The terms ’kafir’ (unbeliever) and ’murtad’ (an

apostate from Islam)

are extremely important in Islam. The article discusses the recent court cases in Egypt

against people

accused of being ’murtad’, for example the case of Nasr Abu Zaid, a professor in Arabic at

the University of

Cairo, and the accusation, brought by the Azhar Scholars Front against Dr. Hassan

Hanafy.
The article

is based on an interview with Dr. el-Moto’any, a scholar from the Azhar. It is

remarkable that Dr. El-Moto’

any says that if someone kills a ’murtad’ he should NOT be sentenced for

the murder, but only for usurping

the state’s authority to punish the ’murtad’.
The Egyptian

state does not, however, give the death

punishment to any ’murtad’. A ’murtad’ is only

considered dead by the state. He cannot marry, inherit or

carry out any legal transactions because he is legally

dead. A person who kills such a person, says Dr. el-

Moto’any, should only receive a ’minor

punishment’.