Apostasy: Is It Human Rights or/and Freedom of Religion?

Abstract

This study investigates the issue of apostasy or riddahor as a human right to freedom of religion or belief, especially among the Muslims. The purpose is to examine the question of whether apostasy should be recognized by modern Muslim states and societies as a human right that must be guaranteed for their citizens. Or, should it strictly be denied, thus freedom of religion or belief should not be extended to apostasy for Muslims and Muslim converts? The method used to complete the study is historical research and content analysis. This study showed that the call for recognition of apostasy as a human right is indeed influenced by the West which extremely enjoys freedom of belief or religion. As for Islam, apostasy is indeed contradictory with its teachings. This article is meaningful as it highlights the Universal Islamic Declaration of Human Rights (UIDHR) which speaks on religious freedom with limitations. UIDHR invariably attempts to match the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) that recognizes the right to believe in whatever men want or to change their religion as they wish, at any time.