Publications [#374476] of Mohsen Kadivar

Books

1. Kadivar, M, The Punishment of Apostasy and the Freedom of Thought: Criticism of the punishment for apostasy and blasphemy according to the standards of demonstrative jurisprudence (Hadd al-Ridda wa Hurriyya al-‘Aqida: Naqd uqubat al-irtidad wa sabb al-nabi tibqan li-mawazn al-fiqh al-istidlali), vol. 1 (October, 2023), pp. 464 pages, Arab Center for Research & Policy Studies, ISBN 978-614-445-546-3 (translated by Al-Sarraf, H; Dakhil Karim, H; Munir, M.)
   (last updated on 2025/06/16)

   Abstract:
   After the assassination of the Azerbaijani journalist Rafiq Taqi in 2011 under the fatwa of the Iranian jurist Muhammad Fadil Lankarani, who condemned him to death for a blasphemous news article in 2006, Mohsen Kadivar criticized this fatwa, condemned the assassination, and wrote a detailed open letter in Persian denying the ruling on apostasy and blasphemy in light of the deductive approach and evidence from the Qur’an and Prophetic Traditions as well as Shi’ite Imams Hadiths. Kadivar wrote a detailed introduction in English to the second edition of the book in which he presented the genealogy of the development of the rule of apostasy and blasphemy on one hand and religious freedom on the other hand among Sunni and Shiite Muslim jurists and thinkers. The Arabic translation of the book includes all of these texts and the author’s opinions on the issue of apostasy, blasphemy, and freedom of belief. The preface, entitled “Toward Removing the Punishment of Apostasy in Islam” is one of the features of the Arabic version.