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Islam and Apostasy: Difference between revisions
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<metadesc>Summaries of articles: Apostasy and Human Rights, Persecution of Ex-Muslims, People Who Left Islam, Notable Former Muslims, and more</metadesc> | <metadesc>Summaries of articles: Apostasy and Human Rights, Persecution of Ex-Muslims, People Who Left Islam, Notable Former Muslims, and more</metadesc> | ||
'''Apostasy''' (ارتداد, irtidād and ridda) i.e. the rejection of faith has been, and still is, a serious offense in [[Islam]]. The punishment for apostasy as prescribed by [[Muhammad]] is death. An '''apostate''' (مرتد murtad) who hides his apostasy is referred to as a '''munāfiq''' (منافق hypocrite). | '''Apostasy''' (ارتداد, irtidād and ridda) i.e. the rejection of faith has been, and still is, a serious offense in [[Islam]]. The punishment for apostasy as prescribed by Prophet [[Muhammad]] is death. An '''apostate''' (مرتد murtad) who hides his apostasy is referred to as a '''munāfiq''' (منافق hypocrite). | ||
{{Core}} | {{Core}} | ||
==An Introduction to Apostasy== | ==An Introduction to Apostasy== | ||
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For almost 1,400 years, the punishment for apostasy has been death. Only recently has this been challenged, mainly by Islamic apologists in the West. A Pew poll released on December 2, 2010, found that even today “The majority of Muslims would favor changing current laws in their countries to “allow stoning as punishment for adultery, hand amputation for theft, and death for those who convert from Islam as their religion”.<ref>Devonia Smith - [http://www.examiner.com/political-transcripts-in-national/pew-poll-most-muslims-favor-law-to-allow-islam-stoning-amputation-death Pew Poll: Most Muslims favor law to allow Islam stoning , amputation & death] - Examiner, December 8, 2010</ref><ref>Survey Reports - [http://pewglobal.org/2010/12/02/muslims-around-the-world-divided-on-hamas-and-hezbollah/ Muslim Publics Divided on Hamas and Hezbollah] - Pew Research Center, December 2, 2010</ref> | For almost 1,400 years, the punishment for apostasy has been death. Only recently has this been challenged, mainly by Islamic apologists in the West. A Pew poll released on December 2, 2010, found that even today “The majority of Muslims would favor changing current laws in their countries to “allow stoning as punishment for adultery, hand amputation for theft, and death for those who convert from Islam as their religion”.<ref>Devonia Smith - [http://www.examiner.com/political-transcripts-in-national/pew-poll-most-muslims-favor-law-to-allow-islam-stoning-amputation-death Pew Poll: Most Muslims favor law to allow Islam stoning , amputation & death] - Examiner, December 8, 2010</ref><ref>Survey Reports - [http://pewglobal.org/2010/12/02/muslims-around-the-world-divided-on-hamas-and-hezbollah/ Muslim Publics Divided on Hamas and Hezbollah] - Pew Research Center, December 2, 2010</ref> | ||
To give you an idea of the kind of figures we're dealing with, we'll use Pakistan as an example; the 2010 poll found that 76% of Pakistanis agree apostates are to be killed. In a country with a population of 172,800,000<ref>[http://www.prb.org/pdf08/08WPDS_Eng.pdf 2008 World Population Data Sheet] - Population Reference Bureau</ref> (96% of whom are Muslim)<ref>[http://www.statpak.gov.pk/depts/pco/statistics/other_tables/pop_by_religion.pdf Population By Religion] - Statistics Division, Government of Pakistan</ref> that would be 126,074,880 individuals in a single country. Conversely only a mere 13% of Muslims opposed killing apostates. If we are to assume the politically-correct position that, Muslims who espouse such views are extremists who misunderstand the 'peaceful' teachings of Islam, then we must also concede the fact that the majority of Muslims in the world are extremists. They are not simply a 'fringe group'. | To give you an idea of the kind of figures we're dealing with, we'll use Pakistan as an example; the 2010 poll found that 76% of Pakistanis agree apostates are to be killed. In a country with a population of 172,800,000<ref>[http://www.prb.org/pdf08/08WPDS_Eng.pdf 2008 World Population Data Sheet] - Population Reference Bureau</ref> (96% of whom are Muslim)<ref>[http://www.statpak.gov.pk/depts/pco/statistics/other_tables/pop_by_religion.pdf Population By Religion] - Statistics Division, Government of Pakistan</ref> that would be 126,074,880 individuals in a single country. Conversely only a mere 13% of Muslims opposed killing apostates. If we are to assume the politically-correct position that, Muslims who espouse such views are extremists who misunderstand the 'peaceful' teachings of Islam, then we must also concede the fact that [[Are the Overwhelming Majority of Muslims Peaceful Moderates|the majority of Muslims in the world are extremists]]. They are not simply a 'fringe group'. | ||
==See Also== | ==See Also== | ||