Abdorrahman Boroumand Center

The Religious Judge of the Central Islamic Revolution Tribunals[1]:

The punishment for an innate apostate is death, and his repentance is unacceptable.

Ayatolah Mohammadi Gilani, the Religious Judge for the Central Islamic Revolution Tribunals, responded to the questions put by Keyhan regarding "who is an apostate and what is his sentence in Islam?" In response, Ayatolah Mohammadi Gilani said:

"Apostasy" in the Arabic language means "return" and in the Islamic scholars' parlance, means returning from religion and blasphemy after [having been enlightened by] Islam. The proof of apostasy may be a quote and expressing a clear blasphemy, such as if someone says: "I left Islam", or "I doubt God [exists], or by saying something necessitating blasphemy, such as if they say: God- God forbid- is an inorganic being", or "God is the same as the law of creation". We have seen these in some of the writings.

Or the proof may be in an act, such as: someone performs an act which clearly is a proof of ridiculing and demeaning Islam, e.g., contaminating the holy Koran-- God forbid—with dirt or stepping or spitting on it with the intention to insult. The same goes for performing the said insulting acts against the Honorable Mecca, the holly shrines, or the books of Islamic precedence and jurisprudence.

The voluntary [parental] apostate and the female apostate, voluntary or innate, are not subject to death only for apostasy and their repentance will be accepted.

Apostasy is also committed by denying one of the[5] Pillars of Islam*. The Pillars of Islam are those which are obvious to the Muslims, such as the  principle of Resurrection, obligatory Prayer, and Fasting.

There is no doubt that denying the Pillars of Islam is blasphemous, but the problem and the argument lies in deciding if just denying the Pillars of Islam is as blasphemous as "denying God's unicity and [Mohammad's] prophethood". In other words, is the denial of the Pillars of Islam by itself sufficient to constitute apostasy, the same as denial of God's unicity and [Mohammad's] prophecy? Or is it because the denial of the Pillars of Islam — such as denial of the obligatory  Prayer — is based on the denial of [of Mohammad's] Prophethood , and [since]  the denial of Mohammad's prophethood is apostasy, then by extension it is said that the denial of the Pillars of Islam is apostasy?

Some religious scholars have recognized the denial of the Pillars of Islam as apostasy, and some have said that it is not apostasy by itself, but it becomes blasphemous if it is accompanied by the denial of the profethood of our dear prophet of Islam.

Our lofty Sheik ... (Khomeini), leader of the Muslim community-- may I be sacrificed for him-- in the writings in Al-Vasileh has opted for this conservative approach and has ruled that if someone, is doubting and denies one of the pillars of Islam, such as doubting of the obligatory prayer or pilgrimage to Mecca, and thinks that the prayer and the pilgrimage were required for the Moslems during the first period of Islam and are no longer required in our times, then, this person is not guilty of  blasphemy, in contrast to the aforesaid [ulemas'] rulings, which would have found him guilty of apostasy.

There are tow kinds of apostates, voluntary [parental] and innate. Innate apostate is one whose birth is into Islam, meaning, his parents, or one of the parents at the time of his birth, were Muslims. Voluntary (parental) apostate is someone whose birth is otherwise (who is born to a non Muslim family).

The sentence for the innate apostate is death and his repentance will not be accepted. His wife will be forbidden to him; she must observe a window's period of wait [prior to mating with someone else] and his belongings will be distributed between his inheritors, even if he is alive.

But the voluntary apostate and a female apostate, innate or voluntary, are not sentenced to death only for apostasy and their repentance will be accepted.

The Muslim children who have become associated with and related to various Marxist groups , are guilty of apostasy, except for some of them who, according the order of Imam, may his shadow cover all, regarding the denial of the pillars of Islam, may be outside of the apostasy ruling, which distinction and ruling is up to the experts of the field.