would have given them power over you so that they would have fought you. So if they withdraw from you and fight you not and offer you peace, then Allāh has not given you a way against them” (4:90).
The only case of the punishment of apostates, mentioned in trustworthy ḥadīth, is that of a party of the tribe of ‘Ukul, who accepted Islām and came to Madīnah. They found that the climate of the town did not agree with them, and the Holy Prophet sent them to a place outside Madīnah where the state milch-camels were kept, so that they might live in the open air and drink of milk. They got well and then killed the keeper of the camels and drove away the animals. This being brought to the knowledge of the Holy Prophet, a party was sent in pursuit of them and they were put to death16 (Bu. 56:152). The report is clear on the point that they were put to death, not because of their apostasy but because they had killed the keeper of the camels.
Much stress is laid on a ḥadīth which says: “Whoever changes his religion, kill him” (Bu. 89:2). But in view of what the Bukhārī itself has indicated by describing apostates as fighters or by associating their name with the name of the enemies of Islām, it is clear that this refers only to those apostates who join hands with the enemies of Islām and fight with the Muslims. It is only by placing this limitation on the meaning of the ḥadīth that it can be reconciled with other ḥadīth or with the principles laid down in the Holy Qur’ān. In fact, its words are so comprehensive that they include every change of faith, from one religion to any other whatsoever; thus even a non-Muslim who becomes a Muslim, or a Jew who becomes a Christian, must be killed. Evidently, such a statement cannot be ascribed to the Holy Prophet. So the ḥadīth cannot be accepted, without placing a limitation upon its meaning.
Another ḥadīth relating to the same subject throws further light on the significance of that quoted above. In this it is stated that the life of a Muslim may only be taken in three cases, one of which is that “he forsakes his religion and separates himself (al-tārik) from his community (li-ljama‘ah) (Bu. 88:6). According to another version, the words are “who forsakes (al-mufāriq) his community”. Evidently separation from the community or the forsaking of it, which is
16 It is stated in some ḥadīth that they were tortured to death. If it ever happened, it was only by way of retaliation, as before the revelation of the penal laws of Islām, retaliation was the prevailing rule. In some reports it is stated that this party of the tribe of ‘Ukul put out the eyes of the keeper of the camels and threw him on hot stones to die a slow death of torture, and that they were put to death in a similar manner (Ai. VII, p. 58). But others have denied that the law of retaliation was applied in this case. According to these reports, the Holy Prophet had intended to put them to death by torture in the same way as they had put to death the keeper of the camels, but before they were executed he received the revelation dealing with the punishment of such offenders: “The only punishment of those who wage war against Allāh and His Messenger and strive to make mischief in the land is this, that they should be killed or crucified or their hands and their feet should be cut off on opposite sides or they should be imprisoned” (5:33) (IJ-C. VI, p. 121). The apostates are thus spoken of here as waging war against God and His Messenger. The punishment varies according to the nature of the crime; it may be death or even crucifixion where the culprit has caused terror in the land or it may be simply imprisonment.