آزادی مذہب اور جرم ارتداد: عالمی منشور برائے انسانی حقوق کا تنقیدی جائزہ

Apostasy and freedom of religion: A critical analysis of Universal Declaration of Human Rights

Abstract

The universal declaration of human rights adopted by The United Nations General Assembly on 10 December 1948 is contained on fundamental rights of freedom. According to its article 18, everyone has the right to freedom of religion and this right includes freedom of change his religion. On contrary, in Islamic Shariah Law converting of a Muslim and his embersing any religion or faith other than Islam, is called apostasy and treated as a criminal offence. The official penalty of apostasy under Islamic Law is death. In this research paper, a critical evaluation on article 18 of this universal declaration is being presented by authors, in context of Islamic Shariah Law.