Apostasy- As Explained (Sort of) by Shaykh Abdullah Adhami

Shaykh Abdullah Adhami 

One of the featured speakers at the up-coming Muslim Public Affairs Council annual conference at the All Saints Episcopalian Church in Pasadena on December 15 will be Shaykh Abdullah Adhami. In the above video from a previous appearance, Adhami is seen answering a question from the audience on the subject of apostasy. His answer takes up almost the entire 12 minutes of the video. It is evasive as he refers to an instance when the Prophet Muhammad allowed a professed apostate to go free without harm. (That is a standard part of the answer.) Eventually, Adhami refers to the issue of private apostasy vs public apostasy, in which the apostate publicly speaks out against Islam. (I am paraphrasing). 

This is a sticking point for US Islamists trying to explain away the fact that apostasy is punished by death under Sharia. What is universal in Islamic jurisprudence is that people like Nonie Darwish, Wafa Sultan and Ayaan Hirsi Ali, (all of whom live in the US) with their apostasy and public criticism of Islam, have brought upon themselves a death sentence. That is why they must live under security.

Adhami could not quite bring himself to address that obvious truth.