In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
As-salāmu ‘alaykum wa-rahmatullāhi wa-barakātuh.
First and foremost, an apostate is killed simply because it is an order of the Sharī’ah. We do not have any authority in questioning the law of Allah. Allah Ta’ālā is the All-Wise. The wisdoms and benefits behind His every ruling are unfathomable by our feeble minds.
The possible rationale behind this ruling may be understood through the death penalty executed in almost 60 countries. For some criminal convictions where the death penalty is carried out are:
The United States of America
China
Japan
Taiwan
Thailand
Jamaica
India
A person is condemned to death because he has committed an unforgivable crime. A country is based on certain entrenched values. There is no compromise on such values.
One who opposes these values is convicted of treason. The penalty of treason in many countries is death. If death is the consequence of rebelling against man made laws which are deficient, then shouldn’t rebellion against the laws of Allah which are perfect be viewed more seriously. An apostate fuels widespread disorder and confusion. His apostasy prompts others to question their beliefs. He is the seed of imbalance. Hence, it is better to uproot the mischief before it is deep rooted in the ground. For example, if there is a basket of apples wherein there is one rotten apple, what will the owner of the apples do? He will get rid of the rotten apple to preserve the rest of the apples. If he keeps the rotten apple merely because it is an apple, he will be deemed foolish. In the very same manner, an apostate carries rotten beliefs; he must be removed from the basket of the world to preserve the spiritual welfare of others. Anything which is a threat to Imān will be uprooted.
You further enquire regarding the following verse:
لَا إِكْرَاهَ فِي الدِّينِ قَدْ تَبَيَّنَ الرُّشْدُ مِنَ الْغَيِّ فَمَنْ يَكْفُرْ بِالطَّاغُوتِ وَيُؤْمِنْ بِاللَّهِ فَقَدِ اسْتَمْسَكَ بِالْعُرْوَةِ الْوُثْقَى لَا انْفِصَامَ لَهَا وَاللَّهُ سَمِيعٌ عَلِيمٌ (سورة البقرة 256)
“There shall be no compulsion in [acceptance of] the religion. The right course has become clear from the wrong. So whoever disbelieves in Taghut and believes in Allah has grasped the most trustworthy handhold with no break in it. And Allah is Hearing and Knowing.” (Quran 2:256)
This verse orders the believers not to coerce anybody into accepting the fold of Islam. This verse has nothing at all to with an apostate. In this verse, Muslims are being reminded not to make people accept Islam by means of compulsion. Hence, history testifies that all the cities which accepted Islam in the earlier times was due to them exercising their free will. Forcing somebody to accept has no benefit at all. It just creates more enemies from within.
An apostate had already entered Islam with his own will and then he defected. He will not be forced to accept Islam. He will be given an opportunity of three days to repent. After three days, the apostate will be sentenced to death.[ii]
You also ask vis-à-vis chapter 109 titled surah al-kāfirūn. Before explaining this chapter, it is necessary to understand that all these contradictions and misunderstandings are due to understanding texts out of their context. One must study under a qualified and genuine scholar to really comprehend the message of the Qur’an.
Firstly, this verse was revealed in Makkah. Hence, it preceeds any ruling in relation to apostates. Secondly, this chapter was revealed with regards to a specific occurrence. Once the disbelievers came and proposed to the Prophet salallahu alaihi wasallam that they should practice on a ‘multi-faith’; for one year, everybody should worship the idols and the next year everyone will worship Allah.[iii] It was after this that the Prophet was told to respond to them with the statement:
لَكُمْ دِينُكُمْ وَلِيَ دِينِ (سورة الكافرون 6)
“For you is your dīn for me is my dīn.” (Quran 109:6)
In conclusion, if opposition to the values of man-made laws is unforgiveable, imagine the severity of going against the core values of Islam, namely Tawhīd?
And Allah Ta’āla Knows Best
www.daruliftaa.nethttp://islamqa.org/hanafi/darulfiqh/21987The punishment for apostasy originated due to the dangerous phenomena of hypocrisy (nifaq) that threatened the community in Medina. Hypocrisy in this sense is not simply failing to live up to one’s stated moral standards, but rather this form of hypocrisy was the deliberate attempt by the enemies of Islam to pretend to be Muslims in order to infiltrate and harm the community.
Allah said:
وَقَالَت طَّائِفَةٌ مِّنْ أَهْلِ الْكِتَابِ آمِنُوا بِالَّذِي أُنزِلَ عَلَى الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا وَجْهَ النَّهَارِ وَاكْفُرُوا آخِرَهُ لَعَلَّهُمْ يَرْجِعُونَ
A faction of the People of the Book say to each other: Believe in that which was revealed to the believers at the beginning of the day and reject it at its end that perhaps they will abandon their religion.
Surah Ali Imran 3:72
Some of the Jews of Medina pretended to be Muslims outwardly with the intention of later publicizing their rejection of Islam in an attempt to shake the faith of newly converted Muslims. This was at a time when Medina was threatened with a war of extermination by the Quraish aristocracy.
Major apostasy is when a person embraces Islam and later leaves the religion while combining this with the political crime of treason. Legal punishment against such persons can only be carried out by a lawful authority according to due process, and it is not permissible for individual Muslims to carry out this punishment on their own.
The presence of political treason as a condition for punishment is made clear in an authentic tradition.
Abdullah ibn Mas’ud reported: The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, applied legal punishment in the following case:
وَالتَّارِكُ لِدِينِهِ الْمُفَارِقُ لِلْجَمَاعَةِ
The one who leaves his religion and separates from the community.
Source: Sahih Muslim 1676, Grade: Sahih
The mention of one who “separates from the community” (al-mufariq lil-jama’ah) indicates that a person is not legally punished simply for leaving Islam, but rather for high treason against the Muslim community.
http://abuaminaelias.com/freedom-of-religion-and-apostasy-in-islam/Allah knows best
