Understanding The Prophet's Life
From Issue: 730 [Read full issue]
Apostasy
The Prophet, peace be upon him, never put anyone to death for apostasy alone. Indeed, there were cases when certain individuals apostatised after professing Islam yet the Prophet did not even penalise them, let alone condemn them to death. Affirmative evidence on this point is found in the following incident which appears in the Hadith compilations of al-Bukhari and Muslim:
A Bedouin came to the Prophet and pledged his allegiance to him, professing Islam. The next day he came back, ill with fever and said, 'Return my pledge to me.' but the Prophet refused - thrice. Then the Prophet said: Medina is like a bellows which rejects its dross and recognises its pure.
This was a clear case of apostasy, in which the Prophet made no reference to any punishment at all, and the Bedouin, despite his persistent renunciation of Islam was left to go unharmed.
The Prophet, peace be upon him, did not treat apostasy as a proscribed offence (hadd), but, on the contrary, pardoned many individuals who had embraced Islam, then renounced it, and then embraced it again. Included among these was Abdullah Ibn Abi Sarh, the foster brother of Uthman Ibn Affan, and one-time scribe of the Prophet.
Compiled From:
"Freedom of Expression in Islam" - Mohammad Hashim Kamali, pp. 96-98