Muslims and Atheism

by Ibn Warraq (March 2016)

The occupation of God in our minds is one of the most oppressive types of occupation.
— Abdullah al-Qasemi,  1907-1996

Books that overtly promote and argue for atheism have been best-sellers in the USA, works by such scientists, and intellectuals as Richard Dawkins, Sam Harris, Christopher Hitchens, Jerry Coyne, Daniel Dennett, A.C. Grayling, and Victor Stenger. There have been surveys of atheism by Peter Watson,[1] Mitchell Stephens,[2] Michael Martin,[3] Julian Baggini,[4] and Stephen Bullivant and Michael Ruse,[5]

[7]

There have been dozens of articles, both in the Arab media, and in the Western press, on atheists in the Islamic world in the last five years.[8] According to a recent article for Associated Press by Diaa Hadid, it is still very rare to find people in the Arab world who openly declare themselves as atheist, since the Arab world remains deeply conservative. It is perfectly acceptable socially not to be religiously observant, for example, if you decide not to pray or carry out other acts of faith, or to have secular attitudes. But to out onself publicaly as an atheist would lead to ostracism by family and friends, and you can expect trouble from Islamist hard-liners or even the state authorities.

However, it was evident that there were limits as to how far an atheist can go. The above mentioned Egyptian spoke on condition of anonymity, fearing reprisals, and estrangement from family, friends and colleagues. He went “public” only on-line.

The article gives two recent examples of atheists in the Islamic world who were sentenced to prison for insulting religion. In 2012, Egyptian Alber Saber, a Christian who confessed to being an atheist, was arrested when neighbors denounced him for posting an anti-Islam film on his Facebook page. “Though he denied it, he was sentenced to three years in prison for blasphemy and contempt of religion. Released on bail during appeal in December, he moved to France. Similarly, a Palestinian atheist, Waleed al-Husseini, was arrested in 2010 in the West Bank town of Qalqilya for allegedly mocking Islam on the Internet. He was held without charge for several months, and after his release also fled to France.”

However, according to Diaa Hadid, “There are some 60 Arabic-language atheist Facebook groups — all but five of them formed since the Arab Spring. They range from “Atheists of Yemen” with only 25 followers, to “Sudanese Atheists” with 10,344 followers. There are pages that appear dormant, but most maintain some activity. An “Arab Atheist Broadcasting” outfit produces pro-atheism YouTube clips. There are closed groups, like an atheist dating club in Egypt.”[9]

ARAB ATHEISTS IN GENERAL AND THE INTERNET

[10]

TUNISIA

[11]

[12] Beji managed to receive asylum in Romania, while Jabeur Mejri, also a self-proclaimed atheist, was released, 3 March 2014,  after having served two years in prison.

SAUDI ARABIA

Then in an update Human Rights Watch informs us, “On May 7, 2014, following a 5-month examination, the Jeddah Criminal Court issued a new ruling for Raif Badawi’s trial, increasing his sentence to 10 years in prison and 1000 lashes. Badawi will appeal the decision.”[13]

The Saudi authorities were evidently rattled by some statistics about unbelief in the kingdom published in 2012 by WIN-Gallup International, an association in market research and polling. According to the latter organization, 5% of Saudis identified themselves as “atheist” and a further 19% said they were not religious.[14]

[15]

[16]

Bauer continues, “Jabir is in his twenties, and a successful graduate from a top Saudi university. He used to be highly religious, regularly attending his school’s Qu’ranic classes, and not listening to music until his late teens. But in his final school years, this changed. [Jabir spoke of his journey to atheism]: ‘I found some religious teachings and rules didn’t make any sense. So, I started asking questions about small things like why music is Haram (forbidden) or why women have to cover their faces. Then I started reading about the way Islam scripts and Hadith were gathered … I had a group of people and we would discuss books in regular meetings…After a while I came to believe that the whole of religion is nothing but man’s invention to fight reality and impose order.’”

“Citing works by key Muslim and Arab thinkers, as well as authors such as Richard Dawkins, Christopher Hitchens and Sam Harris, Jabir explains that acquiring these books was tricky. Often, he had to smuggle them into Saudi Arabia.” And it is not only the young who are coming out of the shadows, explains Jabir, “I was shocked to meet older people in their forties and fifties who had been hiding their atheism for decades. They said that only recently with the young generation in their twenties had they found other people who think like them and were able to find social groups that they can talk and debate about their ideas in.”

Jabir sees little sign of change in the country, however. It will be many years before Saudi Arabia becomes secular.

IRAN

I think the number of atheists in Iran is probably greater than in Saudi Arabia.

[19] In an ongoing census being conducted by the Atheists Alliance International, so far 4459 Iranians have participated, out of a total of 263,245, putting Iran in the 10th position within participants from round the world who consider themselves as non-religious.[20] The internet hosts many individual Iranian atheists, such as Bahador Alast,[21] Kaveh Mousavi,[22] a  pseudonym of an atheist ex-Muslim living in Iran, and also Iranian atheist groups, such as Iranian Atheists, [23]  Iranian Atheist/ Agnostic Movement,[24] and Iran Atheist.[25] Again, one can only guess as to the actual number of atheists or agnostics in Iran; but given that more than 60% Iranians were born after the Iranian Revolution of 1979, and are fed up with restrictions on their private lives.[26] I would hazard that at least 10% of that post-revolution population was atheist, that is approximately 4.8 million Iranian atheists. As David Goldman said, “Outside of the governing theocracy, there don’t seem to be many Muslims in Iran – not Muslims, that is, who turn up at mosques for prayers on Friday, Islam’s holy day. Only 2 percent of Iran’s adults attend Friday services, Zohreh Soleimani reported in a 2008 BBC broadcast.” And yet contrast this with the fact millions demonstrated against voter fraud after the 2009 presidential elections.[27]

EGYPT

There has been a number of Egyptians which has come out into the open to declare their atheism. Journalist Khaled Diab proclaimed[28] in an Egyptian paper in 2013, “I am an agnostic atheist, or an atheistic agnostic. Basically, I don’t know whether or not God exists, but religion, in my humble view, is clearly manmade and not heaven-sent.”

He lost his faith in a Muslim country, “I felt perhaps my strongest (and youngest) faith in a non-Muslim country and lost it in a Muslim country, though I did not fully abandon it until I left Egypt again. It began with childhood doubts over why all my English friends would be going to hell when they eventually died, which matured into questions over the status of women and sexuality, as well as the contradictions and scientific errors in the Quran.”

Diab denies it was his sojourn in the West that turned him atheist, “There are those who will dismiss what I say as the ranting of someone who has moved too far away from his roots and lived abroad for too long. Although I do not doubt that the phases I have spent in Europe have exposed me to alternative way of thinking, most of my drift away from religion occurred in Egypt, despite the numerous beautiful aspects I admire about faith here, from the festive excesses of Ramadan to the monastic frugalities of the desert.”

Besides there have always been doubters in Egyptian society, “One of Egypt’s greatest philosophers of the 20th century, the existentialist Abdel Rahman Badawi, wrote, in the 1940s, an encyclopaedia of atheists throughout Islamic history. And there have been plenty of those, such as the Dawkins of the Abbasid era Ibn Al-Rawandi. There are even atheists who speculate that the number of non-believers in Egypt could potentially exceed the number of Christians. If true, that would make non-belief the second largest faith community. For the foreseeable future, we will not know as nobody has bothered to recognise or count them, and the discrimination they face has led many to lead an underground existence. But what is certain is that, alongside belief, non-belief has always been an integral part of Egypt’s social fabric, and denying they exist only breeds hypocrisy. It is time that atheists and agnostics have their rights recognised in full, including their right to freely believe what they want, their right not to be described as a member of one of the three heavenly faiths, and their right, along with other Egyptians, to access civil courts. Above all, we need to be regarded as equal citizens and not as targets for prosecution… or worse, persecution.”

Just two months later, in an article for Salon.[29] Khaled Diab wondered if atheism was the fastest growing religion, “During my recent visit to Egypt, I met so many non-believers that it was almost tempting to think that atheism has become the country’s fastest-growing ‘religion.’  In addition, atheists are becoming more confident, assertive and outspoken. This, for example, is reflected in the daring decision by a group of atheists to submit publicly their demands for the complete secularization of the state — something Islamists, especially ultra-conservative Salafists, passionately oppose — to the committee drafting Egypt’s new constitution.”

Diab gives some examples, “One old friend of mine was born and grew up in Minya, famed as the bridge to deeply conservative Upper Egypt. Despite having a father who was an Azharite scholar and religion teacher — but one who had raised his children to believe in free inquiry — my friend eventually became an atheist, though he never told his mother for fear of breaking her heart. His transformation occurred after he moved to Cairo to go to university in the 1990s. This was at a time when Islamists were in the midst of a wide-scale campaign to intimidate and cow society — including throwing acid in the faces of female students— into following their beliefs.”

In an article by Mounir Adib in the Egypt Independent in 2013,[30] fifteen atheists were interviewed in Cairo: “Despite the risks of coming out, many atheists I spoke to claim their numbers have slowly been on the rise following the 25 January Revolution. The rise in atheism could be seen as a by-product of the revolution pushing the boundaries of commonly-held belief systems and breaking down previous political, social and religious restrictions. While there is no official census of atheists in Egypt, some put their number at more than four million, while others say they are around two million.”

Al-Kahera Wal-Nas, a television channel in Egypt also gives an example of another atheist who came from a very religious background, “Al-Harqan[31] is an Egyptian activist and atheist, who has spent a generous portion of his life as a Salafi ‘Muslim fundamentalist’, but his journey through Islam led him to renounce his religion. Mr. Al-Harqan was a devout Muslim and well versed in Islam. He was educated by Ahmed Al-Burhami a very celebrated Islamic scholar in Egypt. The transformation took its toll on Ahmad Al-Harqan and led him to burn all of his religious certificates and start his education from scratch.” But al-Harqan and his wife faced much hostility from neighbours, were even briefly imprisoned. It is precisely his religious education that makes him a formidable opponent in various televised debates.[32]

“Now Riham Said had a meltdown and had to dismiss Nuha in the middle of the program and what is most amazing here was the reaction of the viewers who were very critical not of Nuha the atheist but of Riham Said for not allowing Nuha to express her point of view in full.”[33]

Noha or Nuha told journalist Mounir Adib that “initially [she] accepted her religion happily, learning the Koran by heart and even winning a prize for Koranic recitation 20 years ago. At the Faculty of Medicine, she met Mona Imam, wife of former presidential advisor Essam al-Haddad, son of Brotherhood spokesperson Jihad al Haddad. Mona pressured Noha to wear a niqab, which she caved into.

[34]

That Egypt is at the forefront of the political fight to establish the rights of non-believers was underlined by their strong presence at the Religion and Freedoms Forum that took place on 24 March 2015 at the headquarters of the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights,[35] moderated by Amr Ezzat, a researcher.[36]

Since 2011, at least 27 of the more than 40 defendants tried on charges of defamation have been convicted in court, according to the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights, reported Sarah Lynch[37] after the first forum held in 2012.

Thus the forum in 2015 showed extraordinary courage. The Egypt Independent reported on 2015 forum, “The forum participants have stressed that they would like to go beyond mere defence from the attacks waged against the non-believers, compared by the Endowments Minister to the threat of terrorism and called ‘followers of a Western agenda aimed at threatening stability’ by the Grand Sheikh of al-Azhar. Instead, they would like to ask the state and the society: ‘What gives you the right to stand against the freedom of citizens to be non-believers?’”

The forum was an ideal moment for unbelievers to present their beliefs. It was attended by, among many others, Ahmed Harqan, a blogger and founder of the Free Mind TV, Islam Ibrahim, founder of the Atheism Declaration page, Hani al-Mihy, founder of the Egyptians Without Religion page and Ismail Mohamed, blogger and producer of the Black Ducks program.

[38]

For Ahmed Harqan, atheism is not a religion. “Islam Ibrahim says atheists are not a closed group or sect, and Amr Ezzat adds that it is deplorable how atheists must lie and say they are Muslims or Christians if they want to marry, since otherwise the marriage contract is illegal.”[39]

As Human Rights Watch reported in January, 2015, a young blogger was accused of blasphemy after he posted some remarks on Facebook, “Authorities arrested the student, Karim Ashraf Mohamed al-Banna, with a group of other people at a café in the Beheira governate in November 2014, the Association for Freedom of Thought and Expression reported. ‘Atheists are one of Egypt’s least-protected minorities, although the constitution ostensibly guarantees freedom of belief and expression,’ said Sarah Leah Whitson, Middle East and North Africa director. ‘Egyptian authorities need to be guided by the constitution and stop persecuting people for atheism.’ Al-Banna’s sentencing is part of a wider government push to combat atheism and other forms of dissent. It came after police closed a so-called atheists café in downtown Cairo on December 14, and one of the country’s highest Sunni authorities issued a survey that purported to document what religious officials described as a worrying number of atheists in Egypt.”[40]

[41]

As Mohamed Abdelfattah wrote in Daily News Egypt in 2012, “The young Islamist dropout was courageous enough to come out with these views publicly on his blog. For days comments and shares continued to fuel the discussion. Islamists and their acolytes, who may have one day been shoulder to shoulder with Dorra, were unable to discredit his opinion as simply a fake conspiracy against Islam. Hence, I guess, they were more than cautious not to take him to court.”

The Islamists are clearly out of touch with a large part of the young in Egypt, “Islamists rising to power has not yielded their much-awaited fantasised moment of everything-turning-Islamic. Instead, it’s contributing to an unprecedented wave of skepticism, social secularisation and atheism. Young people feeling alienated by every Friday sermon that lacks substance or labels all non-Islamists as heretics and un-Egyptian are moving away from religion and ‘flying high above.’ ‘The Arab Spring has shaken our confidence in everything that preceded the revolution. And it has become clear that all the fundamental assumptions our life was based on were not completely sound,’ wrote Dorra.”[42]

PAKISTAN

There is good evidence to think that Jinnah of Pakistan, the man considered Father of the Nation was an atheist. Stanley Wolpert in his biography of Jinnah states that “religion never played an important role in Jinnah’s life,”[43] second, we also know that he ate pork[44] and drank whiskey. Scholar Dr. Ajai Sahni[45] describes Jinnah as a “Westernized, wine-drinking, pork-eating atheist.”[46] And according to one historian, had Jinnah been alive today “he would have to be flogged publicly for his personal habits. Mr Jinnah not only chained-smoked Craven-A cigarettes but also liked his whisky and was not averse to pork.”[47] At a press conference on July 4, 1947, a journalist asked Jinnah if Pakistan would be a religious state. Jinnah replied, “You are asking a question that is absurd. I do not know what a theocratic state means.” [48] Then, on August 11, the day he was elected president of the Pakistan Constituent Assembly, Jinnah gave a moving speech that included the following sentiments: “We are starting the state with no discrimination . . . we should keep that in front of us as our ideal, and you will find that in course of time Hindus will cease to be Hindus and Muslims will cease to be Muslims, not in the religious sense, because that is the personal faith of each individual, but in the political sense as the citizens of the nation.” [49]

Far from being a theocratic state, with over 135 million Muslim fundamentalists, Pakistan once  had a large, liberal, secular-minded middle class, in whose lives religion did not play an important part. Here is how one British journalist and novelist of Pakistani origin, Tariq Ali,[50]  described the social milieu in Lahore (Pakistan), where he grew up:

I never believed in God, not even between the ages of six and ten, when I wasan agnostic. This unbelief was instinctive. I was sure there was nothing else out there but space. It could have been my lack of imagination. In the jasmine-scented summer nights, long before mosques were allowed to use loudspeakers, it was enough to savour the silence, look up at the exquisitely lit sky, count the shooting stars and fall asleep. The early morning call of the muezzin was a pleasant alarm-clock.

My parents, too, were non-believers. So were most of their close friends. Religion played a tiny part in our Lahore household. In the second half of the last century, a large proportion of educated Muslims had embraced modernity. Old habits persisted, nonetheless: the would-be virtuous made their ablutions and sloped off to Friday prayers. Some fasted for a few days each year, usually just before the new moon marking the end of Ramadan. I doubt whether more than a quarter of the population in the cities fasted for a whole month. Café life continued unabated. Many claimed that they had fasted so as to take advantage of the free food doled out at the end of each fasting day by the mosques or the kitchens of the wealthy. In the countryside fewer still fasted, since outdoor work was difficult without sustenance, and especially without water when Ramadan fell during the summer months. Eid, the festival marking the end of Ramadan, was celebrated by everyone.

[52] [obviously a pseudonym- Hazrat comes from the Arabic Hadrah, an honorific title which could roughly be translated as “His Eminence; and “NaKhuda”  the adopted surname means “no God”]. There are now 100 members. Hazrat, a computer programmer from Lahore, writes, “I used to be a practicing Muslim. I used to live in Saudi Arabia. I have done two Hajs and countless Umrahs. Used to pray five times a day. When I turned 17-18, I realized that the only reason I was a Muslim was because my parents were Muslims.” Another member, Ahmad Zaidi, wrote, “I’m an agnostic simply because I see little or no evidence for the existence of God. Some time ago I decided that I’d never believe anything unless it has a firm basis in reason and as far as I know (and I admit I know very little and that there’s much to be learnt), there’s little or no evidence for the existence of God.”

The members of the group are students, some studying abroad, but many are at the Lahore University of Management Sciences. One student, Nawab Zia, says we should ask not “how we became atheists” but “how we became believers.” He wrote, “I was a born atheist like every human being until my parents corrupted me with faith. Every child is born free and pure.” Ali Rana, who loved Islamic preacher Zakir Nair and hated author Salman Rushdie, has had a change of heart too. He now thinks Nair is an “idiot” and Rushdie a genius. Many members describe on the discussion boards how they “wasted” their years as theists.

There are facebook pages for Pakistani Atheists and Agnostics,[53] and Council of Pakistani Apostates,[54] a number of Pakistani atheist blogs,[55] and testimonies of Pakistani ex-Muslims online.[56] There is also the sad story of two Pakistani girls who became atheists, their mother found out and threatened to kill them, ended up locking them up in the house. The girls managed to escape by travelling to Sri Lanka on a month-long tourist visa and are now seeking help in claiming asylum to another country. They are now asking people to raise awareness of their case and help them move to another country.[57] There is evidence that the number of self-declared atheists in Pakistan has gone up from 1% in 2005, to 2% in 2012, that would make nearly two million Pakistani atheists. A further 8% said they were not religious.[58] Once again, the real number may well be much greater.[59]

IRAQ

A New York Times story published in 2008 explains the disillusionment of many young people following all the acts of violence attributed to religious extremism, and the incitement of Muslim clerics, “After almost five years of war, many young people in Iraq, exhausted by constant firsthand exposure to the violence of religious extremism, say they have grown disillusioned with religious leaders and skeptical of the faith that they preach. In two months of interviews with 40 young people in five Iraqi cities, a pattern of disenchantment emerged, in which young Iraqis, both poor and middle class, blamed clerics for the violence and the restrictions that have narrowed their lives. ‘I hate Islam and all the clerics because they limit our freedom every day and their instruction became heavy over us,’ said Sara, a high school student in Basra. ‘Most of the girls in my high school hate that Islamic people control the authority because they don’t deserve to be rulers.’

“Atheer, a 19-year-old from a poor, heavily Shiite neighborhood in southern Baghdad, said: ‘The religion men are liars. Young people don’t believe them. Guys my age are not interested in religion anymore.’”

A professor at Baghdad University’s School of Law explained, “They have changed their views about religion. They started to hate religious men. They make jokes about them because they feel disgusted by them.’”

[60]

A Jordanian based online newservice, Al-Bawaba, recently recounted the story of an Iraqi atheist, known as the Baghdad Converter,[61] 

“According to Nawaf Al-Kaabi, a 23-year old university student from Basrah in southern Iraq, the number of atheists could be much higher if that poll was held in 2014. ‘The new generation of Iraqis are tired of religious extremists and politicians, who are responsible for the ongoing sectarian divide in the country,’ he says. ‘Young people travel, read, watch TV, and are connected to the internet…with so much out there, they have become skeptical of their own religion now.’ But he agrees that many atheists in his country could be at danger from extremists and militias linked to religious groups, if they are too open about their views. And, that was the case with one of Iraq’s most well-known atheists. The 22-year old Faisal Saeed Al-Mutar fled to the United States, partly due to his conflict with Islamists over his secular humanist identity, but also because his brother, cousin and best friend were killed in sectarian violence in his native Iraq. Growing up in a moderate Shia family, the outspoken Al-Mutar received many death threats from Al Qaeda elements and the Shia Al-Mahdi Army, two influential and powerful religious militias operating in his country. And although it is not a crime to be an atheist in Iraq, religious militias often take matters into their own hands. Today, Al-Mutar leads an international organization and regularly speaks at events. He’s the founder of Global Secular Humanist Movement, which has nearly a quarter million ‘likes’ on Facebook.”[62]

KURDISTAN

The al-Bawaba article thinks Kurdistan is a much safer place for atheists. “…[I]n the northern parts of the country, in the autonomous Kurdistan Region, young Kurds often feel they have more freedom to express their views. Spared from the sectarian violence seen elsewhere in Iraq, Kurdistan portrays itself as a tolerant place, with a semi-secular system. Suzan Star, a 22-year old Danish-Iraqi student, originally from the multicultural city of Kirkuk, and an ethnic Kurd, became an atheist only after she left her parental home and settled in her own apartment.”

[63]

EX-MUSLIMS IN THE WEST

ALI SINA

[66]

Ali Sina explains his reasons for rejecting Islam, “‘Islam is a religion of peace’. This is what our politically correct politicians keep telling us. But what is politically correct is not necessarily correct. The truth is that Islam is not a religion of peace. It is a religion of hate, of terror and of war. A thorough study of the Quran and Hadith reveal an Islam that is not being presented honestly by the Muslim propagandists and is not known to the majority of the people of the world including Muslim themselves. Islam, as it is taught in the Quran (Koran) and lived by Muhammad, as is reported in the Hadith (Biography and sayings of the Prophet) is a religion of Injustice, Intolerance, Cruelty, Absurdities, discrimination, Contradictions, and blind faith. Islam advocates killing the non-Muslims and abuses the human rights of minorities and women. Islam expanded mostly by Jihad (holy war) and forced its way by killing the non-believers. In Islam apostasy is the biggest crime punishable by death. Muhammad was a terrorist himself therefore terrorism cannot be separated from the true Islam. Islam means submission and it demands from its followers to submit their wills and thoughts to Muhammad and his imaginary Allah. Allah is a deity that despises reason, democracy, freedom of thought and freedom of expression.

[67]

“We also realized that Islam is beyond reformation, because Muslims—who attempt to modernize and reform its unremitting bigotry, irrational rituals, and cruel and draconian punitive measures—are targeted for annihilation. Our verdict was that the only way to escape from the tyranny of Islam is to leave it altogether. We have, therefore, discarded Islam from our life, so that we can be free to enjoy a normal, pleasant and humane life in complete harmony with all peoples on earth, irrespective of their religion, race or creed.

                   Visit our Leaving Islam page for more testimonies.”[68]

COUNCIL OF EX-MUSLIMS

[69] “‘I’m a target,’ said Ahadi, 50. She said members of her society had received letters telling them they would be shot in the back. When she went online with a fierce attack on Islamic organizations, somebody circulated a statement suggesting she was fit to be killed, she said.”

The online journal DW quotes Gabbari as claiming, “Other ex-Muslims in Germany and abroad have rushed to join the group. ‘In just a brief period of time, we have grown to more than 400 members and are getting daily contacts from places like Morocco, Iran, Egypt, Turkey and, of course, from Germany,’ he said. ‘A lot of people have offered their help, or have even offered to protect us.’ The society has received assistance from a German atheist organization, the Giordano Bruno Foundation, but also International League of non-religious and atheists, Bund für Geistesfreiheit München, as well as Humanistischer Pressedienst. It is also heeding police advice to rent office space at a safe location.”[70]

[71] The Netherlands founded by Ehsan Jami and Loubna Berrada in 2007, with the help of several advisors and other former Muslims and critics of Islam;[72]Scandanavia: “Central rådet för Ex-muslimer i Skandinaven.” [73] Here is a list of ex-Muslims organisations that are affiliated with the Council of Ex-Muslims:

  1. Austria: Council of Ex-Muslims of Austria.
  2. France: Council of Ex-Muslims of France.
  3. Germany: Central Council of Ex-Muslims.
  4. Iran: Iranian Atheists.
  5. Morocco: Council of Ex-Muslims of Morocco.
  6. Netherlands: Central Committee for Ex-Muslims.
  7. New Zealand: Council of Ex-Muslims of New Zealand.
  8. North America: Ex-Muslims of North America
    1. Muslimish
    2. Austin,TX
    3. Atlanta, GA
    4. Chicago, IL
    5. Dallas, TX
    6. Houston, TX
    7. Los Angeles, LA
    8. New York, NY
    9. Philadelphia, PA
    10. San Francisco, CA
    11. Toronto, ON
    12. Vancouver, BC
    13. Washington, DC
    14. Waterloo, ON
    15. Denver, CO [under construction]
    16. Minneapolis, MN [under construction]
  9. Scandinavia: Council of Ex-Muslims of Scandinavia.
  10. United Kingdom:
    1. Council of Ex-Muslims of Britain,
    2. Ex-Muslim North Meetup Group,
    3. Ex-Muslims of Scotland,
    4. Faith to Faithless
  11. United States: Former Muslims United.

    EX-MUSLIMS OF NORTH AMERICA.

saved, she was a Muslim. She came to the USA with her a father, who is conducting medical research. Much to her surprise, Reem’s father changed his attitude once in the United States, and so she now feels free, and wants to dedicate her life to “art and music and dance and love and books and beauty and everything I was told to avoid.”[74] She is at present studying Political Science in New York.

I asked her further about how my book, Why I am not a Muslim, circulated in Saudi Arabia, where she spent ten years with her father. Reem found someone on the internet who told her where she could download Why I am not a Muslim.

She believes that the book was also available online in Arabic. The book was then extensively discussed among the young in her circle.

COUNCIL OF EX-MUSLIMS OF MOROCCO

[75] The CEMM was founded by atheist blogger Kacem el-Ghazzali but after proclaiming his atheism in public in Morocco he received death threats and was constantly harassed, and finally had to seek asylum in Switzerland. Though Morocco is often considered a moderate Muslim country, there are laws which forbid anyone to convert a Muslim to another religion or to shake the faith of a Muslim.[76]

EX-MUSLIMS IN LONDON, AND EUROPE

One of the founders of Faith to Faithless is a London School of Economics student, Imtiaz Shams. He has been interviewed many times in recent months.

On the MRCTV, an online media platform designed to broadcast conservative values, Shams said he uses social media outlets like YouTube and Twitter to try to connect Muslims who have left the faith or those who have questions about leaving the faith. Shams estimates that there are approximately 10,000 ex-Muslims who are living in London, not including the rest of Britain.[77] I find this figure perfectly credible since I myself know an informal group of ex-Muslims of at least 350 people in London who do not belong to any ex-Muslim groups but meet occasionally for drinks and picnics. Each member of this informal group knows several people who have lost their Muslim faith but do not belong to any of the British ex-Muslim groups, and are still reluctant to come out in the open.

As Andrew Anthony recounted in a recent article (May, 2015) in The Guardian, “last week the hacking to death in Bangladesh of the blogger Ananta Bijoy Das was a brutal reminder of the risks atheists face in some Muslim-majority countries. And in an era in which British Islamic extremists travel thousands of miles to kill those they deem unbelievers, an apostate’s concern for his or her security at home is perhaps understandable. ‘Oh yeah, I’m scared,’ agrees Nasreen (not her real name) a feisty 29-year-old asset manager from east London who has been a semi-closeted apostate for nine years. ‘I’m not so worried about the loonies because it’s almost normal now to get threats. What worries me is that they go back to my parents and damage them, because that’s not unheard of.’ The danger is confirmed by Imtiaz Shams, an energetic 26-year-old who runs a group called Faith to Faithless, which aims to help Muslim nonbelievers speak out about their difficult situations. Shams has a visible presence on YouTube and has organised several events at universities. ‘I am at physical risk because I do videos,’ says Shams. ‘I don’t like putting myself in the firing line, but I had to because no one else is willing to do it.’”[78]

Anthony cites the author Simon Cottee, “As real as the potential for violence might be, it’s not what keeps many doubting British Muslims from leaving their religion. As Simon Cottee, author of a new book The Apostates: When Muslims Leave Islam,[79] says: ‘In the western context, the biggest risk ex-Muslims face is not the baying mob, but the loneliness and isolation of ostracism from loved ones. It is stigma and rejection that causes so many ex-Muslims to conceal their apostasy.’”[80]  

Online journal EUBusiness reported from Brussels in November, 2014 that “A number of Muslims in Europe are publicly abandoning their religion to become Christians or agnostics despite their former community’s taboo against such acts. In France, the film ‘The Apostle’ by filmmaker Cheyenne Carron has meanwhile lifted the veil on ‘apostasy’ by telling the story of a young Muslim who converted to Catholicism and how he had trouble getting family and friends to accept his choice. ‘It is time for us to stop hiding,’ said Pastor Said Oujibou, 46, who left radical Islam for evangelical protestantism and who is among the few converts to have publicised his decision in France. He said he is ‘tolerated’ by his former co-religionists, even if he admits to having sparked ‘sarcasm and annoyance’ from them. But he warned against the ‘double talk’ that certain branches of Islam in France close to the Muslim Brotherhood and Salafists use toward apostate Muslims.

“‘Apostasy is a taboo in Muslim culture and if the text of the Koran does not provide for any punishment, prophetic tradition calls for killing apostates,’ said Radouane Attiya, a former preacher trained in Saudi Arabia who is now a specialist on Islam at Liege University in Belgium. ‘In Europe, as in Arab countries, there is a rampant atheism gaining ground. But what is new is the search for visibility,’ Attiya said. He said ‘Islamic radicalism, world jihadism are contributing to the emergence of a reverse radicalism.’”[81]

ARMIN NAVABI

Armin Navabi is an Iranian ex-Muslim of great self-confidence, and the founder of the webpage, Atheist Republic, with subheading, “We are not just atheists, We are atheists who care.”  Atheist Republic describes itself as a “non-profit organization with over one million fans and followers worldwide that is dedicated to offering a safe community for atheists around the world to share their ideas and meet like-minded individuals.”[82]

EX-MUSLIMS TV CHANNELS

FREE MIND TELEVISION.

[84]

Al-Ghanimi is aided by two ex-Muslims in Egypt, as the the Voice of America explained, “On the screen, the presenter appears to be in a sophisticated studio. But in reality, presenter Ahmed Harqan, a former Muslim, sits at a card table in a small bedroom in Egypt, with a green cloth hanging behind him. Activists in Egypt say they hope their online TV programs reduce taboos surrounding atheism in the Middle East. He asked that his location be kept secret, because many of his countrymen consider atheism an insult to religion, making it dangerous to openly not believe. He speaks from personal experience. Harqan said that in one instance, people on the street were trying to kill him and his wife, Nada Mandour, so he ran into a police station. The people followed and told the police that he appears on a TV program, insulting Islam. The couple were arrested. After they were released 24 hours later, they had to move to a different house to avoid threats and harassment.”

Mandour, also a former Muslim, shoots and directs some Free Mind TV programs. Since she abandoned religion two years ago, she said, most of her family has abandoned her. Mandour said they hate her for being critical of religion and ultimately declaring herself a nonbeliever.  She no longer sees her parents and is not allowed in the family home.[85]

[86] In the Hawza he studied, Fiqh “Sharia,” Usul al-fiqh, Logic, Arabic grammar, Arabic Rhetoric, Philosophy, Kalam, and Tafsir of Quran. Al-Ghanimi has no wish to convert Muslims to atheism, he simply wants the majority who are Muslims to accept and tolerate atheists; and he wansts to be able to give moral and intellectual support to those who have left Islam. Free Mind Television is still very much a project in the making, and is sorely in need of funds.

BREAD AND ROSES: NANO GOLESORKH

A little more sophisticated is the venture launched by Maryam Namazie, and her television channel known as Nano GoleSorkh or Bread and Roses, which she describes as “an important taboo-breaking, freethinking political-social TV magazine in Persian and English broadcast in Iran and the Middle East via New Channel satellite TV and globally via social media. Millions have already seen the programme. It has been extremely well-received and can play an important role in opposing Islamism and promoting universal rights, free-thought and secularism.”[87]

 Here are the programmes broadcast so far:

  1. Mothers of Khavaran and their movement for justice in Iran (with an interview with Iran Tribunal London Spokesperson Mersedeh Ghaedi), English, Farsi
  2. Stealthy Freedom and Unveiling of Women in Iran (with an interview with Journal Editor Keyvan Javid), English, Farsi
  3.  Apostasy and right to belief highlighting case of Sudanese apostasy case Mariam Yahya Ibrahim (with an interview with Council of Ex-Muslims of Britain co-Spokersperson Nahla Mahmoud), English, Farsi
  4. Secularism as a Human Right (with an interview with Philosopher AC Grayling), English, Farsi
  5. Sharia Law is madness (with an interview with Southall Black Sisters Director Pragna Patel), English, Farsi
  6. Nude Protest as a form of resistance to Islamism (with an interview with Egyptian blogger Aliaa Magda Elmahdy and Tunisian activist Amina Sboui), English, Farsi

[88] Maryam Namazie’s organization is very much present on the social media: Facebook,[89] you can also subscribe to their Youtube Channel,[90] and follow them on Twitter.[91]

BLACK DUCKS

The Black Ducks describes itself succinctly as, “a talk show on YouTube that interviews atheists and non-religious individuals from the Arab world. Inspired by Ismail Mohamed (Egyptian atheist), to achieve a secular society in the Middle East and North Africa. Another goal is to offer solace and courage to those who are atheists in secret so they may know they are not alone in the world.” It is mainly in Arabic but a seems to have 5,802 subscribers, and has had 584,595 views.[92] So far Black Ducks has broadcast 173 episodes or testimonies of ex-Muslims, very courageously speaking in front of the camera. Ismail Mohamed believes that for every ex-Muslim atheist who dares to show his face in public like that, there must be at least twenty others afraid to show theirs. He believes that every family in Egypt has at least one member who is an atheist.

‘ABDULLAH AL-QASIIMI

And Modern Secularists and Atheists

I began this section with a motto from ‘Abdullah al- Qasiimi, and so I shall end with him, and some other atheists and secularists of modern times in Islamic countries.

‘Abdullah al-Qasiimi (1907 – 9 January 1996) was a Saudi Arabian writer and intellectual. He caused a sensation when he moved from Salafism to atheism, and became well-known for his sceptical and secular writings. Al- Qasiimi was very critical of Islam and his books were banned in the Arab world. After surviving assassination attempts in Egypt and Lebanon, al-Qasiimi settled in Cairo where he died of cancer in 1996.

[93]

[94] Here I shall give a very brief account of modern secularists many of whom were in fact atheists.

Secular ideas have been circulating in Arab intellectual life since the end of the nineteenth century. There was the once flourishing Egyptian scientific journal al-Muqtataf, where Farah Antoun, Shibli Shmayyel, and Yacoob Sarrouf openly discussed current scientific and secular ideas. Ismail Mazher translated Charles Darwin’s On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, or the Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life. Ismail Adham was able to find a publisher in the 1930s for his Why am I an Atheist?[95] Adham [1911-1940] who committed suicide by drowning at the age of twenty-nine, led a life of fantasy since he falsely claimed to have written many scientific papers and met many famous orientalists.[96] However, Adham did write about science (physics, mathematics, and the theory of evolution), and hoped that eventually science would replace religious belief, “I left religions, and abandoned all (religious) beliefs, and put my faith in science and sceintific logic alone. To my great surprise and amazement, I found myself happier and more confident than I had been when I had struggled with myself in the attempt to maintain my religious belief.”[97]

[99] that was critical of the Prophet Muhammad.[100] Taha Hussein, one time minister of education in Egypt, questioned the authenticity of pre-Islamic literature, but he also wrote, “the Torah is capable of talking to us of Abraham and Ismail, and the Koran is equally capable of talking of them. However, the presence of these two names in the Torah or the Koran is not sufficient to establish their historival existence; not to mention the historicity of the account that speaks to us of the migration of Ismail, son of Abraham, to Mecca….”[101] Hussein was accused of heresy by the traditionalists at al-Azhar Islamic University, and the book banned. However, he was not convicted and the book republished in an edited form under the title, Pre-Islamic Literature.

Ali Abdel Razek published in 1925 his Islam and the Origins of Government,[102] in which he argued against the Islamic state and for the separation of religion and civil society. Philosopher Sadik al-Azm published in Beirut his Self Criticism after the Defeat [103]and followed it with his controversial Critique of Religious Thought.[104]

[107] He is even directing some of his criticism at the classical Arabic language, which he claims was ossified by the Koran and its self appointed guardians, the ‘language clerics’ of the Arabic language academies, and calling for reform of its structures[108]….Sayyed Mahmoud al-Qomni, born, 13 March 1947, is another serious challenger who is questioning the very foundations of the Islamic historical and theological discourse as detrimental to progress and development. He started with a book on the rise of monotheism and the belief in eternity, Osiris,[109] and studied the origin of Islam as the religion of the Hashemite ancestors of the prophet Mohammed and tracing it back to the Abraham of Arabia.”[110] Al-Qomni, whose name is sometimes transcribed as al-Qimni, “controversially argued that the occupation of Arabs in Egypt should be counted as the longest foreign occupation in the world. The backwardness of Egypt came, he believed, from the acceptance of this Arabic occupation and the adoption of the Arabic culture. This view undoubtedly stirred discontent amongst the religious traditionalists in Egypt. Referring to a speech delivered by al-Qimni on the International Book Exhibition in Cairo on Jan 14, 2004, The Muslim Brothers newspaper (al-Akhwan al-Muslmoon) argued that the speech was meant to demolish all the pillars of Islam The newspaper stated further that al-Qimni had said the first Muslim invaders had stolen all the treasures of Egypt and therefore Egypt should not be called an Arab and Muslim country any more. Islam should not be the official religion of Egypt and the Sharia laws should not be considered the main basis for the Egyptian constitution.”[111]

Of another Egyptian branded as heretic and atheist, Ana Belen Soage wrote, “A Secular activist and author Faraj Fawda was assassinated by Islamist militants in 1992 after al-Azhar accused him of blasphemy. His writings, in which he criticized the viability of the Islamist project and urged Muslims to reconsider their picture of the past, stand as a brave attempt to defy those who pretend to monopolize the interpretation of Islam and use religion to further their political aims.”[112]

[113]

[114]

Another influential figure was the politcally engaged poet Ahmad Shamlou [1925-2000], a Marxist, and humanist. He saw man as a Promethean hero who was able to scale all the mountains, defiant and eventually to throw off the shackles of the Gods.[115]

INTERNATIONAL HUMANIST AND ETHICAL UNION REPORT

[116] Atheists and other religious skeptics can be executed in at least thirteen nations: Afghanistan, Iran, Malaysia, Maldives, Mauritania, Nigeria, Pakistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Sudan, the United Arab Emirates and Yemen.[117]

agitating specifically against non-religious people, just because they have no religious beliefs, in terms that would normally be associated with hate speech or social persecution against ethnic or religious minorities.”[118]

 

[3] Michael Martin, ed., The Cambridge Companion to Atheism, Cambridge University Press, 2007.

[4] Julian Baggini, Atheism: A Very Short Introduction, Oxford University Press (August 28, 2003).

[8] Here is a random selection in chronological order of publication:

  1. Sabrina Tavernise, “Violence Leaves Young Iraqis Doubting Clerics”, The New York Times, 4 March, 2008.
  2. “Ex-Muslims atheists are becoming more outspoken, but tolerance is still rare”, The Economist, 24 November. 2012.
  3. Rana Allam, “A generation of Atheists”. In Daily News Egypt, 7 January, 2013.
  4. “Sudanese Centre says incidents of apostasy, atheism increasing in country” in Sudan Tribune, 15 May 2013.
  5. Diaa Hadid “Arab atheists, though few, inch out of the shadows”, Associated Press, 3 August, 2013
  6. Khaled Diab, “Confessions ofan Egyptian Infidel”. In Daily News Egypt, 15 August 2013.
  7. Mounir Adib, “Atheists call for Reduced Religious Footprint in Constitution”, Egypt Independent, 19 September 2013
  8. Mounir Adib, “While Atheism in Egypt Rises, Backlash Ensues”, Egypt Independent, 30 September 2013
  9.  “Rights groups condemn detention of atheist on blasphemy charges”, Egypt Independent, 30 September 2013.
  10.  Khaled Diab, “A Christopher Hitchens dream: Atheism on the rise in Egypt”, in Salon, October 27, 2013.
  11. Mounir Adib,“Salafi Woman Turned Atheist Recounts Her Journey”, Egypt Independent, 30 September 2013.
  12. Sarah Morrison,“ Allah vs atheism: ‘Leaving Islam was the hardest thing I’ve done’ ”, in The Independent [UK], 19 January 2014.
  13. Alalawi, Hadya. “Atheists in Egypt Say They Struggle to Have Their Views Heard.” BBC News World, February 11, 2014. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-26129199.
  14. Sultan Sooud al-Qassemi, “Gulf Atheism in the Age of Social Media”, Al-Monitor, 3 March 2014.
  15. “Police vow to arrest Alexandria-based atheists”, Mada Masr, 26 March, 2014.
  16. Thomas Friedman, “Islamic State is driving Muslims from Islam” at timesunion.com, 6 December, 2014.
  17. Egypt Independent, “Non-believers express their thoughts at Religion and Freedoms Forum”, 1 April, 2015
  18. Ahmed Benchemsi, “Invisible Atheists, The Spread of Disbelief in the Arab World”, in The New Republic, 23 April, 2015.
  19. Andrew Anthony, “Losing their religion: the hidden crisis of faith among Britain’s young Muslims”, The Guardian [UK], 17 May, 2015.

[9] Diaa Hadid “Arab atheists, though few, inch out of the shadows”, Associated Press, 3 August, 2013, in http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2013/08/03/arab-atheists-though-few-inch-out-shadows.html

[10] Thomas Friedman, “Islamic State is driving Muslims from Islam” at timesunion.com, 6 December, 2014.

[11] Al-Arabiya News, “Two Tunisian men sentenced to seven years in prison for blasphemy”, 5 April 2012.

[12] Al-Arabiya News, “Two Tunisian men sentenced to seven years in prison for blasphemy”, 5 April 2012

[13] https://www.hrw.org/news/2013/07/30/saudi-arabia-600-lashes-7-years-activist

[14] WIN-Gallup International: Global Index of Religiosity and Atheism-2012: http://www.wingia.com/web/files/news/14/file/14.pdf,page16.

[16] WIN-Gallup International: Global Index of Religiosity and Atheism-2012: http://www.wingia.com/web/files/news/14/file/14.pdf, page 4.

[18] William Bauer, Interview with a Saudi atheist, in Your Middle East, April 30, 2013, at: http://www.yourmiddleeast.com/columns/article/interview-with-a-saudi-atheist_11146

[19] http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2013/01/14/169164840/losing-our-religion-the-growth-of-the-nones

[20] http://www.atheistcensus.com/

[21] http://iranian-atheist.tumblr.com

[22] http://www.patheos.com/blogs/marginoferr/author/kmousavi/

[23] http://www.iranianatheists.org

[24] https://www.facebook.com/IAAMT

[25] iranatheist.org

[26] I have talked to many young Iranians who managed to get out of Iran in the last five years, and they all tell me how much they hate Islam.

[27] David P.Goldman, How Civlizations Die (and Why Islam is Dying Too), Washington, D.C.: Regnery Publishing , Inc.,2011,

[28] Khaled Diab, “Confessions ofan Egyptian Infidel”. In Daily News Egypt, 15 August 2013.

[29] Khaled Diab, “A Christopher Hitchens dream: Atheism on the rise in Egypt”, Salon, October 27, 2013.

[30] Mounir Adib, “While Atheism in Egypt Rises, Backlash Ensues”, Egypt Independent, 30 September 2013.

[31] For more on al-Harqan, and his colloboration with al-Ghanimi see pp.57 ff below.

[33] Nuha or Noha recounted at great length her story to Mounir Adib,“Salafi Woman Turned Atheist Recounts Her Journey”, Egypt Independent, 30 September 2013.

[34] Mounir Adib,“Salafi Woman Turned Atheist Recounts Her Journey”, Egypt Independent, 30 September 2013.

[35] http://eipr.org/en

[36] Egypt Independent, “Non-believers express their thoughts at Religion and Freedoms Forum”, 1 April, 2015.

[37]  Sarah Lynch, “In Egypt, atheists considered ‘dangerous development’ ”, USA Today, 2012.

[38] Egypt Independent, “Non-believers express their thoughts at Religion and Freedoms Forum”, 1 April, 2015.

[39] Egypt Independent, “Non-believers express their thoughts at Religion and Freedoms Forum”, 1 April, 2015.

[40] Human Rights Watch, “Egypt: 3-Year Sentence for Atheist.Convicted Under Blasphemy Laws”, 13 January, 2015, http://www.hrw.org/news/2015/01/13/egypt-3-year-sentence-atheist

[41] Mohamed Abdelfattah “Leaving Islam in the age of Islamism”, in Daily News Egypt, 2013 http://www.dailynewsegypt.com/2013/01/24/leaving-islam-in-the-age-of-islamism/

[42]  Mohamed Abdelfattah “Leaving Islam in the age of Islamism”, in Daily News Egypt, 2013 http://www.dailynewsegypt.com/2013/01/24/leaving-islam-in-the-age-of-islamism/

[43] Stanley Wolpert, Jinnah of Pakistan, Oxford University Press, 1984, p.18

[44] Ibid., pp.78-79.

[45]  Dr.Ajai Sahni is an author and expert on counter-terrorism, and serves as the Executive Director of the Institute for Conflict Management in New Delhi.

[46] Ajai Sahni,“Pakistan”, in ed. Barry Rubin, Guide to Islamist Movements, M.E.Sharpe, Inc., 2010, p.350.

[47] M.J.Akbar, India: The Siege Within, Penguin Books, 1985, p.32.

[48] Ibid.,p.34.

[49] Ibid.

[50] Tariq Ali, “Mullahs and Heretics”, London Review of Books 24, No.3, February 7, 2002.

[51] http://www.ndtv.com/world-news/are-pakistani-youth-giving-up-islam-430109

[52] See also his interview of 2012 here: Ghaffar Hussain, “The rise of atheism in Pakistan” in Commentator, 9 January, 2012, at http://www.thecommentator.com/article/782/the_rise_of_atheism_in_pakistan

[53] https://www.facebook.com/Pakistani.Atheists

[54] https://www.facebook.com/groups/321761541177762/

[55] The Syed Atheist, at https://allahbepraisedlettheglassberaised.wordpress.com/

[56] Confessions of a Pakistani Atheist at http://www.dnaindia.com/lifestyle/report-confessions-of-a-pakistani-atheist-1960368

[57] http://councilofexmuslims.com/index.php?topic=14976.0

[58] WIN-Gallup International Global Index of Religiosity and Atheism – 2012, p.14.

[59]  See also Husain, Irfan (27 Aug 2012). “Faith in decline”. Dawn. “Interestingly, and somewhat intriguingly, 2 per cent of the Pakistanis surveyed see themselves as atheists, up from 1pc in 2005.”

[60] Sabrina Tavernise, “Violence Leaves Young Iraqis Doubting Clerics”, The New York Times, 4 March, 2008.

[64] Faithfreedom.org

http://www.jpost.com/Magazine/Features/Muslim-Mindset-The-hatred-is-in-Muhammad-himself

[67] http://www.faithfreedom.org/ffiprologue/

[68] http://www.islam-watch.org/about-us.html

[69] “Ex-Muslims Get Threats After Forming Society in Germany” on line German journal but in English,  DW [Deutsche Welle], 21 March, 2007.

http://www.dw.com/en/ex-muslims-get-threats-after-forming-society-in-germany/a-2413003.

[70] Ibid.

[71] See their website at : http://ex-muslim.org.uk/

[72] http://ex-muslim.org.uk/2007/09/dutch-politician-sets-up-committee-for-ex-muslims-radio-netherlands/

[73] http://www.exmuslim.net/

[74] Reem Abded-Razek, Memoir of an Ex-Muslim, in Freethought Today, October, 2014, Vol.31, No. 8.

[75] Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Exmuslims.ma/info?tab=page_info

[76] James Kirchick, “Exiled After Threats: Blogger Wants More Freedoms in Morocco” in Spiegel Online International, 29 March, 2013. http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/moroccan-blogger-champions-freedom-in-swiss-exile-a-891561.html

[77]Tyler McNally, “These Former Muslims Have Choice Words For Their Former Religion”, MRCTV June 10, 2015. http://www.mrctv.org/blog/these-former-muslims-have-choice-words-their-former-religion#.lc4uoe:fGNf

[78] Andrew Anthony, “Losing their religion: the hidden crisis of faith among Britain’s young Muslims”, The Guardian [UK], 17 May, 2015.

[80] Andrew Anthony, “Losing their religion: the hidden crisis of faith among Britain’s young Muslims”, The Guardian [UK], 17 May, 2015.

[82] http://www.atheistrepublic.com/blogs/armin-navabi

[83] Armin Navabi, Why There is no God  Simple Responses to 20 Common Arguments for the Existence of God, CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform (October 6, 2014)

[84] Ahmed Ateyya “Egyptian atheists launch web video series” May 18, 2015, al-Monitor, http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2015/05/egypt-radio-channel-online-religion-atheism-us-media.html

[85]  H. Murdock. “Activists in Egypt say they hope their online TV programs reduce taboos surrounding atheism in the Middle East”, April 29, 2015, Voice of America.

[87] Maryam Namazie, “Only 6 days left to support Bread and Roses” http://freethoughtblogs.com/maryamnamazie/2014/06/11/only-6-days-left-to-support-bread-and-roses/

[88] Maryam Namazie, “Only 6 days left to support Bread and Roses” http://freethoughtblogs.com/maryamnamazie/2014/06/11/only-6-days-left-to-support-bread-and-roses/

[89] https://www.facebook.com/NanoGoleSorkh.

[90] https://www.youtube.com/user/BreadandRosesTV

[91] Twitter: @NanoGoleSorkh.

[92] https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCQuI0UMM0WaUXnlyEuo-6Ng

[93] http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2014/03/gulf-atheism-uae-islam-religion.html

[94] Ibn Warraq, Leaving Islam. Apostates Speak Out, Amherst: Prometheus Books, 2003, pp.39-100.

[95] Ismail Adham, Limaza ana molhid?, Al-Imam, Alexandria, 1937

[96] G.H.A. Juynboll, “Ismail Ahmad Adham (1911-1940), the Atheist.” Journal of Arabic Literature. 3:1972, 54-71.

[99] Originally published in French, Mansour Fahmy, La condition de la femme dans la tradition et l’évolution de l’islamisme [i.e, Islam, and not Islamism in the modern 21st Century sense] Paris, 1913.In fact Fahmy’s book was republished in 1990 under the title,  La condition de la femme dans l’islam.Paris :Éditions Allia, 1990.

[100] See especially Samuel Zwemer, The Disintegration of Islam, New York, 1916, pp.144-166, for full description, in English, of the Mansour Fahmy’s attack on women under Islam.

[101] Taha Hussein, Fi sh-Shi‘r al-Jahili, Cairo: Matba‘a Dar al-Kutib al-Misriya, 1926, p.26

[102] Ali Abdul Razik, Al-Islam wa Usul el-Hukum, Matbaat Misr, Cairo, 1925.

[103] Sadik Jalal al-Azm, Annakd azzati baada al-hazima, Dar al-Taliaa, Beirut, 1968.

[104] Sadik Jalal al-Azm, Nakd alfikr al-dini, Dar al-Taliaa, Beirut, 1982.

[105] Ghassan F. Abdullah, New Secularism in the Arab World: http://www.ibn-rushd.org/forum/Secularism.htm

[106] Lenin, Nousous hawla al-mawkif mina el-din, Translation by Mohammad Qubba, Revised and introduced by Lafif Lakhdar, Dar al-Taliaa, Beirut, 1972.

[109] Sayyed Mahmoud al-Qomni, Osiris wa akidat al-khouloud fi Misr al-qadima, Dar al-Fikr, Cairo, 1988

[111]  Dr. A. A. Ahmed , Sayyid al-Qimni: Egyptian Muslim thinker and historian, https://unity1.files.wordpress.com/2009/08/about-sayyid-al-qimni.doc

[112] Ana Belén Soage “Faraj Fawda, or the Cost of Freedom of Expression”. Middle East Review of International Affairs 11 (2), 2007, pp. 26–33.

[113]  M.Bayat, “Aqa Khan Kermani”,  http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/aqa-khan-kermani-iranian-writer-and-intellectual-d-1896.

[114] Ibid..

[117]  Ibid., and also Robert Evans (December 9, 2013). “Atheists face death in 13 countries, global discrimination: study”. Reuters.

[118] The Freedom of Thought Report 2014: International Humanist and Ethical Union, pp.16-17.

 

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