Clerical Errors
Shocking quotes from Islamic clerics
A clerical error is a harmless slip: a typo, a wrong date, a misplaced decimal point. The errors collected here are of another kind. They come from imams, muftis, ayatollahs and preachers, and they call for the death of apostates, the stoning of adulterous women, the sale of captives and the killing of Jews.
These are not words from the fringe. Alongside a few small-time preachers, you will find two Grand Muftis of Saudi Arabia, a Grand Mufti of Jerusalem, the Grand Imam of al-Azhar, the imam of the Grand Mosque in Mecca, the head of Turkey’s state religious authority and two Supreme Leaders of Iran. Each quote comes with its source. Check them: that is what they are for.
We do not target believers, who are often the first victims of these sermons. We target the men who speak in God’s name from a pulpit, a ministry or a television studio. Most of them are not misreading their scriptures: they quote them chapter and verse. Clerical errors usually get corrected. These ones get applause. Their critics have the floor in Unforgivable Sentences.
Filter by category Death penalty 8 quotes
- Incitement to Hatred and Violence15
- Jihad and the establishment of a global caliphate14
- Violation of women's rights9
- Death penalty8
- Antisemitism7
- Superiority of Islam and Muslims6
- Prohibition of freedom of thought and expression5
- Slavery5
- Hatred of non-Muslims4
- LGBTQ+ repression4
- Obscurantism4
- Dress code for women3
- Apostasy2
- Ban on blasphemy2
- Forced conversions2
- Marriage of underage girls2
- Persecution of minority communities2
- Physical and psychological abuse of children2
- Domestic violence1
- Extramarital sexual relations1
- Flogging, Stoning and Other Corporal Punishments1
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If they (our predecessors) had eliminated the punishment for apostasy (death), Islam would not exist today.
Sheikh Yusuf al-Qaradawi World-renowned Egyptian Islamic theologian and preacher. A major spiritual guide for the Muslim Brotherhood. Source -
(about gays) Some say that we should throw them from a high place, as God did with the inhabitants of Sodom. Some say that we should burn them, etc. There is disagreement... The important thing is to treat this act as a crime.
Sheikh Yusuf al-Qaradawi World-renowned Egyptian Islamic theologian and preacher. A major spiritual guide for the Muslim Brotherhood. Source -
Any person or regime that threatens the Leader or Marja (May God forbid) is considered a “warlord” or a “mohareb”. […] It is necessary for all Muslims around the world to make these enemies regret their words and mistakes.
Naser Makarem Shirazi Grand Ayatollah and Shia marja (Iran) · Fatwa against Donald Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu, June 29, 2025 Source -
The penalty for an open apostate, departing from the community, is well stipulated in Sharia. An apostate must be pressed upon to repent within a variable period of time or be killed.
Ahmed el-Tayeb Grand Imam of al-Azhar (Egypt) · Ramadan television programme, June 2016 Source -
I want the judiciary to punish leading rioters firmly and without showing any mercy to teach everyone a lesson.
Ahmad Khatami Friday prayer leader of Tehran, member of the Assembly of Experts (Iran) · Friday sermon, June 26, 2009 Source -
He who is advocating for depravity, if he is warned and does not respond, then killing him is permissible.
Saleh al-Luhaidan Head of the Supreme Judicial Council (Saudi Arabia) · Fatwa on Radio Quran, September 9, 2008 Source -
I am informing all brave Muslims of the world that the author of The Satanic Verses, a text written, edited, and published against Islam, the Prophet of Islam, and the Qur’an, along with all the editors and publishers aware of its contents, are condemned to death. I call on all valiant Muslims wherever they may be in the world to kill them without delay.
Ruhollah Khomeini Supreme Leader of Iran · Fatwa against Salman Rushdie, February 14, 1989 Source -
Sodomy, homosexuals, gays and lesbians in Islamic law are forbidden and [it] is a vile act that is punishable by the death penalty. […] It doesn’t matter that they love each other, [sharia] law still prohibits it.
Hasanuddin AF Head of the fatwa commission of the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) · Remarks on the MUI fatwa on homosexuality, March 2015 Source
