An Islamic cleric and National Chairman of the Council of Ulama, Dr Ibrahim Jalingo, has stirred widespread controversy after publicly endorsing the death penalty for individuals who renounce their religion.
In a statement written in Hausa language and shared via his official Facebook page on Thursday, Jalingo strongly defended a Hadith prescribing capital punishment for apostasy and condemned critics of Hadith literature, accusing them of “compound ignorance.”
His post came in response to mounting criticisms disputing the authenticity of a specific Hadith, which many argue contradicts the teachings of the Qur’an. But Jalingo dismissed such arguments, launching a detailed theological rebuttal against what he described as “fabricators” aiming to discredit Islamic traditions.
“Today, I came across the first Hadith among the supposed ‘100 Hadiths’ which the fabricators claim contradict the Qur’an. They assert that Muslims who believe in both the divine revelation of the Hadith and the Qur’an cannot respond to them! The Hadith in question is: ‘Whoever changes his religion, kill him.’ The person who presented this statement by the fabricators to me is someone named Issiyaku Abdulkadir,” Jalingo wrote.
The cleric followed with a pointed response to the critics: “Here is what I wrote in response to the claims of these fabricators: First, I thank you for starting to bring me what this compound ignoramus refers to as ‘100 Hadiths that contradict the verses of the Qur’an.’ This will, God willing, give me the opportunity to expose his ignorance to the world.”
Jalingo argued that the Hadith is divinely inspired and should not be regarded as merely interpretative: “Second: It should be made clear to everyone that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) never said: ‘The role of Hadith is to interpret the Qur’an.’ However, the Prophet said: ‘Indeed, I was given the Qur’an and something like it alongside it.’ What is true is that the Qur’an is a revelation from Allah, and so is the Hadith a revelation from Allah. Often, the Qur’an addresses a matter in a summarised or brief way, and then the revelation of Hadith comes to elaborate on that matter.”
He further backed the controversial Hadith with multiple Qur’anic references, claiming it does not contradict scripture. “Third: The Hadith you cited—’Whoever changes his religion, kill him’—is authentic and does not contradict the Qur’anic revelation. This is because Allah says in Surah At-Tawbah, verse 5: ‘Then, when the sacred months have passed, kill the polytheists wherever you find them.’”
Jalingo also cited verses from Surah Al-Baqarah and Surah An-Nisa’ to support his argument: “Fight them until there is no more fitnah (disbelief and oppression) and religion is for Allah alone.’ Meaning: fight them until they accept Islam. And in Surah An-Nisa’, verse 89: ‘Kill them wherever you find them.’ And again in Surah An-Nisa’, verse 91: ‘Kill them wherever you confront them.’”
The cleric dismissed the widely quoted verse advocating freedom of religion as no longer applicable. “You see, unless someone is completely ignorant like the fabricators, no one would claim that the Hadith which says ‘Whoever changes his religion, kill him’ contradicts the Qur’an—because the Qur’an itself goes even further. It does not only permit the killing of apostates, but all polytheists in certain contexts.
“Fourth: You should also know that the verse ‘There is no compulsion in religion’ (La ikrah fi ad-deen) has had its ruling abrogated (naskh) by the verses we’ve just quoted, as well as by the very Hadith you brought: ‘Whoever changes his religion, kill him.’ And abrogation is a well-established concept within the revelation of the Glorious Qur’an.”
Jalingo ended his post with a scathing personal attack on his critics: “This is a brief response to the compounded ignorance of this individual—whose approach and manner resemble that of prostitutes and effeminate men—i.e., the so-called fabricators.”
