Is apostasy illegal in Somalia?
Death penalty possible
The constitution declares Sharia the highest law, prescribing death for apostasy, though executions are often extrajudicial.
Somalia is one of 10 countries classified “Death penalty possible” for apostasy — 32% of the 31 with data. (Also searched as leaving a religion.)
Source
- Taken from
- Wikipedia: Apostasy in Islam by country
- Last checked
- 17 September 2026
- How it was classified
- Classified by a language model from the source text, then checked against hand-verified reference countries.
Nearby countries
- Yemen
- Death penalty possible Apostasy is a crime in Yemen punishable by death under the Penal Code.
- Eritrea
- Criminal offense Leaving Islam for unrecognised religions leads to arrest and detention in Eritrea.
- Oman
- Criminal offense Oman lacks an explicit apostasy law, but personal status laws annul marriages and deny inheritance rights to apostates.
- Saudi Arabia
- Death penalty possible Apostasy is actively enforced with the death penalty under Sharia law in Saudi Arabia.
- Sudan
- Legal The death penalty for apostasy was scrapped in July 2020 during the transition to democracy.
- United Arab Emirates
- Death penalty possible Apostasy is a hudud crime in the Penal Code, punishable by death, though no executions have been recorded.
Other laws in Somalia
- Holocaust Denial
- No specific law
- Conversion Therapy
- No ban
A visual reference compiled from Wikipedia’s law-by-country articles, not legal advice. Laws change and summaries simplify — check a primary source before relying on anything here.