Authors : Umi Sumbulah and Agus Purnomo
Abstract: In the context of a pluralistic religious life, freedom of religion and religious conversion are the two entities that cannot be separated. I argues that the death penalty for the perpetrators of apostate is not relevant to the recent development. The scholars differ on the punishment for the perpetrators of apostate. Scholars who interpret prophetic texts declare the death penalty for apostasy, basing his argument that religious conversions are theological issues which are not negotiable. Scholars who consider apostasy from the socio-political perspective argue that the emergence of Hadith about the death penalty for apostasy is not only meant for riddah who move from Islam to another religion but also for politician who edanger the nation. The number of facts at the time showed that the phenomenon of apostasy is always associated with the issue of treason (bughat), endangering the country and hostility against Muslims. In addition, psychologically, apostasy is also the demolition of old religious tradition to a new religious tradition. This could lead to psychological confusion and mental turmoil for perpetrators of apostasy.
Umi Sumbulah and Agus Purnomo, 2017. Muslim Debates on Riddah and Freedom of Religion. The Social Sciences, 12: 2299-2307.