Re: Islam and freedom of choice
danial shah, there is no solid proof that the mandatory state punishment for someone that leaves Islam is death. In fact, if the Quran clearly states, as AQ posted, that force cannot be used to make someone follow Islam, then you can't kill someone when they choose to not believe Islam. Its that simple. However, if the person betrays the Islamic state - ex. treason - then the state punishment would be death. I think somehow that's gotten mixed up and the idea that anyone who converts out of Islam needs to be killed has gotten propogated.