Talk Islam points to a controversy over a comment that the Muslim chaplain made in regards to apostasy on a listserv. First he outlines the dominant legal position with Islam today & historically in regards to apostasy:
There are a few places on the Net where one can find informed discussions of this issue (Search [“Abdul Hakim Murad”|Faraz Rabbani” AND “apostasy”]) . The preponderant position in all of the 4 sunni madhahib (and apparently others of the remaining eight according to one contemporary `alim) is that the verdict is capital punishment.
Of concern for us is that this can only occur in the_domain and under supervision of Muslim governmental authority and can not be performed by non-state, private actors._
He then outlines the dissents from the dominant position, i.e., those who argue that apostasy should not be punished by capital punishment, but concludes with a nice synthesis of postcolonial jargon and neo-medieval apologia:
I would finally note that there is great wisdom (hikma) associated with the established and preserved position (capital punishment) and so, even if it makes some uncomfortable in the face of the hegemonic modern human rights discourse, one should not dismiss it out of hand. The formal consideration of excuses for the accused and the absence of Muslim governmental authority in our case here in the North/West is for dealing with the issue practically.
I had to laugh about the “hegemonic” part, because regular readers know that I like to be a retard and use postcolonial/postmodern gibberish to defend the indefensible. Well, here you go with an instance of the real deal.
For what it’s worth, Taha Abdul-Basser, the chaplain, was born and raised in New York City and a graduate of Harvard.
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