Apostasy is one of the most contentious offenses addressed in Islamic jurisprudence and in the legal systems of certain Muslim‑majority states. Grounded in Qurʾānic and hadith‑based sources, this offense has been conceptualized in various ways within Islamic legal thought, particularly with respect to the classification of apostasy and the gender of the apostate. These divergent juristic approaches have, in turn, influenced the legislation of those states that have drawn upon Islamic jurisprudence in their law‑making processes. One notable area of divergence concerns the treatment of female apostasy and the sanctions prescribed for it. Employing a descriptive‑analytical framework and a comparative methodology, this study examines the criminalization of female apostasy in the major Islamic schools of law (Jaʿfarī/Shiʿi, Hanafi, Hanbali, Maliki, and Shafiʿi) as well as in the codified laws of selected Muslim‑majority jurisdictions. The analysis demonstrates that, in criminalizing female apostasy, these states—depending on the dominant juristic doctrine adopted by their legislators—have established diverse conditions and a range of penalties.