Human right to heresy in Islam

This article was posted in 1994 on Soc.culture.iranian
newsgroup by an anonymous poster by the name of "Abbassi".

From: an51529@anon.penet.fi (Abbassi)
X-Anonymously-To: soc.culture.iranian
Organization: Anonymous contact service
Reply-To: an51529@anon.penet.fi
Date: Sat, 28 May 1994 09:04:52 UTC
Subject: Human right to heresy in Isalm
Lines: 57


The most basic human right which has been ignored in Isalm for far
too long is the right to give your faith up (heresy or apostasy).
I am writting this with reference to the shite tradition practiced
in Iran but I guess it is true for Islam in general. According to
almost all shite theologian in Iran once you become a moslem or
be born into a moslem family, you have no right to leave the
faith. Even some have gone so far to call it a crime punishable
by death. In fact the religeous basis for death sentence on
Rushdie is based on the same principle i.e. since he was bron
a moslem and now had left the faith. Some people say if a Christian
had written this book, he would not get the same sentence. There
are also cases such as Ahmad Kasravi who were killed because
of their anti-islamic writings.

The main justification for such harsh punishment is the
tradition by prophet Mohamed. It seems during his time, to
protect the faith from conspiracy by those who leave the
faith, such treatment was devised. How this justification
can be valid today when Isalm is one billion strong is a
question that every Moslem needs to answer.

This problem becomes even more serious when a country such as
Iran is ruled according to Islamic laws. Since Isalm has
practically a law or a traditon for each aspect of life, then
you either have to obey all of them or face death opposing
them. Therefore it becomes clear why a moslem judge in Iran
would say that not observing hejab in Iran can be construed as
apostasy and be punishable by death.

Khomeni along with many other marja in Iran believe
that denying any of the faith necessities (zaroriat deen)
is considered kofr (apostasy) and is punishable by death.
I feel it is the duty of all moslems to face this issue
as soon as possible. How can one feel comfortable with
a faith that says if you leave me, you deserve to dye,
is beyond me. When prophet Mohamed's biggest
pride is leaving his ancestor's faith, how can his
followers be denied by this priviledge.

For far too long all our intellectual activities in Iran
has been dominated by this issue. It is almost impossible
to write a sentence without thinking if this could be
interpreted as apostasy (kofr). Of course this kind
of atmosphere is not limited to Iran. We have already
heard about many instacnes in many Islamic countries such
as Turkey (over 30 people burned in a hotel),
Bangeladesh (death threat of a woman writer), Egypt (case
involving Noble prize winner Nagib Mahfuz) and Saudi Arabia
with systematic apprehesion of anti Isalmic writers.

I would really appreciate if our moslem friends on sci
respond to this issue and take a stand. Do you think what
I have written is a faithful representation of this
Islamic ruling. If not, why? What is the actual
ruling according to you? If waht I have written is not
truely Islamic, then why isn't the ruling by all maraje
in Iran is not confronted by other moslem
scolars. I would greatly appreciate other's interaction.

Abbasi

-------------------------------------------------------------------------
To find out more about the anon service, send mail to help@anon.penet.fi.
Due to the double-blind, any mail replies to this message will be anonymized,
and an anonymous id will be allocated automatically. You have been warned.
Please report any problems, inappropriate use etc. to admin@anon.penet.fi.