Should Abandoning Islam Be Punishable By Death? This Egyptian Cleric Thinks So

We've heard from Egyptian Shaykh Muhammad Hassan before. Back in June, The Blaze published a video in which he claimed that Islam prefers strong, immoral men. Now, he's back with a new message: the penalty for apostasy (abandoning Islam) should be the same as the punishment one gets for treason -- death.

In a newly translated video (which likely aired back in 2008), Hassan explains that once an individual enters Islam, he or she cannot leave it. He compares such an act to treason and explains that most nations punish treasonous acts by inflicting death. Translating Jihad explains:

This is a very common argument from Islamic clerics and others who try to defend the killing of apostates, and take on the impossible task of reconciling this with the Western ideas of freedom of religion and conscience.

Here are Hassan's exact words:

But if he enters Islam of his own free will and choice, he does not have the right to leave the religion of Allah whenever he wants, to shake the foundations of Muslim society. No, he does not have the right. Absolutely not. But he does have the right, after having (Islam) preached to him, to say, “I will enter” or “I will not enter this religion.” But to enter it just to leave it whenever he wants?

No. This is something which is unacceptable in the religion of Almighty Allah. Show me a constitution anywhere on earth which grants this for its citizens. But rather whoever comes out against the constitution of any nation is accused of treason. Everyone familiar with treason knows that the penalty is death. So what do you think about the one who betrays the religion of Allah Almighty, the one who betrays Allah and His Messenger? “O ye who believe! Do not betray Allah and His Messenger, nor knowingly betray your trusts” (Qur’an 8:27).

Watch a translated version of his statements, below:

Translating Jihad explains that there is even a campaign in Egypt to urge Hassan to run for president of the post-revolutionary Middle Eastern nation. Below, see a translated screen shot taken from a Facebook fan page devoted to that very cause:

(h/t Translating Jihad)