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.”
“Family Sprayed with Acid for Leaving Islam,” Morning Star News, March 22, 2022:
NAIROBI, Kenya (Morning Star News) – Upset over conversions to Christianity, hardline Muslims in an area of eastern Uganda this month sprayed a newly Christian family with acid and beat a former mosque leader, sources said….
Former Imam Injured
On March 13 in the same district, hardline Muslim villagers attacked former mosque leader Swaleh Mulongo of Bugobi village.
Mulongo said he had met with a local pastor, whose name is undisclosed for security reasons, for six years before putting his faith in Christ on Jan. 13.
After Mulongo stopped leading prayer at the Bugobi mosque, Sheikh Abubakar Sekimpi took over and organized a manhunt for him, the former imam said. He had begun worshipping at a church in Iganga, and hardline Muslims waited for him about five kilometers (three miles) from the worship site, he said.
“It was around 8 a.m. when four Muslims stopped me and began asking me so many questions regarding Christianity, but I did not respond,” Mulongo told Morning Star News. “Then the men started beating me up with blows and sticks, but thank God when they saw some people approaching, they fled away.”
With deep head wounds, a broken wrist and bruises on his back, Mulongo was taken to a hospital in Iganga that belongs to one of the Christians in Bugobi, he said.
The assailants continued on to kill goats and chickens of the pastor who had led Mulongo to Christ, the former imam said.
They left a letter warning, “We know you are a deceiver, and that you converted our imam to Christianity. We shall soon get hold of you, which will be a big regret to your family and the entire church.”…
Keith O says
When an Imam gives the finger to Islam and becomes a Christian this is a good indication that the falsehoods and outright lies of Islam are becoming more apparent.
I hope, for the sake of his family that he gets the hell out of Dodge.
gravenimage says
Yes–I hope this family flees the area. They should not have to, of course, but will not be safe until they go, even though Uganda is not a Muslim country.
James Lincoln says
It would be the pragmatic thing to do, gravenimage.
gregbeetham says
It would be even better if Uganda became a Muslim free country.
gravenimage says
So true, Greg.