# Does Islam punish someone for leaving the faith?

*Freedom of faith in the Quran: no compulsion, and no killing of apostates*

- URL: https://muftiabulayth.org/r/vyawdwthpa4/s/1/
- Date: 2018-05-10 · Kind: lesson · Transcript tier: machine · Recording: Apostasy has NO punishment in Islam: A Qur'an & Sunnah Analysis by Mufti Abu Layth (0:00–5:16)
- Status: general teaching
- Watch from the start of the segment: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VyAwDWTHPa4&t=0s
- Recording page: https://muftiabulayth.org/r/vyawdwthpa4/

**Topics:** Apostasy and blasphemy; Tafsir and verse study

**Summary (not a quotation; machine-made, unchecked):** Islam gives freedom of belief: the Quran says there is no compulsion in religion and leaves belief to choice, and neither the Quran nor the established Sunnah says an apostate must be killed.

**Checked position (checked by two independent reviews, not by the channel):** Mufti Abu Layth says Islam gives freedom of faith and condemns coercion, and that neither the Quran nor the established Sunnah says an apostate must be killed.

**Evidence, his words at 1:15:** “an apostate must be killed that is not true an apostate is not killed in Islam” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VyAwDWTHPa4&t=75s)

## Longer summary

Mufti Abu Layth opens a discussion of apostasy, leaving the faith of Islam, and says he will look at what Allah, His Messenger and the scholars say. He states at the outset that Islam gives freedom of faith, discourages faith built on copying and condemns coercion, and that nowhere in the Quran or the established Sunnah is it said that an apostate must be killed, though he accepts that many Muslims say so and that there are hadith he will address later. He cites 'there is no compulsion in religion' (2:256), 'whoever wishes, let him believe, and whoever wishes, let him disbelieve' (18:29) and 10:99, where Allah asks the Prophet whether he would force people to believe, and says the Quran takes absolute precedence. He adds Surah al-Kafirun, 'to you your religion and to me mine', and reports that Ibn Ashur says in his tafsir that 'no compulsion in religion' abrogated the verses commanding fighting, since fighting was legislated in defence and such measures lapsed once Islam was secure.

## Sources and names cited

- Quran 2:256 (there is no compulsion in religion): https://quran.com/2/256
- Quran 18:29 (whoever wishes, let him believe, and whoever wishes, let him disbelieve): https://quran.com/18/29
- Quran 10:99 (would you compel people to become believers?): https://quran.com/10/99
- Quran 109:1-6 (Surah al-Kafirun: to you your religion and to me mine): https://quran.com/109
- Ibn Ashur
- al-Tahrir wa al-Tanwir (Ibn Ashur's tafsir)
- naskh (abrogation)
- riddah (apostasy)

## Transcript (machine tier, 0:00–5:16)

[0:00] right so what are we looking all right right apostasy folks apostasy those of you just tuning in click like click share get this out there I want to discuss apostasy in Islam somebody abandoning the faith right leaving the faith of Islam what is the ruling of this and what does alive to say about it what does his messenger have to say about it and what the scholars what do we say about it today

[0:38] okay so first of all I want to clarify the rulings okay aslam gives freedom of faith okay gives freedom of faith those who believe and those who disbelieve choose to do so Islam in fact discourages any faith just built on copying people Islam condemns any coercion of faith there is no way clearly nowhere in the Quran right and I will

[1:15] highlight neither in the Sunna establish Sunna that an apostate must be killed that is not true an apostate is not killed in Islam okay we need to clarify these rulings right so okay now I'm going to now some of you may say whoa you know but what about all this all these hadith that we hear and all these muslims saying that we need to kill the apostates and so what do we have to say about that that is true people do say things like this and these are parts of

[1:53] the misunderstanding of Islam that we've got today okay so let's begin first of all with the Quran okay so and then what I'm going to do is I'm going to come back I will take a look at the hadith I will take a look at some of the understandings and kind of discussed open it up but let's take a look at the clear verses of the Quran Allah clearly says in the Quran la caja 15 la cañada 15 there is no compulsion regarding the theme okay

[2:33] there is no compulsion in another verse Allah says mature after Luqman muncha affiliate for whosoever wishes to believe let him believe whosoever wishes to disbelieve let them disbelieve in another verse of the quran in surah younus allah mentions i believe it's verse 99 that volusia our ibaka ledger a learner's larger element fill all the cool new home Volusia arabic allah a man a mindful of the Kalonji my heart that if your Lord

[3:10] had wanted he's telling the Prophet if your Lord had wanted everybody on the earth : Jamie and would have believed alpha enter to crayon nasi hetalia Kuna what mini hunter to Korean s who you will you force people to become believers Allah is telling the proper will you force people meaning no it is a choice this is a clear verse of the Quran the Quran takes absolute

[3:47] precedence so there are several verses like this in the Quran verses like poly al Katherine LA to my table - and then it finishes you do not worship what I worship I worship on that we have our own way slackened eno-kun Walia dean you have you Dean I have my Dean right so this here wise Allah not saying that wait a minute kill them close not saying that what is even our shul saying succeed and this verse the this

[4:26] vers la Ruffa dean abrogated the other verse that bottle that yana be that fight against the kuffar and these people Waterloo alley he says in his stuff seal even our Shore degree Maliki legend and Cheryl Islam of the last century that this abrogated because Islam first of all the fighting is legislated as a defense and then they were cases where Muslims had to they had to preemptively go out to places because they knew there may be an oncoming

[5:05] attack but once matters were slightly stable for Islam to have some security that from now on in the world Islam would could could go wherever it wanted to go these things any such measures were abrogated and it mentions like gravity okay so this is from the the clear verses of the Quran okay the other verses we know in from the Quran is where Allah is speaking about taking a life Mottola whosoever kills for animal cattle and nasa jimmy on whoever takes a

## Cite

Mufti Abu Layth Archive, segment VyAwDWTHPa4/s/1. https://muftiabulayth.org/r/vyawdwthpa4/s/1/

Not a fatwa: these answers were given to specific people at specific times. Ask a qualified scholar about your own situation.