What is the prescribed penalty for a Person of the Book who converts to a religion not recognized by the state if he does not return to an acceptable faith?
Chapter on What is Prohibited to Marry and Combining Between Them and Other Matters
Al-Mughni
Book of Marriage
Primary text
There are two narrations regarding the manner of compelling him to abandon what he converted to. One narration states that he is to be killed if he does not return, whether male or female, based on the generality of the Prophet's statement: 'Whoever changes his religion, kill him,' and because he is a dhimmi who has broken the covenant, similar to breaking it by abandoning the commitment to dhimma status. It is debated whether he should be asked to repent: one view suggests he should be asked to repent because he is reverting from a false religion he adopted, like an apostate. The second view suggests he should not be asked to repent because he is like an original disbeliever whose killing is permitted, akin to a belligerent enemy (harbi). Under this first view, if he immediately embraces Islam or returns to a religion that is accepted, his life is spared; otherwise, he is killed.
Supporting text
The second narration from Ahmad states that if a Jew converts to Christianity, he is returned to Judaism, and not affirmed in what he converted to. When asked if he would be killed, he replied, 'No, but he is beaten and imprisoned.' He added that if a Christian or Jew converts to Magianism, the matter is more severe because their sacrificial animals are not eaten, and their women are not permitted to be married, and he is not left alone until he returns to the previous faith. When asked if he would be killed if he did not return, Ahmad replied, 'Yes, that is for them.' This explicitly indicates that a Person of the Book who converts to another religion of the People of the Book is not killed, but coerced through beating and imprisonment.