Abu, you said here that apostasy is a capital offence:

http://www.ozpolitic.com/forum/YaBB.pl?num=1223540962/6#6

Does that only apply to people who become Muslim then reject it? Or does it apply to all non-Muslims? What about people who claim to be Muslims but are considered apostates by 'the establishment'? I think you said you consider Shiits to be apostates.

Wouldn't it be easier to just answer the questions?

abu_rashid wrote on Oct 10^th, 2008 at 11:12am:

Abandonment of one's religious faith, a political party, one's principles, or a cause?

A total desertion of or departure from one's religion, principles, party, cause, etc. ?

Is the formal religious disaffiliation or abandonment or renunciation of one's religion, especially if the motive is deemed unworthy. In a technical sense, as used sometimes by sociologists without the pejorative connotations of the word, the term refers to renunciation and criticism of, or opposition to, one's former religion. One who commits apostasy is an apostate, or one who apostatizes. The word derives from Greek αποστασία (apostasia), meaning a defection or revolt, from απο, apo, "away, apart", στασις, stasis, "standing"?

Apostasy in Islam (Arabic: ارتداد, irtidād or ridda) is commonly defined as the rejection of Islam in word or deed by a person who has been a Muslim.
The four major Sunni and the one major Shia Madh'hab (schools of Islamic jurisprudence) agree that a sane adult male apostate must be executed.[1] They differ on the punishment for a female apostate - some schools calling for death and others for imprisonment. According to Wael Hallaq nothing of the apostasy law are derived from the Qur'an,[2] although the jurist al-Shafi'i interpreted the Qu'ranic verse 2:217 as providing the main evidence for apostasy being a capital crime in Islam.[3]?

So, what is it, abu, and what does it mean?

So it only applies to people who become Muslims but then repent?

What if someone is 'born into' a Muslim family and society. Do they ever have to make a conscious choice to be regarded as a Muslim?

What about people who claim to be Muslims but are considered apostates by 'the establishment'?

Abu posted this in the sex with animals thread:

Firstly we need to be clear, this appears to be a Shi'a website, and even then it is an Ithna Ashari website, which are a sub-sect of the Shi'a (albeit the largest one). To make a claim about Islam, based on a website by a tiny sect, who are clearly astray from the mainstream is just ridiculous. Please don't use the term "Islam", use the term "Shi'a" if you must, as my religion has nothing to do with this nonsense you're proclaiming.

One of the foundations of effective communication is paraphrasing what the other person said and checking with them to see if you have understood it correctly. The importance of this cannot be overemphasised, as failure to do so is the root cause of most failures to communicate. It is extremely naive to expect to be able to communicate effectively without doing this. It may appear tedious, but it is a lot better than getting to the end, only to realise something is wrong because you misunderstood something at the very beginning.

I notice that Muslims use the term 'reversion' rather than conversion. Does this have any impact on whether someone is considered to have apostasysed?

Does the death penalty only apply to people who become Muslim but then repent?

What if someone is 'born into' a Muslim family and society. Do they ever have to make a conscious choice to be regarded as a Muslim?

What about people who claim to be Muslims but are considered apostates by 'the establishment'?