Pope Francis’ abrogation of the death penalty in Fratelli Tutti is being blown sky-high by his chief dialogue partner Grand Imam Ahmed al-Tayyeb – who, in accordance with Islamic jurisprudence, supports the execution of apostates from Islam.
Public hanging above freshly-dug graves in a Muslim country. “Today we state clearly that ‘the death penalty is inadmissible’ and the Church is firmly committed to calling for its abolition world-wide,” Francis declares in his latest encyclical, contradicting Scripture and 2,000 years of Sacred Tradition. But Al-Tayyeb, who is named five times and upheld as the pontiff’s inspiration in Fratelli Tutti (All Brothers), trashes Francis’ declaration, stating: “The four schools of law all concur that apostasy is a crime, that an apostate should be asked to repent, and that if he does not, he should be killed.”
“[Contemporary] juris-prudents concur – and so does ancient jurisprudence – that apostasy is a crime,” Al-Tayyeb asserts in a 2016 Arabic interview, translated into English by the Middle East Media Research Institute.
“We should be aware that the concepts of human rights are full of ticking time bombs,” the grand imam warned, labelling apostasy “high treason” and “a rebellion both against religion and what is held sacrosanct by society.”
Al-Tayyeb cites the “exception of the Hanafi School,” which legislates “that a female apostate should not be killed.” He explains the exception is “because it is inconceivable that a woman would rebel against her community.” Al-Tayyeb clearly teaches that those who leave Islam must be killed. This is in accord with traditional Islamic teaching. Al-Tayyeb has shown no sign of moving toward the Christian position of the freedom of conscience and dignity of the human person. Only the Pope is moving in the other direction.