Murder in the Name of Allah — Page 79
Punishment for Apostasy that some of them might thereby by beguiled into repudiating Islam. How could it be possible for the Jews to have enacted this plan if death was a penalty for apostasy? Had anyone been executed for commiting this crime, that would have been a deterrent for others who would not follow in their footsteps. . The advocates of the death penalty urge that this verse merely refers to a Jewish philosophy which was never put into practice by them. Even if it was merely a philosophy, this verse is conclusive proof of there being no punishment in this world for apostasy because the Jews could never have conceived the idea had there been such a punishment. Moreover, it is wrong to say that the idea was a hypothetical case; the books of tradition mention that it was put into practice by twelve Jewish divines of. Khaibar and Urainah. 2(See also p. 65). All commentaries agree that this chapter of the Holy Quran was revealed between the victory of Mecca and the demise of the Holy. Prophet. This conclusively proves that the Jews put it into practice after. Islam became firmly established in Arabia. How could the Jews ever think of such a suicidal and insane strategy if death was prescribed as a punishment for apostasy? How could they encourage Muslims to follow their faith by affirming it during the day and repudiating it at the end of the day if they knew that the Muslims would be executed for changing their faith?. Traditions. The advocates of capital punishment for apostasy misconstrue out of all proportion the traditions narrated about the Holy Prophets. Traditions lend no support to their thesis. On the contrary, there are many traditions which clearly show that there is no punishment for apostasy in this life. . However, for the sake of completeness, we set out those traditions which are most often cited by advocates of capital punishment for apostasy. a) Abu Qalabah reports on the authority of Anas that the Holy Prophet told the people of Akal or Uraynah to go and stay among his she-camels outside Medina. These people killed the keeper of the camels and ran away with the herd. Although it is true that these people had become apostates, their punishment was not a result of their apostasy but of their murder of the keeper of the she-camels. (See also page 34. ) b) Whereas Ibn Khatal, who was without doubt one of the four executed on the fall of Mecca, was an apostate, he had also committed the crime 79