Islamic cleric endorses death penalty for whoever changes religion

An Islamic cleric and National Chairman of the Council of Ulama, Dr Ibrahim Jalingo, has stirred widespread controversy after publicly endorsing the de@th penalty for individuals who renounce their religion. In a statement written in Hausa language and shared  via his official Facebook page on Thursday, April 10, Jalingo strongly defended a Hadith prescribing capital punishment for apostasy and condemned critics of Hadith literature, accusing them of compound ignorance.  Tribune reports that Jalingo’s post came in response to mounting criticisms disputing the authenticity of a specific Hadith, which many argue contradicts the teachings of the Quran. But Jalingo dismissed such arguments, launching a detailed theological rebuttal against what he described as fabricators aiming to discredit Islamic traditions. Today, I came across the first Hadith among the supposed 100 Hadiths which the fabricators claim contradict the Quran. They assert that Muslims who believe in both the divine revelation of the Hadith and the Quran cannot respond to them! The Hadith in question is: Whoever changes his religion, kill him. The person who presented this statement by the fabricators to me is someone named Issiyaku Abdulkadir.Here is what I wrote in response to the claims of these fabricators: First, I thank you for starting to bring me what this compound ignoramus refers to as 100 Hadiths that contradict the verses of the Quran. This will, God willing, give me the opportunity to expose his ignorance to the world. Jalingo argued that the Hadith is divinely inspired and should not be regarded as merely interpretative: Second: It should be made clear to everyone that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) never said: The role of Hadith is to interpret the Quran. However, the Prophet said: Indeed, I was given the Quran and something like it alongside it. What is true is that the Quran is a revelation from Allah, and so is the Hadith a revelation from Allah. Often, the Quran addresses a matter in a summarised or brief way, and then the revelation of Hadith comes to elaborate on that matter.  He further backed the Hadith with multiple Quranic references, claiming it does not contradict scripture.Third: The Hadith you citedWhoever changes his religion, kill himis authentic and does not contradict the Quranic revelation. This is because Allah says in Surah At-Tawbah, verse 5: Then, when the sacred months have passed, kill the polytheists wherever you find them. Jalingo also cited verses from Surah Al-Baqarah and Surah An-Nisa to support his argument.Fight them until there is no more fitnah (disbelief and oppression) and religion is for Allah alone. Meaning: fight them until they accept Islam. And in Surah An-Nisa, verse 89: Kill them wherever you find them. And again in Surah An-Nisa, verse 91: Kill them wherever you confront them. The cleric dismissed the widely quoted verse advocating freedom of religion as no longer applicable. You see, unless someone is completely ignorant like the fabricators, no one would claim that the Hadith which says Whoever changes his religion, kill him contradicts the Quranbecause the Quran itself goes even further. It does not only permit the killing of apostates, but all polytheists in certain contexts. Fourth: You should also know that the verse There is no compulsion in religion (La ikrah fi ad-deen) has had its ruling abrogated (naskh) by the verses weve just quoted, as well as by the very Hadith you brought: Whoever changes his religion, kill him. And abrogation is a well-established concept within the revelation of the Glorious Quran. Jalingo ended his post with an attack on his criticsThis is a brief response to the compounded ignorance of this individualwhose approach and manner resemble that of prostitutes and effeminate meni.e., the so-called fabricators. The clerics remarks have since gone viral across social media platforms, attracting both support and condemnation.  The post Islamic cleric endorses death penalty for whoever changes religion appeared first on Linda Ikeji Blog.