Freedom of Religion, Apostasy and Islam [Paperback]

Abdullah Saeed (Author), Hassan Saeed (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 30, 2004

Debate on freedom of religion as a human right takes place not only in the Western world but also in Muslim communities throughout the world. For Muslims concerned for this freedom, one of the major difficulties is the "punishment for apostasy" - death for those who desert Islam. This book argues that the law of apostasy and its punishment by death in Islamic law is untenable in the modern period. Apostasy conflicts with a variety of foundation texts of Islam and with the current ethos of human rights, in particular the freedom to choose one's religion. Demonstrating the early development of the law of apostasy as largely a religio-political tool, the authors show the diversity of opinion among early Muslims on the punishment, highlighting the substantial ambiguities about what constitutes apostasy, the problematic nature of some of the key textual evidence on which the punishment of apostasy is based, and the neglect of a vast amount of clear Qur'anic texts in favour of freedom of religion in the construction of the law of apostasy. Examining the significant challenges the punishment of apostasy faces in the modern period inside and outside Muslim communities - exploring in particular how apostasy and its punishment is dealt with in a multi-religious Muslim majority country, Malaysia, and the challenges and difficulties it faces there - the authors discuss arguments by prominent Muslims today for an absolute freedom of religion and for discarding the punishment of apostasy.

Product Details

• Paperback: 227 pages
• Publisher: Ashgate Pub Ltd (March 30, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0754630838
• ISBN-13: 978-0754630838
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.1 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 2.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,255,900 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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4 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Superficially reviews the debate on apostasy in Muslim history..., January 17, 2006

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Jazz It Up Baby - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Freedom of Religion, Apostasy and Islam (Liturgy, Worship and Society Series) (Hardcover)

Ahmed Subhy Mansour stated: The apostate is a Muslim who leaves Islam-or who is accused of being an enemy of Islam. The rights and wrongs of this punishment are the subject of the Saeeds' book. What had once been just an internal issue has become an international one since Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini's edict in 1989 declaring Salman Rushdie, then living in London, an apostate. That said, the issue still has its center in the majority-Muslim countries. For example, Muslim intellectuals accused of apostasy in Egypt alone include Farag Fuda (murdered in 1992), Nagib Mahfouz (stabbed in the neck in 1994), Nasr Hamid Abu Zaid (ordered to divorce his wife in 1995), the feminist leader Nawal al-Saadawy, who has received death threats-and this author, who was fired from his position at Al-Azhar University in 1987 and briefly jailed.

Freedom of Religion, Apostasy and Islam superficially reviews the debate on apostasy in Muslim history. It takes up such matters as the contradiction between apostasy laws and the freedom of belief; apostasy and Muslim thinkers; apostasy law and its potential for misuse; reasons for apostasy; understanding the fear of apostasy among Muslims; and the need to rethink apostasy laws.

Unfortunately, the authors ignored the major books written on apostasy in Islam, the ones that explore its historical roots. These include Murder in the Name of Allah by Hazrat Mizra Tahir Ahmed[1:Cambridge: Lutterworth Press, 1989.]; Killing the Apostate, a Crime Forbidden in Islam, in Arabic, by the Syrian writer Muhammad Muneer Adelby; and my own Penalty of Apostasy, Historical and Fundamental Study,[2: Weston, Ont.: International Publishing and Distribution Co., 1998.] in Arabic and English.

Another problem: 9-11 dangerously spread the issue of apostasy by providing great support to the fanatic elements in Muslim society. This development implies a need to focus on the role of the Saudi state and its Wahhabi dogma in activating and supporting the punishment for apostasy and its role in the Islamist war against the West and against Muslim freethinkers. This means looking at such topics as the role of on-line websites in urging the punishment of apostates and discussing ways to end the application of this penalty as a core religious reform. But the Saeeds do not take up these vitally important topics.