Leaving Islam and the Law, Region by Region

This guide summarises how the law treats leaving Islam in different parts of the world, citing the statutes where they exist. It describes law; it advocates nothing; and it is not legal advice. Laws change, courts interpret them differently, and the practical situation is often shaped as much by family and community as by any statute. If your own position matters to you, take advice from a qualified lawyer in your country, and keep your safety first.

One point before the detail. Doubting is not a crime anywhere. No statute in any country criminalises having questions, reading, or being unsure. The provisions below concern formal renunciation, public expression, or the civil consequences of a recorded change of religion.

Three kinds of legal consequence

It helps to separate three things that are often confused.

Criminal penalties for apostasy itself. A small number of states treat leaving Islam as a crime, either in a written penal code or through courts applying uncodified classical law.

Laws on blasphemy, insulting religion and proselytism. Many more states have no apostasy offence, but criminalise insulting religion, “shaking the faith” of a Muslim, or distributing material against Islam. A person who leaves quietly may never meet these laws; a person who speaks publicly may.

Civil and personal status consequences. In many states, family matters are governed by religious personal status law. Leaving Islam can affect marriage, custody, inheritance and the religion recorded on identity documents, even where it is no crime. For many people this is where the law actually bites.

This site’s rebuttal apostasy and the classical law and the guide the apostasy penalty explain where the classical rulings came from. This guide is about the law as it stands.

International law

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, article 18, states that everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion, including “freedom to change his religion or belief”. The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, article 18, protects freedom “to have or to adopt a religion or belief of his choice” and forbids coercion that would impair it. The UN Human Rights Committee’s General Comment No. 22 (1993) states that this includes the right to replace one’s religion with another or to adopt atheistic views. Most Muslim-majority states are parties to the Covenant, some with reservations. The companion site’s article apostasy and international law discusses this further.

The Gulf and the Arabian Peninsula

Saudi Arabia has no codified penal code for hudud offences; courts apply classical Islamic law directly, under which apostasy is a capital offence in principle. Prosecutions are often brought under other headings, such as laws on terrorism or cybercrime.

Yemen’s Republican Decree Law No. 12 of 1994 on Crimes and Penalties, article 259, provides the death penalty for apostasy after an invitation to repent.

Qatar’s Penal Code (Law No. 11 of 2004), article 1, applies the Islamic law provisions on hudud, including apostasy, to Muslims. The United Arab Emirates and Kuwait have no codified apostasy offence in their main penal codes, but apply personal status consequences, and their laws on insulting religion are broad.

The Levant and Iraq

Jordan, Iraq, Syria and Lebanon have no criminal offence of apostasy in their penal codes. In each, family matters for Muslims fall under religious personal status law and courts, and a recorded change of religion can affect the validity of a marriage, custody of children and inheritance. Iraq’s Personal Status Law No. 188 of 1959 governs Muslims’ family matters. Lebanon’s system is confessional: each recognised community has its own personal status courts, and since 2009 citizens have been able to have their sect removed from the civil register, though marriage still largely depends on religious institutions.

Iran and Afghanistan

Iran’s Islamic Penal Code of 2013 does not list apostasy among its defined offences, but article 220 directs judges to apply authoritative Islamic sources for hudud not mentioned in the code, in accordance with article 167 of the Constitution. Courts have used this route.

Afghanistan, under the Taliban since 2021, applies its own interpretation of Hanafi law without a published penal code for these offences.

Africa

Mauritania’s Penal Code, article 306, provides for apostasy and blasphemy; a 2018 amendment made the death penalty mandatory for blasphemy and removed the possibility of avoiding it by repentance for that offence.

Sudan repealed article 126 of its Criminal Act 1991, which had made apostasy a capital crime, by the Miscellaneous Amendments (Fundamental Rights and Freedoms) Act of July 2020. The situation since the outbreak of war in 2023 is unclear.

Egypt has no apostasy offence. Article 98(f) of the Penal Code penalises “contempt of religion”, and personal status consequences are significant: in the Nasr Hamid Abu Zayd case, the Court of Cassation in 1996 upheld the separation of a professor from his wife on the ground of apostasy. Religion is recorded on the national identity card.

Morocco’s Penal Code, article 220, penalises using inducements to “shake the faith” of a Muslim or convert him. Algeria’s Ordinance 06-03 of 2006 regulates non-Muslim worship and penalises inciting a Muslim to convert. Tunisia’s Constitution of 2022 guarantees freedom of belief and conscience, as its 2014 Constitution did.

South Asia

Pakistan has no apostasy offence. Its blasphemy provisions, sections 295-B and 295-C of the Penal Code, are among the most severe in the world, section 295-C carrying the death penalty for defiling the name of the Prophet, and accusations can lead to mob violence regardless of the outcome in court. Bangladesh and India have no apostasy offence; India’s personal laws can affect marriage and inheritance on conversion.

Southeast Asia

Brunei’s Syariah Penal Code Order 2013, section 112, provides for apostasy, with the heaviest penalties applicable on certain standards of proof. Brunei announced a moratorium on the death penalty in 2019.

Malaysia has no federal apostasy offence. Article 11 of the Federal Constitution protects freedom of religion, but article 121(1A) excludes the civil courts from matters within the jurisdiction of the Syariah courts, and in Lina Joy v Majlis Agama Islam Wilayah Persekutuan (2007) the Federal Court held that a Muslim’s change of religion is for the Syariah courts. Several state enactments penalise attempts to leave Islam or provide for detention for rehabilitation. This site’s rebuttal religion by registration discusses the registration side.

Indonesia has no apostasy offence. Its blasphemy law, Presidential Decree No. 1/PNPS/1965, remains in force, and the new Criminal Code (Law No. 1 of 2023), due to take effect in 2026, carries offences relating to religion. Religion is recorded on the identity card, with a limited list of options.

Turkey, Central Asia and the Balkans

Turkey, the Central Asian republics and the Muslim-majority states of the Balkans have secular legal systems with no apostasy offence. Social and family consequences may still be real.

Europe, North America and elsewhere

Leaving any religion is lawful throughout Europe, North America, Australia and most of the world. Article 9 of the European Convention on Human Rights protects the freedom to change religion. In these countries the risks, where they exist, come from family or community pressure, not from the state, and the law offers protection against them: against threats, violence, forced marriage and coercive control. If you face any of these, the police are there to protect you.

Children, marriage and inheritance

Across many systems that apply religious personal status law, three civil questions recur. A marriage between a Muslim woman and a non-Muslim man is generally not recognised, and a recorded change of religion by one spouse can be treated as ending the marriage. Custody decisions may weigh the religion of each parent. And classical inheritance rules exclude inheritance between a Muslim and a non-Muslim, so a person who leaves may be excluded from a parent’s estate. How these rules apply depends on the specific code and court, and some states have reformed them. If any of them affects you, take specific legal advice before acting.

What this means in practice

In most of the world, no court will ever be interested in what you believe. The real risks for most people who doubt or leave are social: family reaction, community pressure, employment, and, in some places, the effect on marriage and children. Those risks can be serious. They are also risks you can plan for. Our guides where to find support and supporting someone who doubts may help, and this site’s rebuttal what leaving actually costs and the companion site’s article on the scale of leaving describe the wider picture.

If you are in a country where the law itself is a danger, be careful about what you say publicly and online, and about what you put in writing. Do not change official records or make public declarations without legal advice. If you are in immediate danger, contact your local emergency number.

A caution on this guide

Every entry above is a summary, and laws change. Some provisions are rarely enforced and others are enforced in ways the text does not suggest. Before relying on anything here, check the current law with a qualified lawyer in the country concerned.

Sources

1. Universal Declaration of Human Rights, art. 18; International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, art. 18; UN Human Rights Committee, General Comment No. 22 (1993), para. 5.
2. Yemen, Republican Decree Law No. 12 of 1994 on Crimes and Penalties, art. 259.
3. Qatar, Penal Code (Law No. 11 of 2004), art. 1.
4. Iran, Islamic Penal Code 2013, art. 220; Constitution, art. 167.
5. Mauritania, Penal Code, art. 306, as amended in 2018.
6. Sudan, Criminal Act 1991, art. 126, repealed by the Miscellaneous Amendments (Fundamental Rights and Freedoms) Act 2020.
7. Egypt, Penal Code, art. 98(f); Court of Cassation, Abu Zayd case, 1996.
8. Morocco, Penal Code, art. 220; Algeria, Ordinance 06-03 of 2006; Tunisia, Constitution of 2022.
9. Pakistan, Penal Code, ss. 295-B and 295-C.
10. Brunei, Syariah Penal Code Order 2013, s. 112.
11. Malaysia, Federal Constitution, arts. 11 and 121(1A); Lina Joy v Majlis Agama Islam Wilayah Persekutuan [2007] 4 MLJ 585.
12. Indonesia, Presidential Decree No. 1/PNPS/1965; Law No. 1 of 2023 on the Criminal Code.
13. Iraq, Personal Status Law No. 188 of 1959.
14. European Convention on Human Rights, art. 9.