Why did the Egyptian Grand Mufti rule that Muslims are free to change their faith now?

Question

http://www.breakingchristiannews.com/articles/display_art_pf.html?ID=4244

Siting that leaving ones faith is between person & God & God judges at judgment day. Not judged by man.

In many Muslim societies, apostates are subject to capital punishment.

I have a lot of respect for this Grand Mufti.

Answer 1

It's not clear. I think there are problems of translation and interpretation. From the description I've linked to, it appears that he's liberalizing the rule and reiterating that Islam tolerates all other religions. So that would be good for Egyptian Christians, they will be better tolerated as a result of this fatwa. However, he says that if a Muslim converts to another religion, they are committing a mortal sin. They may or may not be subject to punishment in this world. It all depends, according to the Mufti, on whether they subvert Islam after they've left the religion, whatever that means. Basically my impression is that it's not okay to be an Egyptian Muslim, convert to Christianity, and then try to convert other Egyptian Muslims.

http://www.gulf-times.com/site/topics/ar...