ISIS crucifies man for apostasy in Syria

Chiqui Guyjoco Monday, August 01, 2016

The Islamic State militants executed and crucified a civilian man in Aleppo on Thursday after accusing him of apostasy, according to activists and eyewitnesses.

The Islamic State of Iraq and Levant (ISIL, also known as ISIS) terrorist group accused 28-year-old Hussein Muhammad of being an apostate after he refused to join the Islamic prayers at the mosque. They arrested Muhammad, executed him by gunfire and then crucified his dead body on an electric pole in central al-Bab for everyone to see.

A Syrian national flag flutters next to the Islamic State's slogan at a roundabout where executions were carried out by ISIS militants in the city of Palmyra, in Homs Governorate, Syria in this April 1, 2016 file photo. | Reuters/Omar Sanadiki

"The Sharia Court accused Muhammad of apostasy for refusing to join prayers at the mosque," an activist, who spoke anonymously, told ARA News.

"A Sharia judge decided to execute and crucify the man in public, claiming he was an apostate who refused to perform Sharia duties and violated the basic laws of the Caliphate," the activist added.

Thousands of residents in al-Bab gathered to witness the public execution Thursday afternoon, reported Ahmed al-Beik, a rights activist.

"The victims' body will remain crucified for three days, and ISIS threatened people that anyone who would try to remove him will be mercilessly punished," al-Beik said.

According to Jihad Watch, an organization that exposes jihad theology and ideology to apprise the world of the real situation, the Islamic law includes the capital punishment for those charged with apostasy.

Bukhari 9.84.57, a hadith, quotes Prophet Muhammad as saying, "Whoever changed his Islamic religion, then kill him."

Sheikh Yusuf al-Qaradawi, the most respected Muslim cleric in the world, said that Islamic judges for both Sunni and Shi'ite Islam agree that apostates must be punished. He added that the four main schools of jurisprudence, namely Hanafi, Maliki, Shafi'i and Hanbali and the other four (the four Shiite schools of Az-Zaidiyyah, Al-Ithna-'ashriyyah, Al-Ja'fariyyah, and Az-Zaheriyyah) all agree that capital punishment must be handed on apostates.

"If they had gotten rid of the apostasy punishment, Islam wouldn't exist today," Jihad Watch quoted the Muslim cleric as saying.