Playing God

"All rights of this book are reserved for the publisher and the author. This copy is for reading purpose only. This copy cannot be uploaded on any website except those of the publisher and the author." Playing God: Misreading a Divine Practice 43 leaves the fold of Islam is punishable by death. They base their verdict on the following Had ī th as narrated by ‘Abdull ā h ibn ‘Abb ā s (rta) in the following way: + - 3 = 6 o W16 < !K = F? The Prophet s aid: “Execute the people who change their faith.” 25 In their opinion, the ruling pronounced in this Had ī th is regarded to h ave a general application for all time upon every Mu slim wh o renounces his faith from the times of the Prophet (sws) to the Day of Judgement. It has been shown in the previous sections that once the Idolaters of Arabia had deliberately denied the message of Muhammad (sws), they were sentenced to death because of this denial: +, BJ 9- 3 jX fB1 W16 < N i1 2U"1 /I :;< G]- ? 6@- J 1 ;< > ? X +2 - 16 - +,- c - +,- e+3 7 e7 Vx R +2 3H }q< { Xv Jn- { c )s: (( So when the forbidden months are over, slay the Idolaters wherever you find them. Seize them, surround them and everywhere lie in ambush for them. But if they repent from their wrong beliefs (Beirut: D ā r ihya’ al-tur ā th al-‘arab ī , 1980), 422-425; Wahbah al-Zuhayl ī , Al-Fiqh al-isl ā m ī wa adillatuhu , 1 st ed. vol. 6 (Damascus: D ā r al-fikr), 186. 25 . Al-Bukh ā r ī , Al-J ā mi‘ al-sah ī h . vol. 3, 1098, (no. 2854). www.javedahmadghamidi.com www.al-mawrid.org