President Obama, in Cairo last month to deliver his much anticipated speech to Muslims across the world, notably chose to highlight to his listeners the importance of freedom of religion:

People in every country should be free to choose and live their faith based upon the persuasion of the mind and the heart and the soul ... Freedom of religion is central to the ability of peoples to live together.

An oft-quoted Qur'anic passage (2:256) famously declares "There is no compulsion in religion, the right direction is clearly distinguished from the wrong." Faith is an intensely personal issue and plainly each person should be allowed to find their own path in life. Yet freedom of worship and the right to change one's religion from Islam to another are often disregarded in many Muslim majority countries. Apostates can find themselves being hauled in front of a court to face punitive measures including a potential death penalty for abandoning Islam. How can this be, and will Obama's call fall on deaf ears?

A recent English translation of a paper by a Moroccan scholar, Dr Ahmad Raysuni, sets out compelling arguments for freedom of religion based upon the two primary sources of Islamic law: the key text of the Qur'an and the life-example (sunnah) of the Prophet Muhammad. Raysuni points out that:

The Qur'an mentions those who renounce Islam in a number of places without prescribing their worldly punishment.

Make no mistake: the Qur'an firmly remonstrates with those who abandon Islam, but makes clear that their judgment will be at the hands of God in the hereafter.

As for the sunnah, Raysuni concludes that the words ascribed to the Prophet Muhammad where he is usually quoted as advocating the death penalty for apostates not so straightforward. He quotes the prophet as condemning to death:

… the one who renounced Islam and fought against the community [of Muslims]

Hence, Raysuni says that apostasy in itself, the changing of one's religion to another due to conviction of the heart, should be a personal issue and not subject to any sanctions from the state according to Raysuni, unless the act of apostasy is accompanied with armed sedition.

A number of other high-profile Islamic scholars have increasingly spoken out in recent years with similar views. The prominent Islamic scholar, Dr Jamal Badawi, who frequently engages in speaking tours of Muslim communities in Europe and the US – has said on the popular Islam Online website:

I am personally fully convinced that the only ground for capital punishment for the apostate is only when apostasy is coupled with some other serious crimes such as high treason or murder.

Last year, the Mufti of Egypt, Ali Gomaa, also spoke out in favour in of people being allowed to choose their own religion. He argued that his reasoning was based firmly on three key verses from the Qur'an which he reminded his audience said first, "Unto you your religion, and unto me my religion"; second, "Whosoever will, let him believe, and whosoever will, let him disbelieve"; and, most famously as I have already mentioned above, "There is no compulsion in religion."

It is true that apostates often continue to be mistreated in many parts of the Muslim world. However, the stances that the above Islamic scholars have adopted should be a cause for hope that unfair practices will be challenged.

The Prophet Muhammad himself faced a similar problem in the early days of his mission when new converts to Islam, particularly those from poorer backgrounds, were often persecuted by the Meccan aristocracy for abandoning the religion of their forefathers.

Today, the pristine monotheism that Islam teaches continues to gain new converts. The same freedoms that allow people to embrace Islam should surely also be afforded to those Muslims who wish to convert to another faith.