Murder in the Name of Allah — Page 84
Murder in the Name of Allah ultimately happened to the 'apostate' in question. . Next we turn to a tradition which has obtained much attention because it is strongly emphasised and relied upon by the school advocating capital punishment for apostacy. This has deliberately been deferred to the end of this chapter so that justice may be done to it without interfering with the general flow of the subject matter. . Before a detailed examination of this tradition, a few words concerning the application of certain principles accepted by Islamic scholars throughout the ages would not be out of place. These principles help to resolve controversies concerning the apparent contradiction between the. Holy Quran and hadith (tradition) on the one hand and some traditions vis-à-vis other traditions. 1. The Word of God stands supreme. 2. This is followed by the actual practices of the Holy Prophet of. Islams. This is known as sunnah. 3. This is followed by hadith, the words reported to be those of the. Holy Prophetsa a) If the authenticity of the words of the Holy Prophetsa is established unquestionably, the words concerned are words put into the mouth of the. Holy Prophets by God Almighty. Where there is no apparent contradiction between the word of the Holy Prophets and the Quran, the tradition may be accepted as authentic. b) There are no two opinions regarding the accepted fact that whenever any so-called tradition attributed to the Holy Prophet of Islam contradicts any clear injunction of the Holy Quran, such a tradition is rejected as false and is not accepted as the word of the Holy Prophetsa. c) If such a tradition does not glaringly violate any injunction of the Holy. Quran and there is room for compromise, then ideally an attempt should be made to search for a suitable compromise before the final rejection of the tradition. d) In attempting to reconcile a tradition attributed to the Holy Prophets with the Holy Quran, it must always be borne in mind that the clear teachings of the Holy Quran are not to be compromised for the sake of a so-called tradition, but a genuine attempt is to be made to find an explanation of the tradition. Therefore in all cases of doubt, the tradition is put to the anvil of the Holy Quran and judged accordingly. e) If there is no contradiction between the Holy Quran and hadith, then their mutual merit of credibility would be determined according to the reliability of the sources and the chain of narrators. 84