Apostasy is not forbidden in Islam
Mauritania has just issued the death sentence to Cheikh Ould Mohamed Mkhitir, a man in his late 20s, writer of an article considered blasphemous against Islamic values.
If such a judgment strictly applies the Mauritanian law -- which provides the death penalty as a punishment for apostasy, as in other Muslim countries -- it wouldn't be the first time in a country where capital punishment has been imposed for the alleged crime since its Independence.
In fact, the death penalty has not been used since 1987, because the authorities have obeyed a de facto moratorium on applying it since then.
The harshness of the Mauritanian judicial system in this case is presented as the result of the society's desire for justice, which was expressed by a certain number of demonstrations of anger and pressure on the judge to condemn the young man to death.
We must not, however, confuse the matter; this is nothing more than the result of the activism of the most radical forces of society, who work to give Islam the most hated of images in the name of doctrinal purity -- which in reality demands tolerance, not severity.
Islam is far from condemning apostasy; rather, Islamic it is accepted as part of a larger recognition of the freedom of belief. A book demonstrate it in arabic (see below back cover).
Therefore, the recent happenings being so serious, it is important that they be harshly denounced and punished, not only by international society, but mostly and first of all by North African Muslim society, because this could mean the implementation of the brutal and extreme ideology of the Islamic State in Maghreb.
The Mauritanian judicial system should be prevailed upon not to apply such anti-Islamic laws. Moreover, this event should be used as a reason to revoke this shameful law, which violates the Islamic values of clemency and mercy.
Apostasy in Islam
Apostasy is different from what we know from the history of Islam. At that time, it was a dangerous event; it turned up to be an attempt of a political coup against the new regime set up by Islam. Concerning the change of faith, which is the true sense of apostasy, Islam guarantees it in its texts and through the facts. So apostasy in Islam is far from being a restriction of the freedom of belief as some people think wrongly or because of fabricated arguments.
The freedom of converting into a religion guarantees the freedom of leaving it, and our religion consecrates both these freedoms. This is confirmed by the Koran and the Prophet’s tradition as we shall prove it in this book. Our book sheds light on the problem of apostasy now that the precepts of Islam are being altered or caricatured.
Undoubtedly, apostasy in Islam, as we unveil its truth, illustrates magnificently the universal aspect of this religion, without any kind of restriction, as well as its humanitarian aspect, in opposition to any fundamentalism or rejection of the other, who is our other self, though different. Islam is surely the ecumenical religion by excellence.
Originally appeared on HuffPost Maghreb, this post is here freely translated into English. Thx to Huff Post team.
