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The Central Council of Ex-Muslims, founded in Germany in January 2007, was the first of its kind.

The ex-Muslim movement is a term used to describe the social movement of individuals and groups who have renounced Islam, seek to support others who have done so or are in the process of leaving, and sometimes encourage Muslims to leave Islam.

Terminology

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The term "ex-Muslim" for a former adherent of Islam was not properly popularised until 2007,[1]: 3:25  when three organisations were founded in Germany, the United Kingdom and the Netherlands respectively that all bore the word "Ex-Muslims" in their name, and that the defence of former Muslims' rights and interests as their primary goal. It is in this period that the first mentions of an "ex-Muslim movement" occur, for example by Dutch newspapers de Volkskrant (July 2007)[2] and Trouw (September 2007)[3] and by Maryam Namazie in June 2008.[4]

Pro

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"The ex-Muslims say they consciously call themselves that. "We want to provoke," says Toker. Because people are not used to Muslims who fall from their beliefs and because it is known that apostates are at risk, the title "ex-Muslim" provides the necessary attention, according to Toker and Namazie. Namazie, a former Iranian refugee, says that she has been fighting for a long time to improve the position of Muslim women, among others. But only now that she is looking for publicity as an ex-Muslim, people are ringing her all the time. Namazie: "Ex-Muslim is a very useful label that makes it easier for us to tell our story."[5]

Former Muslims expressed frustration at the media continually associating them with the Islamic religion that they had left. For example, Ibn Warraq and Salman Rushdie were called 'Muslim intellectuals', but after the Council's formation the term "ex-Muslim" was rapidly popularised in the media.[1]: 0:52 

Contra and alternatives

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Some ex-Muslims have expressed dislike or discomfort about the term, saying it is framing their identity by what they are not or do not believe anymore, rather than by what they currently are or how they think now.[6] In the Netherlands, the word vrijdenker ("freethinker") is a particularly popular alternative, and both the ex-Muslim organisation Platform Nieuwe Vrijdenkers (founded in 2015) and the book Nieuwe Vrijdenkers (published in 2018) carry this term.

History

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Rise of ex-Muslim councils in Europe (since 2007)

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Germany: Central Council of Ex-Muslims (January 2007 – present)

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The modern international organised ex-Muslim movement may be traced back to the foundation of the Central Council of Ex-Muslims (Zentralrat der Ex-Muslime, ZdE) in Germany in 2007.[1]: 0:22 [7] Its primary initiator was Mina Ahadi, an ex-Muslim refugee from Iran who escaped a death sentence that she received for criticising the Islamic regime; she settled in Cologne in 1996.[1]: 0:52  After an April 2006 workshop on political Islam in Osnabrück, she discussed how to do better activism for people who have renounced Islam with Giordano Bruno Foundation spokesperson Michael Schmidt-Salomon, who suggested the launch of an awareness campaign titled "Wir haben abgeschworen!" ("We have renounced!", in reference to the 1971 campaign We've had abortions!, "Wir haben abgetrieben!" in German).[1]: 1:50  It would be a collection of photographs of people who had escaped political Islam to Germany, and were willing to come out publicly with their faces as former Muslims.[1]: 2:15  To carry out such a campaign, Schmidt-Salomon suggested the foundation of a Central Council for Ex-Muslims. Although Ahadi and fellow apostates disliked the term 'ex-Muslim' at first, because they preferred to call themselves atheists and humanists, they eventually agreed and made preparations.[1]: 2:43  Materialien und Informationen zur Zeit http://www.schmidt-salomon.de/ahaditoker.pdf

Arzu Toker joined the group, motivated by her frustration (shared by Ahadi[8]) that authorities often mistakenly assumed that all immigrants to Germany were Muslims and thus should be represented by Islamic organisations such as the Central Council of Muslims in Germany (in direct opposition to which the name "Central Council of Ex-Muslims" was deliberately conceived) and Milli Görüs.[5][8] Toker and Ahadi criticised how Interior Minister Wolfgang Schäuble tried to solve the problems of integration and Muslim women by talking to male Muslim leaders at the Deutsche Islamkonferenz (in opposition to which the ex-Muslims held the Kritische Islamkonferenz in 2008).[5][8][9] Toker claimed that she had vainly tried to have opinion pieces published on the oppression of Muslim women in Germany for years.[5] She saw Ayaan Hirsi Ali as an important example: 'We completely agree with her that Islam is a form of oppression, not a religion. She had the courage to say so.'[9] Ahadi stated that the Council was a secular humanist organisation that would seek 'to help women who feel oppressed by the rules of the faith to find a way out', criticise Islam, give non-Muslim immigrants a voice and advocate human rights.[8][10]: 31 

 
Arzu Toker: 'European Muslims are publicly renouncing Islam en masse.'[5]

The founding meeting of the ZdE took place on 21 January 2007 in Cologne, where its bylaws were established by the founders.[11][10] The Council's formation was announced to the public a month later on 28 February 2007 at the Bundespressekonferenz building in Berlin, during which the "Wir haben abgeschworen!" campaign was launched as well.[1]: 0:22  At the time, the Council had about 40 members, but had 'received more than 100 membership applications in recent days'.[8] Media interest in this press conference ran so high that two additional rooms had to be rented to receive all journalists,[5] and it was so successful that the ZdE immediately achieved worldwide notability.[1]: 3:07 [5] Reactions were mixed: a Central Council of Muslims spokesman said the Ex-Muslim Council was "completely unnecessary",[5] while president Ahadi and vice-president Toker received many threats through email and telephone; the former agreed to police protection, the latter refused the offer.[5][8][9] The original "We have renounced!" poster feauturing the faces of dozens of ex-Muslims had to be adapted due to threats.[9] On the other hand, they and the other board members of the newly formed Council were also approached by many former Muslims from across Europe who wanted to join.[5] By 2 March, they reportedly had grown to 120 members, and initiatives were taken to launch similar councils in Sweden and Switzerland.[9] By mid-May, the Council had about 200 members, with "hundreds" of applications yet to be processed; Neo-Nazis were explicitly excluded from membership.[5] In subsequent months, Ahadi and Toker acted as the Council's spokespeople, with two main talking points: exposing Islam as an 'inhumane religion', and the struggle against the influence of Islamic organisations in Germany.[12]

Meanwhile, efforts were made in the following months to start up similar ex-Muslim councils in Scandinavia, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands and France, modelled after the German example and with their support.[5][8][9][13] The Central Council of Ex-Muslims directly inspired the foundation of the Council of Ex-Muslims of Britain (headed by Maryam Namazie and others, presented on 19 June 2007), the Central Committee for Ex-Muslims (headed by Ehsan Jami and, until June, also by Loubna Berrada) in the Netherlands in May, officially presented on 11 September 2007, and also a council in Scandinavia.[14][15][6] Many of these initiators convened at the Kritische Islamkonferenz in Cologne on 31 May and 1 June 2008 to strategise and stimulate the movement's growth.[1]: 6:02 [16]

United Kingdom: Council of Ex-Muslims of Britain (June 2007 – present)

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Maryam Namazie: 'By publicly breaking the taboo on Muslim apostates, we are calling out political Islam.'[3]

The Council of Ex-Muslims of Britain (CEMB) formally presented itself to the public on 21 June 2007.[15] Like their German counterparts, the CEMB launched an awareness campaign with posters featuring the faces of 25 ex-Muslims and the slogan "We have renounced religion!" on their website, seeking to break the taboo on apostasy in Islam.[3] The Council received the support of the British Humanist Association and the National Secular Society.[3] President Maryam Namazie claimed that political Islam was conducting an 'Islamic inquisition' against anyone who disagrees with its interpretation of the Muslim faith. Namazie vehemently rejected the idea that criticising a religion constitutes 'racism', an allegation that has been employed by Islamists to silence all of their critics, thereby compromising the freedom of expression.[3] She went on to accuse the British media of cowardice for not reprinting the Jyllands-Posten Muhammad cartoons, as many other newspapers did, and the British government to cave in too much to Islamist organisations such as the Muslim Council of Britain (an umbrella of about 400 Muslim organisations). This policy, Namazie argued, led to segregation and the over-labelling of people as 'Muslims' instead of recognising them as individual equal citizens, thereby obstructing integration.[3] On 11 September 2007, when the CEMB had grown to more than 70 members, Namazie attended the launch of the Central Committee for Ex-Muslims and the signing of the European Declaration of Tolerance in the Netherlands.[3]

https://jalta.nl/buitenland/interview-met-maryam-namazie/

Netherlands: Central Committee for Ex-Muslims (March 2007 – April 2008)

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Ehsan Jami and Loubna Berrada announced in March? 2007 that they were in the process of setting up the Central Committee for Ex-Muslims in the Netherlands. Jami saw Ayaan Hirsi Ali as the example to follow, sought to break the taboo on apostasy amongst Dutch Muslims, and wanted to raise their awareness of the negative aspects of Islam. These efforts would also reduce the influence political Islam could get on European Muslims.[13]

All three ex-Muslim council initiators Ahadi, Namazie and Jami had an Iranian socialist / social-democratic background, but Jami's political orientation would change over the course of 2007 and 2008. This was due to the many negative reactions he received in the Netherlands. Fierce criticism came from his own Labour Party, which feared the initiative might stimulate xenophobia and alienate its immigrant voter base. In June, filmmaker and Labour member Eddy Terstall tried to negotiate with Jami to frame the issues in a different manner.[13] In August, Jami was beaten in the street by Islamists. to his coming out as an ex-Muslim, the co-founding of his committee and the style of his activism with sharp critiques of Islam itself (disapproved by his co-founder Loubna Berrada, a Moroccan-Dutch Liberal politician, who left the committee in protest in June),[17][18] he moved away from the Labour Party and gradually aligned himself more with right-wing nationalist politician Geert Wilders.[6] This attitude and evolution of political orientation eventually estranged him from Ahadi and Namazie, as well as from some other Dutch ex-Muslims.[17][18][19]

[3] [12]

https://www.volkskrant.nl/nieuws-achtergrond/ex-moslims-op-zoek-naar-brede-steun~bdde26fd/ https://www.groene.nl/artikel/wij-hebben-afgezworen

In April 2008, Jami dissolved the committee, stating that too many ex-Muslims were afraid to join it because of threats.[20]

Sweden: Central Council for Ex-Muslims in Scandinavia (2007 – present)

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The Central Council for Ex-Muslims in Scandinavia (Swedish: Centralrådet för ex-muslimer i Skandinavien) was established in Stockholm, Sweden in 2007.[21] Its first seminar, themed 'Against political Islam, and for a secular society', featuring cartoonist Lars Vilks amongst other speakers, was held in September 2007. By that time the Council reportedly had 150 members. There was one representative for each of the other Scandinavian countries: Denmark (Murad Shekhi), Norway and Finland; Peyman Bakhshaiesh served as the external liaison for the Council.[12]

Ex-Muslim groups in the United States and Canada (since 2009)

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Islam and atheism panel at the 2018 American Atheists Convention.

Meanwhile, the Secular Islam Summit, an international forum for secularists of Islamic societies, was held 4–5 March 2007 in St. Petersburg, Florida. It was largely organised and funded by the Center for Inquiry. The conference featured former Muslims as well as progressive Muslims including Ibn Warraq, Tawfik Hamid, Wafa Sultan, Afshin Ellian, Irshad Manji, Ayaan Hirsi Ali and Hasan Mahmud,[22] who jointly called for reforming Islam in their final conference statement, the St. Petersburg Declaration. Simultaneously, the Muslim activist Council on American–Islamic Relations (CAIR) convened in Fort Lauderdale, Florida; the two conferences denounced each other.[22]

The American group Former Muslims United, headed by Muslim-turned-Christian Nonie Darwish, was founded in October 2009 in Los Angeles. It was followed in 2012 by the Muslimish group, and in 2013 by Ex-Muslims of North America (EXMNA), which formed a network of local ex-Muslim groups throughout the United States and Canada. Meanwhile, the online community Atheist Republic was set up by Vancouver-based ex-Muslim activist Armin Navabi; by May 2017, it had become the largest online atheist community in the world, with chapters ('consulates') in dozens of countries.

In late 2017 and early 2018, EXMNA organised the Normalizing Dissent Tour around U.S. university campuses with many different notable ex-Muslim speakers and sympathisers.

Impact of Islamic State (2014–19)

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We used to defend Islam. But now,
with IS, it's like having to constantly
make excuses for a serial killer. I refuse
to participate in that any longer.

– Ir@qi@theist (pseudonym)[23]

It is generally understood that the rise of the jihadist-terrorist organisation Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, ISIS, IS or Daesh), that proclaimed a caliphate in July 2014 and committed massacres and systematic sexual slavery across Syria and Iraq in the name of Islam, had a major impact on many thousands of Muslims throughout the world (primarily the Middle East and North Africa) to dissociate themselves from their religion.[23]

2014 Independent Sarah Morrison (19 January 2014). "Allah vs atheism: 'Leaving Islam was the hardest thing I've done'". The Independent. Retrieved 11 April 2019. 2015 Guardian Andrew Anthony (17 May 2015). "Losing their religion: the hidden crisis of faith among Britain's young Muslims". The Guardian. Retrieved 11 April 2019. 2015 Huffpost oped Damir Rafi (8 December 2015). "#ExMuslimBecause - How Islam Protects the Rights of Ex-Muslims". Huffpost. Retrieved 11 April 2019.

2017 RefDag demographic analysis "Ramen in huis van islam staan open". 2017 Joop oped "Ex-Moslims, laat van je horen!".

2018 "Mohammed gelooft niet meer in God".

[24]

Conferences

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Ex-Muslim organisations

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Main article: List of ex-Muslim organisations

After the formation of three ex-Muslim councils in Germany, the United Kingdom and the Netherlands in 2007, numerous other such organisations sprang up in Europe, North America, and eventually in some Muslim-majority countries as well, albeit illegally in the last case.

Ex-Muslim activists

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See also: List of former Muslims

Leave versus reform debate

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There is ongoing debate within and between ex-Muslim and progressive Muslim circles about whether to reform Islam to modern standards, or to abandon the religion altogether.

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Ricarda Hinz (17 November 2017). "10 Jahre Ex-Muslime: Die Geschichte einer internationalen Menschenrechtsbewegung" (in German). Giordano-Bruno-Stiftung. Retrieved 2 April 2019.
  2. ^ Janny Groen, Annieke Kranenberg (27 July 2007). "'Enorme druk op liberale moslims'". de Volkskrant (in Dutch). Retrieved 13 April 2019.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h Maaike Veen (11 September 2007). "Ex-moslimbeweging in Europa nog klein". Trouw (in Dutch). Retrieved 11 April 2019.
  4. ^ Maryam Namazie (27 June 2008). "Appeal for the Council of Ex-Muslims of Britain". Humanists International website. Humanists International. Retrieved 10 April 2019.
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Ahmet Olgun (18 May 2007). "Ex-moslims willen afzweren islam bespreekbaar maken". NRC Handelsblad (in Dutch). Retrieved 10 April 2019.
  6. ^ a b c Janny Groen (29 August 2015). "Behoefte aan hulplijn voor ex-moslims". de Volkskrant (in Dutch). Retrieved 10 April 2019. Cite error: The named reference "Groen" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
  7. ^ Ahmed Benchemsi (24 April 2015). "Invisible Atheists. The spread of disbelief in the Arab world". The New Republic. Retrieved 11 April 2019.
  8. ^ a b c d e f g "Interview with Founder of "Council of Ex-Muslims": "Not Possible to Modernize Islam"". Spiegel Online. 27 February 2007. Retrieved 13 April 2019.
  9. ^ a b c d e f "Duitse ex-moslims zweren islam af". NOS (in Dutch). 2 March 2007. Archived from the original on 6 March 2014. Retrieved 11 April 2019.
  10. ^ a b Duthel, Heinz (2013). Islam in Deutschland: So sieht die Zukunft Deutschlands und Europa aus (in German). Norderstedt: Books on Demand. p. 349. ISBN 9783844803631. Retrieved 12 April 2019.
  11. ^ "Satzung" (in German). Zentralrat der Ex-Muslime. 2007. Retrieved 12 April 2019.
  12. ^ a b c Petra Sjouwerman & Antoine Verbij (11 September 2007). "'Islam maakt fokmachine van man'". Trouw (in Dutch). Retrieved 15 April 2019.
  13. ^ a b c "De vrijheid te geloven en niet te geloven". de Volkskrant (in Dutch). 6 June 2007. Retrieved 15 April 2019.
  14. ^ Christine Brouwer (17 September 2007). "A New Brand of Nonbelievers. Ex-Muslims add their voice to a growing European debate". ABC News. American Broadcasting Company. Retrieved 13 April 2019.
  15. ^ a b A. C. Grayling (19 June 2007). "The courage of their convictions". The Guardian. Retrieved 13 April 2019.
  16. ^ Pascal Beucker (2 June 2008). "Giordano gegen "falsche Toleranz". Kritische Islamkonferenz zu Ende gegangen". Die Tageszeitung (in German). Retrieved 13 April 2019.
  17. ^ a b Kustaw Bessems (12 June 2007). "Oprichtster stapt voorlopig uit comité ex-moslims" [Founder leaves ex-Muslim committee for now]. De Pers (in Dutch). Archived from the original on 14 December 2008. Retrieved 8 April 2019.
  18. ^ a b Dorien Pels (17 August 2007). "'Ehsan luistert niet naar ex-moslims'". Trouw (in Dutch). Retrieved 8 April 2019.
  19. ^ "Ex-moslims keren zich tegen Ehsan Jami". Elsevier.nl (in Dutch). 6 September 2007. Retrieved 11 April 2019.
  20. ^ "Ehsan Jami heft comité ex-moslims op (video)". Nu.nl (in Dutch). 16 April 2008. Retrieved 8 April 2019.
  21. ^ "Centralrådet för ex-muslimer i Skandinavien" (in Northern Sami). Central Council for Ex-Muslims in Scandinavia. 2007. Archived from the original on 30 December 2007. Retrieved 12 April 2019.
  22. ^ a b Jay Tolson (8 April 2007). "Fighting for the soul of Islam". U.S. News & World Report. Archived from the original on 23 November 2007. Retrieved 13 April 2019.
  23. ^ a b Eva Lüdemann (23 May 2015). "Dappere goddelozen. Ex-moslims trotseren hun omgeving". de Volkskrant (in Dutch). (English translation)
  24. ^ Caroline Overington (14 January 2019). "Women pay heavy price for ditching Islam". The Australian. News Corp Australia. Retrieved 12 March 2019.
  25. ^ "Losing my religion: two ex-Muslims share their experiences". The Economist (YouTube). Retrieved 11 April 2019.
  26. ^ "Losing Your Religion - Ex Muslims Speak Out 2019". Losing Your Religion 2019. Secular Party of Australia. 5 April 2019. Retrieved 11 April 2019.
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