Title:
Punishment for Apostates
Article:
روي
أن رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم قال: من بدل دينه
فاقتلوه.
It is narrated
that the Prophet (pbuh) said: [From among the Banu Ishmael,] whoever
changes his religion, kill him1.
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General Notes:
-
The Qur'an tells us that Muhammad (pbuh)
was not only a Prophet (Nabi) but was also a Messenger (Rasu'l)
of God. The Qur'an tells us that when God sends His messenger to a people,
the polytheists among these people are not allowed to live on God's earth if
they reject the messenger; It tells us that these people are given time in
which to make up their minds and to present all their objections against the
messenger (Rasu'l); It tells us that when the All-knowing God decides
that these people have been given adequate time and that they are now
absolutely clear about the truthfulness of the messenger and thus are not left
with any excuse for their rejection, yet are still persistent in their
rejection, then God directs His messenger to migrate from the area and then He
destroys all those who have rejected His messenger. The Qur'an refers to the
peoples of the messengers of old - Nuh, Hud, Lut,
Sho`aib, Saaleh, Musaa (pbut) - and narrates the result of
their rejection. It declares to the direct addressees of Muhammad (pbuh) that
if they do not accept the message of God's messenger (Muhammad) their fate
shall be no different from those nations that have gone before them (See
Surah Al-Qamar, the whole Surah especially verse 43 - 45).
In short, the Qur'an says that it is the unalterable law of God that
when He sends His messenger to a people, the polytheists among these people
are left with no option, but to accept His message or to face the punishment
of death and sometimes complete annihilation.
The Qur'an goes further to tell us
how this punishment was implemented on the polytheists from among the rejecters
of the Prophet (pbuh). It tells us that although the previous nations of the
messengers of God were annihilated, because of their rejection, through
(apparently) natural calamities, the believers of Muhammad (pbuh), because God
has given them rule in a land (Madinah), shall fight the rejecters and,
thereby, through these believers shall God implement His punishment (Al-Tawbah
9: 14 - 16). It directs them that the Mushrikeen should be killed,
without any exception. They should only be allowed to live if they accept Islam
(Al-Tawbah 9: 5). On the other hand, it also directs them that the Jews
and the Christians (because they were not polytheists - i.e. Mushrik),
even if they do not enter the folds of Islam, they may be allowed to live if
they accept to live under the Muslim rule and agree to pay the appointed
Jizyah (Al-Tawbah 9: 29).
Thus, according to the Qur'an, as a
result of the advent of the Messenger of God in the Banu Ishmael, those
who rejected faith from amongst the polytheists were subject to the death
penalty, under the provisions of the Divine Law relating to the advent of God's
messengers. If any of these polytheists had accepted Islam at the hands of the
Messenger and later decides to return to his previous beliefs, then he too
should be grouped with those who had rejected the call of the messenger and,
thus, also be subjected to the same punishment. If seen in this perspective, the
narrative under consideration actually means that those people who were to be
punished, according to the law of God, had they not accepted Islam, would face
the same punishment, if at any time during their lives they leave the folds of
Islam and return to their previous beliefs.
Notes on the Text of the Narrative
This narrative or a part of it with some variations has been reported in
Bukhari (narrative no. 2854, 6524 and 6525), Muslim (narrative no.
1733), Mu'atta of Imam Malik (narrative no. 1413), Ibn Hibban
(narrative no. 4475 and 5606), Abu Dawood (narrative no. 4351 and 4354),
Tirmidhi (narrative no. 1458), Nissaiy (narrative no. 4059, 4060,
4061, 4062, 4063, 4064, 4065 and 4066), Ibn Maajah (narrative no. 2535),
Nissaiy's Sunan al-Kubraa (narrative no. 3522, 3523, 3524, 3525, 3526,
3527, 3528 and 3529), Bayhaqiy (narrative no. 16597, 16598, 16599, 16635,
16636, 16637, 16654, 16658 and 17841), Ahmad ibn Hanbal (narrative no.
1871, 2551, 2552, 2968, 19681 and 22068), Abu Ya`laa (narrative no. 2532
and 2533), Humaidiy (narrative no. 533), Abd al-Razzaq (narrative
no. 9413, 18705 and 18706), Ibn Abi Shaybah (narrative no. 28992, 29006,
32728, 33143 and 36491). The preferred text is reported in Bukhari's
narrative no. 2854.
In some narratives, as in
Ahmad ibn Hanbal's narrative no. 22068, the words
“من بدل دينه”
(i.e., 'whoever changes his religion') have been reported as
“من رجع عن دينه” (i.e., 'whoever
returns back to his previous religion, turning away from his present religion');
in some narratives, as in Mu'atta Imam Malik's narrative no. 1413, these
words have been reported as
“من غير دينه” (i.e., 'whoever changes
his religion'); in Abd al-Razzaq's narrative no. 18706, these words have
been replaced with
“من بدل عن دينه” (i.e., 'whoever
changes [his religion] turning away from his present religion').
In some narratives, as in
Mu'atta Imam Malik's narrative no. 1413, the word
“فاقتلوه”
(i.e., 'kill him') have been replaced with a synonymous phrase
“فاضربوا عنقه” (i.e., 'break his
neck').
In some other narratives, as for instance in Bukhari's
narrative no. 6525, the Prophet's directive under consideration is implied but
its words have not been expressly cited.
(This write-up is prepared by the Hadith Cell of
Javed Ahmad Ghamidi)
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