In The Name of Allah The Beneficient The Merciful.

HERE: www.islamicperspectives.com/Apostasy1.htm

On that account We ordained for the
Children of Israel that if any one slew a
person - unless it be for murder or for
spreading mischief in the land - it would
be as if he slew the whole humanity: and
if any one saved a life, it would be as if
he saved the whole humanity. Then
although there came to them Our
Messengers with clear (guidance), yet,
even after that, many of them continued
to commit excesses in the land. (5:32)

In the context of an emphasis on preserving
the life of each and every individual the above
verse mentions only two crimes for which a
person can be killed:

1) Murdering another human being;
2) Spreading mischief ( fasa d ) in the land.

Nowhere else the Qur`an mentions any other
crime for which the death penalty is
considered. There are, of course, verses that
mention killing during a war in the way of
God. But that is different from killing as a
penalty for a crime. Moreover, in the
Qur`anic understanding the objective of even
killing in a war is to stop or punish crimes
similar to the two mentioned in the above
verse -- violence and mischief -- when
committed in an organized way by a tribe or
nation ((2:191-193, 2:217, 4:88-91 etc)).

There is no compulsion in religion. Right
has become distinct from wrong. So
whoever rejects evil and puts faith in
God has grasped the most trustworthy
hand-hold that never breaks. And God is
hearing, knowing. (2:256)

This verse is usually understood to mean that
people cannot be compelled to become
Muslims but they can be compelled to stay
Muslims. But the words, “no compulsion in
religion” are very general. They should apply
equally to entering or leaving any religion,
including Islam. One may try to argue against
this general understanding of the verse as
follows:
A person cannot be compelled to enter Islam
but a person who is a Muslim is subject to the
laws of Islam and those laws require death for
leaving Islam.
This argument would have had force only if
we are able to establish that the Qur`an
prescribes the death penalty for apostasy like
it prescribes penalties for theft, zin a` etc. But
in the absence of any such prescription, we
must take the words “no compulsion in
religion” in their general sense and
understand them to be applicable for both
entering and leaving Islam [7 ].