Investigation of apostasy in Imami jurisprudence and public jurisprudence

One of the most provocative crimes in domestic and international arena is apostasy. Apostasy means renunciation and apostate is derived from the same term meaning someone who has renounced Islam. Some prerequisites are necessary to prove apostasy, i.e. maturity, common sense, free will, determination and awareness; however, there is disagreement among different Islamic sects regarding the necessities of apostasy. In addition, Islamic sects also do not agree on the ways of proving apostasy. A severe penalty which differs according to apostate’s gender lies ahead for apostasy and Islamic religious attitude toward apostate’s penalty is a little inconsistent. This paper attempts to offer a comprehensive study of apostasy (the prerequisites, ways of apostasy).