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.”
“Muslim Father Kills Daughter on Day She Converts,” Morning Star News, June 14, 2022:
NAIROBI, Kenya (Morning Star News) – A woman in central Uganda who accepted Christ at a church service on May 29 was killed later that day when her father stabbed her in the eyes for leaving Islam, sources said.
After having several dreams about Christ, 28-year-old Hawa Amoti of Nansana, Wakiso District visited a Christian neighbor early on the morning of May 29, said the neighbor, unidentified for security reasons.
“Amoti came to our home very early in the morning and needed to know more of Issa [Jesus], whom she had seen in a dream,” he said. “After explaining to her about eternal life and forgiveness of sin that comes from Jesus who came to take away the sins of the whole world, she willingly accepted Jesus for the salvation of her soul. I then prayed for her, and then together we went to church in Nansana.”
After the church service, Amoti joined the neighbor’s family for lunch at his home and stayed until about 5:45 p.m., when she left for her home, he said.
Her father, Haji Shariifu Agaba, and brothers had already learned that she had been seen worshipping Christ at church when she arrived outside their home, one of her siblings said. Agaba ordered his sons to seize and beat her, then took a sharp knife and pierced her eyes, said a brother of Amoti who tried to defend her.
“I want to remove these eyes so that you stop seeing churches forever – even if you die, we are not going to bury you,” Agaba told her, according to the brother, whose name is withheld for security reasons.
Amoti’s wailing and screaming drew neighbors who rushed over to rescue her, the Christian neighbor said. As more members of the community arrived, Agaba and his sons went inside their house.
Neighbors arranged for a vehicle to rush Amoti to a nearby hospital, where she succumbed to profuse bleeding from her eye injuries, sources said….
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.
