Blasphemy and Apostasy in Islam

Mohsen Kadivar is Research Professor in the Department of Religious Studies at Duke University. One of the most original and prolific figures of the Iranian reform movement, he is a versatile theologian, philosopher and intellectual historian who has written ground-breaking books on human rights and Islam, Islamic political thought, and Islamic philosophy and theology. His forthcoming 'Islamic Theocracy in the Secular Age' will be published by the University of North Carolina Press in 2021. Kadivar has been a vocal critic of Iran’s doctrine of clerical rule and a strong advocate of democratic and liberal reforms in Iran as well as constructional reform in shari'a and Shi'a theology. He has served time in prison in Iran for his political activism and beliefs; his writings have been banned in Iran since 2009. Hamid Mavani is Associate Professor of Islamic Studies at Bayan Claremont Islamic Graduate School and author of Religious Authority and Political Thought in Twelver Shi'ism: From Ali to Post Khomeini (Routledge, 2013) and co-author, with Ahmad Kazemi Moussavi, of Islamic Legal Methodology: A New Perspective (forthcoming in 2020).

Professor Mohsen Kadivar brilliantly demonstrates theoretically and historically that charges of blasphemy and apostasy should no longer be prosecuted but instead viewed through the Islamic tradition of toleration and co-existence.

• IntroductionLiterature Review of Religious Freedom and Apostasy in Contemporary Sunni IslamLiterature Review of Religious Freedom and Apostasy in Contemporary Shi’i IslamThe Genealogy of the Book’s Ideas and Its MeritsPart I: Apostasy and BlasphemyThe Background of the TreatiseLegal Ruling on Assassination by Lankarānī Sr. and Statement of Delight by Lankarānī Jr. at its ImplementationObjections to the Fatwa of Assassination – by KadivarResponse to Doubts Surrounding Apostasy – by Lankarānī Jr.Treatise on Refuting the Punishment for Apostasy and Blasphemy – by KadivarIssuing a ruling on the death penalty by a process that falls outside the sphere of a competent court will engender lawlessness and anarchyClaiming the validity of the death penalty for apostasy and blasphemy is based on one deficient ‘isolated report’ (khabar al-wāḥid). Refuting the claim that most of the hadiths on apostasy are ‘mutawātir’ Refuting the claim of consensus (ijmā‘) and the necessity to implement the death penalty for apostasy and blasphemyNo one, during the time of the Prophet, Imam Ali, and the other Imams, was sentenced to death solely for apostasyThe Absolute Cessation of the Ḥudūd Punishments or those that Necessitate Death Penalty and Injury, and Suspension During the Time of the Imam’s Occultation‘Isolated reports’ (khabar al-wāḥid) are non-probative in matters of critical importanceIssuing fatwas on killing an apostate or a blasphemer weakens and tarnishes IslamAlteration of the subject of apostasy and objecting to the perpetual applicability of the death penalty for apostasy and blasphemyThe incompatibility of executing an apostate or a blasphemer with explicit Qur’anic versesAppendix 1. A Further Clarification to Lankarānī Jr.’s PositionAppendix 2. Rāfiq Taqī in His Own Words and in the Words of His DefendersPart II: Freedom of Expression and Hate Speech – by KadivarIslam: Between Freedom of Expression and Hate SpeechLetter of Censure to the Jurists Who Issued the Latest Judgement on ApostasyInsulting the Prophet is a Form of Hate SpeechRequest for Clarification from the Jurists Who Defend ‘Suffocating the Religionists’Appendix 3: Imam[Ali]: Political Leader or Exemplary Role Model – by A. GharavīGlossary; Bibliography; IndexAbout the Contributors