Apostasy in Middle Persian According to Dādestān ī Dēnīg

Apostasy in Zoroastrian religion is commonly defined as the rejection of religionin word or deed by a person who has been a behdin. The evidence from Middle Periantexts illuminate the strong challenges between Mazdean faith and other religions suchas Christianity, Manichaeism and Judaism. They also emphasize the strong punishmentcalled marg-arzān designated for the apostates.This article compares the Middle Persian texts on apostasy to find out aboutpossible different views stated in Middle Persian Texts about this issue. According tothese texts, there were strong challenges between Mazdean faith and other religionssuch as Christianity, Manichaeism and Judaism. It is also concluded that whereas capitalpunishment for apostasy could have been enforced during Sasanian times, it was notpracticed when forcible conversion to Islam was commonplace.