Wednesday, November 14, 2007

Dr. Ahmad Shafaat on Apostasy, and more

I was just perusing around reading stuff, like I do. I thought this was interesting. It is Dr. Ahmad Shafaat at Concordia University in Montreal. Here he's talking about apostasy from Islam. He takes up the same assumption that I've talked before: anyone who disagrees with Islam must be simply mistaken, or have less than noble motives -- certainly not interested in truth anyway. And he doesn't deny apostates should be punished, though he tries to gloss over it I would say.

He divides apostates into two possible categories: 1) those who leave because they are ignorant of Islam, and 2) those who leave for base, worldly gain. See how there is no option like: and those who leave because they actually disagree. But he does mention a third category, but it's not like the other categories in that it doesn't refer to the reasons behind leaving Islam. It rather refers to the actions taken by the apostate upon leaving. It reads:
3) The third type of apostate is one who leaves Islam and then engages in hostile actions against Islam and Muslims, e.g. knowingly engages in propaganda against Islam and Muslims blatantly ignoring facts that he is expected to know well, passes secrets to the enemy, takes part in fighting against the Muslims. Such an apostate can be punished by anything from exile to death.
So there we have the ever present punishment. Note these "hostile actions" include "engag[ing] in propaganda against Islam." So how would this be any different from criticising it? Even if what is being said is bombastic and off the wall, how's the apostate's freedom of speech faring? Not very well with the punishment of "anything from exile to death" bearing down. This is why Ibn Warraq uses a pseudonym and Ayaan Hirsi Ali needs round-the-clock security to protect her life -- both of them being apostates and critics of the religion.

What else, yes. I came upon that apostaty piece when I saw a claim made by Dr. Shafaat that Muslims were considered "enemy aliens" in Canada during World War I, and I tried to read more. Can anyone confirm this? I'm at a loss, and he offered no sources.