Some Islamic jurists argued or issued fatwas that either the changing of religion is not punishable or is only punishable under restricted circumstances Some groups within Islam , such as the Shi ` a Ismaili , reject death for apostasy altogether . Some contemporary Islamic Shafi ` i jurists , such as the Grand Mufti Ali Gomaa , some Shi ` a jurists such as Grand Ayatollah Hossein-Ali Montazeri , and some jurists , scholars and writers of other Islamic sects , have argued or issued fatwas that either the changing of religion is not punishable or is only punishable under restricted circumstances , but these minority opinions have not found broad acceptance among the majority of Islamic scholars .