Islam and Apostasy in the modern world.

For want of change in Islam, Apostasy is the problem and not the solution.

Since the Affair of the Satanic verses it has become well known that Islamic legal theory punishes apostasy with death.

But even more important to know is that in daily life Apostasy from Islam is punished with the severance of a variety of social bonds. It is these interpersonal bonds that humans desire and need. Thus they will try to protect these bonds by accepting or continuing to accept a religion in the process.

Thus it follows that within the world of Islam the religious innovation which necessarily follows and accompanies secularization of society cannot take the form of any sort of religious renewal that will cross the boundaries of Islam.

Therefore there will be no Hare Krishna, no Scientology, Mormonism and so on in Cairo or Mecca.

The social consequences of apostasy make any other course out of the question. Thus any heterogeneous sect that develops out of Islam will have to present itself as a better form of Islam and its adherents as better Muslims. The Bin Ladens' of this world thus can only hope to achieve success as Muslims and not as a sect of ex-Muslims.

Thus calling someone an apostate will not work as it is the law itself that is the debilitating factor. The history of Islam also holds a restraining effect on the ability of any one sect to call another a Kufr. The negative psychological hold that the historical example of the Muta'zilla invokes is still strong, as even to the moderate clerics this opens a can of worms that can lead to a renewal of civil strife within Islam. This to any Muslim is to be avoided at all costs.

Thus rather than being the answer to the problem Apostasy and calls of Kufr are the underlying problem.

Therefore it will be easier to say nothing against these Islamo-fascist sects that try to prove they are not Islamic. The lack of a structured clerical hierarchy within Islam has its positive aspects, but in this case it plays a debilitating role in the needed call for moral clarity within Islamic society. There is no one figure that can stand up and demand the attention of all Muslims. It is a case of the blind preaching to the deaf.