Is the answer I provided concerning the ruling on the apostate, namely that there are two rulings (the apostate who does not wage war against Islam is not to be held accountable, and the apostate who wages war is to be asked to repent and then killed), with evidence from the Qur’an and Sunnah, correct, or is the apostate to be killed in all cases?

Indeed, speaking about the religion of Allah is a grave matter that only people of knowledge should undertake. The claim of differentiating in the ruling concerning an apostate between one who wages war and one who does not is baseless, and no scholar has ever held this view.

Authentic and explicit evidence has been transmitted regarding the obligation of executing an apostate, including the Prophet's (peace and blessings be upon him) saying: "Whoever changes his religion, kill him." And: "The blood of a Muslim man who testifies that there is no god but Allah and that I am the Messenger of Allah is not lawful except in one of three cases: a life for a life, a married adulterer, and one who deviates from the religion, abandoning the community." Also, the action of Mu'adh ibn Jabal when he killed a man who was Jewish, then became Muslim, then apostatized, saying: "The decree of Allah and His Messenger."

The scholars have unanimously agreed on the obligation of executing an apostate if he is a man, and none of them differentiated in the ruling of his execution between him being a combatant or a non-combatant.

As for what was mentioned in the question, that Allah did not mention the ruling on executing an apostate in the verse of Al-Ma'idah, the absence of mention does not indicate the absence of a ruling. The verse speaks about the recompense for the apostate's deeds in this world and the hereafter, and about Allah replacing him with other people whom He loves and who love Him. This does not negate the ruling of execution mentioned in other texts.

And the hadith of the Bedouin who was not killed after he requested to be released from his allegiance does not indicate that an apostate is not to be killed. The Bedouin did not apostatize from Islam; rather, he pledged allegiance to emigrate and reside in Medina, then wanted to return to his homeland after he fell ill. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) refused to release him because emigration was obligatory at that time, and his return was considered a major sin, not apostasy warranting execution.

The claim that there is no proof of the Prophet's (peace and blessings be upon him) execution of an apostate is incorrect. He ordered the killing of Abdullah ibn Khatal and Ibn Abi Sarh, and their apostasy was the primary reason for their killing, in addition to Ibn Khatal's reviling and satirizing the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him).

Based on this, the ruling on executing an apostate is established by authentic Sunnah and the consensus of the Ummah, and the doubts raised about differentiating between a combatant and a non-combatant apostate are invalid.