Is blasphemy illegal in the United Arab Emirates?
Criminal offense
UAE criminalizes blasphemy under Article 312 of the Penal Code with minimum one-year jail or fine.
The United Arab Emirates is one of 40 countries classified “Criminal offense” for blasphemy — 70% of the 57 with data.
Source
- Taken from
- Wikipedia: Blasphemy law
- 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
- Qatar
- Criminal offense Qatar punishes blasphemy with up to seven years imprisonment and fines for defaming Islam.
- Kuwait
- Criminal offense Kuwait's cybercrime law punishes insulting religious figures with up to 12 months imprisonment and fines.
- Iran
- Death penalty possible Iran's blasphemy laws under Sharia can carry the death penalty, with punishments for insulting Islam or the government.
- Saudi Arabia
- Death penalty possible Saudi Arabia prescribes death penalty for blasphemy under Sharia law.
- Yemen
- Death penalty possible Blasphemy in Yemen can carry the death penalty under Islamic law, with some interpretations prescribing death for such offenses.
- Pakistan
- Death penalty possible Pakistan has a death penalty for blasphemy under section 295-C, with many death sentences.
Other laws in United Arab Emirates
- Apostasy Laws
- Death penalty possible
- Holocaust Denial
- No specific law
- Flag Desecration
- Criminal offense
- Conversion Therapy
- No ban
Every law in the United Arab Emirates → · Where is blasphemy illegal? →
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.