A-ManESL
Well-Known Member
I have three points to make:
1. A hadith like the one you cite, or other similar ahadith, lack the interpretive context necessary to situate it properly in the fiqh. A fuller rendition of the report may be found in the Muwatta:
The context is somewhat muddled here, as someone else is narrating Ibn 'Abbas' reference to something the Prophet said in the past tense in a rather complicated scenario. Without wanting to stick my nose in the 'ulum al-hadith it seems plausible that the Prophet was speaking in reference to the saboteurs who made a theatrical outward show of conversion to Islam only to revert back to Polytheism with equal show, or more seriously, to discover the Muslim's military weaknesses and report back to the enemy during the war between the Meccan and Yathrib/Medina. Whatever the context it cannot be summoned as a warrant for personal anarchy and violence against people who are deemed to have "changed their religion."
2. The following is an example of how the Prophet dealt with solely apostasy.
A bedouin gave the Pledge of allegiance to Allah's Apostle for Islam. Then the bedouin got fever at Medina, came to Allah's Apostle and said, "O Allah's Apostle! Cancel my Pledge," But Allah's Apostle refused. Then he came to him (again) and said, "O Allah's Apostle! Cancel my Pledge." But the Prophet refused Then he came to him (again) and said, "O Allah's Apostle! Cancel my Pledge." But the Prophet refused. The bedouin finally went out (of Medina) whereupon Allah's Apostle said, "Medina is like a pair of bellows (furnace): It expels its impurities and brightens and clears its good. [Sahih al-Bukhari, Vol. 9, #318]
Notably, as Dr. M. E. Subhani explained in his book:
“This was an open case of apostasy. But the Prophet neither punished the Bedouin nor asked anyone to do it. He allowed him to leave Madina (of his own will). Nobody harmed him.” [Apostasy in Islam (New Delhi, India: Global Media Publications, 2005), pp. 23-24.]
3. Some people accepted Islam during the period of Umar bin Abdul Aziz, who is called the fifth rightful caliph of Islam. All these people renounced Islam sometimes later. Maimoon bin Mahran the governor of the area wrote to the caliph about these people. In reply Umar bin Abdul Aziz ordered him to release those people and asked him to re-impose jizya on them. [Musannaf Abdur Razzaq, pp. 171-10, cited in M. E. Subhani,Apostasy in Islam (New Delhi, India: Global Media Publications, 2005), pp. 23-24. Abdur Razzaq ibn Humama (d. 211 AH). This is the earliest musannaf (a hadith collection arranged in topical chapters) work in existence.]
One more point worth mentioning. In the hadith in point 1, the word religion has been brazenly translated from the Arabic word "din". This is a mistranslation, as din does not stand for religion properly, but it "sort of" means way of life. (Cf dharma). The Arabic language does not even have a word for religion, strictly speaking: the word din, customarily translated as such, differs in significant important respects from the European concept. (See, The Meaning and end of religion by W.C. Smith).
I should add the first part of my response is actually taken from a similar question I had raised on another forum.
More information is available here.
Regards
Last edited:
