Apostasy (Irtidâd) in Islamic Jurisprudence; is it a Creedal or a Political Crime: Ibn al-Humam (d. 861/1457)

Authors

  • Niyazi Kahveci Yıldız Teknik Üniversitesi Fen Edebiyat Fak. İnsan ve Toplum Bilimleri Bölümü

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.7596/taksad.v6i2.789

Keywords:

Apostasy, Apostate, Irtidâd, Murtad, Creedal crime, Political crime.

Abstract

This article aimed to explore the nature of the penalty of the apostasy (irtidâd) to what extent it is creedal or political crime, with particular reference to Hanafite penal law which served as the law of Islamic world for a period of a millennium. In expounding this law I have chosen the text of jurist-author of this School, Ibn al-Humâm (d. 861/1457) which offered a mere document for the subject-matter. The analysis in this essay exposed that Hanafi juristic conception considered the act of apostasy not a creedal but a political offence. Thereof the ratio legis (‘illa) of death penalty imposed to the apostate (murtad) is not his commitment of disbelief (kufr) but his renouncement of the social, legal and political authority and system of the state and abandoning his membership of Muslim community after once accepted it. Consequently he has been accounted as a potential threat as a warring enemy to the survival of the Muslim community and its state. I understand that the jurists did not give the state legal authority to interrogate and punish the disbelief of its subjects. Belief of the individual rests between him and God. 

References

Ahmad, A. A. (2007). Al-Ghazâlî’s Contribution to the Sunnî Juristic Discourses on Apostasy, BSOAS, VII, pp. 50-73.

Calder, N. (1986). Friday Prayer and The Juristic Theory of Government: Sarakhsî, Shirâzî, Mâwardî, BSOAS, XLIX, part: 1. 35-47.

Cantwell S. (1964). The Meaning and End of Religion, New York, 75-108.

Coulson NJ. (1990). A History of Islamic Law, Edinburgh.

Griffel, F. (2001). Toleration and exclusion: al-Shâfi’î and al-Ghazâlî on the treatment of apostates, BSOAS, v: 64, Part: 3, pp: 339-354.

Ibn al-Humâm, K. (1979), Kitâb al-Musâyara, İstanbul.

Johansen, B. (1979). Sacred and Religious Element in Hanafite Law –Function and Limits of The Absolute Character of Government Authority, Islam et Politique Au Maghreb, (ed.) Gellner Ernest and Vatin Jean-Claude (1979), pp. 281-303.

Kerr, M. (1966). Islamic reform, University of California Press, Berkeley and Los Angeles.

Rosenthal, E. I. J. (1973). The Role of the State in Islam: Theory and the Medieval Practice, Der Islam, Band 50, Heft 1, pp: 1-28.

Wensinck, AJ. (1922). The Muslim Creed, Cambridge.

Zwemer, S.M. (1924). The Law of Apostasy in Islam, London-Edinburgh&New York.

Downloads

Published

2017-04-06

How to Cite

Kahveci, N. (2017). Apostasy (Irtidâd) in Islamic Jurisprudence; is it a Creedal or a Political Crime: Ibn al-Humam (d. 861/1457). Journal of History Culture and Art Research, 6(2), 1-12. https://doi.org/10.7596/taksad.v6i2.789