Usually after explaning the Quran and the Ahlulbayt’s disagreement with religious enforcement, the first question mentioned is that if there is no compulsion or enforcement in religion, then why are people not permitted to change their religion? And why is the path of freedom of choice closed with such heavy punishments; such as the death penalty for an apostate? To answer this important and necessary question, we need to look at the Quran’s point of view regarding apostasy without relying on previous conceptions.
In order to understand the position of the Quran in dealing with apostasy, in addition to paying attention to the verses that consider imposed religion as futile and undesirable, it is necessary to also examine more than 15 verses that explicitly condemn turning away from religion and perscribe severe punishments for it.
Of course, wherever the Quran talks about disbelief after faith and blames apostates, it is refering to those who have accepted the clear evidence showing religion as the truth, yet consciously and intentionally turn away from it. Those who are described in verse 86 of Surah Al-Imran as follows:
كَيْفَ يَهْدِي اللَّهُ قَوْمًا كَفَرُوا بَعْدَ إِيمَانِهِمْ وَشَهِدُوا أَنَّ الرَّسُولَ حَقٌّ وَجَاءَهُمُ الْبَيِّنَاتُ وَاللَّهُ لَا يَهْدِي الْقَوْمَ الظَّالِمِينَ.
How shall Allah guide a people who have disbelieved after their belief and (after) bearing witness that the Messenger is true, and clear proofs had come unto them? And Allah guides not the unjust people.
And it is for this reason that such people have been described as those who have been led astray and as transgressors in verse 108 of Surah Al-Baqarah [1] and verse 82 of Surah Al-Imran[2] respectively. Moreover, in verse 149 of Surah Al-Imran, such people are named as those who are in loss[3]. Earlier on in the same Surah, in verses 86 till 91 the severe and eternal punishments are described as well as not accepting their repentance and compensation[4]. Many other verses in the Quran also describe the punishments for apostasy such as the destruction of good deeds[5], deprivation of God’s forgiveness and divine guidance[6], painful punishments in this world and the hereafter[7], and incurring God’s wrath and great punishments[8]. However not once has there been any reference made to the implementation religious legal penalties (based on Sharia law) for apostates.
The Quran has dealt with the subject of apostasy many times and has very seriously and decisively prohibited this sin and deviance by warning the perpetrators of recieving the severest and greatest punishments in the afterlife, but it has never mentioned any wordly punishments or consequences in this context. This is very meaningful and clearly shows that a school which is the flag bearer of freedom of thought and belief and repeatedly inisists on the non-compulsory nature of religious affairs, would never be pleased with rulings and treatments which goes against our claims and that destroy any opportunity for freedom of choice.
Indeed, some have wanted to consider God’s command in the context of the mass suicide of the Israelites after worshipping the calf, mentioned in verse 54 of Surah Al-Baqarah, or the promise of wordly punishments in verse 74 of Surah Al-Tawbah, as a reason to deal with apostasy, but such a ruling is not obtained from these two verses. Hence, these arguments do not contradict the numerous and evident reasons that negate these worldly punishments assigned for apostasy of having any Quranic basis.
The verse in Surah Al-Baqarah describes the punishment for worshiping of the calf as such:
وَإِذْ قَالَ مُوسَىٰ لِقَوْمِهِ يَا قَوْمِ إِنَّكُمْ ظَلَمْتُمْ أَنفُسَكُم بِاتِّخَاذِكُمُ الْعِجْلَ فَتُوبُوا إِلَىٰ بَارِئِكُمْ فَاقْتُلُوا أَنفُسَكُمْ ذَٰلِكُمْ خَيْرٌ لَّكُمْ عِندَ بَارِئِكُمْ فَتَابَ عَلَيْكُمْ إِنَّهُ هُوَ التَّوَّابُ الرَّحِيمُ.
And when Moses said to his people: ’O’ my people, you have indeed wronged yourselves by worshipping the Calf; so turn (in repentance) to your Creator and slay yourselves, that will be better for you with your Creator’. Then, He turned towards you mercifully, (accepting your repentance). Truly, He is the Oft-Pardoning, the Most merciful.
Although according to the opinion of many commentators, it can be understood from this verse that the punishment for the Israelites after their apostasy and worshipping of the calf, was to slay each other. However, we should consider that it is possible for the sentence to have been a trial and not implemented in practise, or they were forgiven for their repentance. Thus we cannot reach a clear conclusion about the certainty and perpetuity of such a ruling even for the religious law (Sharia law) of Prophet Moses, let alone apply the events of a specific incident in another religious law to the verses of the Quran and issue such a heavy verdict.
But the punishment of this world announced in the verse 74 of Surah Al-Tawbah is related to the disbelievers and hypocrites who after converting to Islam, have spoken blasphemous words while violating, breaking agreements and starting wars. This verse first asks them to repent and say:
وَإِن يَتَوَلَّوْا يُعَذِّبْهُمُ اللَّهُ عَذَابًا أَلِيمًا فِي الدُّنْيَا وَالْآخِرَةِ وَمَا لَهُمْ فِي الْأَرْضِ مِن وَلِيٍّ وَلَا نَصِيرٍ.
And if they turn away, Allah will chastise them with a painful chastisement in this world and the Hereafter, and they shall not have on the earth any gaurdian or any helper.
Here, if we pay attention to the context of the statement, we will understand that the meaning of worldly punishment is defeat and destruction in jihad (war/combat) which God has advised the Prophet to do strictly in the previous verse. This matter has nothing to do with non-combat conditions and or even with the verdicts given for apostasy.
Another group of jurists, in order to justify the famous fatwa and solve the problem of its inconsistency with the verses of the Quran, relate this punishment to acts such as widely declaring (propagating) apostasy and uncertainty between Muslims and say: ”the change in one’s opinion and leaving Islam in itself does not have a worldly punishment. But such a person is not allowed to express and propagate his new belief, and if he does so, he will be punished for the crime of sedition”. Yet this justification also does not seem compatible with the Quran’s point of view, and a careful examination shows that when dealing with apostates who intend to mock and weaken religion, this book suffices to warning of the torments of the afterlife.
In verses 65 and 66 of Surah Al-Tawbah we read:
وَلَئِن سَأَلْتَهُمْ لَيَقُولُنَّ إِنَّمَا كُنَّا نَخُوضُ وَنَلْعَبُ قُلْ أَبِاللَّهِ وَآيَاتِهِ وَرَسُولِهِ كُنتُمْ تَسْتَهْزِئُونَ. لَا تَعْتَذِرُوا قَدْ كَفَرْتُم بَعْدَ إِيمَانِكُمْ إِن نَّعْفُ عَن طَائِفَةٍ مِّنكُمْ نُعَذِّبْ طَائِفَةً بِأَنَّهُمْ كَانُوا مُجْرِمِينَ.
And if you question them, they will certainly say: ’We were only discoursing and sporting’. Say: ”Were you mocking Allah, His signs, and His Messenger?” Do not make excuses. You have disbelieved after your believeing. If We forgive a party of you, We will chastise another party for they have been sinners.
So therefore, we can see that in these two verses that some wanted to document them in support of executing apostates, like many other similar verses, there is no mention of violent treatment or worldy punishment in response to their ridicule and insults. This is because the All-Wise God knows very well that being harsh against the insults and punishing people for their false beliefs will present religion and religious people as irrational and lacking self confidence, and indeed will not lead to their reformation. Practising forgiveness and tolerance in social life and postponing the punishment of such people to the next world will be the basis for reforming some of them and will present a beautiful face of religion, attracting pure hearts. Therefore, in verse 54 of Surah Al-Ma’idah, after refering to the possibility of apostasy of some Muslims, instead of punishing the apostates, the Quran uses its beautiful logic to compensate for such losses by saying:
يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا مَن يَرْتَدَّ مِنكُمْ عَن دِينِهِ فَسَوْفَ يَأْتِي اللَّهُ بِقَوْمٍ يُحِبُّهُمْ وَيُحِبُّونَهُ …
O’ you who have faith whoever of you turns away from his religion soon Allah will bring a people whom He loves and who love Him…
The harmony of these verses with other verses expressing the non-imposition of religion leaves no doubt that the Quran not only does not agree with punishing those who leave Islam, but also considers forcing them to remain in the religion as they way of the arrogant. As in verse 88 of Surah Al-Araf, the Quran quotes this method by Prophet Shoaib after the chiefs of his people opposed him. The answer reported from him is in opposition to a compulsory religion:
قَالَ الْمَلَأُ الَّذِينَ اسْتَكْبَرُوا مِن قَوْمِهِ لَنُخْرِجَنَّكَ يَا شُعَيْبُ وَالَّذِينَ آمَنُوا مَعَكَ مِن قَرْيَتِنَا أَوْ لَتَعُودُنَّ فِي مِلَّتِنَا قَالَ أَوَلَوْ كُنَّا كَارِهِينَ.
The chiefs of the arrogant among his people said: ’We will surely expel you, O Shoaib, and those who believe with you from our town, unless you return into our creed’. He said: ’What, even though we dislike it?’
The same coercive logic in forcing people to accept religion is attributed to the enemies of all the prophets in verse 13 of Surah Ibrahim:
وَقَالَ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا لِرُسُلِهِمْ لَنُخْرِجَنَّكُم مِّنْ أَرْضِنَا أَوْ لَتَعُودُنَّ فِي مِلَّتِنَا فَأَوْحَىٰ إِلَيْهِمْ رَبُّهُمْ لَنُهْلِكَنَّ الظَّالِمِينَ.
And those who disbelieved told their messengers: ’We will certainly expel you from our land, or else you return to our creed.’ Then their lord revealved to them: ’Certainly We will perish the unjust’.
A clear example of the enmity with the freedom-loving way of the prophets was Pharaoh, who according to the report of verse 26 of Surah Ghafir, used exactly the issue of changing religion and worrying about damaging people’s previous beliefs as an excuse for his violence:
وَقَالَ فِرْعَوْنُ ذَرُونِي أَقْتُلْ مُوسَىٰ وَلْيَدْعُ رَبَّهُ إِنِّي أَخَافُ أَن يُبَدِّلَ دِينَكُمْ أَوْ أَن يُظْهِرَ فِي الْأَرْضِ الْفَسَادَ.
Pharaoh said: ”Leave me to slay Moses and let him call his Lord. I fear that he may change your religion or that he may cause mischief to appear in the land”.
According to what has been said, there is no doubt that the Quran does not support punishments in this present world for those who leave religion, but why most of the jurists, based on a number of hadiths and current practices among Muslims, have issued ’fatwas’ (rulings) for severe punishment such as execution, harsh and unforgiving treatment against change of opinion, requires a separate study so that by validating historical reports and the political context of such treatments, we can appreciate the role of authoritarian governments in exploiting this ruling. Recognising the difference between the logic of the Quran and the practice of the Muslims, we can understand better the dimensions which led to the abandonment of the book of God in the Islamic Ummah.
Next: Destruction of idols or tolerance?
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Islamic Library: Introduction to Islam
[1]. Surah Al-Baqarah, verse 108:
«وَمَن يَتَبَدَّلِ الْكُفْرَ بِالْإِيمَانِ فَقَدْ ضَلَّ سَوَاءَ السَّبِيل»
And he who exchanges faith for falsity (covering the truth), he has surely strayed from the right way.
[2]. Surah Al-Imran, verse 82:
«فَمَن تَوَلَّىٰ بَعْدَ ذَٰلِكَ فَأُولَٰئِكَ هُمُ الْفَاسِقُونَ»
Then whoever turns back after that , -these are they that are the stransgressors.
[3]. Surah Al-Imran, verse 149:
«يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا إِن تُطِيعُوا الَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا يَرُدُّوكُمْ عَلَىٰ أَعْقَابِكُمْ فَتَنقَلِبُوا خَاسِرِينَ»
O’ you who have Faith! If you obey those who disbelieve, they will turn you back on your faith, so that you will turn back in loss.
[4] . These collection of verses contain many important points, but due to their length, the text and translations were not quoted. It is advised to the dear readers to refer to the Quran and study these few verses.
[5]. Surah Al-Baqarah, verse 217:
«وَمَن يَرْتَدِدْ مِنكُمْ عَن دِينِهِ فَيَمُتْ وَهُوَ كَافِرٌ فَأُولَٰئِكَ حَبِطَتْ أَعْمَالُهُمْ فِي الدُّنْيَا وَالْآخِرَةِ وَأُولَٰئِكَ أَصْحَابُ النَّارِ هُمْ فِيهَا خَالِدُونَ»
But whoever of you truns back from his religion, and dies disbelieving – such are they whose deeds shall be of no avail in this world and Hereafter; those are the inhabitants of the fire, wherein they shall dwell forever.
[6]. Surah Al-Nisa, verse 137:
«إِنَّ الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا ثُمَّ كَفَرُوا ثُمَّ آمَنُوا ثُمَّ كَفَرُوا ثُمَّ ازْدَادُوا كُفْرًا لَّمْ يَكُنِ اللَّهُ لِيَغْفِرَ لَهُمْ وَلَا لِيَهْدِيَهُمْ سَبِيلًا»
Verily those who believed, then disbelieved, again believed, and again disbelieved, then increased in their disbelief, Allah will not forgive them, nor will He guide them to the right way.
[7]. Surah Al-Tawbah, verse 74:
«وَإِن يَتَوَلَّوْا يُعَذِّبْهُمُ اللَّهُ عَذَابًا أَلِيمًا فِي الدُّنْيَا وَالْآخِرَةِ وَمَا لَهُمْ فِي الْأَرْضِ مِن وَلِيٍّ وَلَا نَصِيرٍ»
And if they turn away, Allah will chastise them with a painful chastisement in this world and the Hereafter, and they shall not have on the earth any gaurdian or any helper.
[8] . This point has been raised in verse 106 of Surah Al-Nahl, whose text and translation have been quoted earlier on for the explanation of the ineffectiveness of forced anti-religion behaviour.