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Islam and Apostasy: Difference between revisions
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Islamic law draws heavily on the desert tribal norms that characterized its birthplace in 7th century Arabia. In this context, as in much of the ancient world, religion was a primarily communal rather than personal affair - commitment to the belief system of one's people was at the same time the basis of one's membership among those people. To abandon one's religion was to renounce not only a system of belief, but also (in the absence of strong secular notions of nationhood) the the society or community that was founded upon that belief. Thus, the norm in Arabia at the birth of Islam was to view apostasy as tantamount to a form of treason and renunciation of one's belonging to one's community. This did not, however, merit execution in all cases. After all, Muhammad himself was allowed to live in [[Mecca]] despite abandoning the 'religion of his forefathers', even if he was made to face some amount of persecution. Once Muhammad's movement of military conquest based out of Medina began, however, his group of believers was in a constant state of war with his neighbors. Since Muhammad cemented rather than overturned most of the contemporary tribal norms, this meant that apostasy at any point amounted to treason during a state of war, and thus merited execution. Islamic scholars, drawing on Muhammad's life, took these norms and turned them into the perennial dictates of Islamic law. Even among classical scholars born hundreds of years after Muhammad, the Islamic [[Khilafah (Caliphate)|caliphate]] was held to be in what was essentially a perpetual state of conquest, based on the [[Dar al-Harb and Dar al-Islam (the Abodes of War and Peace)|Dar al-Harb and Dar al-Islam (the Abode of War and the Abode of Peace)]] dichotomy, perpetuating the justification of this ruling. Since Islamic law is unchanging, however, and since a collapse of the Islamic state was not anticipated, the overwhelming majority of traditional Islamic scholars today continue to hold execution as the proper punishment for apostasy. Today, the punishment for apostasy is execution in 11 Muslim-majority countries and is outlawed and otherwise punishable in many, many more.<ref>https://persecution.exmuslims.org/map</ref> | Islamic law draws heavily on the desert tribal norms that characterized its birthplace in 7th century Arabia. In this context, as in much of the ancient world, religion was a primarily communal rather than personal affair - commitment to the belief system of one's people was at the same time the basis of one's membership among those people. To abandon one's religion was to renounce not only a system of belief, but also (in the absence of strong secular notions of nationhood) the the society or community that was founded upon that belief. Thus, the norm in Arabia at the birth of Islam was to view apostasy as tantamount to a form of treason and renunciation of one's belonging to one's community. This did not, however, merit execution in all cases. After all, Muhammad himself was allowed to live in [[Mecca]] despite abandoning the 'religion of his forefathers', even if he was made to face some amount of persecution. Once Muhammad's movement of military conquest based out of Medina began, however, his group of believers was in a constant state of war with his neighbors. Since Muhammad cemented rather than overturned most of the contemporary tribal norms, this meant that apostasy at any point amounted to treason during a state of war, and thus merited execution. Islamic scholars, drawing on Muhammad's life, took these norms and turned them into the perennial dictates of Islamic law. Even among classical scholars born hundreds of years after Muhammad, the Islamic [[Khilafah (Caliphate)|caliphate]] was held to be in what was essentially a perpetual state of conquest, based on the [[Dar al-Harb and Dar al-Islam (the Abodes of War and Peace)|Dar al-Harb and Dar al-Islam (the Abode of War and the Abode of Peace)]] dichotomy, perpetuating the justification of this ruling. Since Islamic law is unchanging, however, and since a collapse of the Islamic state was not anticipated, the overwhelming majority of traditional Islamic scholars today continue to hold execution as the proper punishment for apostasy. Today, the punishment for apostasy is execution in 11 Muslim-majority countries and is outlawed and otherwise punishable in many, many more.<ref>https://persecution.exmuslims.org/map</ref> | ||
===In early Islam=== | ===In early Islam=== | ||
There are no accounts in the [[ | There are no accounts in the [[Hadith|hadith]] considered authentic by traditional Islamic scholars of Muhammad executing apostates, largely due to the absence of individuals apostatizing during Muhammad's life. Academic historians have also shown that, despite the pretensions Islamic orthodoxy, Muhammad's original criteria for one to qualify as a 'believer' was in all likelihood a minimal monotheistic faith rather than the outright acceptance of the entirety of the Quran or Muhammad's individual dictates, which may account for the lesser number of apostates. Nonetheless, there is an incident in Sahih Bukhari where Muhammad is reported to to have banished a Bedouin who expressed the desire to discard his religion. This may, however, be due moreso to the very early Medinan stage of Islam at which this event is said to have taken place, a time when most of Islamic law and doctrine had not yet been formulated, rather than what the Islamic tradition holds to have been Muhammad's ultimate judgement on apostasy. | ||
The ruling of execution given by Muhammad according to numerous hadith falls into sharp relief upon [[Muhammad's Death|Muhammad's death]] and under the caliphate of [[Abu Bakr Abdullah ibn Uthman|Abu Bakr]], when thousands of converts to Islam "apostatized" and were summarily killed in what became known as the ''Riddah'' (lit. "apostasy") Wars (632–633 CE). These "apostates" had, in fact, only refused to pay the [[Zakat]] tithe and not openly renounced Islam. Refusing to accept even a single part of Islamic doctrine, however, is considered apostasy, and Abu Bakr dealt with them as such, reportedly prompted by a {{Quran|9|5}}, which commands Muslims to embattle Islam's enemies until they surrender the tithe and commit to offering prayers. Abu Bakr did not bring the bloody Riddah Wars to an end until all the apostates were either killed or had reverted to Islam. Several other narrations report Muhammad's [[Sahabah|companions (''sahabah'')]] implementing his command and executing atheists,<ref name="apostasy2" /> Christians,<ref name="Maududi2">Abul Ala Maududi - [http://www.answering-islam.org/Hahn/Mawdudi/index.htm The Punishment of the Apostate According to Islamic Law] - Islamic Publications Ltd., Lahore, 1963</ref> and Jews<ref>M. Muhsin Khan (Translator) - [{{Reference archive|1=http://www.cmje.org/religious-texts/hadith/bukhari/084-sbt.php#009.084.058|2=2011-10-30}} Sahih Bukhari Volume 9, Book 84 - Dealing with Apostates, Number 58] - USC-MSA, [[Compendium of Muslim Texts]]</ref> for leaving Islam. | The ruling of execution given by Muhammad according to numerous hadith falls into sharp relief upon [[Muhammad's Death|Muhammad's death]] and under the caliphate of [[Abu Bakr Abdullah ibn Uthman|Abu Bakr]], when thousands of converts to Islam "apostatized" and were summarily killed in what became known as the ''Riddah'' (lit. "apostasy") Wars (632–633 CE). These "apostates" had, in fact, only refused to pay the [[Zakat]] tithe and not openly renounced Islam. Refusing to accept even a single part of Islamic doctrine, however, is considered apostasy, and Abu Bakr dealt with them as such, reportedly prompted by a {{Quran|9|5}}, which commands Muslims to embattle Islam's enemies until they surrender the tithe and commit to offering prayers. Abu Bakr did not bring the bloody Riddah Wars to an end until all the apostates were either killed or had reverted to Islam. Several other narrations report Muhammad's [[Sahabah|companions (''sahabah'')]] implementing his command and executing atheists,<ref name="apostasy2" /> Christians,<ref name="Maududi2">Abul Ala Maududi - [http://www.answering-islam.org/Hahn/Mawdudi/index.htm The Punishment of the Apostate According to Islamic Law] - Islamic Publications Ltd., Lahore, 1963</ref> and Jews<ref>M. Muhsin Khan (Translator) - [{{Reference archive|1=http://www.cmje.org/religious-texts/hadith/bukhari/084-sbt.php#009.084.058|2=2011-10-30}} Sahih Bukhari Volume 9, Book 84 - Dealing with Apostates, Number 58] - USC-MSA, [[Compendium of Muslim Texts]]</ref> for leaving Islam. | ||