India: Muslim teacher says ‘If someone quits Islam, he needs to be killed’

Then full quote: “If someone quits Islam/religion then what is his fate? Islam asks him to repent, still, if he does not repent then he needs to be killed by the ruler or who is responsible.”

The death penalty for apostasy is part of Islamic law. It’s based on the Qur’an: “They wish you would disbelieve as they disbelieved so you would be alike. So do not take from among them allies until they emigrate for the cause of Allah. But if they turn away, then seize them and kill them wherever you find them and take not from among them any ally or helper.” (Qur’an 4:89)

A hadith depicts Muhammad saying: “Whoever changed his Islamic religion, then kill him” (Bukhari 9.84.57). The death penalty for apostasy is part of Islamic law according to all the schools of Islamic jurisprudence.

This is still the position of all the schools of Islamic jurisprudence, both Sunni and Shi’ite. Sheikh Yusuf al-Qaradawi, the most renowned and prominent Muslim cleric in the world, has stated: “The Muslim jurists are unanimous that apostates must be punished, yet they differ as to determining the kind of punishment to be inflicted upon them. The majority of them, including the four main schools of jurisprudence (Hanafi, Maliki, Shafi’i, and Hanbali) as well as the other four schools of jurisprudence (the four Shiite schools of Az-Zaidiyyah, Al-Ithna-‘ashriyyah, Al-Ja’fariyyah, and Az-Zaheriyyah) agree that apostates must be executed.”

Qaradawi also once famously said: “If they had gotten rid of the apostasy punishment, Islam wouldn’t exist today.”

“Kerala madarsa teacher preaches ‘kill the ones who leave Islam’ while taking online lecture for class 12 students,” OpIndia, June 20, 2021:

In an undated video that has gone viral on social media, Shafi Saadi Kumaramputtur a teacher of Samastha Kerala Sunni education board preached that anyone who leaves the religion of Islam should be killed.

While taking an online session of class 12 students, Shafi Saadi can be heard saying, “If someone quits Islam/religion then what is his fate? Islam asks him to repent, still, if he does not repent then he needs to be killed by the ruler or who is responsible.”

“Is that violence? No. But it is to remind the followers of Islam that what is the consequence of leaving the religion and how he will be treated after death. He will go to hell,” Shafi Saadi preached further.

Several social media users tagged Kerala Police demanding an arrest of Shafi Saadi Kumaramputtur for his inflammatory preaching.

Samastha Kerala Sunni Vidyabhyasa Board Islamic Education is one of the most influential organizations in Kerala headed by Indian Islamic scholar Mufthi Moulana Sheikh Aboobacker.

As per the official website, around ten thousand madarsas are affiliated with the Samastha Kerala Sunni Board. The madarsa children acquire religious education for a duration of two hours before heading to schools for general education.

Radicalization in Kerala

As per a July 2020 article, the UN in its report on terrorism had warned that there are “significant numbers” of ISIS terrorists in Kerala and Karnataka.

According to the 26th report of the Analytical Support and Sanctions Monitoring Team concerning ISIS, “One member state reported that the ISIL Indian affiliate (Hind Wilayah), which was announced on May 10, 2019, has between 180 and 200 members”.

In May 2019 the Islamic State (also known as ISIS, ISIL or Daesh) terror group claimed to have established a new “province” in India….