Former Muslims or ex-Muslims are people who were Muslims, but subsequently left Islam.
Although their numbers have increased in the US, ex-Muslims still face ostracism or retaliation from their families and communities due to beliefs about apostasy in Islam.
In 23 countries apostasy is a punishable crime and in 13 of those it carries the death penalty.
Part of an unorganized religion or no religion
Became non-religious
Mustafa Kemal Atatürk – Turkish field marshal, statesman, secularist reformer, and author. Sources point out that Atatürk was a religious skeptic and a freethinker. While his specific religious views are unclear, he was a non-doctrinaire deist.Reşat Kasaba, "Atatürk", The Cambridge history of Turkey: Volume 4: Turkey in the Modern World, Cambridge University Press, 2008; [ p. 163]; accessed 27 March 2015.[ Political Islam in Turkey by Gareth Jenkins, Palgrave Macmillan, 2008, p. 84]; According to Atatürk, the Turkish people do not know what Islam really is and do not read the Quran. People are influenced by Arabic sentences that they do not understand, and because of their customs they go to mosques. When the Turks read the Quran and think about it, they will leave Islam. Atatürk described Islam as the religion of the Arabs in his own work titled Vatandaş için Medeni Bilgiler by his own critical and nationalist views. Nyamko Sabuni – politician in Sweden Sajid Javid – British politician Mansiya V.P. – Bharatnatyam exponent from Kerala, India. Non-conformist on religious front but believes in God. Nas Daily – Israeli-Palestinian vlogger, he identifies as a non-religious Muslim.
Became deists Ahmad Kasravi – notable Iranian linguist, historian, and reformer.V. Minorsky. Mongol Place-Names in Mukri Kurdistan (Mongolica, 4), Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, Vol. 19, No. 1, pp. 58–81 (1957), p. 66. JSTOR. Ehsan Jami – former politician and founder of Central Committee for Ex-Muslims.
Became agnostics Alyque Padamsee – Indian theatre personality and ad filmmaker. He was the father of Indian advertising. He was agnostic. Fareed Zakaria – Indian-American CNN host. He is a self described secular and non practicing Muslim. He added: "My views on faith are complicated—somewhere between deism and agnosticism. I am completely secular in my outlook." Ibn al-Rawandi – early skeptic of Islam.On Ibn al-Rawandi, from the Encyclopaedia of Islam, 1971, Volume 3, E J Brill, Leiden, p. 905. Ibn Warraq – British Pakistani secularist author and founder of the Institute for the Secularisation of Islamic Society."Warraq, 60, describes himself now as an agnostic..." Dissident voices, World Magazine, June 16, 2007, Vol. 22, No. 22. Kia Abdullah – British novelist and travel writer. In 2020, she stated that she identifies as an agnostic and a secular Muslim. Orhan Pamuk – Turkish novelist and screenwriter. Describes himself as a cultural Muslim while not believing in a personal connection to God. Sohail Ahmed – Former radical Islamist. He now describes himself as a cultural Muslim who rejects the truth claims of Islam. Wafa Sultan – Syrian-born American psychiatrist and controversial critic of Islam. She describes herself as a "Secular Humanist"Time Magazine- Interview with Wafa Sultan.There is No Clash of Civilizations but a Clash between the Mentality of the Middle Ages and That of the 21st century Feb. 2006. Younus Shaikh – Pakistani medical doctor, human rights activist, rationalist and free-thinker.Younus Shaikh - short biography.
Became atheists
Abdullah al-Qasemi – one of the most controversial intellectuals in the Arab world because of his radical change from defending Salafism to defending atheism and rejecting organized religion. Afshin Ellian – Iranian-Dutch professor of law, philosopher, and poet.R.A.Berman, Freedom or Terror: Europe Faces Jihad (Stanford: Hoover Institution Press 2010. Ahmed Harqan – Egyptian human rights activist and outspoken atheist. Ahmed Sharif – Bangladeshi humanist book seller, human rights activist and secular humanist."I was born in a very much conservative Muslim family wherein my parents, kith and kin are very strict followers of Islam., but later I became an atheist." Owner of Society Of Asian Freethinkers , Sharif Ahmed, Listed activist of Amnesty International's magazine. Al-Ma'arri – blind Arab philosopher, poet and writer.Freethought Traditions in the Islamic World by Fred Whitehead. Alexander Aan – Indonesian atheist and ex-Muslim of Minang descent, who was attacked by a mob and arrested in 2012 for posting "God does not exist" and other antireligious writings on Facebook, attracting international attention. Ali A. Rizvi – Pakistani-born Canadian physician, writer and ex-Muslim activist Ali Soilih – Comorian socialist revolutionary; president of the Comoros. Ali Dashti – Iranian rationalist and member of Iranian Senate. Ali Sina – pseudonym of the founder of several anti-Islam and anti-Muslim websites. Aliaa Magda Elmahdy – Egyptian internet activist and women's rights advocate. Aliyah Saleem – British secular education campaigner, writer and market researcher, activist and co-founder of advocacy group Faith to Faithless. Anwar Shaikh – British author of Pakistani descent.The Rushdie Affair: The Novel, the Ayatollah, and the West by Daniel Pipes, p. 283. Armin Navabi – Iranian-born atheist and secular activist, author, podcaster and vlogger, founder of Atheist Republic Aroj Ali Matubbar – self-taught Bangladeshi philosopher Arzu Toker – German-speaking writer, journalist, publicist, translator of Turkish descent, cofounder of the Central Council of Ex-Muslims in Germany. As'ad Abu Khalil – Lebanese professor of political science at California State University, Stanislaus. He describes himself as an "atheist secularist".The Angry Arab News Service comments from her blogBetween disparate worlds: On California State University professor As'ad AbuKhalil (1: "...who is also an atheist..." 2: "My Sunni family of my mother taught me how to pray"). Asif Mohiuddin – Bangladeshi blogger and secularist Ayaz Nizami – Pakistani Islamic scholar became atheist, founder of realisticapproach.org. an Urdu website about atheism, and Vice President of Atheist & Agnostic Alliance Pakistan He is currently detained under the charges of blasphemy and could face the death penalty. Aziz Nesin – popular Turkish humorist and author of more than 100 books. Barack Obama Sr. – Kenyan senior governmental economist, and the father of 44th U.S. President Barack Obama. Bisi Alimi – Nigerian gay rights activist based in the United Kingdom Catherine Perez-Shakdam – French journalist, political analyst and commentator; formerly a convert to Islam, born to a Jewish family Bonya Ahmed – Bangladeshi-American author, humanist activist and blogger, wife of Avijit Roy; hacked to death after receiving threats related to his promotion of secular views.US-Bangladesh blogger Avijit Roy hacked to death, BBC News, 27 February 2015. Cenk Uygur – American political commentator of Turkish descent and the main host of the liberal talk radio show The Young Turks. Ebru Umar – Dutch columnist of Turkish descent, critic of Islam and of Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. Enver Hoxha – Communist dictator who declared Albania the first atheist state, and who has been identified as an "arch-atheist".Kamm, Henry (1993, June 10). 'Hallelujah' is heard in the arch-atheist's temple. The New York Times (Late Edition (East Coast)), p. A4. Retrieved August 27, 2007, from National Newspaper Abstracts Fatima Sana Shaikh – Indian actressInterview With Fatima Sana Shaikh for 'Suraj Pe Mangal Bhaari' And 'Ludo' | The Quint (in Hindi and English). The Quint. 27 October 2020. Event occurs at 08:55. Retrieved 23 February 2021. I am an atheist. I have a mother who is Muslim, I have a father who is Hindu. My brother and myself, we are atheist. We do not follow any religion, we do not follow any god. Faik Konitza – Albanian stylist, critic, publicist and political figure that had a tremendous impact on Albanian writing and on Albanian culture at the time. Faisal Saeed Al Mutar – Iraqi-born satirist, human rights activist, writer, founder of the Global Secular Humanist Movement (GSHM). Farhan Akhtar – Indian actor, singer, songwriter, playback singer, producer and television host. Fauzia Ilyas – founder of Atheist & Agnostic Alliance Pakistan Hafid Bouazza – Moroccan-Dutch writer.Humanistische Omroep, Link to video interview with Hafid Bouazza Quote: (Translation) "Believers live behind a fence, and non-believers live in a pasture and they know there are believers out there behind the fence." "It [religion] is a matter of conditioning, of brainwashing." "I know that when I die, it's over with me." (Dutch) "Gelovigen leven achter een hek, en ongelovigen in een weiland, waarin ze weten dat er gelovigen zijn die achter hekken wonen." "Het [religie] is een kwestie van conditionering, van hersenspoeling" "Ik weet dat het moment dat ik ter aarde word besteld, dat het afgelopen is met mij." Quote: (Translation) "Look, I'm an atheist. I do not believe that God exists, I do not believe there is an afterlife. How terrible it may be: Hitler isn't in hell getting pinched in his ass with a trident. I'm fine with the fact there are people who do believe that and get comfort from it, like my mother. I just hope the influence of religion on policy makers will diminish, because my freedom is precious to me." (Dutch) "Kijk, ik ben atheïst. Ik geloof niet dat God bestaat, ik geloof niet dat er een hiernamaals is. Hoe gruwelijk ook: Hitler wordt op dit moment niet in de hel met een drietand in zijn reet geprikt. Dat er mensen zijn die dat wél geloven en daar troost uit putten, mensen als mijn moeder: prima. Als de invloed van religies op beleidsmakers maar steeds kleiner wordt, want mijn vrijheid is me dierbaar." Hamed Abdel-Samad – German-Egyptian political scientist, historian and author. Husayn Muruwwa – Lebanese communist philosopher and ex-ayatollah who was nicknamed "red mujtahid". Hassan Bahara – Moroccan-Dutch writer. Quote: (Translation) "In interviews he calls himself an atheist, but until now he has been left alone by beardmonkeys (referring to Muslims). Perhaps I have to make myself heard just a little bit better, I should be more explicit in my aversion to Islam and religion in general." (Dutch) "In interviews noemt hij zichzelf atheïst, maar tot nog toe 'ben ik ongemoeid gelaten door de baardapen. Misschien moet ik een hardere toon aanslaan en wat explicieter zijn in mijn afkeer van de islam en religies in het algemeen.'" Humayun Azad – Bangladeshi author, poet, scholar and linguists.Bangladesh: Protecting the Human Rights of Thought, Conscience, and Religion: U.A.B. Razia Akter Banu Prepared Testimony – ("Dr. Azad is a Muslim by birth and by name ... He is an atheist.") Inkulab – Tamil rationalist poet/writer and Marxist activist. Born as Sakul Hameed.Padma, V. (September 2000). "Re-presenting protest and resistance on stage: Avvai". Indian Journal of Gender Studies. 7 (2): 217–230. doi:10.1177/097152150000700205. Irfan Habib – Indian historian. Ismael Adham – Egyptian writer and philosopher.Re-drawing the line – Al Ahram Weekly, August 9, 2000. Ismail Kadare – world-renowned Albanian writer.Muslim Identity and the Balkan State, Hugh Poulton, Suha Taji-Farouki, 1997, , google print p. 133. Ismail Mohamed (activist) – Egyptian atheist human rights activist, host of The Black Ducks programme. Javed Akhtar – noted Indian writer and lyricist. Kacem El Ghazzali – Moroccan-Swiss writer and activist. Kanan Makiya – Iraqi-American academic and Islamic and Middle Eastern scholar.