The convert from one unbelieving faith to another (muntaqil)

The muntaqil is an unbeliever who has moved from one religion to another. He differs from the apostate, who left the true faith for falsehood, since the muntaqil moves from falsehood to falsehood. ¹

The Hanafis and Malikis accept the poll tax from a Jew, a Magian or a pagan, and do not compel his return, since all unbelief is one creed. The sounder Shafi'i view and a Hanbali report hold that a People of the Book who moves to another People of the Book is kept in his new faith under the poll tax, but one who moves outside them is not. ^{1 2}

Most jurists allow a Muslim to marry a woman who has moved to Judaism or Christianity, but not to Magianism. The sounder Shafi'i view and the Hanbalis forbid marriage with a woman who moves from Judaism to Christianity or back. Among the Hanafis a couple who both are protected persons stay married when one changes faith. ^{2 3 4}

All agree that one who leaves the People of the Book for another faith may not be eaten from his slaughter. For a Jew who becomes a Christian, most jurists allow it; the sounder Shafi'i view forbids it. ^{4 5}

The Hanafis and Malikis accept the poll tax from him and leave him as a protected person without penalty. The other view distinguishes: the Shafi'is treat one who moves to a faith his people do not accept as an apostate; the Hanbalis compel him to abandon the new faith and differ on whether he is killed if he refuses. ^{5 6}

The Hanafis hold that all unbelief is one creed, so the members inherit from each other. The Malikis and Hanbalis count three creeds, Judaism, Christianity and the rest, and each inherits within its own. The Shafi'is forbid inheritance to and from the convert; his property goes to the public treasury, as the property of an apostate does. ⁶