Murder in the Name of Allah — Page 60
CHAPTER 6. RECANTATION. Write down for me the name of everyone who calls himself a Muslim. . Muhammad. The concept of apostasy, as it existed in medieval Christianity and as expounded by Maulana Maududi, is alien to Islam. There is not even a word for it in the Arabic language. There is no doubt that some early. Muslim scholars of law considered recantation from Islam to be a capital offence, but their definition of ‘Muslim' was so broad that no one calling himself a Muslim could be called a recanter. The Prophet gave us two definitions of a Muslim. At the time of the first census of Medina, the Prophetsa said: 'Write down for me the name of everyone who calls himself a Muslim. " On another occasion the Prophets said: 'Whoever prays as we pray and turns to our Qiblah and eats what we ritually slaughter is a Muslim; he is dhimmat-Allah and dhimmat al-rasul. So do not put Allah in contravention of his dhimmah [responsibility]. 2. But Maulana Maududi and the ulema, supporting dictatorships and autocracies in Muslim countries, have added various qualifications to the. Prophet's simple definition. In the words of Al-Ghazali (450-505AH/. AD1058-1113) they have limited: 'The vast Mercy of God to make paradise the preserve of a small clique of theologians. " The result of their effort has been summed up by the former chief justice of Pakistan,. Muhammad Munir, who presided over the Court of Inquiry into the. Punjab (Pakistan) Disturbances in 1953. He said:. Keeping in view the several definitions given by the ulema, need we make any comment except that no two learned divines are agreed on this fundamental? If we attempt our own definition, as each learned divine has, and that definition differs from all others, we all leave. Islam's fold. If we adopt the definition given by any one of the ulema, we remain Muslims according to the view of that alim, but kafirs according to everyone else's definition. 4 60