Responding to Apostates will 'die in unbelief' , Truth Seeker should understand that the death punishment for apostasy is held valid by the Syafie, Maliki, Hambali and Hanafi mazahib schools of thought. It is also accepted by the Syiah school of thought. The Hanafis, however, are in the opinion that female apostates should be imprisoned, instead of being sentenced to death.
Thus, punishing apostasy is not Mujahid Yusof Rawa's interpretation of Islam. Neither is it the interpretation of Islam by PAS, the party he belongs to. This ruling could not have been arbitrarily interpreted by any individual or political party. This is not political issue.
The majority of Muslims in Malaysia are of the mazhab Syafie, including those in Umno. In fact, Dr Amran Kasimin, the Serdang Umno Division chief and Bangi state assemblyperson, wrote in his book Satu analisa mengenai murtad (pg 66):
'Ulamak telah sepakat mengatakan bahawa hukum murtad ialah hukum bunuh berdasarkan hadis ... Hukum bunuh ke atas orang murtad ialah qat'ie, iaitu hukum yang tidak boleh dipinda atau diubah suai. Hak Allah yang wajib dilaksanakan.' (It is the consensus among the ulama that the punishment for apostasy is death. This death sentence is a very clear ruling, which cannot be amended or modified. It is the command from Allah to be implemented).
I can comfortably say, this opinion is the de facto in the Islamic fiqh, worldwide. It is not my intention to debate on this ruling. I'm merely emphasising that when a Muslim scholar says that freedom of faith doesn't mean a Muslim is free to commit apostasy, he is merely conveying the existing Islamic worldview on the matter.
It is certainly not of their invention. Don't blame the postman when you don't like the bill in your letter box.
To force any Muslim scholar to retract this ruling is like forcing the postman to amend the bill they are entrusted to deliver to your letter box. It is clear to any just-minded person that this approach would not work.
Religion is not man's invention. The best man can do with religion is to preach and practice its teachings. If the Islamic teaching says we should condemn apostates to death, what right do we have to amend this no matter how absurd it is in the eyes of the other faiths?
Umran Kadir argued that punishing apostates is in clear contradiction of Quranic teachings though there are many hadith which he could refer which would certainly negate his argument. In fact, the first person to declare war against organised apostasy was Abu Bakar As-Siddiq, the highest ranking among the Prophet Muhammad's many companions.
Certainly, Abu Bakar, the most highly regarded of the Prophet's companions, would not have acted against the teachings of the Quran, which he understood very well.
