Apostasy in the Qur'an

Beliefnet has posted an interesting article by Hesham Hassaballa about Abdul Rahman, the man in Afghanistan who converted from Islam to Christianity, and faced execution for doing so. The charges have since been dropped, but Rahman's life is still in danger.

Hassaballa points out that this is contrary to the message of the Qur'an. To back up this claim, he quotes a number of verses from the Qur'an that make it clear that religion is a matter of conscience, and that, while apostasy is a grave sin, the judgment should be left to God.

If you're like me, you've heard over and over how the rantings of fanatical Muslims are inconsistent with the message of the Qur'an, but haven't seen a lot of evidence to support this. Well, here it is. Give it a read.