Killing One Who Insults the Lord and the Religion, and One Who Carries Out the Fixed Punishment

Question:
He says: Honorable Shaykh, may Allah grant you success. He says: If a person kills another person because the victim insulted the Lord and insulted the religion, is the perpetrator to be blamed by Allah on the Day of Judgment?

Answer:
It is not permissible to carry out the hudud (fixed Qur'anic punishments), whether the punishment for apostasy or any other, except by the judge, the one in authority, a legitimate Shari'ah ruler. It is not permissible for there to be chaos, with everyone saying, "So-and-so has become an apostate, so I will kill him," or "So-and-so did such-and-such." That is not permissible; it is chaos. The hudud are within the jurisdiction of the one in authority, and carrying out qisas (retaliation in kind) is within the jurisdiction of the one in authority, in order to keep matters in order and prevent chaos.