`Ali ibn Ja`far said, “I asked him about a Muslim who became Christian.

`Ali ibn Ja`far said, “I asked him about a Muslim who became Christian.” He answered, “He should be killed and not be asked to seek forgiveness.” Then I asked: “What about a Christian who becomes a Muslim and then turns away from Islam (i.e., becomes murtad )?” He replied, “He should be asked to seek forgiveness; so if he returns (to Islam, then okay), otherwise he should be killed.”(5) This hadith covers both types of murtad: fitri as well as milli . 4.

Shaykh as-Sadiq quotes a sahih hadith from Muhammad bin Muslim who said that (Imam) Abu Ja`far (al-Bāqir) (a.s.) said, “Whoever rejects the prophethood of a prophet/messenger and considers him untrue, then his blood is lawful.” (6) 5.

Shaykh al-Kulayni quotes a sahih hadith from Muhammad bin Muslim who said, “I asked (Imam) Abu Ja`far (al-Bāqir) (a.s.) about the murtad.” He said, “Whoever turns away from Islam and rejects what has been revealed to Muhammad (s.a.w.) after he had been a Muslim, then there is no repentance for him; rather it is obligatory to kill him, and his wife should separate from him, and his wealth should be distributed among his heirs.”(7) All these five ahādith are authentic and sound from the sanad (chain of narrators) point of view, and even their meaning is quite clear.

(8) This is the opinion of all the Sh`iah jurists. For example, Shaykh Muhammad Hasan an-Najafi, after discussing the ahādith on murtad fitri in his renowned encyclopedia of Sh`iah jurisprudence, Jawāhiru ‘l-Kalām, says: “There is no considerable difference that I have found in the above-mentioned laws; on the contrary, there is unanimity (ijmā`) of both kinds on them because of the textual evidence quoted earlier.”(9) Neither is this a new or a debatable issue one among the Sh`iah jurists.

Even the scholars of the past centuries had the same views; for example, Shaykh at-Tusi (d. 460 AH) in an-Nihāya; Ibn Idris (d. 598 A.H.) in as-Sarā’ir; Ibn Hamza at-Tusi in al-Wasila , al-Muhaqqiq al-Hilli (d. 676 AH) in Sharāya`u ‘l-Islām , al-`Allāma al-Hilli (d. 726 AH) in Qawā`idu ‘l-Ahkām , and the First Martyr (d. 786 AH) and the Second Martyr in Sharhu ‘l-Lum`ati ‘d-Dimishqiyya .

Those who might suspect a division on this issue between the “usuli” and the “akhbāri” schools, should know that even the muhaddithān have chapters in their collections of hadith on “the punishment for murtad” citing the ahādith on this subject.