This is not “extremism.” The death penalty for apostasy is part of Islamic law. It’s based on the Qur’an: “They wish you would disbelieve as they disbelieved so you would be alike. So do not take from among them allies until they emigrate for the cause of Allah. But if they turn away, then seize them and kill them wherever you find them and take not from among them any ally or helper.” (Qur’an 4:89)
A hadith depicts Muhammad saying: “Whoever changed his Islamic religion, then kill him” (Bukhari 9.84.57). The death penalty for apostasy is part of Islamic law according to all the schools of Islamic jurisprudence.
This is still the position of all the schools of Islamic jurisprudence, both Sunni and Shi’ite. Sheikh Yusuf al-Qaradawi, the most renowned and prominent Muslim cleric in the world, has stated: “The Muslim jurists are unanimous that apostates must be punished, yet they differ as to determining the kind of punishment to be inflicted upon them. The majority of them, including the four main schools of jurisprudence (Hanafi, Maliki, Shafi’i, and Hanbali) as well as the other four schools of jurisprudence (the four Shiite schools of Az-Zaidiyyah, Al-Ithna-‘ashriyyah, Al-Ja’fariyyah, and Az-Zaheriyyah) agree that apostates must be executed.”
Qaradawi also once famously said: “If they had gotten rid of the apostasy punishment, Islam wouldn’t exist today.”
“Activist faces death for dumping Islam,” Nan.ng, May 14, 2017 (thanks to The Religion of Peace):
Mr. Mohamed Al-Dosogy, an activist who tried to dump Islam for atheism, is in trouble in Sudan where authorities ordered his arrest for apostasy which attracts death penalty.
Article 126 of Sudan’s 1991 Penal Code imposes the death penalty on offenders found guilty of apostasy.
The section defined apostasy as a crime that is committed by any Muslim who advocates for the renunciation of the creed of Islam or publicly renounces his or her faith.
He was released on Friday by the police on the order of a judge, APA has said.
The Sudanese police released the human rights activist, facing an apostasy case after attempting to abandon Islam for atheism.
The police said Mohamed Al-Dosogy was mentally challenged and could not be punished for his alleged crime.
On Monday police in Khartoum arrested Al-dosogy [sic] two days after he requested a judge to allow him to change his religion to atheism, a move that was tantamount to renouncing his faith.
He had written to the Sudanese court explaining why he wanted to change his religious status after which he was arrested and charged with apostasy.
However, a judge on Thursday issued a decision dismissing the case and ordering his release.
The judge said the defendant had been examined by a psychiatric and it was determined that he is mentally incompetent to stand trial.
Meanwhile, in a statement issued on Friday, the defense team rejected the court’s decision, saying the defendant never asked the court to submit him to a psychiatric test.
The case has attracted social media comments as Reem @ReemWrites tweeted “ If Ahmed Al-Desouqi’s case goes to court , he will face the death penalty under article 126 of the criminal act (on Apostasy)
A woman, Marian Yahia, got the death sentence last year on similar charge, but activists are calling for her release….