Maulana Wahiduddin Khan

Reconciling hadith on apostasy punishment

“In Sahih Bukhari, chapter 9, hadith numbers 84 and 57, it is mentioned: 'Whoever changes his religion, kill him.' Yet there is another hadith number 83 where it is mentioned: 'The blood of a Muslim who confesses that none has the right to be worshipped but God and that I am His messenger cannot be shed except in three cases...' How can these two hadiths be reconciled?”Asked by Miss Saadia, Delhi

He answers at 1:13:28 in Freedom of Thought in Islam 23 October, 2011 · 4 min 1 sec

His answer, in his own words
1:13:28
to is se bachiye ke aap ka case double standard case ban jaye. Double thinking ka case ban jaye. is se bachiye. Maulana, agla sawal kya hai Miss Saadia ne Dil se. unhon ne likha hai ke in sahih al bukhari chapter number nine hadith number eighty four and fifty seven it is mentioned whoever changes his religion kill him yet there is another hadith number eighty three where it is mentioned the blood of a muslim who confesses that none has theright to be worshipped but god and that i am his messenger cannot be shed except in three cases, one of which is when he leaves the muslims. kindly throw light on this following two often quoted hadith regarding apostasy.
1:14:25
dekhiye, hadith hai, khabar wahid ke taur par hai woh. mun badala dinnah faqtuluni main ne is par kitab likhi hai. woh maqala likha hai, thirty pages ka. meri kitab hikmat e islam. main ne is mein likha hai ke haan, lafz deen jo hai, mazhab ke mani mein nahin hai. lekin is zamane mein, jo aaj kal jo term bolte hain hum, is tarah se is tarah terminology nahin bani thi. is tarah se nahin bani thi. misalan dekhiye, aaj hum bolte hain, woh yaani baghavat ka lafz bolte hain. state se baghavat. is zamane mein state se baghavat ka lafz nahin hua karta tha.
1:15:07
to yahi deen hi ka lafz bola jata tha. to yahan jo lafz deen hai, woh state se baghavat ke ma ni mein hai. woh mazhab badalne ke mani mein nahin hai. woh ek poori kahani hai is ki. woh aisa nahin hai ke sirf ek hadith ho. ek poora waqea hai is ka. is poore waqeye ki taraf bhi dekhiye aap. to jo yeh jo log is ko lete hain, woh yeh samajhte nahin is cheez ko ke woh mazhab ke mani mein nahin hai. woh state se wafadari badalne ke mani mein hai. yaani dushman, woh woh jang ke waqt ka mamla hai.
1:15:40
dekhiye, jang ke waqt agar koi shakhs wafadari ko badle aur dushman se mil jaye to aaj bhi yeh mana jata hai ke woh qabil e gardan nahin hai. mazhab badalne par agar marne ko ho to quran mein saaf saaf kyun nahin hukum aaya? yeh bhi yaad rakhiye ke quran jo hai, capital punishment ke mani mein sirf quran se sabit hona chahiye. ab capital punishment ka usool jo hai, hadith se nahin nikal sakte aap. yaani itni badi baat jo hai, yaani saare jo quran majeed mein jitne basic teachings hain, woh sab quran mein hain. koi basic teaching aisi nahin jo quran mein na ho. hadith mein detail hai. basic teachings hadith quran mein sab maujood hain. to yeh capital punishment ki cheez ka taalluq basic teachings se hai.
1:16:29
woh quran mein milna chahiye. to usool yeh hai, dekhiye ke agar quran aur hadith ke darmiyan bazahir koi takrao dikhai de diya de to hadith ki taweel ki jayegi. quran ki taweel nahin ki jayegi. yaani hadith ko quran ke tabe kiya jayega. na ke na ke hadith ko quran ke tabe kiya jaye. ulta nahin kiya jayega. hadith ko quran ke tabe kiya jayega. quran ko hadith ke tabe nahin kiya jayega.
1:16:55
isi liye main yeh kehta hoon ke yahan par jo lafz deen hai, woh mazhab ke mani mein nahin. is mein main ne bohat se logon ke naqal kiya hua apne maqale mein, doosre logon ki aara. yaani aasani se main akela keh raha hoon. wahan bohat se main ne naqal kiya, is ko aap padh lijiye. mera maqala jo hai, thirty pages ka. yeh bohat zyada is mein hawale diye hain main ne. to is hadith se mera hadith sabit nahin hota ke koi aadmi agar murtad ho jaye to maar dalo is ko. yeh sabit nahin hota is se. maulana, agla sawal misster zeeshan yousaf ka hai, hyderabad se. unhon ne likha hai: "maulana, today discussion on freedom of thought was very enlightening.
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