Editing Apostasy (section)

=== Apostasy laws ===
Apostasy is subject to the death penalty in some countries, such as [[Iran]] and [[Saudi Arabia]], although executions for apostasy are rare. Apostasy is legal in secular Muslim countries such as [[Turkey]].<ref name="apost">{{cite book |last=Badawi M.A. |first=Zaki |chapter=Islam |title=Encyclopedia of religious freedom |editor=Cookson, Catharine |publisher=Routledge |location=New York |year=2003 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/encyclopediaofre0000unse/page/204 204–208] |isbn=0-415-94181-4 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=R0PrjC1Ar7gC&pg=PA206 |url=https://archive.org/details/encyclopediaofre0000unse/page/204 }}</ref> In numerous Islamic majority countries, many individuals have been arrested and punished for the crime of apostasy without any associated capital crimes.<ref name="Pew2011">{{cite web|date=21 November 2012|title=Laws Penalizing Blasphemy, Apostasy and Defamation of Religion are Widespread|url=http://www.pewforum.org/Government/Laws-Penalizing-Blasphemy,-Apostasy-and-Defamation-of-Religion-are-Widespread.aspx|access-date=2015-03-17|work=Pew Research Center's Religion & Public Life Project|archive-date=2013-05-08|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130508110838/http://www.pewforum.org/Government/Laws-Penalizing-Blasphemy,-Apostasy-and-Defamation-of-Religion-are-Widespread.aspx|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.hrw.org/news/2012/02/13/saudi-arabia-writer-faces-apostasy-trial|title=Saudi Arabia: Writer Faces Apostasy Trial – Human Rights Watch|date=13 February 2012|access-date=2015-03-17}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=The Fate of Infidels and Apostates under Islam|url=http://iheu.org/content/fate-infidels-and-apostates-under-islam-0|access-date=13 February 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131103045423/http://iheu.org/content/fate-infidels-and-apostates-under-islam-0|archive-date=3 November 2013|date=21 June 2005}}</ref><ref>''Freedom of Religion, Apostasy and Islam'' by Abdullah Saeed and Hassan Saeed (Mar 30, 2004), {{ISBN|978-0-7546-3083-8}}</ref>

In an effort to circumvent the United Nations Commission on Human Rights's ruling on an individual's right to conversion from and denunciation of a religion, some offenders of the ruling have argued that their "obligations to Islam are irreconcilable with international law."<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal|last=Garces|first=Nicholas|date=2010|title=Islam, Till Death Do You Part: Rethinking Apostasy Laws under Islamic Law and International Legal Obligations|url=https://heinonline.org/HOL/P?h=hein.journals/sjlta16&i=231|journal=Southwestern Journal of International Law|volume=16|pages=229–264|via=Hein Online}}</ref> United Nations Special Rapporteur [[Heiner Bielefeldt]] recommended to the United Nations Human Rights Council on the issues of freedom of religion or belief that "States should repeal any criminal law provisions that penalize apostasy, [[blasphemy]] and [[proselytism]] as they may prevent persons belonging to religious or belief minorities from fully enjoying their freedom of religion or belief."<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://www.ohchr.org/Documents/Issues/Religion/A.HRC.22.51_English.pdf|title=Report of the Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Religion or Belief, A/HRC/22/51|last=Bielefeldt|first=Heiner|year=2012}}</ref>

Many Muslims consider the Islamic law on apostasy and the punishment for it to be one of the immutable laws under Islam.<ref>Arzt, Donna (1995). "Heroes or heretics: Religious dissidents under Islamic law", ''Wis. Int'l Law Journal'', 14, 349–445</ref> It is a ''[[hudud]]'' crime,<ref>Mansour, A. A. (1982). [https://www.ncjrs.gov/App/Publications/abstract.aspx?ID=87487 Hudud Crimes] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181121203707/https://www.ncjrs.gov/App/Publications/abstract.aspx?ID=87487 |date=2018-11-21 }} (From Islamic Criminal Justice System, p.&nbsp;195–201, 1982, M Cherif Bassiouni, ed. See NCJ-87479).</ref><ref>Lippman, M. (1989). Islamic Criminal Law and Procedure: Religious Fundamentalism v. Modern Law. BC Int'l & Comp. L. Rev., 12, pp. 29, 263–269</ref> which means it is a crime against God,<ref>Campo, Juan Eduardo (2009), ''Encyclopedia of Islam'', Infobase Publishing, {{ISBN|978-1-4381-2696-8}}; see p. 174</ref> and the punishment has been fixed by God. The punishment for apostasy includes<ref>Tamadonfar, M. (2001). Islam, law, and political control in contemporary Iran, Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, 40(2), 205–220.</ref> state enforced annulment of his or her marriage, seizure of the person's children and property with automatic assignment to guardians and heirs, and death for the apostate.<ref name="saeed2004" /><ref>El-Awa, M. S. (1981), Punishment in Islamic Law, American Trust Pub; pp.&nbsp;49–68</ref><ref>Forte, D. F. (1994). Apostasy and Blasphemy in Pakistan. Conn. J. Int'l L., 10, 27.</ref>