Tag: Freedom of religion

Genealogies of Pluralism in Islamic Thought: Shi‘a Perspective

Although there are a lot of verses in the Qur’an endorsing the notions of freedom, tolerance, diversity, and pluralism, all of these verses were abrogated by the Sword Verse, according to some major classical Sunni scholars. In Shi’a Islam, however, none of these verses were abrogated; the Qur’anic arguments on freedom and diversity are always valid since they are an essential part of faith; they cannot be abrogated. The political teachings of Imam ‘Ali Ibn Abi Ṭalib are very supportive of diversity and pluralism in the modern sense.

Toward Removing the Punishment of Apostasy in Islam

‘Freedom of religion’ is a strong principle in Islam. The Qur’an neither mentions nor prescribes any temporal punishment for apostasy. No one during the time of the Prophet was killed solely for apostasy. Abolishing all types of temporal punishments for apostasy: Acknowledgement of the alteration of the subject and context; the invalidity of akhbār al-haād in matters of critical importance such as the life of a human being; the invalidity of hadiths that run counter to Qur’anic dictates; and the abrogation of the punishments for apostasy because of ‘impairing’ Islam.