Missionary works in an Islamic state

In Malaysia, it is illegal for non-Muslims to preach religion to Muslims. Non-Muslims, like Christian missionaries, who try to proselytize risk prosecution. But it is difficult to categorically say that it is illegal for Muslims to convert. There are many cases where Muslims wanted to register their conversion to another religion but were prevented from doing so for various technical reasons. As far as I know, the precedent so far is that you can change religion, but you cannot officially register that conversion with the National Registration Office. Many Muslims defend the criminalization of missionary works on Muslims by arguing that the sanctity of Islam must be protected, and this protection is granted by law. To me, this argument is flawed. Firstly, how can you defend the sanctity of Islam by curbing the right of non-Muslims to spread their religion? Secondly, if a non-Muslim government, say in Singapore or America, make it illegal for Muslims to spread the message of Islam to non-Muslims, will Muslims accept that? I suspect many Muslims will styart shouting about human rights etc. But we in Malaysia are doing exactly that to the non-Muslims. Thirdly, protecting a religion by legislation implies that the religion cannot stand to protect its own sanctity. It is as if we are saying Islam cannot be saved unless there is a law protecting it. Surely Islam can stand well above the test of reasoning. Fourthly, Malaysian constitution states that while Islam is the official religion of the country, those of other religion have full rights to practise their beliefs. What about those religions that encourage their believers to undertake missionary works? By legislating against non-Islamic missionary, we are preventing them from fully practising their religion, which is actually against the constitution. Fifthly, I cannot understand the current law. How is it acceptable that we make it illegal for non-Muslims to do missionary work, but there is nothing in the law about Muslims changing religion so long as they do not seek offical registration of their conversion? This is clearly upside-down - the protection of Islam is granted by encroaching into other religions and limiting their freedom and liberty. Surely the correct way is by legislating against riddah, which is confined only within Islam, while allowing missionaries to attempt to spread their beliefs. In short, I cannot see how we can justify continuing the ban on missionary works while the national government continue to support Islamic da’wah organizations. This is clear double standard to those who are citizens of the same country. I have been asking many people about this matter and all they can come out with is the standard argument that the sanctity of Islam must be protected and one way of doing so is by maintaining the ban. That was until I read a few books written by Abul A’la al-Maududi which discuss this issue. There are at least three relevant books by him but the best summary of his opinion is perhaps a quote from his booklet entitled “Human Rights in Islam” (Islamic Foundation, 1976). In the first chapter on “The political framework of Islam” (this chapter is not available in some online versions of the book), Maududi stated: “The Islamic state may not interfere with the personal rights of non-Muslims, who have full freedom of conscience and belief and are at liberty to perform their religious rites and ceremonies in their own way. Not only may they propagate their religion, they are even entitled to criticize Islam within the limits laid down by law and decency” (emphasis added). That to me is a very bold statement. As long as the law and common decency norms are respected, non-Muslims have full rights to propagate their religion. Perhaps a law can be drafted in-line with the spirit of the incitement of religious hatred bill proposed in the United Kingdom - it is wrong for people of all religion to incite religious hatred. But definitely not to an extent that non-Muslims are banned from propagating their beliefs. As for us Muslims, the way forward is not by curbing non-Muslims’ rights to propagate their religion. But it is by strengthening the aqidah of Muslims through rigorous education. Islam has its own way of preventing riddah. There is a specific clause in the syari’ah that tells us how to deal with riddah. That clause certainly does not include curbing the rights of non-Muslims.