> First Translation Project - "Killing the apostate if he does not repent"

[salman]

Discussion topic for our first translation project: translating a book from Arabic to English on the issue of apostasy in Islam. The book is titled as "Killing the apostate if he does not repent" which can be downloaded from here

Allhamdulillah, we got two translators: sister Amat Allah & sister Aayah

They will do the first draft and then we can have other members like akh boriqee to review it and finalize it, insha'Allah.

The reason for translating this book first is simple: this issue has created lots of fitnah among laypeople. Since it is one of the main issues which the kuffaar attack, the awam has resorted to these odd and modern opinion. It is about time that we answer their shubhaat شبهات (suspicious arguments) to present the correct sunni understanding of the issue. This book was recommended by akh Bassam, may Allah preserve him and reward him, ameen.

Note: Maybe we should not translate the whole book and translate only the ahadith, statements of the scholars and arguments which refutes their shubhaat

May Allah Azz wa Jal abundantly reward all those who will be helping out, set their affairs and make us all among those who will see the Face of their Lord in Jannah, ameen

[Raied]

I think this is a great initiative! May Allah reward the brothers/sisters involved. I would love to read the translation because it is a topic which i myself have little knowledge in.

[Amat Allah]

و عليكم السلام ورحمة الله و بركاته

بسم الله و توكلنا على الله

killing the apostate if he does not repent

written by: Dr.Abdullah Qadiree Al Ahdal

Introduction:

If the apostasy has proven on the person,it will be followed with penalties in this life (Dunya) and in the the hereafter (Aakhirah).

and the most important penalties which are pertinent to the hereafter are the loss of the (good)deeds and the abiding in the hellfire for ever, we seek refuge with Allah from it.they had been stated (the penalties in the hereafter) in many scripts and this verse of Surat Al Baqarah gathered them ...

"And whosoever of you turns back from his religion and dies as a disbeliever, then his deeds will be lost in this life and in the Hereafter, and they will be the dwellers of the Fire. They will abide therein forever."

Surat AL Baqarah verse #217

وَمَنْ يَرْتَدِدْ مِنْكُمْ عَنْ دِينِهِ فَيَمُتْ وَهُوَ كَافِرٌ فَأُولَئِكَ حَبِطَتْ أَعْمَالُهُمْ فِي الدُّنْيَا وَالْآخِرَةِ وَأُولَئِكَ أَصْحَابُ النَّارِ هُمْ فِيهَا خَالِدُونَ (217)

سورة البقرة

as for the penalties in this life there are many,first we mention:

Killing the apostate if not repenting then mentionong as much of them as may be easy in other subjects.

the killing of the apostate if not repenting from his apostasy is a definite ruling in a saheeh (correct) Ahadeeth which have no contestation in them and the Sahaabah (may Allah be pleased with them)ruled according to them in the time of the orthodox caliphs and after it and the people of knowledge had agreed unanimously on them ( the ahaadeeth) and the accepted islamic rites too (such as Hanafi , Hanbali , Maliki, Shafi`e).

and this is what ending the hesitation of those who have weakness in their Iman (faith)and make them show to their Ummah and others than it the steadiness on the magnificent principle of Islam.

Persistence and patience on the principle make those who do not follow it ( Non Muslims)think about it and search for the reason why to insist on this principle? and inducing them to enter it(embrace it).

the muslim scholars are responsible for the firmness on the principle and make its people stand firm on it and that by not abandoning its proofs (Adillah)in their teaching, Fatwas(legal opinion),judgement and advicing for those who have in their hands the matter of maintaining the rullings of Islam and the implementation of the provisions of Islam.

in the steadiness on the principle and being patient for it and making its Ummah standing firm for it ,is the survival of this Ummah ,its Success and salvation from eradication and dissolution .

the people of faith (believers) stood firm and kept their Iman in spite of what they faced from tribulations and violance.and from the most evident proofs on that ,the story of the people of the Ditch and it was about that boy who kept his Imaan in spite of what he had faced from the torturing of the injust and fierce king who tried all the ways to kill him (the boy) but he didn`t make it,till the boy said: if you want to kill me gather the people and say: In the name of Allah ,the Lord of the boy then shoot me with your bow. the king did what he had been told to do and the boy died , then the people said: we have believed in the Lord of the boy...

this story is in Saheeh Muslim (2300/4) and the explaineres reported it from Surat Al Burooj where Allah says:

[4] Cursed were the people of the Ditch (the story of the Boy and the King). "

Surat Al Burooj

قُتِلَ أَصْحَابُ الْأُخْدُودِ (4)

سورة البروج

and this violates the principle of the confused people and they don`t stand firm for it and therefore the people know a little about it and fleeing from it and saying to their selves: if it was the truth then its people would stand strong for it and won`t deviate from its path. so is it worthy for the Islamic nation to leave its Sons to achieve this dangerous goal for its enemies? by the departing of whom grew up as a muslim in a muslim family from Islam or whom entered Islam from Non Muslims by their choice admiting that ,this deen is the religion of the truth and knowing all what will follow from being a muslim from rules and retributions then leaving.

Two groups made doubts in killing Al Murtad (apostate).

The First group: the enemies of Islam and the ignorant from its sons, they said that the muslimhas the rights to change his religion to any of the other religions and claiming that it is from the most important rights of the huminity which give him the religous freedom and according to this they see that the muslim can change his deen to any religion from the corrupted celestial religions such as Judasim and Christianity or the pagan beliefs like, Hindusim and Buddhism.

The Second group: some of the contemporary scholars who reinterpreted some of the general scripts and gave them the precedence over another particular and correct scripts related to the same issue and said that if the muslim changed his religion to another ,he must not be killed for that and can punish him with scolding. and some of them said that he must not be punished at all for that even if he has been called to repentance frequently , just like what some of them stated:

" and I don`t deny that some of those hypocrites had repented after presenting the repentance to them , but this offered repentance for them was optional and not by the sword force or something else from the compulsion ways, and this is what I go to in proving the religious freedom for the apostate , and what I want is to be an optional one like the repentance of those hypocrites to be called to return to Islam with the best way and not being compelled to repent by the killing ( as a threat) as said by some, and not by imprisoning our selves asking him to repent permanently as some goes to from those who said: this is the calling of repentance, cause its a compulsion_like to him. we want it to be a complete religious freedom Unblemished and free from compulsion and compulsion_like to make Islam the only religion of freedom and being distinguished by this for the other religions and this will be a sourse of pride for it and for ever"

[The religious freedom, by the scholar Abdulmuta`aal Assi`eedi, P:148 , Daar Al Ma`aarif, Egypt]

and they see that the punishing of Al Murtad (apostate) for leaving Islam to another religion is aviolation for the religious freedom which the Qur`aan and the principles of the human rights ensured for him .

[al-boriqee]

Man, I have to reevaluate that english. I don;t know how. I will try to review it with the arabic inshallah

my hands are busy for a good while with other projects personal, local, and islamic-life oriented on other topics.

I'll see what I can do, but I think akhoona basam may be a better pick in merely reviewing the translation because although his command og english is excellent like mine, his command of arabic is of course 100 times that of mine.

[Aayah]

Asalam Alykom Wa Rahmat Allah everyone

Jazaki Allah Khair sis Amat Allah for starting the translation, InshaAllah I will start the translation after a couple of weeks when getting some free time since I am busy now with some other things

anyways, I am trying to specify some time now to read the book itself first and I will catch up with you later.

[salman]

akhee, I asked him to come here more often but he said that he is too busy; however, he said that we let him know if we need his assistant. So, we may ask him to review this insha'Alla. As far you, you can commit to it if you have time.

Off-topic: akh, I still need the work reference from you regarding ibn Kathir's (rahimahullah) kallam on Tatar. I need to ask Ustad Ayman if he can translate that for us. However, I would personally request that we first get Ibn Qayyim's (rahimahullah) works translated on dhimmi and siyasah al-shariyah. Let's discuss this via pm

@ Amat Allah

sister, may Allah reward you abundantly (ameen); that is some good work, masha'Allah. Keep it up, insha'Allah

[Amat Allah]

wa iyakum Ameeeen

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

توكلنا على الله

Consideration and Proofs:

and what we see and from Allah's religion that, this ruling is definite and has no contestation in it if the apostasy proved on who was a Muslim in origin or entered in the religion of Islam by his freedom and choice understood it and understood the implications of his Islam and from that , the punishment of who apostatizes from Islam. .

but if he was a recent convert to Islam and didn't understand its fact nor the implications of his Islam then he must not be killed but advised to stay on Islam and showing him what is in it from pros and the disadvantages of leaving it .so, if he returned to Islam then with it you are blessed but if he refused just let him go.
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And it is not permissible to submit to the opinions of the enemies of Islam nor to those who tried to give fatwas while knowing nothing about the rules of Islam ,as excuse not who pretended to be a competent doctor while he knows nothing about medicine messed with the people's bodies and damaged them.
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But we excuse who interpreted the scripts of the Qur`aan from the diligent scholars of Islam and we ask Allah to forgive his mistake ,depending on the saying of Al Baari (The Creator) Arraheem ( The Most Merciful):

"Our Lord! Punish us not if we forget or fall into error"

(286 surat Al Baqarah)


ۗ رَبَّنَا لَا تُؤَاخِذْنَا إِنْ نَسِينَا أَوْ أَخْطَأْنَا ۚ (286)

سورة البقرة

and the saying of Allah as answer for this Duaa(prayer): I did .[Saheeh Muslim (116/1)].and the saying of his messenger peace and blessings of Allah be upon him: “Allah has pardoned my people for the acts they do by mistake, due to forgetfulness, and what they are coerced into doing”

[Al Mustadrak Ala `assaheehayn(216/2)]

and he said: this is a saheeh hadeeth according the condition of the two sheikhs (Bukhari and Muslim) but they didn't bring it out.

The Proofs of Killing Al Murtad if the conditions of killing him have been found (proved):

It had been mentioned that there are two penalties for the apostate in Dunya and Akhirah and what concerning us in this book is the penalties of this life ,as for the hereafter penalties ,Allah is in charge of them and what we know from the book of Allah about the penalties of those who apostatized from Islam are two:

First: the loss of the (good)deeds.

Second: the abiding in hell fire for ever, we seek refuge with Allah from it .and they had been stated in many scripts and this verse of Al Baqarah gathered them :

"And whosoever of you turns back from his religion and dies as a disbeliever, then his deeds will be lost in this life and in the Hereafter, and they will be the dwellers of the Fire. They will abide therein forever."

Surat Al Baqarah ,verse #217


"ۚ وَمَنْ يَرْتَدِدْ مِنْكُمْ عَنْ دِينِهِ فَيَمُتْ وَهُوَ كَافِرٌ فَأُولَٰئِكَ حَبِطَتْ أَعْمَالُهُمْ فِي الدُّنْيَا وَالْآخِرَةِ ۖ وَأُولَٰئِكَ أَصْحَابُ النَّارِ ۖ هُمْ فِيهَا خَالِدُونَ "

سورة البقرة ,آية 217

And from the penalties of Al Murtad is : to kill him after asking him to repent while he is insisting on his kufr (disbelief).

From the correct proofs on this ruling :

The first proof: the suunah of the messenger peace and blessings of Allah be upon him:

First : the hadeeth of Abdullah Bin Masood may Allah be pleased with him, said: the Messenger of Allah peace and blessings of Allah be upon him said:

"It is not permissible to take the life of a Muslim who bears testimony (to the fact that there is no god but Allah, and I am the Messenger of Allah, but in one of the three cases: a life for life, the married adulterer, and the deserter of his Deen (Islam), abandoning the community".

[Saheeh Al Bukhari (2521/6) Saheeh Muslim (1302/3)]
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Second: the hadeeth of Ikrimah that Ali may Allah be pleased with him burnt some (atheist) people. The news of this event, reached Ibn 'Abbaas who said, "If I had been in his place, I would not have burnt them, as Allah's Apostle peace and blessings of Allah be upon him said, :'Do not punish anybody with Allah's punishment (fire).' I would have killed them according to the statement of Allah's Apostle, 'Whoever changed his religion, kill him. "

[ Saheeh Al Bukhari 2854 (1098/3)]

Third: from the most clear proofs about that, the dictation of killing the male and female apostates , as mentioned in some narrations in Muaath`s hadeeth when the prophet peace and blessings of Allah be upon him sent him to Yemen and told him:( whenever a man apostatized from Islam call him to it and if he returned, otherwise hit his neck, and whenever a woman apostatized from Islam call her to it and if she returned , otherwise hit her neck) Al Haafith mentioned this narration in Fath Al Bari and improved it.

[ Fath Al Baari(272/12)]
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Fourth: the hadeeth of Jabir that a woman called Umm Marwaan apostatized from Islam, then the prophet peace and blessings of Allah be upon him gave an order to present Islam for her ,if she comes back or she got to be killed '

[ Sunan Addaarqutni(118/3), Sunan Al Bayhaqi Al kubraa (203/8)]..

[Amat Allah]

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم


توكلنا على الله

Fifth: the deed of the two exalted companions : Abi Musa Al Ash`ari and Muaath bin Jabal, and Muaath bin Jabal declared this is the judgment of Allah and his messenger.

And it is As narrated from Abu Musa and from it "O Abu Musa! (or 'Abdullah bin Qays!) Go to Yemen.'" The Prophet then sent Muaath bin Jabal after him and when Muaath reached him, he spread out a cushion for him and requested him to get down (and sit on the cushion). Behold: There was a fettered man beside Abu Musa. Muaath asked, "Who is this (man)?" Abu Musa said, "He was a Jew and became a Muslim and then reverted back to Judaism." Then Abu Musa requested Muaath to sit down but Muaath said, "I will not sit down till he has been killed. This is the judgment of Allah and His Apostle (for such cases) and repeated it thrice. Then Abu Musa ordered that the man be killed"

[Saheeh Al bukhari (2537/6) and Saheeh Muslim (1456/3)]

and Al Haafith may Allah have mercy on him said: ( and Abu Dawood showed us in his narration that they repeated their sayings, Abu Musaa says: set down and Muaath says: I won't set.)

[Fath Al Baari(274/12)]

and the repetition of Muaath`s saying to Musa :( this is the judgement of Allah) three times proved that he knew this from the prophet peace and blessings of Allah be upon him and not from his own opinion..

And Dr .Yusuf Al Qardaawi mentioned ten of the Sahabah may Allah be pleased with them, and they are : Ibn Abbaas , Abu Musa , Muaath , Ali , Uthmaan , Ibn Mas`ud , Aishaah , Anas , Abi Hurayrah and Mu`aawiyah bin Haydah narrated the killing of the apostate then said: ( and the hadeeth of killing the Murtad had been narrated from a huge number of the sahaabah , we mentioned number of them, so it is from the elaborated and famous Ahaadeeth).

The third daleel: the unanimous agreement of the Ummah on killing Al murtad who the condition of the killing had been found in him:

the definite , correct and direct proofs from the messenger's peace and blessings of Allah be upon him Ahaadeeth proved the obligatory of killing the Murtad after asking him to repent, and the companions of the messenger of Allah peace and blessing of Allah be upon him adhered to that in his time and after his death, and the scholars agreed on that unanimously.

Ibn Qudamah may Allah have mercy on him said: (and the prophet peace and blessings of Allah be upon him said:( whoever changed his religion , kill him), and the people of knowledge agreed unanimously on the obligatory of killing Al Murtad , and that had been narrated from Abi Baker, Umar, Uthmaan, Ali , Muaath , Abi Musa ,Ibn Abbaas, Khalid and others than them, and that wasn't rejected so , it was an unanimous agreement”

[Al Mughani(16/9)].

Dr.Yusuf Al Qardaawi said: (secondly; the unanimous agreement is from the trustworthy sources of the Islamic law for the Ummah, and the scholars from all rites, Sunism ,other than it and the scholars who don't belong to any rite agreed on the punishment of Al murtad and they were about to agree that it is the killing except what was narrated from Umar , Annakh`ee and Athawri but they are all agreed unanimously on the incrimination (for Al Murtad).

I said: and everyone who had been narrated from him the negation of the killing had been narrated from him the opposite of that and it is the killing , and what had been narrated from Umar may Allah be pleased with him is to imprison him (the apostate) before killing him ,that he might repent but not negating the death penalty absolutely.

And this is the text of what had been narrated from him may Allah be pleased with him:

” (Mij`za`ah bin Thawr or Shaqeeq bin Thawr came to Umar with the good news of conquesting (opening) Tustar, then Umar said: did any oddity happened to tell us about it?. He said : No , but a man from the Arabs apostatized then we hit his neck (cut his head off), Umar said: woe unto you, couldn't you build a clayey door for him and open a louver for him to feed him through it daily with a loaf of bread and give him a mug of water to drink for three days then present Islam for him in the third day that he might return ?? ,O Allah I wasn't there, I didn't command and I didn't know"

[Al Muhalla(191/11)]

And his saying:( then present Islam for him in the third day , that he might return ) is appearing that he sees presenting the repentance for him (the apostate) three times, perhaps he return (repent) but if he doesn't return after asking him to repent three times, he got to be killed.

And in another narration from Umar, there is an addition :( if he repented accept from him but if he insisted then you are excused toward him). [Attamaaheed (307/5)] means : you cut his excuse which by cutting It, he deserves to be killed.

And he stated of killing him if he doesn't return (to Islam) in another narration ,he said:( couldn't you put him in a house and lock the door on him and feed him daily with a loaf of bread then ask him to repent three times, if he repented , otherwise kill him, then said: O Allah I didn't witness, I didn't command and I am not pleased as it reached me or said: when it reached me.)

[Musannaf Ibn Abi Shaybah(562/5)].

And what proving this meaning from Umar what Amroo bin Shoayib had narrated from his father from his grandfather, said:( Amroo bin Al Aaas wrote to Umar bin Al Khattaab that a man is changing faith for the disbelief. then Umar wrote him back: ask him to repent , if he repented accept from him, otherwise hit his neck).

And by that Ibn Abdulbar may Allah have mercy on him affirmed and said: ( Abu Umar said means ,put them in a prison till they repent and if they didn't repent , they got to be killed , and it is not possible to be other than this because of the saying of Allah's messenger peace and blessings of Allah be upon him” whoever changed his religion, hit his neck”

[ Al istikthaar (154/7)].

And as for what had been reported from the Imam Ibraheem Annakh`ee may Allah have mercy on him, that had been answered for them with narrations from him (Annakh`ee) contrast with that report, he is even considering the killing of the apostate man and the apostate woman whom the Hanafiyaah (hanafi rite) disagreed with killing her.

Ibn Abdulbar may Allah have mercy on him said:" and the scholars differed too in (killing) the apostate woman ,Maalik , Al Awzaa`ee, Uthmaan Al Bati, Ashaafi`ee and Al Layith bin Sa`ad said: " the murtadah (apostate woman) must be killed just as killing Al murtad (apostate man) equally . and this is the saying of Ibraaheem Annakh`ee and their proof is the literal meaning (external sense) of this hadeeth , because it doesn`t mention (the male or the female) specifically"

[Attahmeed (312/5)]

and Al Hafith bin Hajar may Allah have mercy on him from those who ascribe killing Al Murtadah to Annakhee .

[Fath Al Baari (268/12)]

and Ibn Hajar may Allah have mercy on him affirmed that the narration of Annakh`ee which proved killing the apostates man and woman is stronger than the one which precluding it , he is even weaken the precluding narration from him .

[Amat Allah]

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

توكلنا على الله و لا حول و لا قوة الا بالله

He said may Allah have mercy him: “and Sa`eed bin Mansoor brought out from Hasheem from Ubayidah bin Mugheeth from Ibraaheem said: if the man or the woman apostatized from Islam, they must be asked to repent, and if they repented, let them go and if they refused , they must be killed and Ibn Shayibah brought out from Hafs from Ubayidah from Ibraaheem , he must not be killed and the first is stronger because Ubayidah is weak and his reporting from Ibraaheem had differed.

[Fath Al Baari (268/12)]
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And for this, what had been narrated from him about asking the apostate to repent for ever must be taken as if the apostasy repeated from him (the apostate),then he must be asked to repent for each time. and the meaning is not the permanency in asking him to repent from one apostasy for all his life long, because his saying(being asked to repent for ever) is summarized, and the previous narration which Ibn Hajar gave preponderance to, is detailed(evident) ,and its known that the summarized is taken to mean the detailed.
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[Musannaf Ibn Abi Shayibah (440/6)]

And this is showing the sureness of the unanimous agreement (consensus), and who had narrated from him the saying of not killing Al Murtad got conflicted with what had been narrated from him about killing him(Al murtad). And the narrations of the killing preponderate over the narrations which negate the killing , because they are conformed with the correct and proved sunnah from the messenger peace and blessings of Allah be upon him and the performance (adherence) of his companions and others than them for what had been proved from him in his life and after his death.

then if we presumed that the saying which negate killing Al murtad had had been proven from one or many of the scholars , then there is no proof in that because of the unanimous agreement of others than them on the saying of killing him and because killing him is proved from the messenger of Allah peace and blessings of Allah be upon him and the deed of his companions in his life and after his death.

The apostate woman must be killed if she didn't repent as the apostate man:

The reported Ahaadeeth in killing Al Murtad is including the male and female all together, whether with their general text as his saying:( whoever changed his religion , kill him), or with mentioning the man in its text just like what had been reported before.

And what proving the equality in the penalty for the apostate man and woman that the punishments are carrying out on both of them, so the adulteress punishment is to be lashed and stoned just like the adulterer and the murderess got executed just like the murderer. And do not say: that this an inference in terms of the association and the inferring by it is weak , because the weakness of the association denotation is with those who say it from the scholars, but it is weak when taking it as evidence while there is no other definite (proved ) proofs than it (to support it), and the proofs here are proven as you see.

And if you looked closely at these proofs you will find that each one of them is qualified to protest with it alone then how about protesting with them all together? And his saying:( whoever changed his religion, kill him) including the male and female cause (who) is a relative pronoun and it is from the generality forms.

As said in Maraaq Assu`ood : ( and the inclusion of who for the female is not a deviation).

Means : there is no deviation in the inclusion of who for the male and female from the way of rightness.

And also his saying peace and blessings of Allah be upon him in Ibn Masood :( the blood of a Muslim person who bears the testimony that there is no god but Allah, and I am His Messenger, may be lawfully shed only in case of three persons: life for life , and the married adulterer, and the one who abandons Islam, and deserts the community).the word (person) including the male and female too and the scholars interpret(explained) the word ( person) with the word (soul) like in Tafseer Ibn Katheer (243/4).

Abu Haneefah may Allah have mercy on him, held the view that the woman must not be killed but got to be prisoned and hedging her in till she repents, and he took as a proof on that the interdiction of killing women and that the woman doesn't get killed because of the original kufur(disbelief) then she must not be killed because of the casual (recent) kufur and this conclusion is not proved because the interdiction had been reported in the original disbeliever woman as it is clear in the story which the interdiction reported because of it.

And if we presumed the generality (of the executing or killing penalty) then the command (order ) of killing the apostate generally (male and female) would be in contrast with it by its generality, then how while the order of killing the apostate woman had been reported particularly? Besides ,it is differentiate between the original kufur and the casual kufur and that from many ways, the most important from them ;
-that the man is avowing him self to be an original disbeliever (admitting his original kufur) but not avowing him self to be an apostate ( admitting his casual kufur )"apostasy".

[Fath Al Baari (272/12), Al Mughani (3/9) Al Muq`ne(516/3) Fath Al Qadeer(71/60]
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And Al Qurtubi may Allah have mercy on him said:( "they differed in (killing) Al Murtaddah (apostate woman) so, Malik Al Awzaa'e , Ashaafi'e and Al Layth Bin Sa'ad said: "she must be killed just as killing Al Murtad (apostate man) equally" and there proof is the literal meaning of the hadeeth: "whoever changes his religion , kill him" and (whoever) here can be used for male and female.

AThawree, Abu Haneefah and his companions said: "The Murtaddah must not be killed" and this also the saying of Ibn Shubrumah and it had been held by Ibn Ulayiah and it is the saying of Aataa'a and Al Hassan too taking as proofs the narration of Ibn Abbaas from the prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) that he said: "whoever changes his religion, kill him"

Then Ibn Al Abbas didn't kill Al Murtaddah and whoever narrated a hadeeth ,he will be more informed (knowledgeable) with its interpretation. And the same had been narrated from Ali and the prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) forbade killing women and children. and those who said the Murtaddah must be killed took as a proof the saying of the prophet (peace be upon him): the blood of a muslim person is not licit (to be shed) but with one of three : a disbelief (becoming a disbeliever) after a belief (being a believer)" and that including everyone who becomes a disbeliever after believing and this is the most correct."

[Tafseer Al Qurtubi (48/3)]

Ibn Al Ameer (may Allah have mercy on him)said: "The people of knowledge agreed that the apostate woman must be killed because the word (whoever) here is including the male and female and because of what Ibn Al Munthir brought out from Ibn Al Abbaas the hadeeth narrator, that he said: apostate woman must be killed.

And what he brought up with Addaarqutni that Abu Baker (may Allah be pleased with him) killed apostate woman in his caliphate and most of the Sahabah (prophet's companions) were there and no one of them disapproved of what he had done and this is a good hadeeth.

[Subulussalaam (265/3)]

And in short : who apostatized from Islam , whether it was a man or a woman must be killed if he asked to repent and didn't return , and the proofs on that are clear as mentioned before.
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Irregular opinions in killing the apostate:

With the strength of the correct proofs and its multiplicity (multitude), irregular opinions appeared contrary to (dissent for )this ruling , we summarize its proofs in the following with debating each proof from them apart by Allah's willing.
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The first opinion: the differentiating between leaving Islam and rebelling against Islam, this opinion considering the apostasy from Islam of those who do not invite (others) to the religion which they embraced after leaving Islam from whom must not be punished with the penalty of the apostasy (executing) ,and they justified this with two matters:

The first matter: that they left the community (Al jamaa`ah) and didn't rebelled against it, and they befell not any harm for the others by that but they befell it on their selves.
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The second matter: the act according to the principle of the religious freedom ,as will follow soon the speaking about it.
.
And they brought proofs for their allegation:

First daleel: from the Glorious Qur`aan as :

the saying of Allah :

"لَا إِكْرَاهَ فِي الدِّينِ ۖ قَدْ تَبَيَّنَ الرُّشْدُ مِنَ الْغَيِّ ۚ (256)

سورة البقرة

[256] There is no compulsion in religion"

Surat Al Baqarah

and they considered that the forcing for the apostate to return to Islam is a compulsion for him to enter a religion he doesn't want to enter it. And in this ,there is a confiscation for the religious freedom.

[Umm Sufyaan]

just a little suggestion that when you finish translating it and put it as PDF (im assuming that u are?) don't forget to secure it (i dont know that exact term) so that noone comes along and tries to distort it.

btw, a biography of the shikh/author would be good as well.