Murder in the Name of Allah — Page 91
Punishment for Apostasy 'God forgive Umar!' By God, the Holy Prophets said nothing of the kind. He only said that if the descendants of a disbeliever cried over his dead body, their action tended to augment his punishment, and by way of argument, Ayesha also said, 'Sufficient for us is the saying of the Quran: “Verily no soul can bear the burden of another. ”25. If a man of Hazrat Umar's stature and integrity can misunderstand the Holy Prophetsa, however rarely it might have happened, how much more is there danger of ordinary narrators misunderstanding the reports of Ibn Abbas?. With such wide possibilities for the miscarriage of the message of the. Holy Prophet of Islamsa, how can a sane person rely entirely on the evidence of this hadith and draw conclusions of far-reaching import regarding matters of life and death and fundamental human rights?. It is likely that Ikramah concocted this tradition, attributing it to Ibn. Abbas, as it was his wont to do, according to Ali b. Ibn Abbas. . Other internal criteria. When we examine the subject matter of the tradition under consideration, we find the contents to be erroneous in several ways. a) A person of Hazrat Ali's stature is presumed to be unaware of the fact that Islam categorically prohibits a person to be punished by fire. b) 'The words 'slay whosoever changes his faith' are so general that they can be interpreted in many ways. They can apply to men, women and children, whereas according to Imam Abu Hanifa and some other schools of jurisprudence, an apostate woman can never be slain. c) The Arabic word deen (religion) used in this tradition is a general word meaning any religion, not Islam specifically. Even the faith of idolaters is referred to as deen. (Sura Al-Kafiroon). In the light of the general nature of the language used, how can one restrict the application of this tradition to a Muslim who renounces his faith? In strict legal terms, according to this tradition anyone who changes his religion, whatever that religion is, would have to be put to death. It would mean slaying the Jew who became a Christian, slaying the. Christian who became a Muslim, and slaying the pagan who adopted any new faith. 'Whosoever' also transcends the geographical boundaries of. Muslim states, implying that anywhere in the world, anyone who changes his faith - be he an aborigine of Australia, a pygmy of Africa or an indian of South America - must be slain forthwith the moment he renounces his previous faith and accepts another one. 91