Christian Groups You Must Refer To Surah 4 137

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 Ok this YouTube popped up this morning. Malaysia is in the foreign news again. We are being described as another one of those intolerant Islamic societies. It is a brief video.



 

A little song at the end. Well I wish I can tell you what I really feel about religion - all religion. Maybe the day will come. But for the time being this is an issue that does affect peoples' lives. And there are logical and effective ways of going about this matter.
I have repeated this verse from the Quran many times before. To all those people, especially the Christian groups, who are trying to find solutions to this problem may I please draw your attention to Surah 4:137 of the Quran. That means Chapter 4 verse 137.

It goes like this:
4:137         اٰمَنُوۡا ثُمَّ كَفَرُوۡا ثُمَّ اٰمَنُوۡا ثُمَّ كَفَرُوۡا ثُمَّ ازۡدَادُوۡا كُفۡرًا لَّمۡ يَكُنِ اللّٰهُ لِيَـغۡفِرَ لَهُمۡ وَلَا لِيَـهۡدِيَهُمۡ سَبِيۡلًا  l إِنَّ ٱلَّذِينَ  

"Indeed, those who have believed then disbelieved (kafir), then believed, then disbelieved (kafir), and then increased in disbelief (kafir) – never will Allah forgive them, nor will He guide them to a way" - Sahih International.

This is a description of a person who moves in and out of belief multiple times (belief and then disbelief, belief and then disbelief, and then increases in disbelief). There is absolutely no punishment prescribed in the Quran for such a person.
The fact is there is no punishment of any sort at all prescribed in the Quran, for a person who accepts belief and then rejects belief. In 4:137 above, it says "never will Allah forgive them, nor will He guide them to a way". Which I think is a terrible fate already. 
But in the sharia system, the prescribed punishment for apostasy (rejecting belief) is death. As I said this punishment cannot be found anywhere in the Quran. Although Malaysia does not implement 'death for apostasy', all the other predicaments being faced by those inside Malaysia, who seek to leave Islam, are derived from this idea of 'punishment of death for apostasy'. 
There is an acceptance that apostasy (rejecting Islam) must somehow carry a price. You must be made to suffer.

The Christian groups and the others who are involved in these issues should refer to Sura 4:137 and point this out. Please do it politely and with the objective of seeking clarification to find a solution to a problem.  
The question you need to raise is - politely and objectively - what do you do with Surah 4:137? Obviously a person who moves in and out of belief FOUR TIMES and then finally increases in disbelief does not suffer any temporal punishment. Allah will not forgive him or show him the way. In other words his fate rests with Allah. 
Likewise for those in Malaysia who seek to leave Islam, can we also leave it to Allah to decide their fate?

In 2021 in Indonesia, Sukmawati Soekarnoputri the daughter of the late President Soekarno, converted to Hinduism in a public ceremony on the island of Bali.
The law in Indonesia, the largest Muslim nation in the world, did not inflict any punishment or persecute Sukmawati for her conversion. Their politics are different. 



 The views expressed are those of the writer and do not necessarily reflect those of MMKtT.
By Syed Akbar Ali 

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