Once a person enters into the fold of Islam, the rules change. As soon as
you become a Muslim by your own choice, you are expected to submit yourself
to Allãh totally and completely. "O You who believe! Enter into submission,
kãffatan!" (2:208) Kãffatan in the sense of "all" and "completely". Once a
person becomes a believer, he surrenders the right of making decisions to
Allãh and Messenger:
"No believing man and no believing woman has a choice
in their own affairs when Allãh and His Messenger have decided on an issue."
(33:36)You give up all of your rights in Islam you are at the will of your Mulah
Now even the question of apostacy, irtidãd or deserting of one's faith, for
a Muslim, becomes a shar'í/religious issue-even in this issue he is governed
by the laws of Islam. And Islam clearly says: No! You cannot become an
apostate. After coming into the fold of Islam, rejection of the fundamentals
is not tolerated. If there are doubts in your mind about the fundamental
beliefs of Islam, then discuss, question, debate, study and solve them BUT
you are not allowed to leave Islam, desert your own fitra! There are quite a
few examples of such discussions by people like Ibn Abi 'l-'Awjã' (during
the days of Imam Ja'far as-Sãdiq) and Ishãq al-Kindi (during the days of
Imam Hasan al-'Askari) who were attempting to write an answer to the Qur'ãn!
On the issue of openly rejecting Islam, Islam cannot just stand aside and
see one of its followers going astray. It would allow discussions to
understand and solve the problems, but not allow its followers to lower
themselves from the sublime status of "surrendering to the will of
Allah-Islam" to the status of those "who have hearts but do not understand,
ears but do not hear, and eyes but do not see."
4. Apostacy is Equal to Treason
Why does Islam not allow apostacy? Apostacy or irtidãd in Islam is equal to
treason.
The Western world limits treason to political and military terms. In the
USA, treason consists "only in levying war against Americans, and in
adhering to their enemies, giving them aid and comfort." However, sometimes
even the Western world stretches the concept of political treason to include
things which are not related to politics or military matters. For example,
in England, treason includes violating the King's consort, or raping the
monarch's eldest married daughter, as well as the sexual violation of the
wife of the eldest son and heir. Even now, "polluting" the Royal bloodline
or obscuring it is included in the definition of treason. (See Professor Ali
Mazrui, The Satanic Verse or a Satanic Novel, p. 4-5, who probably is the
first Muslim to have used the term treason in comparison with apostacy in
the context of the Rushdie affair.)
Why has England included such non-political and non-military matters in
treason? Because the Royal family and the purity of its bloodline is one of
the most significant part of the British society and culture. In Islam, the
concept of treason is not limited to political and military affairs, it also
has a spiritual and cultural dimension to it. In the Islamic order of
sacredness, Allãh, then the Prophet and then the Qur'ãn occupy the highest
positions. Tawhid, nubuwwa, and qiyãma form the constitution of Islam. Just
as upholding and protecting the constitution of a country is sign of
patriotism, and undermining it is a form of treason-in the same way open
rejection of the fundamental beliefs of Islam by a Muslim is an act of
treason. Apostacy, i.e., the public declaration of rejecting the
fundamentals of Islam, has also negative influence on the Muslim society; it
is indeed a major fitna.
And that is why Islam has prescribed harsh punishment for irtidãd. It must
be emphasized that irtidãd which we are discussing here involves open
rejection, without any force and with the realization of what one's
statements or actions imply. The punishment prescribed by the shari'a for
apostacy is death.
Even the terms used by the shari'a for apostates give the idea of treason to
this whole phenomenon. "Murtad" means apostate. Murtad can be of two types:
fitri and milli. (1) Murtad Fitri means a person born of a Muslim parent and
then he rejects Islam. Fitri means nature or natural. The term "murtad
fitri" implies that the person has apostated from his nature, the nature of
believing in God. (2) "Murtad Milli" means a person who converted to Islam
and then later on he rejects Islam. Milli is from millat which means a
community. The term "murtad milli" implies that the person has apostated
from his community.
In the first case, the apostacy is like treason against God; whereas in the
second case, the apostacy is like treason against the Muslim community.
Probably, that is why there is also a difference in dealing with these two
kinds of murtads:
A former kãfir who became a Muslim and then apostates (Murtad milli) is
given a second chance; if he repents, then he is not to be killed.
But one who is born as a Muslim and then apostates (Murtad Fitri) he is to
be killed even if he repents. His repentance might be accepted by Allãh but
he still has to go through the punishment prescribed for his treason in this
world.
This punishment is only applicable in case of apostacy by men; in case of
women, the punishment is not death but life imprisonment. And if such a
woman repents, then her repentance is accepted and the punishment is suspended.