Islamic Countries
Atheists, or those accused of holding atheistic beliefs, may be subject to discrimination and persecution in some Islamic countries. Compared to other nations, atheists "in Islamic countries face the most severe - sometimes brutal - treatment ..."
According to popular interpretations of Islam, Muslims are not free to change religion or become an atheist: denying Islam and thus becoming an apostate is traditionally punished by death in men and by life imprisonment in women. The death penalty for apostasy is apparent in a range of Islamic states including: Iran, Egypt, Pakistan, Somalia, United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Yemen, and Saudi Arabia, although there have been no recently reported executions in Saudi Arabia. While a death sentence is rare, it is common for atheists to be charged with blasphemy or inciting hatred. In new "Arab Spring" regimes in Tunisia and Egypt have jailed several outspoken atheists.
Since an apostate can be considered a Muslim whose beliefs cast doubt on the Divine, and/or Koran, claims of atheism and apostasy have been made against Muslim scholars and political opponents throughout history. Both fundamentalists and moderates agree that "blasphemers will not be forgiven" although they disagree on the severity of an appropriate punishment.
In Iran, atheists do not have any recognized legal status, and must declare that they are Muslim, Christian, Jewish or Zoroastrian, in order to claim some legal rights, including applying for entrance to university, or becoming a lawyer. Similarly, Jordan requires atheists to associate themselves with a recognized religion for official identification purposes, and atheists in Indonesia experience official discrimination in the context of registration of births and marriages, and the issuance of identity cards. In Egypt, intellectuals suspected of holding atheistic beliefs have been prosecuted by judicial and religious authorities. Novelist Alaa Hamad was convicted of publishing a book that contained atheistic ideas and apostasy that were considered to threaten national unity and social peace.
Read more about this topic: Discrimination Against Atheists, Contemporary Era
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“In the life of the human spirit, words are action, much more so than many of us may realize who live in countries where freedom of expression is taken for granted. The leaders of totalitarian nations understand this very well. The proof is that words are precisely the action for which dissidents in those countries are being persecuted.”
—Jimmy Carter (James Earl Carter, Jr.)