Ali Gomaa , had rejected on July 21, 2007 in an interview with the "Washington Post" the secular punishment of Islam formerly belonging converts, because the punishment successes in the hereafter. He relativized this position on July 25, 2007 in the Arab press by declaring the secular punishment for apostasy to be legal.

In an interview with Egypt Today , the Egyptian Minister for Religious Affairs, Mahmoud Zakzouk , confirmed the legality of the death penalty for former Islamic converts who publicly announce their change of faith. This is a danger to public order and can be equated with high treason . The then Grand Sheikh of Al-Azhar University, Muhammad Sayyid Tantawi , made a similar statement in a WDR documentary in 1996 :

“Not everyone who apostates from Islam has to be killed under Islamic law. He must only be punished with death if he harms Islam. But if you are a Muslim and become a Christian, then go in peace - the main thing is that you have converted. You are free to move to Christianity or Judaism. But then you shouldn't come around afterwards and say, Mohammed, our prophet, be a liar! Then we have to kill you because you are spreading lies ... The important thing is that if you leave Islam, you will not harm Islam with your knowledge! "

Former President Mohammed Morsi (2012–2013) explained his view on the topic in a press conference: “Nobody should be forced to believe in a certain religion. [...] As long as the apostate keeps his change of faith to himself instead of becoming a danger to society through public proclamation, he should not be punished according to Islamic law. [...] But anyone who makes his apostasy public and asks others to join him becomes a danger to society [...]. [Then] the law and Sharia intervene. "

The Mohammed Hegazy case

The journalist Hegazy, who converted from Islam to the Christian Coptic Church in 1998 , officially applied in Egypt in August 2007 to have his faith entered on his identity card because of his child .

The public prosecutor of the Cairo State Security Office, Mohammed al-Faisal, then arrested his lawyers, the human rights activists Dr. Adel Fawzy Faltas and Peter Ezzat.

This case led to violent clashes with high-ranking Islamic legal scholars (the ʿUlamā ' ).

In a television interview with Hegazy on August 25, 2007, the Islamic dignitary Sheikh Youssef al-Badri called for the death penalty for Hegazy. This view was shared by the former dean of Al-Azhar University, Souad Saleh. In the newspaper al-Quds al-arabi , she said that the fatwas of the Grand Mufti of Egypt, Ali Gomaa , which excludes secular punishment of converts who were formerly Islamic, were worthless. The public commitment to converting Hegazy, with which he mocked and denied Islam, must be punished with death in this world.

Azhar Fatwa Committee ruling on the killing of apostates

Legal opinion

A legal opinion ( fatwa ) of the Fatwa Committee of the Azhar , the most renowned institution of Sunni Islam, on the killing of apostates from 1978. Translation of the original document from Arabic:

“Al-Azhar. Fatwa Committee.
In the name of the merciful and gracious God.
Question from Mr. Ahmad Dervish; He submitted this question through Mr. (name not visible), German nationality:
A man of Muslim faith and Egyptian nationality married a woman of Christian faith and German nationality. In agreement of the couple, the named Muslim entered the Christian religion and joined the Christian faith.
1. What is the judgment of Islam on the status of that person with regard to Islamic punishments?
2. Are his children considered Muslim or Christian? What is the verdict? "

The answer:

“All praise is due to God, Lord of the Worlds. Blessings and peace be upon the seal of the prophets, our Lord Muhammad, his family and all his companions.
We hereby provide information: Since he has fallen away from Islam, he is asked to repent. If he shows no remorse, he will be killed according to Islamic law.
As for his children, they are minor Muslims. After they come of age, if they remain in Islam, they are Muslims. If they leave Islam, they will be asked to repent. If they show no remorse, they will be killed.
And God the Most High knows best.

(illegible signature):
The Chairman of the Fatwa Committee in the Azhar.

Date: September 23, 1978

Seal with national coat of arms: The Arab Republic of Egypt. Al-Azhar. The Fatwa Committee in the Azhar. "

Indonesia

Since Indonesia is not an Islamic state, but a religious state that invokes the overarching principles of the Pancasila , apostasy cannot be prosecuted. But here too the question of religious freedom is controversial. The anti-apostasy alliance movement on Java is clearly positioning itself against freedom of religious change. The Council of Religious Scholars of Indonesia (Majelis Ulema Indonesia) also published several fatwas in 2008 that oppose religious pluralism.

Iran

Muslims in Iran who convert to another religion are considered guilty of apostasy and are punished with life imprisonment and rarely with death. Women are more likely to be punished with life imprisonment. In connection with the allegation of apostasy and blasphemy, the then Iranian head of state Khomeini sentenced the British-Indian writer Salman Rushdie to death by means of a fatwa on February 14, 1989 and called on all Muslims to carry out the sentence. A $ 3 million bounty was also offered .

The Iranian Hossein Soodmand converted to Christianity in 1964. He became a pastor and evangelist in an evangelical Christian church . He also ran a Christian bookstore. He was accused of apostating from Islam and trying to convert other Muslims to Christianity. On December 3, 1990, Hossein Soodmand was executed in Mashhad .

Mehdi Dibaj was sentenced to death in Iran in 1983 for converting to Christianity. After eleven years in prison, he was released in 1994 and abducted and murdered shortly after his release.

In 2002, the university professor Hashem Aghajeri was sentenced to death in Iran for apostasy for saying that Muslims should not follow Islamic clergy "like monkeys". This sentence was upheld by the Supreme Court in May 2004 . A few months later, the sentence was commuted to five years in prison, two of which were suspended. His civil rights were also revoked for five years.

Libya

In Libya , so-called Islamic and Arab socialism was the state order in Jamahiriya . Islam has the status of a state religion in Libya. Defection from Islam in Libya was punished with immediate loss of citizenship .

Malaysia

It was only with the gradual establishment of the state of Malaysia after the British colonial period that ethical and religious areas of conflict emerged, which are due to the different origins of the residents and their religions. In particular, the tensions between the Indians living in Malaya and the Malay themselves Islamized in the 14th and 15th centuries were promoted by the country's 1962 constitution. Paragraph 160 (2) stipulates that a Malay is only a person who belongs to Islam, speaks the Malay language and lives according to Malay customs. Islam is seen as the state religion to which every Malay belongs from birth. The acceptance of other religions in the country is regulated by § 11, since there freedom of religion is stipulated, which - in connection with § 160 (2) - only applies to non-Malays and does not apply to the state-defined Malays. Because according to the constitution, a Malay ceases to be a Malay if he converts to another religion. There is no equality between Muslims and non-Muslims.

Since the beginning of the 1980s, Islamic organizations have tried to enforce Islam as the sole "way of life" for all Malaysians. This promote the constitution running counter to laws that make it exclusively Islamic organizations possible to non-Muslims to proselytize while all other religions in the country are excluded from this possibility. In response to this growing pressure, Buddhists, Christians, Hindus and Sikhs joined forces in 1983 in a joint organization. The demands of the Islamic organizations were ultimately taken up by the government. In 2001, Mahathir bin Mohamad , who was known for his anti-Jewish statements and who was then Prime Minister, described Malaysia as an “Islamic State”. Such a definition of Malaysia also runs counter to the legally valid constitution. In 2007 Islamic clergy ruled in two states. In these and several other states, rejection or apostasy from Islam was punished at that time. Sharia has been strongly promoted by the state for some time and applied in various areas of life through the establishment of Sharia bodies. According to more recent judgments, apostasy from Islam is no longer possible, since Sharia courts would have to approve the conversion. The Sharia courts do not do this, however, since according to Sharia apostasy from Islam cannot be tolerated. Even before these rulings, leaving the Islamic religious community was only possible with considerable difficulty and required a lot of time and patience. For this purpose, a Borang Keluar Islam (form to quit Islam ) had to be filled out and evidence to be provided over a longer period of time that they really did not want to return to Islam (generally about two years). Discussions with an imam took place on a regular basis. At the time, the Malaysian constitution guaranteed religious freedom, but de facto the way to leave Islam is blocked.

Pakistan

Indeed, the scholar Sayyid Abul Ala Maududi , who is very influential in Pakistan, called for the consistent application of classical Islamic law in the form of the execution of apostates as early as 1942/43, but apostasy has not yet been punishable in this country. Apostates can only be prosecuted under the rules of Pakistan's blasphemy law if they "desecrate" the Koran or make derogatory remarks about the Islamic prophet Mohammed. In 2007, a law was planned to provide the death penalty for male apostates and life imprisonment for women, with two Muslim witnesses sufficient for a conviction, but the bill was not passed.

Sudan

In Sudan on January 18, 1985, the scholar Mahmud Muhammad Taha was officially executed for "proven apostasy". In May 2014, the case of heavily pregnant Maryam Yahya Ibrahim Ishaq became known. The 27-year-old doctor had a Muslim father but was raised a Christian. Because she refused to renounce her Christian faith, she was sentenced to death. In addition, she was sentenced to 100 lashes for "fornication" because her marriage to a Christian South Sudanese was invalid under Islamic law.

Social impact and criticism

In Europe, too, apostates from Islam face death threats. People in the Islamic world who actually or supposedly turn away from Islam must expect social ostracism, job loss, threats and attacks by third parties. There are known cases in which apostates were murdered.

The punishment of a change of religion massively contradicts the - internationally anchored - human rights . Due to the nature and dignity of every human being, they have universal rights, such as freedom of religion , freedom of expression and thus freedom of art . Violations of these rights, particularly the worldwide persecution of Christians , are regularly documented and publicly criticized by the international aid organization Open Doors , among others . See also: Islam criticism .

Dissenting opinions

Modified opinions

In the course of Islamic modernism, some scholars modified the traditional legal opinion on apostasy. Muhammad Abduh , Raschīd Ridā and Mahmūd Schaltūt differentiated between individual apostasy and an apostate who actively combats the community, or tries to dissuade it. The latter should be punished with death, while the former should go unpunished. The same view is also found in the Turkish religious authority Diyanet İşleri Başkanlığı and in the writings of Yusuf al-Qaradawi ; He also emphasizes that the prosecution of apostasy should only be carried out by government agencies and not through private actions. The scholar Mohammad Salim al-Awwa drew an apologetic parallel between the Western high treason laws in wartime and the laws on apostasy. Nevertheless, he emphasized that a purely private and therefore non-punishable apostasy could only exist in the rarest cases of apostasy.

Mahmud Schaltut (1888–1963), former dean of Azhar University, objected to the punishment of apostates with death that “ many legal scholars believe that such punishments cannot be confirmed by the traditions handed down by individual sources and that unbelief alone is not a reason to release the blood (of the unbeliever), ”furthermore, that this is only permitted if“ the fight against the believers, the attack on them and the attempt to dissuade them from their belief ”is present.

Rejecting positions

The Central Council of Muslims in Germany has repeatedly distanced itself from threats and punishments for apostates. In connection with the feared death sentence for the convert Abdul Rahman in Afghanistan , he commented as follows:

“ No death penalty for Afghan converts
The Central Council of Muslims in Germany (ZMD) deeply regrets any case of apostasy - but we also accept the right to change one's religion. The Koran forbids any coercion in matters of faith.
In addition, Islamic law offers a wide scope for other solutions in such cases. With this in mind, the ZMD asks the Afghan judiciary to refrain from punishing Abdur-Rahman, who has converted to Christianity. "

- Central Council of Muslims in Germany : Eschweiler, March 22, 2006

In paragraph 11 of the Islamic Charter, the Central Council of Muslims formulates in the same way:

“ Muslims affirm the constitutional and democratic constitutional order
guaranteed by the Basic Law Woman as well as religious freedom. Therefore they also accept the right to change religion, to have another religion or no religion at all. The Koran forbids any use of violence or coercion in matters of faith. "

- Central Council of Muslims in Germany : Eschweiler, February 20, 2002

This view is based, among other things, on the conviction that Islamic law obliges Muslims in the diaspora to adapt to the law of the respective country as long as they can fulfill their main religious obligations.

It should be emphasized that the Central Council of Muslims e. V. represented in Germany and manifested in its Islamic Charter position on religious freedom has no sharia law and is therefore legally irrelevant with regard to the judgments of apostasy in Muslim countries in the present.

The German Islam Forum ( Central Council of Muslims in Germany , DITIB, etc.) rejected any punishment of apostates in a declaration of principle in 2006.

The Pakistani scholar Javed Ahmad Ghamidi and Khalid Zaheer reject the death penalty for apostasy from perfect. Ghamidi bases his view on the fact that traditional legal thought would interpret the Koran and the Sunnah in this case outside of their context. Both argue that the death penalty was only justified during the time of Muhammad himself. Influential Muslim figures such as Tariq Ramadan also reject any form of punishment.

The Turkish Islamic theologian Yaşar Nuri Öztürk , who died in 2016, considered it the greatest error in Islamic legal doctrine to make the death penalty for apostates a religious dogma. He pointed out that the Koran does not contain any punishment in this world for apostasy, but only threatens the punishment in the hereafter. Öztürk also rejected the assessment of apostasy as an act of high treason. The accusation of apostasy has recently become the battleground of a politicized and ideologized Islam. Öztürk called this the "Islamic Inquisition".

See also

Factual issues
people
Organizations

literature

  • Yohanan Friedmann: Tolerance and Coercion in Islam. Interfaith Relations in the Muslim Tradition. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 2003. pp. 121-160. ISBN 0-521-82703-5
  • Frank Griffel : Apostasy and Tolerance in Islam. The development of al-Gazâlî's judgment against philosophy and the reaction of the philosophers , Brill, Leiden 2000, ISBN 90-04-11566-8
  • W. Heffening: "Murtadd" in The Encyclopaedia of Islam. New Edition , Vol. 7, pp. 635f.
  • Gudrun Krämer: "Drawing Boundaries: Yusuf al-Qaradawi on Apostasy" in: G. Krämer and S. Schmidtke (eds.): Speaking for Islam. Religious Authorities in Muslim Societies . Brill, Leiden, 2006. pp. 181-217.
  • M. Lecker: "Al-Ridda" in The Encyclopaedia of Islam. New Edition . Vol. XII, pp. 692-695.
  • R. Peters, GJJ de Vries: Apostasy in Islam , In: The world of Islams. 17 / 1976-1977, pp. 1-25
  • Christine Schirrmacher : "There is no compulsion in religion " (Sura 2: 256): The apostasy from Islam in the judgment of contemporary Islamic theologians. Discourses on apostasy, religious freedom and human rights. Ergon, Würzburg, 2015. pp. 113–250.
  • al-mausu'a al-fiqhiyya (Encyclopedia of Islamic Law), 3rd edition. Kuwait 2003. Volume 22, pp. 180–201 (sn ridda)

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ William Heffening: murtadd . In: The Encyclopaedia of Islam . New Edition. Brill, suffering. Vol. 7, p. 635; Werner Ende and Udo Steinbach (eds.): Islam in the Present , Munich 1989, p. 190; Cf. Adel Th. Khoury: What does the Koran say about holy war? Gütersloher Verlagshaus, 2007. p. 80: "For apostasy from faith, the Koran does not provide for any express punishment in this world beyond God's otherworldly punishment".
  2. ↑ Bernard Lewis: The Political Language of Islam . Berlin: Rotbuch Verlag, 1991. P. 143
  3. ^ The Encyclopaedia of Islam . New Edition. Brill, suffering. Volume 7, p. 635
  4. ↑ Theodor Nöldeke: History of the Qorāns , volume. 1, pp. 145–146 (Leipzig 1909)
  5. ↑ Ǧāmiʿ al-bayān ʿan taʾwīl āy al-Qurʾān . Volume 3, p. 342, lines 14–15 (Cairo. Reprint: Dār al-Fikr. Beirut. OJ)
  6. ↑ At-Tabari, op.cit. Volume 3, p. 344; al-Qurṭubī: al-Ǧāmiʿ li-aḥkām al-Qurʾān. Volume 5, p. 197, lines 8-9 with reference to at-Tabari
  7. ^ Tafsīr kitāb Allāh al-ʿazīz, Volume 1, p. 299 (Beirut 1990
  8. ↑ Ibn Kathīr : Tafsīr al-Qurʾān al-ʿaẓīm, Volume 2, p. 380 (Cairo, undated)
  9. ↑ Frank Griffel (2000), p. 50
  10. ↑ an-Nasāʾī : Tafsīr. Volume 1, pp. 308-309. Cairo 1990.
  11. ↑ an-Nasāʾī : Tafsīr , Volume 1, p. 309, to No. 85 with corresponding documents. Cairo 1990.
  12. ↑ Sunan Ibn Madscha , Volume 2, p. 848. No. 2536 (Cairo 1972); see. Frank Griffel (2000), p. 50, with the wrong translation: “God does not accept a polytheist who provides him with another god after he actually ( ʿamalan ) - sic! - had accepted Islam until it did not separate from the (other) polytheists and came to the Muslims ”.
  13. ↑ Rudi Paret: The Koran. Commentary and Concordance . P. 46
  14. ↑ at-Tabari, op.cit. Volume 2, p. 355, lines 7-8
  15. ↑ Yohanan Friedmann (2003), pp. 124–125 and there note 21 with reference to other Koran passages: Sura 4,137; 5, 54; 9, 74, and 47.25. Frank Griffel mistakenly sees in Sura 2, verse 217, a Koranic proof of the apostate's death penalty: “On the one hand, this verse was seen as evidence of the death penalty - because whose works in this world are really void if it is not already 'as good as' is dead? ”For this reasoning, he then cites Al-Baidawi's comment on the Koran passage: Frank Griffel (2000), p. 26 and there note 10. - Griffel misunderstood his source, however, because of“ Death penalty ”is not even hinted at in al-Baidawi. There is only the condition that death occurs in the status of apostasy; this has the effect that the deeds (of the apostate), and in his view this is also the doctrine of ash-Shafi'i, thereby become invalid. What is meant are the useful, good works.
  16. ↑ al-Qurtubi, op. Cit. Tape. 3, p. 428, lines 4-5
  17. ↑ al-Qurtubi, op. Cit. Tape. 3, p. 430, lines 3-7
  18. ^ The Encyclopaedia of Islam , New Edition. Brill, suffering. Volume 9, p. 35
  19. ↑ Yohanan Friedmann (2003), pp. 124–125, note 21
  20. ↑ Volume 23 (1922), pp. 187-188
  21. ↑ Griffel (2000), p. 27. See also: The Encyclopaedia of Islam , New Edition. Vol. 7, p. 635
  22. ↑ Frank Griffel: Apostasy and Tolerance in Islam . Brill, 2000. pp. 51-66
  23. ↑ al-Muwaṭṭaʾ , Kitāb al-Aqḍiya, Chapter 18. Volume 2, p. 736 (Ed. Muḥammad Fuʾād ʿAbd al-Bāqī. Cairo, n.d.; Ignaz Goldziher: Muhammedanische Studien , Volume 2, pp. 215-217 )
  24. ↑ See: Concordance et indices de la tradition musulamane . Volume 1. p. 153 (sv “baddala”); The Encyclopaedia of Islam , New Edition. Brill, suffering. Volume 7, p. 635; Frank Griffel (2000), p. 48, note 21; 51-52, note 35; Yohanan Friedmann (2003), pp. 126-127
  25. ↑ Yohanan Friedmann (2003), p. 146ff with reference to controversial doctrines in legal theory
  26. ↑ Kitāb al-muḥāraba. P. 51. (Beirut 2002)
  27. ↑ See the note by Ignaz Goldziher, op.cit. P. 216. Note 2 from the hadith collection of An-Nawawī : The Book of Forty Hadith , No. 14, there, however, according to the prophet's saying: “ The blood of a Muslim man (to be shed) is only allowed in one of three cases: with the one who was married and commits fornication, with (the retribution of) life for life and with the one who leaves his religion and separates himself from the community. “Translated by An-Nawawī: Joseph Schacht : Islam with the exclusion of the Qorʾān . S. 18. No. 14. In: Alfred Bertholet (Ed.) Religionsgeschichtliches Lesebuch . 2nd expanded edition. Issue 16. Tübingen 1931
  28. ↑ In the taxation system, mixed marriages with non-Muslim women, in the event of their religion change, etc. see: Yohanan Friedmann (2003), pp. 146–147 and there note 143
  29. ↑ Frank Griffel (2000), p. 54; Yohanan Friedmann (2003), pp. 127-133
  30. ↑ al-mausu'a al-fiqhiyya , Vol. 22, pp. 191-192; Yohanan Friedmann (2003), p. 127
  31. ↑ Fuat Sezgin: History of Arabic literature , Brill, Leiden 1967. Volume 1, p. 31; about him in detail: Harald Motzki: The beginnings of Islamic jurisprudence, your development in Mecca up to the middle of the 2nd / 8th centuries. Century , pp. 70–156 and passim , treatises for the customer of the Orient. Volume L, 2. Stuttgart 1991
  32. ↑ Ignaz Goldziher, op. Cit. P. 215; the former was called murtadd fiṭrī , d. H. who was born in the state of the original, God-given natural purity (Islam), the convert murtadd ġair fiṭrī: Etan Kohlberg: The Development of the Imāmī Shīʿī Doctrine of jihād , In: Zeitschrift der Deutschen Morgenländische Gesellschaft (ZDMG), 126 (1976 ), P. 85 and note 113
  33. ↑ a b al-mausu'a al-fiqhiyya , Volume 22, p. 199
  34. ↑ Yohanan Friedmann (2003), p. 114
  35. ↑ Frank Griffel (2000), pp. 94-95, note 42
  36. ↑ Abd Allah ibn Wahb: Kitāb al-muḥāraba . P. 59; Yohanan Friedmann (2003), p. 125 and note 28; see also: The Encyclopaedia of Islam. New Edition. Volume 7, p. 635
  37. ↑ Yohanan Friedmann (2003), p. 132
  38. ↑ al-mausu'a al-fiqhiyya , Volume 22, p. 192; 194; Frank Griffel (2000), pp. 76–77: “... regardless of whether you have this right - God will settle accounts with you.” This text interpretation is wrong; see MJ Kister: "... illā bi-ḥaqqihi ..." A study of an early ḥadīth. In: Jerusalem Studies in Arabic and Islam (JSAI), 5 (1984), pp. 32-52
  39. ^ The Encyclopaedia of Islam . New Edition. Volume 11, p. 510
  40. ↑ al-mausu'a al-fiqhiyya , vol. 22, pp. 193-194; Volume 14, pp. 126–127 (sn tauba)
  41. ↑ For details of the process see: Christian Müller: Judicial practice in the city-state of Córdoba , about the law of society in a Malikitic-Islamic legal tradition of the 5th / 11th Century. Pp. 204-210
  42. ↑ AJ Wensinck and JH Kramers: Handwortbuch des Islam , Brill, Leiden 1941. P. 546
  43. ↑ asch-Schafi'i, op. Cit. Volume 6, pp. 148-149
  44. ^ W. Montgomery Watt: The Formative Period of Islamic Thought , p. 71. Edinburgh University Press 1973
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  48. ↑ K. al-Umm , 6, p. 149, lines 2-3; Chapter: Tafri 'al-murtadd: Types of the apostate. (Cairo, no year)
  49. ^ The Encyclopaedia of Islam . New Edition. Brill, suffering. Volume 3, p. 842
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  51. ↑ Ibn Qudāma: al-Mughnī , Volume 12, p. 280; Volume 2, p. 350 (Ed.) ʿAbd al-Fattāḥ Muḥammad al-Ḥilw. 2nd Edition. Cairo 1992. The tradition is also passed on in the Sunan works of as-Sidschistani , at-Tirmidhi and ad-Darimi .
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  53. ↑ Ibn Qudāma, op.cit. Volume 11, pp. 412-413
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  56. ↑ Yohanan Friedmann (2003), pp. 109-115; 175; Ibn Qudama, op. Cit. Volume 12, p. 284
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  61. ^ Joseph Schacht: An Introduction to Islamic Law . P. 131. Oxford 1971
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  106. ↑ Yaşar Nuri Öztürk: The falsified Islam , Düsseldorf 2007, pp. 93–96.

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