Apostasy law’s death penalty blocked Christian missionary work in Muslim lands for centuries

Evidence

Organized missionary activity is distinctively Christian, and from early times Christian missions were active on and beyond the frontiers of Christendom. For centuries this activity did not include the lands of Islam, for a very good reason: apostasy in Muslim law is a capital offence, involving the execution both of the apostate and of his seducer. This did rather put a damper on Christian missionary activities among Muslims. — Bernard Lewis, From Babel to Dragomans, 735

Categorization

Category: Causal Relationships

• CANDY: The dry understatement ‘this did rather put a damper on Christian missionary activities’ is itself the memorable micro-tidbit here.

Related

• Apostasy laws deterred Christian missionary work in Islamic lands. (similarity 0.97)
• Executions for apostasy ceased long ago in the Muslim world (similarity 0.82)
• Medieval Christians under Muslim rule found apostasy tempting for worldly gain (similarity 0.79)