What they said on the apostate: how many times is he asked to repent?

Abd al-Rahman (may Allah have mercy on him) says: When the news of the conquest of Tustar was brought to Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) (Tustar is a region of Basra), he (may Allah be pleased with him) asked them: "What news is there from afar?" The people said: "There was a man from the Muslims who joined the polytheists. We seized him." He (may Allah be pleased with him) asked: "How did you deal with him?" They said: "We killed him." He (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "Why did you not put him in a house and shut the door on him, that is, imprison him, and give him a loaf of bread every day, then ask him to repent three times? Then if he repented, well and good; otherwise you would have killed him." Then he (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "O Allah, I was not a witness to them, nor did I order them, and when the news of this reached me, I was not pleased with it."

Sulayman bin Musa (may Allah have mercy on him) says that Sayyiduna Uthman (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "The apostate is to be asked to repent three times."

Hayyan (may Allah have mercy on him) says that Imam al-Zuhri (may Allah have mercy on him) said: "The apostate is to be called to Islam three times; then if he refuses, his neck is to be struck."

Amir (may Allah have mercy on him) says that Sayyiduna Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "The apostate is to be asked to repent three times."

Imam al-Sha'bi (may Allah have mercy on him) says that Sayyiduna Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "The apostate is to be asked to repent three times. Then if he does it again, he is to be killed."

Abd al-Karim (may Allah have mercy on him) reports from a person who heard Sayyiduna Ibn Umar (may Allah be pleased with them both) say: "The apostate is to be asked to repent three times."

Al-Walid bin Jumay' (may Allah have mercy on him) says: A governor of Umar bin Abd al-Aziz wrote to him (may Allah have mercy on him) from Yemen that a man who was a Jew had accepted Islam, then had taken up Judaism again and turned back from Islam. Umar (may Allah have mercy on him) wrote in reply: "Invite him to Islam. If he accepts Islam, let him go. If he refuses, call for the wooden plank, then invite him. If he refuses, lay him down on the wood, then invite him to Islam. If he still refuses, tie him up and place the point of a spear on his heart, then invite him to Islam once more. Then if he returns, let him go; and if he refuses, kill him." When the letter came, he was treated in this way, until the point of the spear was placed on his heart. Then he was invited to Islam and he accepted Islam, so they let him go.

Ibn Jurayj (may Allah have mercy on him) says that Umar bin Abd al-Aziz (may Allah have mercy on him) said: "The apostate is to be asked to repent three times. Then if he returns, well and good; otherwise he is to be killed."