"The issue of Malaysians attempting to convert from Islam to other faiths has ignited fierce debate in the country. This follows a controversial ruling from the country's highest court, which refused to rule on whether one woman could officially become a Christian.The convert to Christianity lost her six-year battle to have the word 'Islam' removed from her identity card. It is a hot topic in Malaysia where Muslims form a slim majority and those who do try to convert could face prison.

101 East with Teymoor Nabili reports on a battle between religion, race and personal conviction. Syed Ali Tawfik Al-Attas, the director-general of the Institute for Islamic Understanding (IKIM), Farish Noor, an academic and author and Lee Heng Seng, a spokesperson for the National Evangelical Christian join the show."

It is important to note that the Federal Constitution of Malaysia contains no provisions which prevent people from converting to another religion, or from practising other faiths. Furthermore, Islam teaches that 'there is no compulsion in religion' لاَ إِكْرَاهَ فِي الدِّين (Qur'an 2:256). Furthermore the Qur'an states that 'Had thy Lord willed, everyone on earth would have believed. Do you then force people to become believers?' وَلَوْ شَاء رَبُّكَ لآمَنَ مَن فِي الأَرْضِ كُلُّهُمْ جَمِيعاً أَفَأَنتَ تُكْرِه النَّاسَ حَتَّى يَكُونُواْ مُؤْمِنِينَ(Qur'an 10:99). These verses have been used as the basis of freedom of religion and freedom of worship laws in many Islamic states. The Medina Document - which is the constitution established by Muhammad for the first Islamic state in Medina - guarantees freedom of belief and worship to Christians, Jews and Polytheists.

Nowhere in the Qur'an is death proscribed as the punishment for apostasy. The only basis for such a view is a hadith (saying of the Prophet Muhammad transmitted by his companions and family) which states 'kill whoever changes his religion'. There are many thousands of hadith and Islamic scholars have spent centuries arguing over their authenticity. The hadith in question is an ahad hadith - meaning that unlike many other hadith which are mutawatir (transmitted by many people) it was only transmitted by one person. Many Islamic scholars have therefore cast doubt on the authenticity of this hadith. They are supported in their conclusion by the fact that neither Muhammad or any of his successors ever sentenced someone to death for apostasy. Over the centuries many prominent Islamic scholars have held the view that apostasy should not be punished by man - the punishment, if any, is up to God and will come in the afterlife.

You can watch the second part here.