The age-old dream of the human caravan is not to send astronauts in their orbit in outer space.. it is to send its individuals - every single individual in his orbit of self-realization. It is high time that this dream be thus reinterpreted. It is also the sacred duty of every man and woman to help intelligently reorientate human endeavour towards the culmination of this pilgrimage.

Mahmoud Muhammad Taha - Answers to the questions of Mr. John Voll - 17.7.1963

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The Death Sentence for Mahmoud Muhammad Taha:
Misuse of the Sudanese Legal System and Islamic Shari’a law?

DECLAN O’SULLIVAN


ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS


A version of this paper was presented at the Fifth International Conference on Sudan Studies, entitled ‘Sudan : Past, Present and Future,’ held on 30 August–1 September 2000 by the University of Durham Department of History, in association with the Sudan Studies Society of the United Kingdom, at the University of Durham. The paper was presented at the panel on ‘Human Rights, the Law and Religion’.

The author would like offer great thanks for the help and support, during the preparation of this paper, consistently provided by Abdel Salam Sidahmed at the Centre for Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies at the University of Durham. As a specialist in this area, he encouraged the coverage of the topic and provided very appropriate suggestions and advice related to it. Also, my immense thanks must go to the help and enthusiasm, and more so the friendship, of my colleague Tariq Bakheit who works on the broader area of this research. He offered many insights on the differing perspectives that exist, which needed to be addressed.

NOTES


No duplication or redistribution of this article is allowed without prior authorization from the Author or the publisher.
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§ Declan O’Sullivan, Ph.D. student, Centre for Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies, University of Durham

The International Journal of Human Rights, Vol.5, No.3 (Autumn 2001) pp.45-70
PUBLISHED BY FRANK CASS, LONDON

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[ i ] Carolyn Fluehr-Lobban, Islamic Law and Society in the Sudan (London: Frank Cass & Co, 1987), p.274.

[ii] Abdullahi Ahmed An-Na’im, ‘The Islamic Law of Apostasy and its Modern Applicability: A Case From The Sudan’, in Religion, Vol.16 (1986), p.204. Also see Ann Elizabeth Mayer, Islam and Human Rights: Tradition and Politics (London: Pinter, and Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 1990), p.182. Also see Donna E. Arzt, ‘Religious Human Rights in Muslim States of the Middle East and North Africa’, in John Witte, Jr. and Johan D. van der Vyver (eds), Religious Human Rights in Global Perspective: Religious Perspectives (Martinus Nijhoff, 1996), p.387–454. This is also an article in Emory International Law Review, Vol.10, No.1 (Spring 1996), and can be found on the internet webpage http://www.law.emory.edu/sEILR/volumes/spring96/arzt.html

[iii] An-Na’im explains that ‘In the 1940s, some of the Sudanese nationalists were working for the evacuation of British forces and administrators so that the Sudan may unite with Egypt. Others were seeking independence with very close ties with Britain. The Republican Party was formed to oppose both strategies and demand immediate total independence.’ An-Na’im, ‘The Islamic Law of Apostasy’ (note 2), in fn.24 on p.219. Also see Abdullahi Ahmed An-Na’im, Toward an Islamic Reformation: Civil Liberties, Human Rights and International Law (Syracuse, NY: Syracuse University Press, 1990), p.x.

[iv] An-Na’im explains that ‘Ustadh Mahmoud insisted that his ideas were based on deep religious insights acquired during his profound spiritual experience, and not as a result of purely rational intellectual endeavour. This is important for the religious authenticity of his views in accordance with the mystic approach he had subscribed to throughout his adult life.’ An-Na’im, ‘The Islamic Law of Apostasy’ (note 2), in fn.25 on p.219.

[v] Ustadh: revered teacher. An-Na’im, ‘The Islamic Law of Apostasy’ (note 2), p.197. Ustadh was the honourable title given to Taha by his followers, in their respect and acceptance of his work and his aims for reviving Islam and Shari’a law in a modern-day context.

[vi] Taha’s work translated by Abdullahi Ahmed An-Na’im, The Second Message of Islam by Ustadh Mahmoud Mohamed Taha (Syracuse, NY: Syracuse University Press, 1987).

[vii] Mahmoud Mohamed Taha, Rasa’il wa maqalat (no date or publishers found), Vol.2, p.3.

[viii] Mayer (note 2), p185. Also see Arzt (note 2), pp.387–454; Kevin Boyle and Juliet Sheen (eds), Freedom of Religion and Belief: A World Report (London: Routledge, 1997), p.73; Syed Barakat Ahmad, ‘Conversion From Islam’, in Clifford Edmond Bosworth, Charles Issawi, Roger Savory and A.L. Udovitch (eds), The Islamic World, From Classical to Modern Times – Essays in Honour of Bernard Lewis (Princeton, NJ: Darwin Press, 1989), p.16. Also see Abdel Salam Sidahmed, ‘Freedom of Religion, Apostasy and Human Rights: An Appraisal’, in The Mediterranean Journal of Human Rights, Vol.4 (2000), p.139.The details of the court procedure and the conviction for apostasy that lead to Taha’s death sentence and his execution on 18 January 1985 – and particularly the controversy that the case and the court procedure caused – are discussed below in detail.

[ix] ‘From the day they are divorced, women are to wait until they have menstruated three times – provided their courses are regular – and are clean before they re-marry. It is unlawful for them to hide what is in their wombs in order to facilitate marriage. If they believe in God and the Last Day they will not resort to such a ploy; rather, they will wait until they have given birth before seeking a new husband. During this time their husbands have the right to take them back, provided that they wish to be reconciled. Women have similar rights which must be upheld with fairness; however, men are a degree above women in the sense that they enjoy the right to be obeyed. And God is Almighty, Possessed of Absolute Wisdom.’ Surah Al-Baqarah 2, cited as verse 229 in Colin Turner, The Quran: A New Interpretation, textual exegesis by Mohammad Baqir Behbudi (Surrey, UK: Curzon Press, 1997), p.20. Also see An-Na’im, ‘The Islamic Law of Apostasy’ (note 2), p.204 and in fn.26 on p.219.

[x] ‘Invite the polytheists to God’s Path with wisdom and good counsel; debate with them only in the presence of neutral onlookers, since this makes for the best and most courteous of debates. Your Lord knows best those who have strayed from His Path and those who have received guidance.’ Surah An-Nahl 16, cited as verse 126 in Turner (note 9), p.164. Also see An-Na’im, ‘The Islamic Law of Apostasy’ (note 2), p.204 and in fn.26 on p.219.

[xi] ‘This Quran, with its verses dealing with the unseen world, has been revealed in Truth from your Lord. Whoever wishes to believe, let him believe; whoever wishes to disbelieve, let him disbelieve. For those who are black of deed and guilty of covering up the truth, We have made ready the fires of Venus, which will encompass them entirely. And if they should cry out in pain from the burning of the flames and beg for water to quench their thirst, We will pour on their heads a thick, burning liquid that will scald their faces – a vile and evil drink indeed!’ Surah Al-Khaf 18, cited as verse 30 in Turner (note 9), p.174. Also see An-Na’im, ‘The Islamic Law of Apostasy’ (note 2), p.204 and in fn.26 on p.219.

[xii] ‘O mankind! We have created you all from one man and one woman, and We have made you, throughout the centuries, into families and tribes so that you might come to know your place and position in the human race. Your heritage – that which you inherit from your forbears – may prompt you to enquire into the history of different cultures, the science of genetics and the study of racial characteristics, the handing down of knowledge and the growth of various civilisations – but it should not lead to pride and bigotry. Nothing is a source of pride and honour unless God has deemed it so. The most honoured among you in the sight of God is he who is the most God-fearing; God knows who fears Him, and to what degree, for He has absolute knowledge of all things.’ Surah Al-Hujurat 49, cited as verse 14 in Turner (note 9), p.310. Also see An-Na’im, ‘The Islamic Law of Apostasy’ (note 2), p.204 and in fn.26 on p.219.

[xiii] An-Na’im, ‘The Islamic Law of Apostasy’ (note 2), p.204. Also see An-Na’im, Toward an Islamic Reformation (note 3), pp.99–100, and Fluehr-Lobban (note 1) p.275.

[xiv] An-Na’im, ‘The Islamic Law of Apostasy’ (note 2), p.204.

[xv] ‘Fight those who believe not in Allah nor the Last Day, nor hold that forbidden which hath been forbidden by Allah and His Apostle, nor acknowledge the Religion Of Truth, (even if they are) of the People of the Book, until they pay the Jizya with willing submission, and feel themselves subdued.’ Surah At-Tauba or Baraat 9, verse 29. Abdullah Yusuf Ali, The Holy Qur’an: Text, Translation and Commentary, (Lahore: Sh. Muhammad Ashraf, Kashmiri Bazar, 1969), Vol.I, p.447. Also see An-Na’im, ‘The Islamic Law of Apostasy’ (note 2), p.204 and in fn.27 on p.219.

[xvi] ‘But when the forbidden months are past, then fight and slay the pagans wherever ye find them and seize them, beleaguer them and lie in wait for them in every stratagem (of war); But if they repent, and establish regular prayers and practise regular charity, then open the way for them: For Allah is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful.’ Surah At-Tauba or Baraat 9, verse 5. Ali (note 15), Vol I, p.439. Also see An-Na’im, ‘The Islamic Law of Apostasy’ (note 2), p.204 and in fn.27 on p.219.

[xvii] ‘Men are the protectors and maintainers of women, because Allah has given the one more (strength) than the other, and because they support them from their means. Therefore the righteous women are devoutly obedient, and guard in (the husband’s) absence what Allah would have them guard. As to those women on whose part ye fear disloyalty and ill-conduct, admonish them (first), (next), refuse to share their beds, (and last beat them (lightly); but if they return to obedience, seek not against them means (of annoyance): for Allah is Most High, Great (above you all).’ Surah An-Nisa 4, verse 34. Ali (note 15), Vol.I, pp.190–1. Also see An-Na’im, ‘The Islamic Law of Apostasy’ (note 2), p.204 and in fn.27 on p.219 and An-Na’im, Toward an Islamic Reformation (note 3) pp.99–100.

[xviii] An-Na’im, ‘The Islamic Law of Apostasy’ (note 2), p.205. Also see Mayer, (note 2) p.182; Fluehr-Lobban (note 1), pp.274–5; and Boyle and Sheen (note 8), p.73.

[xix] An-Na’im, ‘The Islamic Law of Apostasy’ (note 2), p.205.

[xx] Edward Thomas, Mahmoud Muhammad Taha: His Life in Sudan, unpublished PhD thesis, University of Edinburgh, 1999, p.236.

[xxi] An-Na’im (note 2), in fn.28 on p.219. Also see Arzt (note 2), pp.387–454.

[xxii] ‘The Muslim Brothers’ fundamentalist movement originated in Egypt around 1928. It spread into Sudan in the late 1940s and early 1950s when it was being persecuted in Egypt. Although there are other fundamentalist groups in Sudan, the Muslim Brothers are by far the strongest and best organised group.’ An-Na’im, ‘The Islamic Law of Apostasy’ (note 2), in fn.29 on p.220. Also see Mayer (note 2), pp.182–3.

[xxiii] An-Na’im, ‘The Islamic Law of Apostasy’ (note 2), p.205.

[xxiv] Ibid., in fn.30 on p.220.

[xxv] Ibid., p.205. An-Na’im further explains: ‘The pamphlet argued that the laws violated the general precepts of Islam as a religion as well as violating the specific provisions of Shari’a as a law. To illustrate the second point, they cited the omission of the requirement that theft must be from a securely enclosed place in order to warrant the penalty of amputation. The omission of this requirement under Section 320 of the “Islamic” Penal Code greatly increased the incidence of amputation by allowing it to be enforced to a much wider class of offences than originally intended by Shari’a.’ Ibid., in fn.31 on p.220. Also see Abdel Salam Sidahmed (note 8), p.139.

[xxvi] Mayer (note 2), p.184.

[xxvii] Arzt (note 2), pp.387–454. See also Ahmad, ‘Conversion From Islam’ (note 8), p.16.

[xxviii] Thomas (note 20), p.236. Also, ‘The September laws (as Nimeri’s shari’a was known) gave Republican fixations about law and society a dramatic credibility’, p.234.

[xxix] An-Na’im, ‘The Islamic Law of Apostasy’ (note 2), p.206. An-Na’im also states that ‘Civil war had resumed in 1982 in Southern Sudan, following President Nimeiri’s violation of the Addis Ababa Agreement of 1972, which ended the first civil war. By first re-dividing the Southern Region and then subsequently unilaterally imposing Islamic Shari’a law, President Nimeiri acted against the letter as well as the spirit of that Agreement.’ Ibid., in fn.32 on p.220. Also the disaffected Sudanese in the south, mainly animists or Christians, interpreted Nimeiri’s campaign of Islamisation as a scheme to lower their status as ‘second-class’ citizens. They felt that if the reintroduction of laws against apostasy were introduced it would deem Islam to be a legally protected religion, superior to other religions. Also, a counterpoint, Nimeiri did not want to publicly create this tension and lose southern Sudanese support for his ruling, and then keep the country divided. See Mayer (note 2) p.184.

[xxx] An-Na’im, ‘The Islamic Law of Apostasy’ (note 2), p.206. An-Na’im presents the background information on the arrests. ‘Ustadh Mahmoud was arrested and tried in Omdurman, across the White Nile from Khartoum. Other Republicans were arrested and charged with the same combination of offences in other parts of the Capital, Khartoum, and in other towns of northern, eastern and central Sudan. All charges against the other Republicans were subsequently dropped following the execution of Ustadh Mahmoud. Over three hundred Republicans who were detained without charge around the same time were also released over the two weeks following the execution.’ Ibid., in fn.33 on p.220. Also see Mayer (note 2), p.183 and also see Abdel Salam Sidahmed (note 8), p.139.

[xxxi] An-Na’im, ‘The Islamic Law of Apostasy’ (note 2), p.206.

[xxxii] Thomas (note 20), pp.238–9.

[xxxiii] An-Na’im (note 2), p.206 and also in fn.34 on p.220.

[xxxiv] Ibid., p.206.

[xxxv] An-Na’im’s translation of Mahmoud Muhammad Taha’s The Second Message of Islam (note 6), p.15. Also see Thomas (note 20), p.239.

[xxxvi] Ibid., p.206.

[xxxvii] Ibid., pp.206–7. An-Na’im offers a background of Taha’s philosophy: ‘Ustadh Mahmoud was critical of injustices of the capitalist liberal tradition as well as the atheism and oppression of totalitarian Marxist-Leninism. He published about 30 books and many newspaper and magazine articles. He also lectured and debated in many Sudanese towns and cities for over 20 years. His followers, the Republicans, also published hundreds of pamphlets, booklets and articles and traveled all over the Sudan distributing their literature, holding debates and giving public lectures on their methodology for Islamic Law reform.’ Ibid., in fn.35 on pp.220–2. Also see An-Na’im, Toward an Islamic Reformation (note 3) pp.97–8.

[xxxviii] An-Na’im, ‘The Islamic Law of Apostasy’ (note 2), p.207. Also see Mayer (note 2), p.184.

[xxxix] ‘The specific sanction of the President of the Republic is required for prosecutions of certain offences against the state under Section 147 of the Code of Criminal Procudure, 1983.’ An-Na’im, ‘The Islamic Law of Apostasy’ (note 2), in fn.36 on p.221.

[xl] There is a general understanding within most of the Islamic schools of law that there are six offences which are recognised and accepted as hudud (plural of hadd ). The six hadd are: 1 drinking alcohol (wine) – Shurb, khamr or Shurb al-khamr; 2 theft – sariqa; 3 armed robbery/dacoity, also known as hiraba; 4 adultery or illicit sexual intercourse/fornication – zina; 5 false accusation or insinuation of zina with a married man or women – qadhf; and 6 apostasy – ridda or irtidad. Tahir-ul-Qadri argues that these six offences are categorised as genuine hudud and he also adds a seventh hadd, as the crime of ‘sedition’ (baghawat). This crime is also referred to as ‘rebellion’ (baghy) and ‘dissension’ (baghi). Mohammad Selim El-Awa, Punishment in Islamic Law: A Comparative Study (Indianapolis, IN: American Trust Publications, 1982), p.52. Also see Safia F. Safwat, ‘Offences and Penalties in Islamic Law’, The Islamic Quarterly (Islamic Cultural Centre, London), Vol.26, No.3 (1982), pp.154, 163, 169. Dacoity derives from the Hindu word dakaiti, to mean the ‘act of gang-robbery’. J.B. Sykes (ed.), Concise Oxford Dictionary of Current English (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1988), p.238. Also see Muhammad Tahir-ul-Qadri, Islamic Penal System and Philosophy (Lahore: Minhaj-ul-Qur’an Publications, 1995, pp.260, 341 and 397; Muhammad Tahir-ul-Qadri, Classification of Islamic Punishments (Lahore: Minhaj-ul-Qur’an Publications, 1988), p.6; Mohammad Hashim Kamali, Freedom of Expression in Islam (Cambridge: Islamic Texts Society, 1997), p.199; Majid Khadduri, War and Peace in the Law of Islam (Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins Press, 1955), p.77. Ahmad Abd al-Aziz Al-Alfi states: ‘Jurists differ on the number of Hudud offences. Some list seven such crimes: theft, highway robbery, adultery, defamation (false accusation of adultery), wine drinking, apostasy, and rebellion. Some jurists omit rebellion, while others restrict the list to the first four crimes only, classifying wine drinking and apostasy as crimes of ta’zir, since neither the Qur’an nor the Sunna prescribed specific penalties for them. A penalty imposed by virtue of being a divine right means that the proscription is necessary for the protection of a fundamental public interest.’ Ahmad Abd al-Aziz Al-Alfi, ‘Punishment in Islamic Law’, in M. Cherif Bassiouni (ed.), The Islamic Criminal Justice System (New York: Oceana Publications, 1982), p.227. For a full explanation of the differing interpretation of the number of hudud believed to exist, numbering from four to seven, see: Declan O’Sullivan, ‘Al-Hudud: Definition of Crimes and Punishments stated within the Qur’an and Sunna – Focusing on ‘Apostasy’ [Ridda wa irtidad] as a Hadd,’ in Le Courrier Du Geri – Recherches D’Islamologie et de Theologie Musulmane, in ‘Vol.3, No.1–2, Printemps-Autumne 2000’, January 2000, GERI (Groupe d’Etudes et de Recherches Islamologiques) in l’Université Marc Bloch de Strasbourg, France, pp.41–72.

[xli] An-Na’im, ‘The Islamic Law of Apostasy’ (note 2), p.207. Article 70 is an ‘Article to guarantee against the imposition of criminal punishment in the absense of pre-existing penal provisions in Sudanese law’. Ibid., in fn.36a on p.221. Also see Mayer (note 2), p184.

[xlii] An-Na’im, ‘The Islamic Law of Apostasy’ (note 2), p.207.

[xliii] Abdel Salam Sidahmed (note 8), p.139.

[xliv] An-Na’im, ‘The Islamic Law of Apostasy’ (note 2), p.208. Also see Abdel Salam Sidahmed, Ibid,. p.140.

[xlv] An-Na’im, (note 2) p.208.

[xlvi] Ibid., p.208.

[xlvii] BBC SWB ME/7853/A/1 (19 Jan. 1985), cited by Mayer (note 2), p.185. Also see Arzt (note 2), p.387–454.

[xlviii] BBC SWB ME/7853/A/1 (19 Jan. 1985), cited by Mayer (note 2), p.185. Also see Abdel Salam Sidahmed (note 8), p.140.

[xlix] An-Na’im, ‘The Islamic Law of Apostasy’ (note 2), pp.208–9.

[l] Ibid., p.209.

[li] Fluehr-Lobban (note 1), p.276.

[lii] An-Na’im, ‘The Islamic Law of Apostasy’ (note 2), p.209. An-Na’im further explains that ‘the jurisdiction of Shari’a Courts was then determined by the Sudan Mohammedan Law Courts (Amendment) Act 1961, which limited such jurisdiction to “questions regarding marriage, divorce, guardianship of minors or family relationships provided that the marriage to which the question related was concluded in accordance to Mohammedan Law”, wakfs, gifts and succession amongst Moslems or parties who submitted to the jurisdiction of the Court. The Shari’a Court had no jurisdiction over apostasy as such.’ Ibid., in fn.37 on p.221. Also see Mayer (note 2), p.184.

[liii] An-Na’im, ‘The Islamic Law of Apostasy’ (note 2), p.209.

[liv] Al-Azhar University in Cairo, Egypt, had officially declared Taha as an apostate previously in 1976.

[lv] Mayer (note 2), pp.182 and 185 and Arzt (note 2), pp.387–454. Also see Boyle and Sheen (note 8), p.73 and Abdel Salam Sidahmed (note 8), p.140.

[lvi] An-Na’im, ‘The Islamic Law of Apostasy’ (note 2), p.209 and also see fn.38 on p.221.

[lvii] Ibid., p.209.

[lviii] Ibid., p.209.

[lix] Mayer (note 2), p.185. For this quote, also see Arzt (note 2), pp.387–454.

[lx] An-Na’im, ‘The Islamic Law of Apostasy’ (note 2), p.209.

[lxi] Mayer, (note 2), p.185. She cites from Sami Aldeeb Abu Sahlieh, ‘Les Droits de l’homme et l’Islam’, Revue générale de droit international public, No.89 (1985), p.707 (Ibid., in fn.44 on p.241.)

[lxii] Mayer (note 2), p.186.

[lxiii] The constitutional lawsuit is cited as S.C./Const.S./2/1406, i.e. 1986. An-Na’im, ‘The Islamic Law of Apostasy’ (note 2), in fn.38a on p.221.

[lxiv] Boyle and Sheen (note 8), p.73.

[lxv] Article 126 of the 1991 penal code, cited in the Summary Record of the 1067th meeting of the Meeting of the Human Rights Committee, as UN Doc. CCPR/C/SR. 1067, 13 Sep. 1991

[lxvi] Kamali (note 40), p.233.

[lxvii] Ibid., p233. Also see Safwat (note 40), p168.

[lxviii] Kamali (note 40) p.233. Kamali also cites Yahya b. Ali Al-Shawkani, Nayl al-Awtar: Sharh Muntaqa’l-Akhbar (Cairo: Mustafa al-Babi al-Halabi, no date given) VII, p.221, and also cites Muwaffaq al-Din Ibn Qudamah al-Maqdisi Ibn Qudamah, al-Mughni (Cairo: Dar al-Manar, third edition, AH 1267), X, p.74, and from al-Qadi Abu’l-Fadl ‘Iyad Al-Yahsabi, al-shifa’ bi-Ta’rif Huquq al-Mustafa, annotated by Ahmad al-Shamani (Dar al-Fikr li’l-Tiba’ah wa’l-Nashr, no date given), II, p.254.

[lxix] Kamali (note 40), p.233. Kamali also cites Al-Shawkani, Nayl al-Awtar, (note 68), VII, p.221.

[lxx] Kamali (note 40), p.234. Kamali also cites Muhammad ‘Ali b. Ahmad b. Sa’id al-Zahiri Ibn Hazm, al-Muhalla (Cairo: Maktabat al-Salam al-‘Alamiyyah, no date given), XI, p.411, and Mansur b. Yunus b. Idris Al-Buhuti, Kashshaf al-Qinna’ ‘an Matn al-Iqna’ (Riyadh: Maktabat al-Nasr al-Hadithah, 1968), VI, p.168.

[lxxi] Kamali (note 40), p.234. Kamali also cites Taqi al-Din Ibn Taymiyya, al-Sarim al-Maslul ‘ala Shatim al-Rasul, edited by Mohammad Muhyi’l-Din ‘Abd al-Hamid (Beirut: Dar al-kitab, 1398/1978), p.302.

[lxxii] Nu’man ‘Abd al-Razzaq al-Samara’I, Akham al-murtadd fi al-shariat al-Islamiyyah (Beirut: , Dar al-‘Arabiyyah li’l Taba’at wa’l-Nashr wa’l-Tauzi, 1968), p.104; also see Kamali (note 40), p.234. Kamali also cites Al-Jaziri ‘Abd al-Rahman, Kitab al-Fiqh ‘ala’l-Madhahib al-Arba’ah (Beirut: Dar al-Fikr li’l-Tiba’ah wa’l-Nashr, AH 1392), V, p.425.

[lxxiii] ‘Dhimmi: Free non-Muslim subjects living in Muslim lands, who, in return for capital tax (jizya) payment, enjoy protection and safety.’ Kamali (note 40), p.317. Also Majid Khadduri offers a fascinating definition of dhimmi. He quotes Ya’qub ibn Ibrahim al-Ansari Abu Yusuf from his work Kitab al-Kharaj. The tolerated communities within the Islam included not only the so-called ahl al-kitab (people of the Book) or Scripturaries, but also idolaters ( ‘abadat al-asnam ) and fireworshippers, provided they have accepted residence in any Muslim territory except the Arabian Peninsula. The ahl al-kitab (people of the Book) or Scripturaries include Christians, Jews, Magians (Zoroastrians), Samaritans and Sabians. Polytheists (mushrikun) were, as a rule, denied access to the status of dhimmi, particularly within Arabia as ‘they had to chose between Islam and the sword.’ Majid Khadduri, (note 40), p.176. Khadduri also cites Ya’qub ibn Ibrahim al-Ansari Abu Yusuf, Kitab al-Kharaj (Cairo, AH 1352), pp.128–9.

[lxxiv] Kamali (note 40), p.234. Kamali also cites Ibn Taymiyya (note 71), p.302.

[lxxv] Kamali (note 40), p.234, See also Al-Yahsabi (note 68), II, p.260.

[lxxvi] Kamali (note 40), p.235, See also Al-Yahsabi (note 68), II, p.260, and Ibn Qudamah (note 68), VIII, p.125, and also see Al-Shawkani (note 69), VII, p.221.

[lxxvii] Surah Al-Nisa 4, verse 137. Both the Arabic script and the translation are from Ali (note 15), p.224.

[lxxviii] Shaikh Abdur Rahman, Punishment of Apostasy in Islam (New Delhi: Kitab Bhavan, 1996), p.39.

[lxxix] Maulana Abu’l-Wafa Thana’ Ullah, Islam aur Masihiyyat (Amritsar/Lahore: Din Muhammadi Press, 1960), pp.202–4, as cited by Rahman (note 78), in fn.47 on p.39. Note that in the text on the page, the footnote is numbered 74, but at the bottom of the page is numbered 47; there must have been some unfortunate page-setting format problem that reversed the digits of the footnote number.

[lxxx] Muhammad Zafrullah Khan, Punishment of Apostasy in Islam (London Mosque, no date given), p.8.

[lxxxi] Ibid., pp.8–9.

[lxxxii] Syed Barakat Ahmad, ‘Conversion From Islam’ (note 8), p.7.