Short answer
Yes. Deuteronomy orders death for anyone who tempts others to serve other gods, even a brother, a son, a daughter or a wife. It says that the relative's own hand must be first to kill him. The Qur'an names no penalty for people to carry out on someone who leaves Islam. It leaves those who turn back to Allah's (﷾) judgement, and it says there is no compulsion in religion. The classical jurists did hold a death penalty for apostasy (leaving the faith), taken from the words of the Prophet (ﷺ). But they gave it only to the ruler's court, after a proper trial. Most of them required that the person first be invited to repent. No relative and no private person may ever carry it out. No Muslim may harm anyone for leaving Islam: Muslims keep the law of the country they live in (17:34), and leave the matter to Allah (﷾).
Full explanation
What the Law of Moses commands
Deuteronomy, the fifth book of the Bible, is part of the Law of Moses. Chapter 13 deals with the one who secretly tempts others to serve other gods, even a brother, child, wife or closest friend. It forbids hiding him, and puts the relative's own hand first in the killing. Chapter 17 orders stoning for any man or woman found to have worshipped other gods, on two or three witnesses. Neither passage says a word about repentance.
“If thy brother, the son of thy mother, or thy son, or thy daughter, or the wife of thy bosom, or thy friend, which is as thine own soul, entice thee secretly, saying, Let us go and serve other gods, which thou hast not known, thou, nor thy fathers; Namely, of the gods of the people which are round about you, nigh unto thee, or far off from thee, from the one end of the earth even unto the other end of the earth; Thou shalt not consent unto him, nor hearken unto him; neither shall thine eye pity him, neither shalt thou spare, neither shalt thou conceal him: But thou shalt surely kill him; thine hand shall be first upon him to put him to death, and afterwards the hand of all the people. And thou shalt stone him with stones, that he die; because he hath sought to thrust thee away from the Lord thy God, which brought thee out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage.”
“If there be found among you, within any of thy gates which the Lord thy God giveth thee, man or woman, that hath wrought wickedness in the sight of the Lord thy God, in transgressing his covenant, And hath gone and served other gods, and worshipped them, either the sun, or moon, or any of the host of heaven, which I have not commanded; And it be told thee, and thou hast heard of it, and enquired diligently, and, behold, it be true, and the thing certain, that such abomination is wrought in Israel: Then shalt thou bring forth that man or that woman, which have committed that wicked thing, unto thy gates, even that man or that woman, and shalt stone them with stones, till they die. At the mouth of two witnesses, or three witnesses, shall he that is worthy of death be put to death; but at the mouth of one witness he shall not be put to death.”
| Question | Deuteronomy 13 and 17 |
|---|---|
| Who must die? | Anyone who secretly tempts others to serve other gods (Deuteronomy 13:6-10). Any man or woman found to have worshipped other gods is stoned, on the word of two or three witnesses (Deuteronomy 17:2-6). |
| Even family? | Yes: even a brother, a son or daughter, a wife or a closest friend (Deuteronomy 13:6). |
| Who kills first? | The relative's own hand is the first in the killing (Deuteronomy 13:9). |
| Hiding him? | No. It forbids hiding him (Deuteronomy 13:8). |
| A chance to repent? | Neither passage says a word about repentance. |
Jesus said that not the smallest part of the Law would pass away until all is fulfilled (Matthew 5:17-18).
Death for religious offences elsewhere in the Bible
Under King Asa, the people swore a covenant (a solemn promise). Whoever would not seek the God (﷾) of Israel should be put to death, small or great, man or woman. The Law also orders death by stoning for a medium or a wizard. That is a religious offence rather than a crime against another person.
“And they entered into a covenant to seek the Lord God of their fathers with all their heart and with all their soul; That whosoever would not seek the Lord God of Israel should be put to death, whether small or great, whether man or woman.”
“A man also or woman that hath a familiar spirit, or that is a wizard, shall surely be put to death: they shall stone them with stones: their blood shall be upon them.”
Jesus did not repeal it
Christians often say these laws belong to the Old Testament only. But in Matthew, Jesus says he came not to destroy the Law. He says that not the smallest part of it will pass away until all is fulfilled. He also says that whoever breaks even the least commandment, and teaches others to do so, will be least in the kingdom of heaven.
“Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil. For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.”
“Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.”
How the Church used it
For centuries the Church taught that heretics (people who hold beliefs the Church rejects) deserve death. Thomas Aquinas, a leading theologian of the thirteenth century, wrote about a stubborn heretic. He said the heretic should be handed to the secular court to be put to death. The philosopher Giordano Bruno was condemned as a heretic by the Inquisition (the Church's court for heresy) and burned in Rome in 1600.
Asks whether heretics are to be tolerated, and answers that they deserve to be cut off from the world by death as well as from the Church. The Church warns a heretic twice; if he stays stubborn, it excommunicates him and hands him over to the secular court to be put to death.
Records that the philosopher Giordano Bruno was tried by the Inquisition, condemned as a heretic, handed over to the secular power, and burned in Rome in February 1600.
What the Qur'an says about leaving the faith
The Qur'an speaks of those who believe and then disbelieve, and of those who turn back from their religion. In every case it leaves them to Allah (﷾): their works come to nothing, and Allah (﷾) will bring a better people in their place. It names no penalty for people to carry out. It also forbids forcing anyone to believe.
“Those who believe, then reject faith, then believe (again) and (again) reject faith, and go on increasing in unbelief,- Allah will not forgive them nor guide them nor guide them on the way.”
“They ask thee concerning fighting in the Prohibited Month. Say: "Fighting therein is a grave (offence); but graver is it in the sight of Allah to prevent access to the path of Allah, to deny Him, to prevent access to the Sacred Mosque, and drive out its members." Tumult and oppression are worse than slaughter. Nor will they cease fighting you until they turn you back from your faith if they can. And if any of you Turn back from their faith and die in unbelief, their works will bear no fruit in this life and in the Hereafter; they will be companions of the Fire and will abide therein.”
“O ye who believe! if any from among you turn back from his Faith, soon will Allah produce a people whom He will love as they will love Him,- lowly with the believers, mighty against the rejecters, fighting in the way of Allah, and never afraid of the reproaches of such as find fault. That is the grace of Allah, which He will bestow on whom He pleaseth. And Allah encompasseth all, and He knoweth all things.”
“Let there be no compulsion in religion: Truth stands out clear from Error: whoever rejects evil and believes in Allah hath grasped the most trustworthy hand-hold, that never breaks. And Allah heareth and knoweth all things.”
“Say, "The truth is from your Lord": Let him who will believe, and let him who will, reject (it): for the wrong-doers We have prepared a Fire whose (smoke and flames), like the walls and roof of a tent, will hem them in: if they implore relief they will be granted water like melted brass, that will scald their faces, how dreadful the drink! How uncomfortable a couch to recline on!”
“If it had been thy Lord's will, they would all have believed,- all who are on earth! wilt thou then compel mankind, against their will, to believe!”
Where the penalty in Islamic law comes from, and its limits
The death penalty for apostasy in Islamic law comes from the words of the Prophet (ﷺ), not from the Qur'an. The scholars of Islamic law hedged it with conditions that Deuteronomy's own words do not have. It applies only to an adult of sound mind. Most scholars required that he first be invited to repent. The Hanafi school, one of the main schools of Islamic law, holds that a woman who leaves Islam is not put to death. Only the ruler or his deputy may carry it out. No relative or private person has the right to do it. No Muslim may harm anyone for leaving Islam; wherever he lives, he keeps the law of that country (17:34).
Ikrima reports that when Ali burned some heretics, Ibn Abbas said he would not have burned them, because the Prophet (ﷺ) forbade punishing anyone with Allah's punishment of fire. He would have had them killed instead, because the Prophet said: whoever changes his religion, kill him.
Commenting on al-Khiraqi's rule that an apostate, man or woman, who is adult and of sound mind is to be invited back to Islam for three days before any penalty, Ibn Qudamah, a Hanbali jurist, records that inviting the apostate to repent is the view of most scholars, and that it was the ruling of Umar.
The standard Hanafi law manual holds that a woman who leaves Islam is not put to death. She is held until she returns to Islam.
Ibn Qudamah, a Hanbali jurist, holds that, as a rule, no one may carry out a fixed penalty (hadd) except the ruler (imam) or the one he appoints to act for him. The only exception he allows is an old ruling on a master and his own slave, which has no application today.
“Come not nigh to the orphan's property except to improve it, until he attains the age of full strength; and fulfil (every) engagement, for (every) engagement will be enquired into (on the Day of Reckoning).”
Verse by verse
Matthew 5:17-18 — Gospel of Matthew, chapter 5, verses 17-18
“Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil. For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.”
Cited for
Jesus fulfilled the Law, so its death penalties belong to the Old Testament and no longer apply.
The response
In the same passage Jesus says not one jot of the Law will pass until all is fulfilled. He adds that whoever breaks the least commandment and teaches others to do so will be least in the kingdom. Years after Jesus had gone, his own followers met in Jerusalem to decide whether converts must keep the law of Moses (Acts 15). They would not have needed to do so if Jesus had ended it. And for centuries the Church itself did not read him as ending the penalty. Its leading theologian taught that stubborn heretics should be put to death.
Where it lands — Jesus did not repeal the Law, and the Church for centuries killed those it called heretics.
Qur'an 4:89-90 — Surat al-Nisa (The Women), verses 89-90
“They but wish that ye should reject Faith, as they do, and thus be on the same footing (as they): But take not friends from their ranks until they flee in the way of Allah (From what is forbidden). But if they turn renegades, seize them and slay them wherever ye find them; and (in any case) take no friends or helpers from their ranks;- Except those who join a group between whom and you there is a treaty (of peace), or those who approach you with hearts restraining them from fighting you as well as fighting their own people. If Allah had pleased, He could have given them power over you, and they would have fought you: Therefore if they withdraw from you but fight you not, and (instead) send you (Guarantees of) peace, then Allah Hath opened no way for you (to war against them).”
Cited for
Critics say Qur'an 4:89 orders Muslims to seize and kill those who turn renegade, so the Qur'an does set a death penalty for leaving Islam.
The response
The passage (4:88-91) is about the hypocrites who would not emigrate (leave their homes to join the Muslims). The verse itself says to take no friends from them "until they flee in the way of Allah". The very next verse forbids fighting any of them who join a people under treaty, or who hold back from fighting and offer peace. It is a rule of war against those who fight, not a penalty for a change of belief.
Where it lands — The verse is about enemies at war, as 4:90 shows; it sets no penalty for belief alone.
Perspectives
Christian
These laws belonged to ancient Israel under the old covenant. Christ fulfilled the Law, and Christians are not bound by its civil penalties.
Jesus came to fulfil the Law, so its penalties for Israel no longer bind his followers.
Rebuttal
In the same passage Jesus says not the smallest part of the Law will pass away until all is fulfilled. He also warns against breaking even the least commandment. For centuries the Church itself did not read him as ending the penalty: its leading theologian taught that stubborn heretics should be put to death.
The Islamic perspective
Deuteronomy puts a relative's own hand first in the killing, and offers no repentance. The Qur'an leaves the apostate to Allah (﷾) and forbids compulsion. The penalty in Islamic law comes from the Prophet (ﷺ), and the law takes it out of private hands altogether.
Deuteronomy orders death for anyone who tempts others to other gods, and puts the relative's hand first in the killing.
Deuteronomy orders stoning for anyone who worships other gods, and gives no word about repentance.
Jesus said that not the least part of the Law would pass away, and warned against breaking its least commandment.
The Church's leading theologian taught that stubborn heretics should be put to death, and the Inquisition burned Giordano Bruno.
The verses that speak of leaving the faith after believing (4:137, 2:217, 5:54) leave the matter to Allah (﷾).
The Qur'an forbids compulsion in religion.
The death penalty for apostasy in Islamic law rests on the words of the Prophet (ﷺ), not on the Qur'an.
Islamic law applies it only to an adult of sound mind. In the view of most scholars, the person must first be invited to repent. Only the ruler's authority may carry it out, never family or private persons. The Hanafi school does not apply it to women. No Muslim may harm anyone for leaving Islam.