Prominent Islamic cleric and National Chairman of the Council of Ulama, Dr. Ibrahim Jalingo, has publicly endorsed the d3ath penalty for Muslims who renounce their faith, igniting a wave of controversy online
In a strongly worded post on his official Facebook page on Thursday, Jalingo defended a Hadith that prescribes execution for apostates. He accused critics who question its authenticity of displaying what he described as “compound ignorance.”
His comments came in response to ongoing debates about the compatibility of certain Hadiths with Qur’anic teachings. A Hadith, considered the second most authoritative source in Islam after the Qur’an, consists of the sayings, actions, or approvals of Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him).
Jalingo wrote:
“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.”
He continued:
“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 then reinforced the divine status of Hadith alongside the Qur’an, stating:
“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.”
Addressing claims that the Hadith contradicts the Qur’an, he argued otherwise by citing several verses that he believes support the death penalty for apostasy. Quoting Surah At-Tawbah (9:5), he said:
“Then, when the sacred months have passed, kill the polytheists wherever you find them.”
He also referenced Surah Al-Baqarah (2:193) and Surah An-Nisa (4:89 and 4:91), concluding:
“Fight them until there is no more fitnah (disbelief and oppression) and religion is for Allah alone… Kill them wherever you confront them.”
Jalingo further claimed that the oft-cited verse “There is no compulsion in religion” (Surah Al-Baqarah 2:256) has been abrogated by later verses and Hadiths:
“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.”
He ended his statement with a scathing rebuke:
“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.”
The post has since gone viral, attracting both support and widespread condemnation. While some hardline followers praised Jalingo for “defending the truth,” others, including Muslim scholars and human rights advocates, have denounced the remarks as extreme, dangerous, and deeply inflammatory.
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