Punishment of Apostacy in Islam — Page 28
28 away, We have not sent thee as a guardian over them. Thy duty is only to convey the message and no more (42:48-49). Then it is said: Believe in Allah and His Messenger and in the Light that We have sent down…Allah will remove the ills of those who believe in Allah and work righteousness, and will admit them to the gardens of His love, but those who disbelieve will be driven into the fire…Allah will guide aright the heart of whoever truly believes in Him, that is to say, He will bestow upon him true faith which will enter into his heart and bring about a pure revolution in his life. You can be bestowed this bounty only if you obey Allah and His Messenger and offer Him all that belongs to you, but if you turn away (whether on account of hypocrisy or disobedience, or by way of apostacy) then remember that the Messenger has no responsibility for your misconduct, nor does any blame rest upon him, or his followers, for your apostacy. The only responsibility of Our Messenger is to convey the message clearly (64:9-13). Again it is said: Whether We bring to pass during thy lifetime some of the chastisement that We have designed for them, or whether We cause thee to die before that happens, it will all be fulfilled. Thy duty is only to convey Our Message. It is for Us to call them to account (13:41). Here it is clearly affirmed that the responsibility of the Holy Prophet, peace be on him, is only to convey the message; the reckoning rests with God. Then who can claim that he has the authority to call anyone to account? Imam Razi has commented on this verse as follows: God says it is all the same whether the promise of chastisement is fulfilled in thy lifetime or after thy death. It was not the Holy Prophet who prophesied the doom of the disbelievers, nor did he prophesy the