religious identity being tied to the state) is no longer present. However, such conditions do not exist today because the political element (i.e. My position is clear: The punishment for ridda (apostasy) is part of the Shariah and should be applied when all the conditions are met. This is completely unfair to me and what I actually believe. However, I will not concede to unwarranted claims that I’m “denying the Shari’ah” or think “it’s not part of Islam” and that I’m some “reformist”. Unlike some in the dawah circuit today, I am more than willing to admit my errors. Now, prior to elucidating my position, I do wish to concede that I may be wrong on this matter and am perfectly okay with being corrected. That said, it has prompted me to make this response before such an interpretation becomes contagious. Given Saajid can’t even comprehend the standard use of the word ‘medieval,’ it’s not at all shocking he made this error. This was the context of my statement for all who can read rudimentary English. effective cause – ‘illah/ manât) does not. The Law of Allah makes perfect sense, but the application of a punishment without the necessary conditions (i.e. Saajid responded by committing a straw man fallacy, accusing me of claiming the Shariah “make no sense today to ,” as though I were denying the prescriptions of Allah based on some arbitrary sentiment. I then followed up that response with my usual explanation that, given there is a political element attached to the concept of ridda, the punishment “makes no sense today” in light of changing conditions. In response to an Ex-Muslim who essentially accused me of wanting to kill apostates, I responded that I “don’t support apostasy laws” because they “should no longer be operative because conditions have changed”. As such, due to having a bit more foresight than my detractors (Alhamdullilah for an education), I have prepared this document in advance prior to their smears.Īn individual by the name of Saajid Lipham was the first to attempt to misconstrue my views on apostasy: That said, recently I’ve seen some individuals attempt to take advantage of my short comments on the issue – and it appears they will be using those comments in the future as a means to slander me and undermine my credibility. Most of my dawah work focused on refuting ex-Muslims and Islamophobes, yet there were few times it was relevant to bring up in debate. The reason being is because I never felt it necessary to discuss unless asked or challenged on a particular point. Over the years, I have discussed it very few times, whether in video or on social media platforms. This article is a brief overview of my position on the punishment for apostasy within Islam.