HUDUD CRIMES

(7) APOSTACY
(RIDDAH)
Definition:

Turning back from Islamic fold to another religious

belief or faith or even to unbelief.

Or

Rejection of the religion of the religion of Islam and

acceptance of other religion either through word of
mouth or through an action.

According to Muslim scholars, apostacy may be

committed with reference to belief, deed and word and
by failure to observe obligatory performances.
To be condemned as an apostate, it is
imperative that the person concerned must hv
attained majority, shd have normal senses and
shd hv apostated voluntarily.

The jurists opined that an apostate must be

given chance to explain as to what he meant
by the words/action he uttered.
Punishment:

Hadith: “Kill the person (Muslim) who abandons his

religion”.

According to traditional view, majority of Islamic jurists

are of the opinion that apostacy must be punished
with the capital punishment i.e. liable to death if he
does not repent and continues with his apostacy.
Punishment for Apostacy: Some reflection

Al Quran(16:106):
“Whoever disbelieved in Allah after his belief, except him who is forced
thereto and whose heart is at rest with Faith but such as open their
breasts to disbelief, on them is wrath from Allah, and theirs will be a
great torment.”

Hadith:
“The Messenger of God did not put to death anyone by way of hadd
prescribed punishmnet, except for one of the three antecedents: a
person who commits murder of his own free will shall be killed, a
person who commits fornication after marriage or a person who fights
God and His Messenger and becomes an apostate from Islam.”
-Sahih Buhkari (Kitab al –Dayat)

“Whoever changes his religion, kill him.”

The modern scholars on the basis of the above noted verse
contend that the punishment is left to the Allah (SWT) to be
decided on the Day of Judgment and not in this world.

Regarding the hadith mentioned above, the first hadith is

applicable to such apostacy as is followed by hostility to Islam.
Thus, it is due to hostility to the punishment of death is meted
out and not because of only renunciation of Islam.

The doctrine of tolerance which Islam does recognize and

promote, is based on the Quranic verse:

Al Quran(2: 256)
“There is no compulsion in religion…”
Al Quran(4: 137):
“Verily, those who believe, then disbelieve, then believe (again), and
(again) disbelieve, and go on increasing in disbelief; Allah will not
forgive them, nor guide them on the (Right) Way.”

The above mentioned Quranic verse refers to repeated apostasies and

reversions to original faith, but there is no mention about any kind of
worldly punishment.

The act of apostacy must, therefore, be treated as a sin and not as a

crime. The Quranic evidence can substantiate this observation. Modern
scholars are of the opinion that the punishment for apostacy due to
change of religion is to be determined on the Day of Judgment as there
is no mention of it in the AQ.

*Please refer further discussion in OUTLINES OF CRIMINAL LAW AND

JUSTICE IN ISLAM, DR. MOHAMMAD SHABBIR, ILBS, K.LUMPUR, pg.
231-263.