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, who before his death in 2022 was the most renowned and prominent Muslim cleric in the world, once 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.”
“Muslim in Uganda Allegedly Kills Wife for Converting to Christianity,” Morning Star News, July 27, 2023:
NAIROBI, Kenya (Morning Star News) – A Muslim in eastern Uganda on July 9 killed his wife for converting to Christianity that morning, a relative said.
Amina Nanfuka, 31, had returned from a medical check-up in Kampala and a visit to a worship service in the capital city to her home in Bugiri town, Bugiri District, where her husband, 40-year-old Abudullah Waiswa, had learned of her accepting Christ at the church, said the relative, whose name is withheld for security reasons.
Nanfuka had spent 10 days in June in Kampala to treat problems with her uterus, staying with a relative there who had accepted Christ in 2021. While recovering at her relative’s home, a pastor visited and prayed for her recovery.
Her doctor told her to return in three weeks, and the relative accompanied Nanfuka on her return to Bugiri. The relative shared the gospel with Nanfuka while staying with her during her recovery.
“I shared the saving power of Jesus, and she showed a desire to accept and to believe in Jesus but requested waiting for the day that the doctor in Kampala had given her for a check-up and thereafter attend the church,” the relative said.
On July 8, they returned to Kampala, leaving Nanfuka’s three children, ages 3, 6 and 9, with their grandmother. The next morning, they attended the church, where Nanfuka met with the pastor and received Christ as Lord and Savior, the relative said.
They had gone about 100 meters from the church site when Nanfuka showed the relative the Luganda-language Bible the pastor had given her. They were surprised when a businessman and close friend of her husband in Bugiri, his neighbor Ariko Yahaya, saw Nafuka give the Bible to the relative.
“You mean nowadays you go to church?” Yahaya asked Nanfuka, according to the relative, who said Nanfuka remained silent as they left immediately.
They arrived back in Bugiri at about 5 p.m., and Nanfuka’s husband arrived home at about 8 p.m. and knocked loudly on the door.
“Without greeting us, he started shouting at his wife saying, ‘Why did you lie to me that you were going for a medical check-up and instead decided to go to church?’” the relative said. “Amina was tongue-tied.”
Waiswa pulled her into their bedroom, locked the door and demanded that she show him the Bible, the relative said.
“Immediately I heard a loud bang inside with kicks and slaps,” the relative said. “She started screaming and calling for help. I feared for my life and rushed outside the room shouting and wailing for help.”
As neighbors approached, Waiswa came out of the house and disappeared, the relative said.
“We then went inside the bedroom and found her unconscious with blood coming out of her mouth,” the relative said. “She was rushed to a nearby clinic in Bugiri, but soon the doctor pronounced her dead upon arrival. She was strangled and hit with an object around her mouth.
“I suspect that Ariko Yahaya informed Waiswa of us attending the church in Kampala.”…
Uganda’s constitution and other laws provide for religious freedom, including the right to propagate one’s faith and convert from one faith to another. Muslims make up no more than 12 percent of Uganda’s population, with high concentrations in eastern areas of the country.
somehistory says
Poor woman was yoked to a beast, s snake, a son of satan. The poor woman and her poor little kids. But, she found Christ and will not be forgotten.
Mark Spahn says
A big problem in reading Quran passages is trying to figure out the pronoun references. In 4:89 cited above, who are “they” and “you”? And in 4:80 (“Whosoever obeys the Messenger, thereby obeys God; and whosoever turns his back – We have not sent thee to be a watcher over them.”), who are “we”, “thee”, and “them”. Why is the Quran so poorly written?
Linde B. says
Amina Nanfuka should be in Paradise now with God. And her husband Abudullah Waiswa deserves to be shot by a firing squad. I hope he gets the death penalty.
MD Anthony says
If he gets anything it is usually two years. But he has children so jail is not likely.
Devasur says
MSM media doesnt care, in India muslims started a riot killing Hindus MSM media like bbc blames it on Hindus.
Deodata says
BBC the most untrustworthy news media in the UK
OLD GUY says
What ass backward men and women are that follow islam. Only the devil would allow and encourage the murder of women and children who don’t believe the teachings of islam.