Is There a Death Penalty for Leaving Islam? A Qur’anic Analysis of Apostasy and Punishment
Leaving Islam is one of the most serious actions a Muslim can commit, and in traditional circles, can even warrant the death penalty. Others believe in complete freedom of religion. But how does the Qur'an actually address this, and does it provide a clear answer on the matter.
Prophet Mohammed (peace be upon him) never coerced anybody into following Islam. This is because Allah said to him "there is no compulsion in the system..." (2:256). Those who accepted Islam were those who had recognised "...the proper way has been clarified from the wrong way..." (2:256). This establishes the concept that belief must be a conscious choice made from the heart. If a person was forced into belief, then it ceases to be belief. They become like the hypocrites who show belief on the outside to hide their true intentions, and this belief will never be accepted by Allah.
The Qur'an states that people from among other religions like the Jews and Christians will not be punished as long as they believe "...in Allah and the Last Day and does good works..." (2:62). However, this does not cover apostasy in Islam. We address this in detail in our article here.
Once a person has believed and accepted Islam, then Allah does not permit them to leave Islam without incurring divine punishment. While the concept of no compulsion in religion protects a person from human punishments in the world, a person who dies in the state of apostasy will be one of the residents of the hellfire.
The principle of no compulsion
Prophet Mohammed (peace be upon him) never coerced anybody into following Islam. This is because Allah said to him "there is no compulsion in the system..." (2:256). Those who accepted Islam were those who had recognised "...the proper way has been clarified from the wrong way..." (2:256). This establishes the concept that belief must be a conscious choice made from the heart. If a person was forced into belief, then it ceases to be belief. They become like the hypocrites who show belief on the outside to hide their true intentions, and this belief will never be accepted by Allah.
The Qur'an instructs Prophet Mohammed (peace be upon him) to declare "...the truth is from your Lord, so let whoever desires believe,
and whoever desires reject..." (18:29). This shows humans have a right to believe as well as disbelieve, implying humans have free will when it comes to their religion.
Forcing belief upon a person is akin to a form of tyranny. The biggest tyrant of all, Pharaoh, would ask his people "...have you become believers before I have given you permission?..." (7:123) and he would then threaten them with violence by saying "I will cut off your hands and feet from alternate sides, then I will crucify you all" (7:124). He would claim monopoly over belief by declaring they "...have not known of any god for you other than me..." (28:38).
On the other hand, Allah addresses Prophet Mohammed (peace be upon him) by saying to him "... you are not a tyrant over them..." (50:45). At this time, the ones who tried to force people away from belief were the polytheists. Their violent attempts to make people abandon Islam eventually led to the Muslims emigrating "...after they were persecuted..." (16:110). In contrast, Prophet Mohammed (peace be upon him), the "...mercy to the worlds" (21:107), through divine instruction would say "I have no power to harm you nor to show you what is right" (72:21).
If Prophet Mohammed (peace be upon him) did not have authority to compel a person into belief, then the forced religious practices on a people, like the face coverings in Saudi Arabia, the headscarf in Iran or the beard in Afghanistan, do not originate with the practice of Prophet Mohammed (peace be upon him). Such authorities who enforce these rules are following the sunnah of Pharaoh and clearly contradict what Allah has revealed in the Qur'an.
All of this shows that the Qur'an strongly defends an individual person's religious freedoms in the world, even if that person continued with persistent disbelief.
Punishments for apostasy
The Qur'an does not support the concept of a proscribed death penalty for any Muslim who leaves Islam. Allah said to Prophet Mohammed (peace be upon him) "you have no power over them" (88:22). Any subsequent punishment "...for he who turns away and rejects" (88:23) will solely be from Allah, Who "...will punish him with the great retribution" (88:24), because "...Allah was not to forgive them..." (4:137) for apostasy.
The greatest proof against a worldly punishment for apostasy is seen when Allah says "those who believed, then rejected, then believed, then rejected,
then they increased in rejection..." (4:137). By mentioning multiple counts of belief and disbelief in a single lifetime, the Qur'an makes the worldly death penalty Qur'anically impossible. If an apostate was executed after their first instance of rejection, then that person cannot physically believe again. The Qur'an leaves the door open for apostates to return to Islam, and the path to Allah's forgiveness will always be available to them until their natural death.
In addition, the Qur'an states that "...whoever of you turns back from his
system, and he dies while disbelieving..." (2:217) to indicate the apostate is allowed a natural life span. He is given an opportunity for repentance prior to death without having his life cut short through execution. However, without repentance, the Qur'an warns such people that they "...have nullified their
works in this world and the next; these are the people of the Fire..." (2:217). No worldly punishment could match the divine punishment for apostasy.
When the Muslims are informed of the mortality of Prophet Mohammed (peace be upon him), the Qur'an states that "...whoever turns back on his heels, he will not harm Allah in the least..." (3:144) clearly showing apostasy hurts no one except for the apostate himself in the hereafter. Rather, "...whoever from among you turns away from His system..." (5:54), then Allah will simply "...bring a people whom He loves and they love Him..." (5:54) to replace those who have committed apostasy. The apostate is never to be killed because Allah will ensure they become irrelevant in the world by being replaced by better believers.
As already mentioned, divine punishment for apostasy will only be for the person who "...dies while disbelieving..." (2:217).
Conversion to other religions
The Qur'an states that people from among other religions like the Jews and Christians will not be punished as long as they believe "...in Allah and the Last Day and does good works..." (2:62). However, this does not cover apostasy in Islam. We address this in detail in our article here.
On the other hand, when a Muslim has recognised the truth of the Qur'an and accepted Islam, they would have understood that Allah had "... perfected your system for you..." (5:3). When they subsequently reject Islam for anything else, they are trading a perfect system for an inferior one. The Qur'an says "... whoever follows other than Islam as a system, it will
not be accepted from him..." (3:85) and the consequences of this will be severe for such a person because "...in the hereafter he is of the losers" (3:85) and will be among "...the people of the Fire..." (2:217).
Conclusion
Once a person has believed and accepted Islam, then Allah does not permit them to leave Islam without incurring divine punishment. While the concept of no compulsion in religion protects a person from human punishments in the world, a person who dies in the state of apostasy will be one of the residents of the hellfire.