It seems that you're a faster typist than I am, Peter...
First of all, my guyS. Plural form. I quoted two scholars.
It seems that the references aren't as conclusive as the Wikipedia article would have it. Your guy Heffening of Encyclopaedia of Islam, for example (the guy is, or at least was, a Western scholar), seems to hold the opinion that the
punishment is in the afterlife only:
W. Heffening states that in Qur'an "the apostate is threatened with punishment in the next world only" however "in traditions, there is little echo of these punishments in the next world ... and instead, we have in many traditions a new element, the death penalty."
Not as conclusive as the article but I'd agree that there is doubt, and yes, several Islamic nations ("Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Iran, Sudan, Afghanistan, Mauritania, the Comoros and, most likely, Iraq",
according to Wikipedia) do have death penalty for apostasy. OTOH, Egypt, to pick but one other Muslim nation (about 90% Muslims, ca 70 million people, that is, about ), claim to have freedom of religion but seem to make it tough for minority religions other than Islam, Christianity and--yes--Judaism. They do not have death penalty for apostasy, though.
Here's another
Wikipedia quote :
Today, out of 57 mostly Islamic countries in OIC, five make apostasy from Islam a crime punishable by death, including Afghanistan, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Sudan, and Yemen. However, according the US State Department, there have been no reports of such executions by the government of Saudi Arabia for several years.[53] On the other hand, in Pakistan, vigilante attacks against alleged apostates are common.[54]
To me, five out of 57, while worrying and just as wrong as any threat against freedom of speech, religion or any other (in my view) inalienable human right, doesn't present a convincing case. Indeed most Wikipedia articles and the articles referenced, specifically point out that the Qu'ran does not impose the death penalty for apostasy.
I'm well aware of the persecution of some converts--these cases tend to be highly publicized throughout the Western world even though, shocking as they may be, they are few in number when compared to, for example, plain old domestic violence. The headlines for the latter, unfortunately, are utterly boring because there's no clear-cut bad guy, no-one to blame right away.
My first reaction, however, was against Omega Male's statement, "In the sharia penalty for Muslims converting to another religion is death, which explains why many Muslim converts to Christianity keep quiet", and the truth just isn't that simple.