The apostate is the one who turns away from the deen of Islam to Kufr. Allah (swt) Ta’ala says:

“Whoever apostatises among you from his deen and dies while being a Kafir is of those whose deeds will bear no fruit in this life and the Hereafter. They will be of the companions of the Fire to dwell therein eternally” [Al-Baqarah: 217]

The person who apostatises from Islam whether male or female, to another Deen like Judaism, Christianity, Zoroastrianism, Buddhism or a nonreligious belief such as Communism, becomes one whose blood is not protected and, consequently, one whose property is not protected. The protection of his property follows the protection of his blood and if the sanctity of his blood is removed then the loss of sanctity for his property is a natural consequence. The Prophet (saw) said: “I was commanded to fight the people until they say: ‘There is no god but Allah (swt).’ Whoever says ‘There is no god but Allah (swt), he has protected his life and property from me except by its right and his reckoning is with Allah (swt).” Shedding the blood of the apostates is not like shedding the blood of the highway robbers, the married adulterers or the murderers, because these do not make the Muslim a Kafir, neither is the sanctity of his property is lost. Rather the highway robber, married adulterer and murderer remain Muslim who can inherit and be inherited from. However, the person who apostatises becomes a Kafir and loses protection of his blood and property.

The mere apostasy of the apostate gives the Muslims the right to shed his blood and seize his property. Killing him and seizing his property are however, dependent upon asking him to repent. If he is asked to repent for three days, refuses to repent and does not return to Islam then it is obligatory to kill him immediately and seize his property and this becomes Fai’ for Muslims. It is placed in the Bait ul-Mal in the department of Fai’ and Kharaj and spent the way they are spent. His property is not inherited because if one spouse apostatises before consummation the contract, it is dissolved immediately and there would be no inheritance. Similarly apostasy after consummation dissolves the marriage such that whoever dies cannot leave inheritance to the other, as one is Muslim and the other is Kafir. So when a Muslim dies and leaves an inheritance to an apostate, the apostate cannot inherit from him because the apostate is a Kafir and the testator (deceased) is Muslim. The Kafir cannot inherit from the Muslim so his share is left for the remainder of the heirs if any. If there are no such heirs then the entire inheritance is Fai’ for Muslims that is placed in the Bait ul-Mal. If the apostate has heirs who are Muslim sons, fathers, mothers or brothers, then they cannot inherit from him as the Muslim cannot inherit from the Kafir. All his property becomes Fai’ for Muslims that is placed in the Bait ul-Mal. From Usama bin Zayd, he said that the Messenger of Allah (saw) said: “The Kafir does not inherit from a Muslim, nor can a Muslim inherit from a Kafir” (agreed upon). Abdullah bin Amru narrated that the Messenger of Allah (saw) said: “People of two different beliefs cannot inherit from one another.” Similarly, if the apostate apostatises together with all his heirs, then all of their property becomes free of any protection thereby becoming fai’ for Muslims, and they cannot inherit from one another.

If a group apostatises, becoming powerful in a land, establishing their own ruler who rules between them, then they are considered as of Dar ul- Harb, thus losing the protection for their blood and property. It is obligatory to fight them as they become like Kuffar in origin, in fact, they are worse. It is of a greater priority to fight them for the Kuffar must accept Islam, peace or Jizya. As for apostates, nothing is accepted from them except Islam; peace and Jizya are not accepted from them. Abu Bakr and the Sahabah fought the apostates and would only accept from them either their complete return to Islam or war. The Prophet (saw) said: “You should kill whoever changes his Deen.”

Any property acquired by the apostate during his apostasy takes the same rule as the property he possessed before his apostasy i.e. it is Fai’ for Muslims. Any of the apostate’s actions during his apostasy such as trade, donation or bequests are void if they occur after the seizure of his property. If they occur before the seizure of his property then they are deferred. If he returns to Islam, then his actions are considered valid, and if he does not return to Islam then his actions are considered void.

If the apostate returns to Islam, then his seized property is returned to him. If he returns after the death of his testator (from whom he could inherit) and before the division of the inheritance, then he can take his share. If he returns to Islam after the division of the inheritance, then he has no right to any part of it and is not given any share from it.