I am currently in a philosophy of religion class and my teacher is an atheist. He claims that under an Islamic

Question

I am currently in a philosophy of religion class and my teacher is an atheist. He claims that under an Islamic state if a born Muslim converts to another religion he is killed. Please tell me if this is true.
http://islamqa.com/index.php?ref=696&ln=eng&txt=freedom%20of%20Religion

Answer 1

Islam is Islam why leave it

Answer 2

Salaam Alaykum,
This link is not entirely true. Some Extremists Countries follow
this law..If this one hundred percent correct ask this so called professor why does Islam flourish among other religions in
many countries and the punishment for conversion is nothing?
Also ask him why and how it is dangerous to follow exerpts of the Qu'ran without a full understanding. I Billion Muslims live in a world were based on the percents the actual incidents like this happen and then present him with the probably less than 1 percent that it does. Also inform him less than 25% of Muslim's are Arab and the countries that follow this outdated policy are not even in all Arab countries...and definately not in the majority of Muslim countries. Is he aware that there are Jews that sit on Iranian Parliament...and a variety of religions
in Muslim majority and minority countries share positions in parliament.
Wasalaam

Answer 3

Have you ever noticed that there are a common set of morals that exist across all religions and groups? Not all do, because some are just nonsense. But there is no culture on Earth that thinks it's OK to kill people, or steal, or hurt people. These are common morals. Obviously if you are say, christian then you believe that hindus worship false made up gods. If so, why do they have the same basic morals? Because morals were not handed down by some "god(s)". We evolved the basic morals we have as a means of preservation. Animals kill each other all the time. That's how carnivores live, by killing and eating animals of other species. Animals also fight all the time. Usually for territorial or mating reasons. But animals practically never kill members of their own species during these fights, even though they have no concept of "death". When they do kill each other it's usually an accident. Even carnivores that could easily kill each other and are used to killing other animals do not kill members of their own species during these fights. Why? Why do animals have the same basic morals that we do? They certainly do not have religion. Evolution is why. Species preservation. Individuals who didn't have these morals (in humanity we call these psychopaths) were shunned by the other members of the species and were unable to pass on their genes. At least not as effectively as those who did have these morals and weren't shunned by society. Atheists have these same basic morals in our minds as anyone else. We just don't believe the purely religious nonsense morals. Like, masturbation is a "sin" or whatever. Or in other words atheists manage to live moral lives without the fear of eternal brutal torture. So who is the better person?

Answer 4

Yes under some Islamic regimes that is true, see the BBC link

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/4856748.stm

I believe that Islam is basically fairly OK peaceful even, but the Saudis are using oil money to spread the Wahhabi strand of Islam, which is pretty intolerant. Hence 9/11.

Unfortunately much of the Muslim world seems to be where the Christian world was in the middle ages. Perhaps these extremes always go with faith. Who knows, for the record, I was born Catholic, lost it, liked Buddhism and am now agnostic...

Answer 5

Hello,

The death penalty for apostasy is on the books in some countries. Currently, the following countries have laws sanctioning the death penalty as a punishment for apostasy: Afghanistan, Iran, Mauritania, Pakistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, and Yemen.

Even in countries where the death penalty is not legally enforceable, there may be other punishments for apostasy, such as the dissolution of marriages in cases where an apostate spouse is married to a Muslim, as well as imprisonment, disinheritance, or corporal punishment.

Though a practicing Christian I took a Fundamentals Of Logic course from two atheist professors in university.
I must say that is one of the most valuable courses I studied.
You have to be pretty sharp in the realm of critical thinking to get to their level and they are darn careful not to walk into fallacies or making statements based on false premises... their jobs and credibility depend on their logic and common sense.

Finally we had a real problem with the Afghan administration two years back. Our troops from Canada are there to help bring some democracy and better rights but a man there was to be tried and possibly executed for converting to Christianity. Some political pressure was put on the Afghan government and last I heard this fellow was to get political asylum in Italy or Canada.


Cheers,

Michael Kelly

Answer 6

That is true: According tothe Quran, when someone becomes Islamic, they have joined a religion with no exit clause except their death.

They are treated as Infidels, who also must convert or die.

Of course, it depends on if they follow the Sura or not.

Also, Christians and Jews are to have favored status, but that changed in 1948 when Israel was given part of the land Arabs conquered from Christians--Yes, all the nations around the Mediterranean Sea were once Christian under the Roman Empire.

Why did God allow this? For the same reason the Assyrians were commanded to destroy the 10 northern tribes of Israel--they were attacking their southern brothers.

So, God allowed Islam to "chastise" Christians who were not living according to His commission.

You can read more on this, "The Rise, Decline, and Death of Islam as Predicted in the Bible" at www.revelado.org/islam.htm

Shalom, peace in Jesus, Ben Yeshua

Answer 7

I could very well be true in extremist-governed states like Afganistan under the Taliban. I got to go to Cairo, Egypt a few years ago and they had a vast mixture of culture and religion. I saw women on the streets in both western attire and traditional Muslim dress. I also got to go to Saudi Arabia (I was in the Air Force) and I wasn't allowed to leave the base because I'm a woman. So I don't believe the practice is universal amongst Muslims.

Answer 8

You might remember a couple years ago in Afghanistan a guy was getting ready to get his head chopped off because He converted to Christianity. Some news agency picked up the story, it went around the world and shed light on this chop-your-head-off-for-going-against-Islam-type of thing. In the end, the Afghanis just declared the guy as 'insane,' and let him live, but only because of the spotlight that was put on them.

I lived in the ME for many years and saw and read first hand accounts of Muslims converting to Christianity and getting put to death for it.

Answer 9

In rural communities of Islamic states, this still happens (especially in Pakistan and Afghanistan). Within urban populations, a Muslim who converts to another religion often loses their voting rights, is required to pay higher state taxes, in some countries is not allowed to erect a church or have communal services (like in Saudi Arabia), and they lose all property or inheritance rights from their family.

Answer 10

Yes and no.

Sharia, or Islamic law, stipulates death for apostasy. Though it is not specified for how long an apostate is to be adviced and asked to return, so it might be years of discussions, debates and prayers for enlightment. Nobody has been beheaded in Turkey recently for converting to Christianity, to my knowledge. In other countries, things look differently though, as you should know.

There have been rather public cases about converts in Afghanistan, Iraq and Iran.

Answer 11

By their fruits you shall know them. How can you say or believe this is a religion of peace?
Jesus and His apostles were killed for preaching the Gospel of Love.
Muhammed and his followers kill others in order to follow the Quran.