Huge News: Egyptian Mufti Kills Death Penalty for Apostasy
 Egypt’s official religious advisor has ruled that Muslims are free to change their faith as it is a matter between an individual and God, in a move which could have far-reaching implications for the country’s Christians.
“The essential question before us is can a person who is Muslim choose a religion other than Islam? The answer is yes, they can,†Grand Mufti Ali Gomaa said in a posting on a Washington Post-Newsweek forum picked up by the Egyptian press.
“The act of abandoning one’s religion is a sin punishable by God on the Day of Judgement. If the case in question is one of merely rejecting faith, then there is no worldly punishment,†he wrote.
In most Muslim countries, Muslims who convert to another religion are considered apostates and can be subject to capital punishment.
Mr Gomaa warned however that if the conversions undermine the “foundations of society†then it must be dealt with by the judicial system, without elaborating.
Attempts by Muslims in Egypt to convert to other religions have been hindered by the state’s refusal to recognise the change in official documents and in some cases have led to arrests and imprisonment.
This is prodigiously wonderful news, and even though I am a hater-protector and abettor and therefore worse than a garden-variety hater, unlike those who are merely intolerant of intolerance, I am heartened by it. And I wonder whether it’s possible that the haters, from whom the agitators for liberalization of their countries’ policies drew support and inspiration, and on whom they depended to publicise their oppressions (rather than to write them off merely as an expression of otherness that, like all such endangered species of thought, ought to have protected status from the molestations of said haters), might perhaps have had a little bit more to do with it by virtue of their “intolerance of intolerance” than those carping critics such as the Maha who, intolerantly intolerant of intolerance of intolerance, saw this as hatefulness.
(h/t Reynolds)
The obvious solution to this recent opinion is to behead the cleric that issued it.
For peace and all.
Talk is cheap, whiskey costs money. I think I’ll hold off on celebrating until we see if anybody pays attention to him.
The “foundation of society” clause leaves room for some concern on what the full effect of this will be, but this is indeed a big statement to make. I don’t suppose he’d be willing to haul OBL and the like in to explain is line of reasoning.
tw: firearms certain – Unless Biden has is way, of course.
Lots of good stuff there. This guy should be linked far and wide.
Off topic:
CHUTCH!
SB: Illumina Occupatio
I am cautiously optimistic as to this having any effect whatsoever on the rank and file Muslim. But, for me, I do like the inference of seperation of church and state. Let Allah do the judging is a nice thing to hear. Of course it doesn’t conform to ACTUAL Islam, but the more and more they can break away from original Islam, the better the whole world will be.
I think this is fantastic news. Yes, converts away from Islam would still have to keep their heads down but it’s an improvement. Let Allah do the judging.
Actually, I just read somewhere that he has retracted his statement. Ali Gomaa now denies that he made the statement.
http://www.jihadwatch.org/dhimmiwatch/
You may have to scroll down.
thgrant, Eteraz addresses that in his “Update 2” to the linked post. I wouldn’t say it’s that clear cut.
Yep. He’s recanted: http://archive.gulfnews.com/region/Egypt/10141696.html
Someone must have shown him the instruments, as it were.
[…] From Protein Wisdom: […]
For various reasons the cleric’s words have been wildly distorted, either by his own dissimulation, or political agendas, poor translation – you name it. The last word is that apostasy is a crime and must be punished Islam forbids a muslim to leave the religion.
The open question is to whom the punishment falls. Eteraz suggests that it’s Allah and not man, and that the punishment is eternal and not earthly.
If it sounds to good to be true…
“If it sounds to good to be true…
Then it’s not in the Koran. The Wahhabis and the Taleban are the actual “reformers” on the stage. Their reformation conforms to the text, the only legitimate argument against them is that they wildly over emphasize jihad. This fellow may have influenced Eteraz a bit. The concept of ‘specific to the time of Mohammad’ is a nice touch.