A comparative study of the concept of

Some by reading some verses of Quran believe that one of the basic freedoms in Islam is the freedom of thought. In this sense, they claim that Islam considers heavy penalties for an apostate. The question is that whether the apostate ruling is opposed the freedom of thought or not. In this study, I confront the existing studies in this respect both descriptively and analytically through field and library research. The result is that the apostate is punished very hardly under certain conditions such as enmity and weakening of other's religious believes. The apostate's death sentence does not counteract the freedom of thought in Islam. Rather, the penalty is to prevent the destructive consequences of apostasy such as shaking Muslim's believes, attenuating of Islamic government, violating other's rights, etc.