Chapter: The Ruling on the Apostate
An apostate is a person who lapses into unbelief after having embraced Islam.
Unbelief is incurred through one of four means:
- By word: such as reviling Allah,1 His Messenger, His angels, claiming prophethood,2 or attributing partners to the Almighty.
- By deed: such as prostrating to an idol or the like, or casting a copy of the Quran into something filthy.
- By belief: such as holding that Allah has a partner, judging fornication or wine3 to be lawful, or declaring bread unlawful, and other matters upon which there is an unequivocal consensus.
- By doubting any of the foregoing.
Whoever apostasizes while being legally accountable and acting of his own free will is to be summoned to repent for three days—this is obligatory.4 If he repents, no penalty applies and his prior good deeds are not nullified; if he persists, he is to be executed by the sword. No one may carry out the execution except the imam or his deputy; should anyone else kill him without permission,5 he has done wrong and is subject to disciplinary punishment, yet he bears no financial liability—even if the killing took place before the summons to repent.
The Islam of a discerning minor, as well as his apostasy, is valid; however, he is not to be executed until, after reaching puberty, he is given a three-day opportunity to repent.