A court ruling in Sudan sentencing a heavily pregnant woman to death has reignited debate about punishment for apostasy.<\/p>\n
Dr Meriam Yahya Ibrahim was\u00a0condemned to hang for allegedly leaving Islam<\/a>\u00a0and marrying a Christian man.<\/p>\n The court said that by doing so, she had abandoned her religious faith and was guilty of apostasy, which carries the ultimate penalty under Islamic law in the country.<\/p>\n But some liberal religious scholars have argued apostasy is not even a crime.<\/p>\n They back up their beliefs by citing the Koranic verse which states: “There shall be no compulsion in religion.”<\/p>\n Other more conservative Muslims refer to the words of the Prophet Muhammad in the Hadith saying: “It is not permissible to spill the blood of a Muslim except in three [instances]: A life for a life; a married person who commits adultery; and one who forsakes his religion and separates from the community.”<\/p>\n Day of judgement<\/strong><\/p>\n Islam’s legal system – Sharia – says apostasy covers a wide range of offences, including conversion to another religion, idol worship, or mistreating the Koran.<\/p>\n While some scholars favour the death penalty, others say the punishment should be left to God on the day of judgement.<\/p>\n The late Ayatollah Khomeini, Iran’s religious and political leader, famously denounced the author Salman Rushdie as an apostate for his novel The Satanic Verses – and said he should be killed.<\/p>\n Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and Afghanistan also uphold strict interpretations.’<\/p>\n In 2006, an Afghan, Abdul Rahman, who announced his conversion to Christianity escaped a death sentence and was offered asylum in Italy.<\/p>\n