Ernie Rea and guests discuss the meaning of Apostasy within Islam.

The case of Meriam Ibrahim, sentenced to death by a Sudanese court for abandoning Islam, has attracted world wide attention. In the West, the court decision has been almost universally condemned as a violation of a basic human right, that of religious freedom. About 20 Muslim countries in the world have laws against apostasy; What purpose do they fulfil and what is historical and theological reasoning that lies behind them?