Editing Apostasy (section)

==Apostasy and contemporary criminal law==
{{Further|Application of sharia law by country|Use of capital punishment by nation|Apostasy in Islam|Freedom of religion}}
Apostasy is a criminal offence in the following countries:
* [[Afghanistan]] – criminalized under Article 1 of the Afghan Penal Code, may be punishable by death.<ref>Eli Sugarman, et al., [https://www-cdn.law.stanford.edu/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/Intro-to-Crim-Law-of-Afg-2d-Ed.pdf An Introduction to the Criminal Law of Afghanistan] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210707121016/https://www-cdn.law.stanford.edu/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/Intro-to-Crim-Law-of-Afg-2d-Ed.pdf |date=2021-07-07 }}, 2nd ed. Stanford, CA: Stanford Law School, Afghanistan Legal Education Project [ALEP], 2012.</ref>
* [[Brunei]] – criminalized under Section 112(1) of the Bruneian Syariah Penal Code, punishable by death.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.agc.gov.bn/AGC%20Images/LAWS/Gazette_PDF/2013/EN/s069.PDF|title=Brunei Syariah Penal Code Order, 2013}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|date=22 May 2019|title=Brunei's Pernicious New Penal Code|work=Human Rights Watch|url=https://www.hrw.org/news/2019/05/22/bruneis-pernicious-new-penal-code|access-date=18 February 2021}}</ref> However, Brunei has a moratorium on the death penalty.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Mahtani |first=Shibani |date=May 6, 2019 |title=Brunei backs away from death penalty under Islamic law |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pacific/brunei-backs-away-from-death-by-stoning-under-islamic-law/2019/05/06/e7019460-6fcc-11e9-b5ca-3d72a9fa8ff1_story.html |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |archive-url=https://archive.today/20231209224115/https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pacific/brunei-backs-away-from-death-by-stoning-under-islamic-law/2019/05/06/e7019460-6fcc-11e9-b5ca-3d72a9fa8ff1_story.html |archive-date=9 December 2023 |access-date=August 20, 2020 |newspaper=The Washington Post}}</ref>
* [[Iran]] – while there are no provisions that criminalize apostasy in Iran, apostasy may be punishable by death under Iranian Sharia law, in accordance with Article 167 of the Iranian Constitution.<ref>[https://iranhrdc.org/apostasy-in-the-islamic-republic-of-iran/ Apostasy in the Islamic Republic of Iran] (2014). Iran Human Rights Documentation Centre. Retrieved 18 February 2021.</ref>
* [[Malaysia]] – while not criminalized on a federal level, apostasy is criminalized in six out of thirteen states: [[Kelantan]], [[Malacca]], [[Pahang]], [[Penang]], [[Sabah]] and [[Terengganu]]. In Kelantan and Terengganu, apostasy is punishable by death, but this is unenforceable due to restriction in federal law.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Choong|first=Jerry|date=16 January 2020|title=G25: Apostasy a major sin, but Constitution provides freedom of worship for Muslims too|work=Malay Mail|url=https://www.malaymail.com/news/malaysia/2020/01/16/g25-apostasy-a-major-sin-but-constitution-provides-freedom-of-worship-for-m/1828698|access-date=18 February 2021}}</ref>
* [[Maldives]] – criminalized under Section 1205 of the Maldivian Penal Code, may be punishable by death.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.law.upenn.edu/live/files/4203-maldives-penal-code-2014|title=Maldives LAW NO 6/2014}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=Kamali|first=Mohammed Hashim|title=Crime and Punishment in Islamic Law: A Fresh Interpretation|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=2019|isbn=978-0-19-091064-8|doi=10.1093/oso/9780190910648.001.0001}}</ref>
* [[Mauritania]] – criminalized under Article 306 of the Mauritanian Penal Code, punishable by death. When discovered, secret apostasy requires capital punishment, irrespective of repentance.<ref name=":1">[https://www.uscirf.gov/sites/default/files/2020%20Blasphemy%20Enforcement%20Report%20_final_0.pdf Violating Rights: Enforcing the World's Blasphemy Laws] (2020). United States Commission on International Religious Freedom. Retrieved 18 February 2021.</ref>
* [[Qatar]] – criminalized under Article 1 of the Qatari Penal Code, may be punishable by death.<ref name=":1" />
* [[Saudi Arabia]] – while there is no penal code in Saudi Arabia, apostasy may be punishable by death under Saudi Sharia law.<ref name=":1" />
* [[United Arab Emirates]] – criminalized under Article 158 of the Emirati Penal Code, may be punishable by death.<ref>Butti Sultan Butti Ali Al-Muhairi (1996), [https://www.jstor.org/stable/3381546?seq=1 The Islamisation of Laws in the UAE: The Case of the Penal Code], Arab Law Quarterly, Vol. 11, No. 4 (1996), pp. 350–371</ref>
* [[Yemen]] – criminalized under Article 259 of the Yemeni Penal Code, punishable by death.<ref name=":1" />

From 1985 to 2006, the [[United States Commission on International Religious Freedom]] listed a total of four cases of execution for apostasy in the Muslim world: one in Sudan (1985), two in Iran (1989, 1998), and one in Saudi Arabia (1992).<ref>{{Cite news|last=Elliott|first=Andrea|date=26 March 2003|title=In Kabul, a Test for Shariah|work=[[The New York Times]]|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2006/03/26/weekinreview/26elliott.html|url-status=live|access-date=18 February 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210122105506/https://www.nytimes.com/2006/03/26/weekinreview/in-kabul-a-test-for-shariah.html|archive-date=22 January 2021}}</ref>