Uganda: Islamic school chief becomes Christian, Muslims screaming ‘Allahu akbar’ beat and burn him

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.”

“Head of Islamic School Burned, Fired for Becoming Christian,” Morning Star News, April 15, 2022:

NAIROBI, Kenya (Morning Star News) – The headteacher of a private Islamic school in eastern Uganda suffered third-degree burns and was fired after staff members heard him praying as a Christian, he said.

Yusufu Mwanje led Ibunbaz Primary School in Bugiri town, Bugiri District until he lost his job after the attack on April 2.

Mwanje said a Christian businessman who supplied equipment to the school used to pray at his office in the presence of other Muslim staff members, a welcome presence especially after the pandemic hit in 2020. His prayers opened his heart to Christ, Mwanje said.

As he and the supplier had more discussions about Christianity, Mwanje put his faith in Christ earlier this year, he said.

“I wanted to keep my faith in Christ secret and began missing Friday prayers as I attended evening prayers at the church,” Mwanje told Morning Star News. “Some Muslim teachers noticed my absence and reported to the school management board.”

At a meeting with the school board on March 27, they asked Mwanje why he was not attending regular mosque prayers.

“I told them that I was praying from my house,” he said. “They accepted, but very reluctantly.”

On April 1, Mwanje said, he woke at 3 a.m. to pray in Christ’s name as he had learned from the supplier, whose name is withheld for security reasons.

“I did not know that there was someone hearing as well as recording the prayers,” he said, referring to a school staff member who lived next to his house. “I prayed till 4:30 a.m. and then prepared to go to the mosque, because I wanted to protect my job.”

When he woke early the following day and prayed again, the staff member had gathered other schoolteachers to eavesdrop on him, Mwanje said.

“As I finished the prayers at 4:45 a.m. and began preparing to go to the mosque to pray, I heard a knock at the door,” he said. “As I opened the door, there were people outside my door. They began shouting, ‘Allah akbar [the jihadist slogan, ‘God is greater’]! Allah akbar! Allah akbar! This is a kafir [infidel], this is kafir…They grabbed me and took me inside the mosque and started beating me badly and accusing me of heading a Muslim school yet I had converted to Christianity. Others shouted, ‘A liar, a liar, a liar…He deserves the death penalty.”

The attackers continued beating him, he said.

“I remembered [the supplier] telling me that in times of persecution I should call the name of Jesus,” Mwanje said. “As I mentioned the name Jesus in a low voice, one attacker said, ‘Azab Azab,’ meaning ‘punishment’ in Arabic. Immediately, two Islamic teachers named Ustaz Hamudan and Hashim Sajabbi brought two old jerry cans and lit it with fire and started burning me with it. It was too painful. I fainted.”…