Here's a website that gives a helpful rundown on the various issues involved, and the different views that are held between Muslims on this whole issue.Ontario Consultants in Religious Tolerance

It's fairly evident that the basis for the claim that "death to apostates" as actually laid down in the Quran or the teachings of Muhammed is pretty dubious - just as would have been the case for an analagous basis for similar practices within Christendom not so long ago.

Here's a quote from the site:

"2006-MAR-25: The Muslim Public Affairs Council (MPAC) called for Rahman's release. They noted that:

"International scrutiny on this issue has cast sharia as clear-cut on the issue of apostasy -- a person who turns his/her back on Islam is an apostate and must be punished by death. In reality, the 'rules of Islam' are not codified, and the Quran mandates that religious freedom be respected. Furthermore, the Prophet Muhammad himself never sentenced an apostate to death....We strongly oppose the state's use of coercion in regulating Islamic belief in such a manner, since faith is a matter of individual choice on which only God can adjudicate."

It appears that Abdul Rahman has left Afghanistan for refuge in Italy. If I was a Muslim I'd feel pretty ashamed about that being necessary, and I think I wouldn't be alone.