Critique of the Brotherhood’s position on apostasy and freedom of belief

Here, I want to make a few comments on the fatwa:

• Firstly: Did this Kashmiri fellow (from India) not find but Al-Dawa magazine (in Cairo) to ask his question?! There are several Islamic scholars and jurists in his country, whom he can ask. It is easier, closer and better. Had he asked them already, but did not get a satisfying answer?
• Secondly, Sheikh al-Khateeb’s definition of apostasy expands to include “saying” the word of disbelief or “doing it.” The sheikh does not seem to be concerned about identifying acts and statements leading to disbelief.  Is apostasy subject to strict law determined by Islam, or is it an issue of jurisprudential discretion and a responsibility of religious scholars in every era?  If Islam does not provide such a definition or narrow down the justifications of apostasy, then it will definitely be used to target innocent people. Prominent recent examples of writers and activists killed because of apostasy claims include Mahmoud Mohammed Taha, executed by the Sudanese government, as thousands of demonstrators protested his execution. And Faraj Foda, victim of extremists who were later arrested and imprisoned for 20 years. The Egyptian Nobel prize winner Naguib Mahfouz was seriously injured in an attempted assassination, paralyzing his right arm.

Those so-called, self-installed guardians of Islam considered freedom of speech to be synonymous with disbelief which means ‘apostasy that is a ‘capital crime’. Soon after, the death sentence was carried out as a result of the non-calculated expansion of the indiscriminate anathematization of the opponent. Therefore, does Sheikh Al-Khateeb realize which Pandora’s Box he has just opened up by his fatwa? Had the Brotherhood taken the helm of power, they would immediately install themselves as the divinely-atoning authority that judge people’s faiths according to their discretion. Non-Muslims would never survive this fate as Muslims themselves haplessly succumb to it.

• Thirdly, Sheikh al-Khateeb argues that killing the apostate is an incontestable Islamic punishment. There is no doubt that there are other scholars who differed on this matter. Evidence of this is what the Sheikh says: “Any attempt to dilute this ruling [of apostasy] is futile and causes corruption in the land.”[1] The sheikh considers all those who disagree with him as corrupt and mischief-makers, and no time to discuss their reasoning or refute their conclusions.
• Fourthly, Islam is the religion of reason and sound human nature (al-Fitra) in which Man is responsible for his own actions and choices. In this context, the question about the children of the apostate seemed very strange, and the answer was no different, as well. Sheikh al-Khateeb was drawn in adducing many possibilities, showcasing his deep knowledge by mentioning the views of a bunch of anonymous jurists. It seems as if al-Khateeb has no interest, no appreciation, and no idea of the paramount importance of analogical reasoning in reaching well-informed conclusions. Suffice for him to tell you some views which he takes at face value.

[1]They are many scholars who differed over the Hadd al-Ridda. See, for example, the writings of: Imam Muhammad Abdo, Abdel-Mota’al Al-Saidi, Sheikh Shaltout, Jamal Al-Banna, Mohammed Salim Al-Awa …et al.