My entry into the Intellectual Battlespace causes me to examine many primary source documents and the (translated) writings of prominent Islamic jurists and literati. So the news coming out of Somalia of beheadings for apostasy fell right in line with what I am currently reading. I am currently immersed within the historical timeline of the Abbasid Dynasty. Fascinating reading. Some of the administrative applications of law are similar to our own, but there is hell to pay, in other regards.
While I hate to engage the “Islam for Dummies” routine for my readership it seems necessary to give the abbreviated drill regarding the Qur’an. So here is a bullet format:
*The Qur’an is seen as the singular active voice of Allah.
*It is composed of 114 Surah (chapters)
*These are further divided into ayat (verses or “signs”)
*Each ayat, is further subdivided by whether it is from the Makki or Madani era. In other words, was it a revelation from when Muhammad was in Mecca (approximately 13 years) or Medina? (Approximately 10 years)
Individual ayat function as a hinge to a greater doorway of thought which is the oral traditions behind the verse in question. Any analyst who ventures into geopolitical Islam without a firm grasp of oral tradition will produce thought which is not fully armored. I do root cause analysis. It is much different than what other analysts engage.
Quick Test: What individual comes to mind with the following ayat?
"A lying sinful forelock" Al-Alaq 16
O.K. So you flunked. Let's move along.
While Stratfor suggest the beheadings may be linked to Islamist' failure to take Mogadishu and an Amnesty International researcher further opines the beheadings are “under the guise of applying sharia law”, oral tradition demonstrates that Shari’ah is supportive of and allows the death penalty for apostasy. The terror of the modern-day beheadings is not a guise, rather a legally sanctioned penalty based on jurisprudence.
Within the tribal Muslim regions, this application is most likely meted out based on an understanding of oral traditions. These have been passed along in mother tongue for centuries. A conflict zone such as Somalia will most likely suffer under a more vigorous application of Shari’ah as there is lacking any secular political counterbalance to this distillation of potent Islamic thought. But what needs to be understood is that current upheaval aside, dealing with apostasy in Islam is determined by a firm understanding of Allah's rights over his creation.
Should a Muslim leave his faith, application of death penalty is allowed. Period. A man by the name of al-Mustawrid al-Ijli was put to death by the 4th Caliph Ali, for "embracing the Crucifix". He was allowed a three day requittal period, after which his life was taken. The death penalty is applicable to women, as in the case of Umm Ruman whose life was taken for same reason.
After death, the corpse is neither bathed nor a prayer spoken over it. The body may not be placed in a cemetery where other Muslims are buried. In a strange twist of fate, neither may the body be laid to rest in the cemetery of non-Muslims, due to the deceased' prior affiliation with Islam. Seizure and distribution of the assets of the deceased are also extensions of the law of apostasy.
This is abbreviated, and for that I apologize. But I hope that this venture into the IB will provide its own hinge to each of the readers. But yes, apostates are to be seized and killed.
Beheadings for apostasyTammy Swofford
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