youtu.be/k4GK2I6GMcc The thought of capital punishment for apostasy being a problem springs from the failure to understand the essence of Islam. What is Islam? Is it just a “religion” like Christianity or Hinduism? Far from it! Islam is something more comprehensive. It is church and state united. To the faithful Islam is veritably a “portable fatherland”. However, people do not realize a “religion” can be such comprehensive an idea so as to govern every domain of human interest. The division of state and church has struck the minds in a way that any thought against it seems weird and causes consternation.The purpose of the state is always to streamline and organize the affairs of its subjects. Every state has its fundamentals defined and those fundamentals in turn define the further details of all the laws enforced in the territory of the state. The same as an end result is true for an Islamic state as well. However, there is one fundamental difference and that is; unlike the other traditions in Islam it is the law the gives birth to a state. In his introduction to the translation of al-Shaybani’s Kitab Al-Siyar Al-Saghir, late Dr. Mahmood Ahmad Ghazi wrote: “Law, in other traditions, is generally recognized as such only when it is promulgated by the political authority, that is to say, law is always the creation of the political authority, of the state apparatus. On the other hand, in the Islamic tradition, it is other way round: the state and the political authority are the creations of the law.” (Kitab Al-Siyar Al-Saghir- The Shorter Book on Muslim International Law, Islamic Research Institute, Islamabad, 1998 p.18) As the Islamic state finds its origins in the Islamic law, it is therefore markedly different from any other idea about statehood and authority. It is very much like other states as much as is the concern of bringing about organization necessary to mankind. But in the origin and quality of ideals and values that bring about this organization it is quite different. This entails an Islamic state is much different from so-called secular democracies. The purpose of Islamic state is to ensure the collective interests of the masses, both in this world and the next. And certainly to Islam the only way to salvation in the next world is obedience to what is ordained by Allah and His Messenger. Therefore, an Islamic state is all about furthering the cause of Islam by commanding what is good and forbidding what is wrong.Quite similar to the idea of rebellion but with a slight different sense is the view of apostasy as an act of public disorder. For an Islamic state ‘social order’ includes people generally following and practicing Islam and with no force trying to impede the state’s efforts at making people follow Islam plainly. And considering the actual non-Muslim citizens i.e. the protected minorities, we may say that no force anyway resisting state’s efforts to win them for Islam using all possible non-coercive means is also part of the ‘order’. As apostasy leads people to doubt Islam or derails their course towards understanding Islam, it is considered an act of public disorder, going against the very purpose and mission of the state. Faith alone is the focus, identity and spirit of a Muslim society or state. Hence an open act of apostasy is a crime because it poses a threat to community character and tries to undermine what the society and state aim to achieve. In a way it is an attack on the faith of people due to its potential of making people doubt or stay away from Islam. Actually the trick of “believing and then leaving” Islam is an old gimmick the enemies of Islam have been playing. The Noble Qur’an says; وَقَالَتْ طَائِفَةٌ مِنْ أَهْلِ الْكِتَابِ آمِنُوا بِالَّذِي أُنْزِلَ عَلَى الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا وَجْهَ النَّهَارِ وَاكْفُرُوا آخِرَهُ لَعَلَّهُمْ يَرْجِعُونَ “And a section of the people of Book says, ‘believe at day-break in what has been sent down to those who believe and deny at the day-end; perhaps they may turn away.’” (Qur’an 3:72) Islam sees apostasy as an act of rebellion. Dr. Muhammad Hamidullah put it aptly in the following words; “The basis of Muslim polity being religious and not ethnological or linguistic, it is not difficult to appreciate the reason for penalizing this act of apostasy. For it constitutes a politico-religious rebellion.” (Muslim Conduct of State, Sh. Muhammad Ashraf publishers, Lahore 1945 p.161)And treason is a crime that has been traditionally subject to capital punishment in almost all setups- at least until recently. In many countries it is still in practice. And the idea of punishment for this remains universal anyway. Naturally, people will find it difficult to swallow because any idea of treason or high treason is attached only to one’s country or nation in the sense the terms are understood in our day. With the notion of the church and the state being separate fixed into the minds religion is considered totally a private affair, therefore, any notion of treason vis-à-vis religion is condemned as fanaticism. Dr. Muhammad Iqbal points out that if collective love and jealousy for one’s religion is fanaticism then we may accept the charge for all nations have the same feelings though anchored on different concepts. He then concludes, “Fanaticism is patriotism for religion; patriotism, fanaticism for country.” (Stray Reflections, No. 18 p.33) Thus, it is only about the different conception of nationhood and, therefore, of treason and rebellion. Rest is same.
Posted on: Mon, 10 Nov 2014 12:53:19 +0000
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