In Reply to: I think I see your point posted by Oldtimer on March 29, 2006 at 13:58:40:
What governments of countries with a Muslim majority don't enforce Sharia in some manner? The more "moderate" states like Egypt have a mixed secular-religious system of civil laws. Thing is, there's five different schools of interpretation where Sharia law is concerned. Some schools take a more literal, fundamentalist approach, and others a more liberal, modernist approach.
Which is why it's incorrect to say Islamic law (Sharia) requires the execution of a Muslim who converts to Christianity. Only certain schools of Sharia have such an extreme point of view. Moslems who convert to Christianity in Egypt, home of the Islamic Brotherhood and other extremists, don't face the death pentalty. For one thing, there is a significant Christian minority in Egypt going back to the first century AD. On the other hand, it's illegal to proselytize in Egypt. However, they don't execute--they just imprison and deport.
Good article on the topic of Sharia:
http://www.cfr.org/publication.html?id=8034