Quote:16) They believe that Muslims who convert to Christianity or any other religion ought to be put to death.
Bismillah
The one who abandons Islam, and deserts the community. Refers to apostates who leave Islam and desert or abandon the community this occurs by being militant against Muslims (Sheikh-ul-Islam Ibn Taimiyyah held the same view see As-Sarem-ul-Masloul by Ibn Taimiyyah, page 315.)
Thus the Hadith refers to apostates who take to fighting the Muslims or causing disorder in the land. (As the complete statement not only reads “the one who leaves religion” but also “abandons / deserts the Muslims)
Consider the following Hadith:
Sunan Abu Dawood Book 033, Hadith Number 4339.
Narated By 'Aisha, Ummul Mu’minin: The Apostle of Allah (pbuh) Said: The blood of a Muslim man who testifies that there is no god but Allah and that Muhammad is Allah's Apostle should not lawfully be shed except only for one of three reasons: a man who committed fornication after marriage, in which case he should be stoned; one who goes forth to fight with Allah and His Apostle, in which case he should be killed or crucified or exiled from the land; or one who commits murder for which he is killed.
You see NO WHERE is Apostasy mentioned, and this is an authentic Hadith, and Ayesha (p b u h) the wife of the prophet is the narrator. This is because these Hadiths refer to a case of “apsotasy” in which a person abandons his religion and the community and causes Fasad (disorder/ mischief) in the land. He is thus included in the second category: one who goes forth to fight with Allah and His Apostle which is further included in the category of Fasad (disorder) done in the land (Quran 5:32)
We can bring to our mind the incident of the killing of the apostates of the tribe of UKL’ OR URAINA but reading the whole incident reveals that they had brutally killed the shepherds who had offered them their milk and urine to drink, they had pierced their eyes, they had left them to die in the desert and the Muslims and the Prophet (p b u h) afterwards got to know that they (the shepherds) were killed. They had also driven away their camels. Thus almost all Hadiths which describe their incident say that they were guilty of “waging war or fighting against God and his messenger” There were other cases too like the two apostates of Mecca that were killed during conquest of Mecca but they were both guilty of murder. There are some hadiths regarding this issue, which have been proven to be un-reliable, and un-authentic, so there is no question about them. (See Nail-ul-Awtar by Al-Shawkani, volume 7, Page 217. Cairo.)
Consider the following Hadiths too:
Sahih Bukhari Volume 003, Book 030, Hadith Number 107.
Narated By Jabir: A Bedouin came to the Prophet and gave a pledge of allegiance for embracing Islam. The next day he came with fever and said (to the Prophet), "Please cancel my pledge (of embracing Islam and of emigrating to Medina)." The Prophet refused (that request) three times and said, "Medina is like a furnace, it expels out the impurities (bad persons) and selects the good ones and makes them perfect."
Thus the prophet without any punishment let him leave Medina.
And:
Sahih Bukhari Volume 004, Book 056, Hadith Number 814.
Narated By Anas: There was a Christian who embraced Islam and read Surat-al-Baqara and Al-Imran, and he used to write for the Prophet (i.e. he was one of the scribes). Later on he returned to Christianity again and he used to say: "Muhammad knows nothing but what I have written for him." Then Allah caused him to die, and the people buried him, but in the morning they saw that the earth had thrown his body out. They said, "This is the act of Muhammad and his companions. They dug the grave of our companion and took his body out of it because he had run away from them." They again dug the grave deeply for him, but in the morning they again saw that the earth had thrown his body out. They said, "This is an act of Muhammad and his companions. They dug the grave of our companion and threw his body outside it, for he had run away from them." They dug the grave for him as deep as they could, but in the morning they again saw that the earth had thrown his body out. So they believed that what had befallen him was not done by human beings and had to leave him thrown (on the ground).
The Hadith reveals that this man lived for some time after having left Islam as this statement indicates: he used to say… This means that he must have said this many times, and he must have declared this in front of many people that is how Anas (the narrator, who was very close to Muhammad p b u h and had lived since childhood with him) got to know it too. The Prophet, of course would have known that too, but he didn’t punish him.
Many Muslim Caliphs like Umar Ibn-alkhattab and Umar II suggested imprisonment and jizyah respectively.
Then in the Quran we find:
A section of the People of the Book say: believe in the morning what is revealed to the Believers, but reject it at the end of the day; perchance they may (themselves) turn back” (Quran 3:72)
This mass apostasy took place in Medina while Islamic State was already established under leadership of the Prophet (p b u h). Though, these apostates whose aim, according to the Qur’an itself, was to tempt Muslims away from Islam, were not punished. (Tafsir Al-Qur'an-ul-'Azeem by Ibn Kathir, volume 2, page 36)
Another verse says:
Those who believe and then disbelieve, and then believe and then disbelieveand then increase in unbelief—God is not likely to forgive them, neither to guide them on any way Quran (4:137)
So there always have been apostates who have believed and then disbelieved and then believed again. They did live to believe and disbelieve again and again didn’t they? At Muhammad’s (peace be upon him) time, if after apostasy they had been put to death, they couldn’t have been alive to believe again and then disbelieve again, and they couldn’t have remained to alive to further increase in disbelief.
And we know:
Let there be no compulsion in religion” Quran (2:256)
And say: The truth is from your Lord, so let him who wills believe, and let him who wills disbelieve… Quran (18:29)
And if your Lord had pleased, surely all those who are in the earth would have believed, all of them; will you then force men till they become believers!! It is not for a soul to believe except by God’s will permission; and He casts doubt on those who have no sense. Quran (10:100-101)—
Plus the Quran, talks about some people who had accepted Islam but after that had not been obedient to God and his messenger and God called them unbelievers. They were even known to Muhammad (P b u h), as the text of the Quran shows, and they were even brought to him for judgment, for which they were declining to come. Their description and the judgment of God is given in the following verses:
24:47
And they say: We believe in God and in the messenger and we obey; AFTER THAT a party of them turns away / turns back and these are not believers.
24:48
When they are summoned to God and His messenger, in order that He may judge between them, behold some of them decline (to come).
24; 53
They swear by God solemnly that, if thou order them, they will go forth
24:54
Say: Swear not; know ye that obedience (is better). Lo! God is Informed of what ye do. Say: "Obey God, and obey the Messenger: but if ye turn back, he is only responsible for the duty placed on himself and ye for that placed on yourselves. If ye obey him, ye shall be on right guidance. The Messenger's duty is only to preach the clear (Message)
(The Glorious Quran)
Plus this what the Quran said about those who had accepted Islam but either had after wards abandoned it or had never accepted it truly i.e. they were hypocrites. They were also well known to the prophet and they were not such apostates or hypocrites whose intentions were unknown to the prophet, I mean the prophet well knew about them:
He, who obeys the Messenger, obeys God: But if any turn away, We have not sent thee to watch over there (evil deeds) And they say: Obedience But when they go out from your presence, a party of them decides by night upon doing otherwise than what you say and God writes down what they decide by night, therefore let them alone and trust in God, and God is sufficient as a protector. (Quran 4:80-81)