religion, then Allāh will bring a people whom He loves and who love Him” (5:54). Therefore so far as the Holy Qur’ān is concerned, there is not only no mention of a death-sentence for apostates but such a sentence is negatived by the verses speaking of apostasy, as well as by that magna charta of religious freedom, the 256th verse of the second chapter, la ikrāha fi-l-dīn, “There is no compulsion in religion.”
Let us now turn to Ḥadīth, for it is on this authority that the Fiqh books have based their death-sentence for apostates. The words in certain ḥadīth have undoubtedly the reflex of a later age, but still a careful study leads to the conclusion that apostasy was not punishable unless combined with other circumstances which called for punishment of offenders. Bukhārī, who is undoubtedly the most careful of all collectors of Ḥadīth is explicit on the point. He has two “books” dealing with the apostates, one of which is called Kitāb al-muḥāribīn min ahl al-kufr wa-l-ridda, or “the Book of those who fight (against the Muslims) from among the unbelievers and the apostates,” and the other is called Kitāb istitābat al-mu‘ānidīn wa-l-murtaddīn wa qitāli-him, or “the Book of calling to repentance of the enemies and the apostates and fighting with them.” Both these headings speak for themselves. The heading of the first book clearly shows that only such apostates are dealt with in it as fight against the Muslims, and that of the second associates the apostates with the enemies of Islām. That is really the crux of the whole question, and it is due to a misunderstanding on this point that a doctrine was formulated which is quite contrary to the plain teachings of the Holy Qur’ān. At a time when war was in progress between the Muslims and the unbelievers, it often happened that a person who apostatized went over to the enemy and joined hands with him in fighting against the Muslims. He was treated as an enemy, not because he had changed his religion but because he had changed sides. Even then there were tribes that were not at war with the Muslims and, if an apostate went over to them, he was not touched. Such people are expressly spoken of in the Holy Qur’ān: “Except those who join a people between whom and you there is an alliance, or who come to you, their hearts shrinking from fighting you, or fighting their own people. And if Allāh had pleased, He