Is apostasy illegal in Mauritania?
Death penalty possible
Article 306 of Mauritania's criminal code provides death sentence for apostasy with opportunity to repent.
Mauritania is one of 11 countries classified “Death penalty possible” for apostasy — 37% of the 30 with data. (Also searched as leaving a religion.)
Source
- Taken from
- Wikipedia: Apostasy in Islam by country
- Last checked
- 7 July 2026
- How it was classified
- Classified by a language model from the source text, then checked against hand-verified reference countries.
Nearby countries
- Morocco
- Criminal offense Morocco's Supreme Council of Religious Scholars issued a fatwa calling for death penalty for apostasy, though it was later retracted.
- Algeria
- Criminal offense Apostasy in Algeria is illegal, with family law stating that if either spouse is an "apostate" from Islam, the marriage will be declared null and void.
- Nigeria
- Criminal offense Nigeria's northern Muslim-majority states use Sharia law to persecute Muslim apostates, particularly converts to Christianity.
- Tunisia
- Legal Tunisia's 2014 Constitution protects citizens from prosecution for renouncing Islam, making apostasy legal and prohibiting accusations of apostasy and incitement to violence.
- Libya
- Death penalty possible Libya's General National Council voted to make Sharia law the basis for legislation, which can include death penalty for atheism.
- United Kingdom
- Legal Apostasy is legal in the UK, with organizations like CEMB supporting ex-Muslims and no legal penalties for leaving Islam, though social stigma exists.
Other laws in Mauritania
- Blasphemy Laws
- Death penalty possible
- 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.