Apostasy : An Overview - The Maranatha Community

8. Conclusions
8.1 There is an immediate need for a thorough investigation into the human rights implications
of Shariah law and factual evidence of its application, for both Muslims and non-Muslims,
with regard to apostasy. 1
8.2 There is an urgent need for a United Nations resolution to condemn all applications of
Shariah law which breach international human rights standards, and to outlaw any killing in
the name of God or Allah.
8.3 There is a need for a greater awareness of this issue at all levels of the European Union,
which ought to take major initiatives against human rights violations associated with
allegations of apostasy, both within and outside the EU.
8.4 Leading Muslim organisations including the Muslim Council of Great Britain could be
positively encouraged to condemn any harassment, discrimination or human rights
violations against former Muslims who convert to a religion (or no religion) of their choice,
whether in the UK or abroad. This could be done by the Muslim Council of Britain and its
counterparts in Europe, ECF, through a fatwa explaining their position on the issue of
apostasy and upholding democratic values and freedom of religion. This fatwa needs to be
made public.
8.5 There is a need for the UK government to explore the situation of asylum seekers to Britain,
who are accused of apostasy/blasphemy in their home countries, with their governments by
encouraging those governments to pass laws decriminalising such acts – in line with
internationally accepted human rights standards – both through their legislative bodies and
the issuing of fatwas by appropriate religious bodies.
8.6 It is important to recognise – especially in the context of asylum applications – that
individual converts accused of apostasy may be killed by zealots who take the Shariah law
into their own hands. As such, converts are likely to suffer serious human rights violations
and may be killed and hence government guarantees by the country of origin are unlikely to
be effective unless they have passed laws making such acts criminal offences with serious
penalties for the perpetrators.
8.7 The issue of indoctrination of school children should be addressed with particular reference
to the use of educational materials which encourage a culture of ethnic and/or religious
hatred (see Appendix 5). Materials of this kind appear to be used in several Muslim
countries. It is important that this issue be raised with the UN (especially UNESCO), and
with the EU, and to ensure that such teaching material is not being used.
8.8 The United Kingdom government should consider carrying out an analysis of potentially
dangerous Islamic material on apostasy distributed in UK mosques and should seek to ban
all forms of incitement being preached or taught against ‘apostates’. 2
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September 2006
1
This investigation should include, but is not limited to, seeking clarification from national and international Islamic bodies with UK presence on the
issues of equality of all men and women before the Law , the equality of men and women, the right of all human beings to change and follow the
religion of their choice without a threat. Such bodies could include the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC), Muslim World League, the
Azhar Ulema’s Union, the Muslim Council of Britain and others.
2
A recent study carried out in the US of such material (see Appendix 6) revealed very disturbing content that appears to incite hatred towards
Christians and Jews and called for apostates to be killed.