Among the horrible news about Islam and Muslims lately is the execution of Egyptian envoy Ihab El Sharif by terrorists because, according to them, he was an \u201capostate.\u201d Murderous Sunni militants kill Shia because they are \u201capostates.\u201d So many of Islam\u2019s detractors frequently speak of the punishment in Islam for apostasy, or ridda.<\/i> They also claim \u2013 like many Muslims themselves \u2013 that leaving Islam is punishable by death. I have heard this many times growing up, but every time I thought about or discussed the issue, it ended in an inherent contradiction. So, I looked up a fatwa<\/i>, or religious edict, on the website IslamOnline<\/a> regarding the issue of apostasy. I reproducing the fatwa<\/a>, or religious edict, here: <\/p>\n Coming to your question on the basis of the punishment of apostasy, we would like to start with the following words of the prominent Moroccan scholar Sheikh Abdul Bari Az-Zamzamy: <\/i><\/p>\n \u201cIt should be noted that Islam never compels any person to accept it or embrace its teachings. It gives the freedom of thinking to people,with full respect to their mentalities and way of thinking. However, Islamis not a man-made religion that is subject to scrutiny or biased criticismthat is based on mere suspicion, since it was originated by Allah, the Supreme Creator of all minds and mentalities. In addition, apostasy causes a total disruption and confusion in the Muslim community, and thus, a severe punishment was set for it to deter anyone from thinking of it. It was originally put into force following the Jewish conspiracy against Islam. The details of that conspiracy were simply mass conversion to Islam and then mass apostasy. The main ill aim was to cause confusion and to lead people astray. Thus, the punishment was set as a precautionary measure to stop all these offenses.\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n Speaking of the authority of the punishment and its being genuine and based on the authentic sources of Islam, Sheikh \u2018Attiyah Saqr, former Head of Al-Azhar Fatwa Committee, states: <\/i><\/p>\n \u201cIt is not right to deny the punishment of apostasy claiming that it has not been reported in the Qur\u2019an, because it has been recorded in the mutawatir (Hadith which has been reported by at least four of the Companions in different times and places in a way that make a person sure that such Hadith is not fabricated) and the non-mutawatir Sunnah of the Prophet (peace and blessing be upon him). Hudud (Islamic punishment specified for certain crimes) may, of course, be based on the non-mutawatir Sunnah.\u201d <\/i><\/p>\n Detailing the issue and showing some of the evidence for the punishment of apostasy, the prominent Muslim scholar Sheikh Yusuf Al-Qaradawi, states: <\/i><\/p>\n \u201cAll Muslim jurists agree that the apostate is to be punished. However, they differ regarding the punishment itself. The majority of them go for killing; meaning that an apostate is to be sentenced to death. <\/i><\/p>\n Many authentic Hadiths have been reported in this regard. Ibn \u2018Abbas reported that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said, \u201cWhoever changes his religion, you kill him.\u201d (Reported by all the group except Muslim, and at-Tabarani also reported it with a sound chain of narrators. Also recorded in Majma\u2019 Az-Zawa\u2019id by Al-Haythamiy.) <\/i><\/p>\n There is also the Hadith of Ibn Mas\u2019ud that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said, \u201cThe blood of a Muslim individual who bears witness that there is no god but Allah and that I am the Messenger of Allah, is not to be shed except in three cases: in retaliation (in murder crimes), married adulterers (and adulteresses), and the one who abandons his religion and forsakes the Muslim community.\u201d (Reported by the Group) <\/i><\/p>\n The actual example of one of the greatest Companions, \u2018Ali ibn Abi Talib (may Allah be pleased with him) gives credit to this also. He himself carried out the punishment on some people who had deified him. He gave them three days respite to repent and go back to their senses. When they proved adamant, he put them to fire.\u201d <\/i><\/p>\n Here come the questions from a student, because \u2013 as you know \u2013 I am not a scholar<\/a>. How can this be in light of the quite clear evidence to the contrary from the Qur\u2019an?<\/p>\n The Qur\u2019an is quite clear:<\/p>\n \u201cThere is no compulsion in matters of religion<\/i>\u201d (2:256<\/a>).<\/p>\n \u201cSay, \u2018The truth is from your Lord\u2019: Let him who wills believe it, and let him who wills, reject (it).<\/i>\u201d ( 18:29<\/a>)<\/p>\n \u201cIf it had been your Lord\u2019s will, they all would have believed \u2013 all who are on earth. Will you, then, compel the people, against their will, to believe?<\/i>\u201d (10:99<\/a>)<\/p>\n \u201cIt is not required of thee (O Messenger), to set them on the right path, but God sets on the right path whom He pleases.\u201d<\/i> (2:272<\/a>)<\/p>\n \u201cIt is true thou wilt not be able to guide every one, whom thoulovest; but God guides those whom He will and He knows best those who receive guidance.\u201d<\/i> (28:56<\/a>)<\/p>\n \u201cThou wouldst only, perchance, fret thyself to death, followingafter them, in grief, if they believe not in this Message.<\/i>\u201d (18:6<\/a>)<\/p>\n It is quite clear that there is complete freedom in matters of faith and religion. The choice of religion is a deeply personal one, completely up to the individual. It could not be more plain in the Qur\u2019an.<\/p>\n Furthermore, the Qur\u2019an states that the reason war is sometimes necessary \u2013 as a last resort and in self-defense \u2013 is to preserve religious freedom:<\/p>\n \u201cHad God not checked one set of people by means of another, there would surely monasteries, churches, synagogues and mosques \u2013 in which the name of God is commemorated in abundant measure \u2013 would surely have been destroyed. <\/i>\u201d (22:40<\/a>)<\/p>\n So, how could it be that if someone chooses to leave Islam, he or she isliable to be killed? Where does the Qur\u2019an say so? It doesn\u2019t.<\/p>\n Yet, the Qur\u2019an does talk about what happens to someone who becomes an apostate:<\/p>\n \u201cThose who turn back as apostates after Guidance was clearly shown to them,- the Evil One has instigated them and busied them up with false hopes<\/i>\u201d (47:25<\/a>).<\/p>\n \u201cAny one who, after accepting faith in God, utters Unbelief,- except under compulsion, his heart remaining firm in Faith \u2013 but such as open their breast to Unbelief, on them is Wrath from Allah, and theirs will bea dreadful Penalty. This because they love the life of this world better than the Hereafter: and God will not guide those who reject Faith .\u201d<\/i> (16:106-107<\/a>)<\/p>\n These verses are akin to this passage in the Bible:<\/p>\n \u201cYe shall not go after other gods, of the gods of the people which are round about you; (For the LORD thy God is a jealous God among you) lest the anger of the LORD thy God be kindled against thee, and destroy thee from off the face of the earth.\u201d<\/i> (Deuteronomy 6:14-15<\/a>).<\/p>\n Do the verses in the Qur\u2019an issue a stern warning against disbelief? Yes. But, this is God talking. He can say whatever He wants to say, like what He said in the above Biblical verse. Still, however, this does not mean that He necessarily will punish those who become \u201capostates,\u201d because, again, this is God. He can do whatever He wants. I mean, didn\u2019t Jesus (pbuh) say to God \u2013 after God asked him whether he told people to worship him as God:<\/p>\n