Talk Islam » apostasy

Another apostasy killing in Saudi Arabia …

aziz — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 19:37:12 +0000

Another apostasy killing in Saudi Arabia. The girl was murdered by her father for converting to Christianity. The father worked for the Orwellian-named Commission for Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice.

via John Burgess, who notes that the case is provoking debate within Saudi society. Though the death is a total tragedy, maybe the girl will be a martyr after all.

the prominent shihab family in lebanon i …

razib — Sun, 17 Aug 2008 21:59:49 +0000

the prominent shihab family in lebanon is ancestrally from the hijaz and were sunni muslims. in the 18th century the leadership of the family converted to maronite christianity, and most of the clan followed suit. lebanon is the heart of the arab world, but even there the apostasy laws seem to be a moot point if you have power.

right now ossetia is in the news. the ossetes were originally orthodox christians who turned to islam but eventually converted mostly to orthodox christianity. in the 17th century about 25% of the russian nobility were of muslim background; though the cossaks were usually slavic peasants, a considerable number were quite clearly christianized tatars.

The son of Hamas’ West Bank leader has …

thabet — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 10:40:45 +0000

The son of Hamas’ West Bank leader has announced his conversion to Christianity. In an interview with the Israeli newspaper, Haaretz, Masab Yousef, son of Sheikh Hassan Yousef, rejected Hamas and said Palestinian society “sanctifies death and … suicide terrorists”. He added Islam would not allow Hamas to make peace with Israel.

Yousef’s family have rejected the story as a fabrication.

(Via Bartholomew’s Notes on Religion.)

Religious conversion and apostasy

thabet — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 17:35:28 +0000

The Economist covers religious conversions, and has a longer article on Islam and apostasy.

In India, the line between Hinduism and …

aziz — Sun, 13 Jul 2008 02:23:53 +0000

In India, the line between Hinduism and Islam is not all that fine, thanks to centuries of familial bonds and religious syncretism.

The NYT’s public editor undermines Edwa …

thabet — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 11:35:18 +0000

The NYT’s public editor undermines Edward Luttak’s piece on Obama being an apostate under Islamic law.

Luttwak should have no credibility left to speak on such matters.

(Via AE.)

Malaysia matters

aziz — Thu, 15 May 2008 14:55:14 +0000

Malaysia Matters is a new web site about news from Malaysia, described as “America’s unknown ally and its quiet friend.” They’re on Twitter, too.

Here’s what they had to say about the recent apostasy case. Very encouraging.

More on the Obama apostasy smear: Eteraz …

willow — Mon, 12 May 2008 20:27:46 +0000

More on the Obama apostasy smear: Eteraz weighs in.

No call to prayer in the ear, not raised as a Muslim, born to an atheist father, and then abandoned to a Christian mother both by father and his family, equals not Muslim. Obama is right to say he had no religion until he became a Christian.

president apostate? the column reflects …

razib — Mon, 12 May 2008 19:48:24 +0000

president apostate? the column reflects accurately i think the rather primitive attitude toward compulsion in religion (or lack of) in most muslim nations. but like many of these sorts of analyses it neglects psychological and social sophistication; the only other apostate (from islam) head of state who visited the arab world was carlos menem, and i don’t think there were major issues with assassination here. additionally, it tends to be a fact that apostasy and blasphemy laws in the muslim world generally end up enforced for two reasons: 1) the non-muslim is too vocal in proclaiming their faith or even has the temerity to attempt to convert muslims, 2) or, they are marginalized in some way so that these laws are used to screw them over (e.g., they’re insane, they have property you want, etc.).

aprosos of the apostasy post below, God …

razib — Thu, 08 May 2008 18:49:55 +0000

aprosos of the apostasy post below, God’s Rule - Government and Islam: Six Centuries of Medieval Islamic Political Thought :
The Prophet was remembered as havinggiven them the choice between conversion and death. But it was only Arab pagans that he had eradicated: did non-Arab peers have to be similarly treated? After some debate, the jurists decided that the Zoroastrians…were an exception, they had once possessed a book…and/or that the Prophet had accepted jizya from Zoroastrians (in eastern Arabia)…But the jurists could not agree on other pagans. Some took the Prophet’s eradication of Arab idolaters to mean that all pagans had to be given the choice between Islam or death, whatever their ethnicity. This was the position of the Shafi’ites…Others argued that the Arabs were a special case and that it was the Prophet’s treatment of Zoroastrians which had universal significance: all non-Arab pagans should be treated as Zoroastrains. That was the position of the Malikis and Hanafis…aruging that all unbelievers were eligible for dhimmi status, full stop.

the hanafi position is one reason adduced as to why this school is popular in the turkic and south asian world; it was more practical since non-muslims were thick on the ground. but it is interesting to note that shafis are dominant in southeast asia, where there are large non-muslim pagan minorities (buddhists and hindus).