Hadd for Apostates (Nasa'i's Chain)
Nasa'i 4060 / 4079 record the same apostasy hadith found in Bukhari 6878 (entry b12), Tirmidhi 1402 (entry t02), and Abu Dawud 4361 (entry d03). The Nasa'i version provides independent chain attestation, with the apostasy death-penalty teaching preserved across all major Sunan and Sahih collections.
The substantive issues are addressed in entries b12, t02, and d03. The Nasa'i entry adds:
1. Cross-collection independent attestation. The apostasy hadith is in Bukhari, Muslim, Abu Dawud, Tirmidhi, Nasa'i, and Ibn Majah — every major canonical collection. Cross-collection consistency is overwhelming. The teaching is not Bukhari-specific or Tirmidhi-specific; it is the consensus of the canonical record.
2. The Nasa'i placement. Nasa'i's collection is organised around fiqh applications. The hadith's placement in the section on hudud (fixed Quranic-derived punishments) confirms its operative role: classical fiqh treated apostasy as a hadd offence with death as the prescribed punishment.
3. The persistent jurisprudential tradition. Nasa'i's preservation of the hadith in the legal-genre collection demonstrates that the early Sunni tradition treated apostasy as a hadd offence requiring capital punishment. All four Sunni schools and the major Shia school have applied this framework.
4. Modern application. Saudi Arabia, Iran, Mauritania, Sudan, Yemen, the UAE, and Qatar all retain apostasy as a capital crime, citing this and parallel hadith as foundational. The Nasa'i preservation is part of the textual basis.
The analysis from entries b12, t02, and d03 applies fully here.
- P1. Nasa'i 4060 / 4079 records Muhammad's instruction 'whoever changes his religion, kill him.'
- P2. The hadith is preserved in all six canonical Sunni collections — overwhelming cross-collection attestation.
- P3. Nasa'i's placement of the hadith in the hudud section confirms its operative legal role.
- P4. Classical Sunni fiqh in all four schools applies the apostasy death penalty based on this and parallel hadith.
- P5. Modern Muslim-majority states retain apostasy as a capital crime in their legal codes.
- P6. The 'no compulsion in religion' (Q 2:256) Quranic principle is in tension with this framework, with classical resolution prioritising the hadith.
- P7. A morally serious framework does not establish death as the punishment for changing religion. (See entries b12, t02, d03 for fuller treatment.)
Nasa'i 4060 / 4079 reinforces the apostasy death-penalty framework with independent chain attestation. The hadith is preserved across all canonical Sunni collections, with consistent content. The Nasa'i placement in the hudud section confirms its operative legal role. The framework continues in modern Muslim-majority jurisdictions. (See entries b12, t02, d03 for substantive analysis.)
The hadith refers to community-leavers (treason), not religious change.
The Nasa'i version uses 'whoever changes his religion' without the community clause. (See entry b12.)
The death penalty is exceptional and rarely applied — the istitāba (repentance period) makes the rule restorative.
The penalty is real and applied. (See entry t02.)
Q 2:256 forbids compulsion in religion — apostasy law conflicts with the Quran.
The conflict is real; that is the problem. (See entry b12.)
Modern Muslim states are reforming apostasy law.
Reform is uneven. Apostasy remains capital crime in many jurisdictions. (See entry b12.)
Other religious traditions historically had similar laws.
Christianity and Judaism have repudiated such laws on internal grounds; Islam has not. (See entry b12.)