The claim: "Islam kills the one who leaves the religion; this violates freedom of belief."
The Qur'an sets no worldly penalty
- "There is no compulsion in religion." (2:256)
- "Had your Lord willed, all would have believed; will you compel people?" (10:99)
- "Let whoever wills believe, and whoever wills disbelieve." (18:29)
- The clearest proof: the Qur'an speaks of those who believe and then return to disbelief repeatedly, yet mentions no worldly penalty, only God's dealing: "Those who believed, then disbelieved, then believed, then disbelieved again… God will not forgive them." (4:137) — it assumes they can switch again and again; were they killed at the first turn, this would be impossible.
- The Prophet's role is not to compel: "You are only a reminder." (88:21); "You are not a compeller over them." (50:45)
An honest limit
Fact: the Qur'an sets no worldly penalty for changing religion; it leaves the account to the hereafter. Inference / opinion: classical fiqh's "killing of the apostate" rests on hadith and the early context of political treason / the ridda wars — not on the Qur'anic text. Whether a hadith can restrict the freedom the Qur'an draws is a methodological debate; but the claim "the Qur'an kills the apostate" is not based on the text.
Source: Qur'anic verses (M. Okuyan meal). Presented soberly and respectfully, with a text/interpretation distinction.