Toronto Imam Shabbir Ally is a Canadian Muslim preacher, scholar and imam. As of 2020 he is the President of the Islamic Information & Dawah Centre International in Toronto. Imam Ally was interviewed in 2014 and he agreed that the death penalty for apostasy or blasphemy no longer applies.
After the killing of three (one beheaded) French Catholics in Niece and the beheading of the French teacher Samuel Paty, several influential North American Muslim leaders, such as Omar Suliman, Yasir Qadhi, Karim AbuZaid, Tariq Ramadon, Jawed Anwar, Yunous Kathrada, gave interviews expressing their opinion that beheading of Non-Muslims could have detrimental consequences for the Muslim community, as well as hinder political advancement. However, no Muslim leader expressed that execution for blasphemy or apostacy was in and of itself wrong. Furthermore, Islamic literature, distributed at Toronto Dundas Sq. as well as on a prominent Saudi website, strongly supports execution for apostasy or blasphemy. Below is a partial transcript of Imam Shabbir Ally’s interview.
Safiyyah Ally: Islamic history did State a worldly punishment for blasphemy. And that punishment was the death penalty. So he’s wondering if you clarify that or you know explain how that applies now.
Shabbir Ally: They had reached that verdict because there is a statement in a Hadith that says that the Prophet PBUH said ‘if anyone changes his religion and abandons his community then you should kill him’. So they took that to mean that if one leaves Islam and that person should be killed. What I’m doing is I’m going back to the Quran and saying okay you have a Hadith reported that the Prophet PBUH said this. But it may or may not be authentic. What is more authentic is what the Quran says that is the word of God that found and forms the foundation of Islam. And this shows that there is to be no compulsion in religion. Naturally, if you’re killing people because they are leaving Islam then you are forcing them to remain Muslims. You are practicing compulsion. And curiously enough some of the classical commentators who think that you should kill the blasphemer or the apostate say that when they come to the verse about no compulsion they say well okay we have an exception. But of course the verse itself is very general and does not seem to admit of any exceptions. Surah 2 verse 256 says in a very blanket way ‘there’s to be no compulsion in religion’. Now if we apply that is the basis and we go back to this Hadith to see where to place it. We can say that either this Hadith is not authentic or, perhaps, the Prophet PHUH did not say it or did not say it quite that way, somebody made a mistake. Or it could be that it applied to somebody who posts some danger at the time to the Muslim community. Now at the time of the profit Mohamed PBUH.
Safiyyah Ally: Who dealt with a particular circumstance
Shabbir Ally: A circumstance that does not really apply today. In the time of the Prophet PBUH there was no dedicated Muslim Army. Every able bodied Muslim might be called upon to defend the Muslim frontiers against the attacks of others. So because every Muslim was a potential soldier he knew the weaknesses and the movements of the Muslim military and he could reveal those secrets to a foreign entity that could come to attack the Muslims at their point of weakness. And so it was necessary for Muslims to recognize this and if anyone left the ranks he was treated like a soldier today who might abandon the ranks.
Safiyyah Ally: So that situation does not apply now
Shabbir Ally: That does not apply now. So the strict way of dealing with soldiers – the soldiers does apply. But every Muslim today is not a soldier. It’s hardly a situation where every Muslim would be called upon to to fight to defend his or her country… Notice that it says if he abandons his religion and abandons – he changes his religion and abandons the community. It’s not for changing the religion alone but also for abandoning the community at a time when communities were such that is clear who’s abandoning what.
Safiyyah Ally: So in other words the punishment for blasphemy should not apply now is what you are saying
Shabbir Ally: So yes we go back to the Quran which is the bases which says there is no compulsion in religion so we can’t compel a person to remain a Muslim or become a Muslim and naturally we can’t apply a law which says you kill the blasphemer because then you are compelling the person to remain within the orthodoxy of the Muslim faith.
Sheharyar Shaikh Imam Islamic Society of Kingston, ON
I especially want to look at one aspect – the punishment for apostasy… Let Allah be a witness that I am telling the truth, the punishment for apostasy is death… If you turn your back from Islam, according to the law it is death… You commit treason against Allah, the creator, there is punishment… Retributive justice in effect. Video clip
Response to the killings and beheading crisis in France Muslim leaders, did condemn Islamophobia, colonization and American foreign policy. Imam Yasir Qadhi did say that now is not the opportune time, for individual Muslims to take such action as it is likely to harm the Muslim community on several fronts, one of which is the political gains, “It is important to weigh the pros & cons. Muslim leaders also advised that while in a minority situation keeping a low profile is of great benefit. LearningIslam.ca France Muslim beheading controversy Omar Suliman president Yaqeen Institute, Texas Imam Yasir Qadhi, Famous scholar Tariq Ramadan, Colorado Imam AbuZaid, Canadian Imam Younus Kathrada, Toronto Imam Shabbir Ally, Founder Islamic Ontario Party Jawed Anwar
Multiple clips for a fuller contextualized understanding France Muslim beheading controversy
Islam Q&A is an academic, educational, da‘wah website which aims to offer advice and academic answers based on evidence from religious texts in an adequate and easy-to-understand manner. These answers are supervised by Shaykh Muhammad Saalih al-Munajjid who personally answered the following question.
QUESTION: As a non Muslim, I find myself Intrigued and attracted to your faith. However, I find it difficult to comprehend how a man can be sentenced to death for speaking (Salman Rushdie). I would have thought that we as humans do not have that right to make those decisions, only god can?
ANSWER:
Riddah (apostasy) refers to when a Muslim becomes a disbeliever by saying a clear statement to that effect, or by uttering words which imply that (i.e., which imply kufr or disbelief), or he does something that implies that (i.e., an action which implies kufr or disbelief).
The evidence that the apostate is to be executed is the words of the Prophet PBUH: “Whoever changes his religion, execute him.” (Narrated by al-Bukhaari, 2794). What is meant by religion here is Islam (i.e., whoever changes from Islam to another religion).
Matters which constitute apostasy are divided into four categories:
(a)Apostasy in beliefs, such as associating others with Allaah, denying Him, or denying an attribute which is proven to be one of His attributes, or by affirming that Allaah has a son. Whoever believes that is an apostate and a disbeliever.
(b)Apostasy in words, such as insulting Allaah or the Messenger PBUH.
(c)Apostasy in actions, such as throwing the Qur’an into a filthy place, because doing that shows disrespect towards the words of Allaah, so it is a sign that one does not believe. Other such actions include prostrating to an idol or to the sun or moon.
(d)Apostasy by omission, such as not doing any of the rituals of Islam, or turning away from following it altogether.
Moreover, such strong rulings as this are only applied to such a person whose life is no longer considered to be useful, because he knew the truth and followed the religion, then he left it and forsook it. What soul can be more evil than the soul of such a person?
Aims:
- To spread Islam and call people to it.
- To spread Islamic knowledge and dispel ignorance among Muslims.
- To respond to people’s needs by offering advice and answers based on evidence from religious texts.
- To refute the specious arguments of doubters about Islam.
- To advise people concerning day-to-day issues, by giving educational, academic advice about social and other matters.
Following is an excerpt from a book distributed at Toronto’s Dundas Sq. by Shaykh-ul-Islam Dr Muhammad Tahir-ul-Qadri.
Human Rights In Islam and common Misconceptions
Execution of such an apostate is, in reality, a salvation for the rest of the society members from the maliciousness and violence he would spread if left to propagate his disbelief and blasphemy among the other members of the society… “Islam does not treat rejection of the faith as a personal matter but rather a rejection that harms the entire system. This rejection is a seed of internal revolution and instigation towards rebellion in the society… Islam only punishes the apostate himself with the simple, direct and very effective deterrent…
To read more of this and other books distributed at Dundas Sq. Go to www.Islamicbooth.ca
Shabir Ally Picture: Let the Quran Speak YouTube