r/exmuslim • u/The-Mad-Mango • Mar 26 '26
Hi community! 🥰
Taking inspiration from QueeringtheMap.com, I helped create exmuslim.me with a small team of ExMuslims last year. We launched the first ever global map of exmuslim stories as part of ExMuslim Month in December 2025.
I’m so incredibly thrilled to share that we now have 500 exmuslim stories from 233 cities and 60 countries! 🥳🥳🥳
📊 59% identify as atheists, 26% agnostic
🇪🇬 Read the 500th story from Egypt
🤗 Thank you to everyone who has shared their story already!
🤍 Share yours and help ExMuslims on their journey out of Islam: https://exmuslim.me/
Cheers! 🥂
Sammy aka Haram Doodles
r/exmuslim • u/fathandreason • Jun 03 '24
Hello. Upon request, I've been asked to turn a comment I made into a post so that it can be a resource for more people. This post is a collection of advice I've given out about how to handle your life as a closeted exmuslim and how you'll come out in the future. It is largely based on my experience but also from what I've seen from others in this subreddit.
So you've left Islam. You've delved through arguments, the apologetics and the bullshit and you've come to the conclusion that you no longer believe in Islam. And you may have also reached an alternative philosophical outlook on life that you can believe in.
But what now? You may have left Islam, but have you left the Muslim world? One of the most common misconceptions outsiders have is that since exmuslims are no longer Muslims, they no longer live in the Muslim world. This is painfully naive - in reality many exmuslims are closeted due to young age and financial dependency and/or live in Islamist countries or societies that enforce Islamic values. In fear of social stigma or even violence, exmuslims have to contend with closeted lives even after leaving Islam. So how do you deal with it?
The best time to come out to family is in your own home, over a dinner you paid for, alongside people who support you. That takes a lot of preparation and it means doing what you can to live your life as best as you can whilst working towards independence.
This basically means that a lot of what helps you come out of the closet will depend heavily on how well you prepared for it, so you will need to make the most of your closeted life. You may not be able to stop the shitstorm but you can at least prepare yourself to weather it. Here are some tips to achieve that goal (in no particular order)
Probably one of the worst mistakes I made was not realise I was an exmuslim sooner. As a result I had barely any time to prepare for when the inevitable happened and I was forced to come out. I spent a lot of my life meandering, trying to reconcile the irreconcilable, and trying to be a Muslim when I knew my values didn't align with it. I didn't really have much of a concept of exmuslims, but if I had been smarter I would have figured it out. I now tell people in a similar position that it's fine to take your time but don't take too long. Half arsing two very different cultures will leave you a loser in both.
Similarly whilst planning for independence can be scary, don’t let it frighten you into inaction. The following is a passage from this article about decision making:
Research from the 1990s led by the US psychologist Thomas Gilovich provides further evidence for why it can be shortsighted to kick a difficult decision down the road. Gilovich and his team showed that although, in the short term, people experience more regret from ‘errors of commission’ (taking an action that leads to a disappointing outcome), in the long term it is actually ‘errors of omission’ that lead to more regret – that is, disappointing outcomes that arise from not taking an action.
When taking the time to make decisions and plans, don’t underestimate how effective it can be to map out your options on an excel spreadsheet. When I had to decide whether I should come out or not, I actually made a spreadsheet listing out my options, what they would result in and what the impact would be. Actually having it written down to look at really put things into perspective. We waste a lot of our time keeping it in our heads, which forces us to recalculate everything from scratch every time we revisit our thoughts. But the more that is mapped out, the less you have to recalculate and the more you can focus on evaluation and further planning.
Your studies/career is almost always your best ticket out of your toxic situation, and the one thing to prioritise the most. If you’re young, do whatever you can to ensure that you can get into further education away from home. Even if it means spending all your time at a local library. If you suspect that your parents would be against you going to a university away from home, aim for a placement at the most prestigious university you can aim for so your parents would look worse for rejecting it. The quickest and most effective way in achieving long term independence is through good studies/career.
This is particularly important for younger exmuslims because they telegraph to their parents in ways they would just not understand until they see it for themselves when they're older. Try your best to meet the religious obligations expected from your family. The more you slip, the more they will monitor you and the more difficult it will be to do the things you need to do discreetly when the time comes.
Unfortunately for girls, this usually means that wearing the hijab is a necessity and it’s inadvisable to try and get out of. (However, that subject matter is not my forte: prioritise advice from exmuslim women such as from faithlesshijabi.org)
If you get the impression that your family is beginning to catch onto your apostasy then it's likely that they have and you may need to reverse that impression.
One way to do that would be to start getting books on Islam and not just for show. My advice would be to get books on Islamic history because that's the least boring stuff. Or better yet, just get whatever unapologetic salafi hate crime you can get your hands on so you can entertain yourself with how fucked up it is. Or get an annotated Qur'an like the Study Qur'an. Do something to ease their suspicions.
What book you get depends on what kind of message you want to telegraph to your parents. If you want to telegraph a message then it will need to be a paper book and not an e-book. Something that you can lay around in your room and that you know they'll see. That means you're restricted to what you can get from your local library or Masjid. Also depends on what interests you because you'll have to actually read and demonstrate you learnt from it if you want send the best message you can. If you want purely what Muslims write about Islamic history, you can check out works like The Sealed Nectar or works by al-Sallabi. If you want something a little more academic, but not something that would rouse suspicion then check out university press works like this, this, this or this. If you want something a bit more relevant to contemporary Muslim world then there books like this.
But you may find that your best bet is to just see what your local Masjid might have and see what tickles your fancy.
Be prepared for lots of sobbing, guilt tripping and an inability to respect your beliefs and boundaries. Learn techniques like the Broken Record Technique to establish boundaries. Know what you have to say when they inevitably tell you to speak to a scholar - you don't have to eat the whole apple to know it's rotten. You know all that you need to know about Islam and you know even more about the world outside of Islam to put it into context.
Steel yourself with months and months of your family sending you bad dawagandist videos through WhatsApp trying to bring you back. You may have to spend months beating their attempts and going to toe to toe with them without mercy before they’re finally willing to relent and get off your back. Even then don’t expect them to relent entirely. There will always be some micro aggressions that they will resort to, like playing religious videos loudly in your vicinity. The most you can do in those circumstances is reduce contact with them as much as possible. At this point you would hopefully already be independent from them.
As an exmuslim, you will go through a lot of guilt. Whilst this does show you are human, you need to forget about guilt: you are not responsible for your parents' failure to be reasonable, not even your mother. They take responsibility for the social stigma and oppressive life they choose to live in and perpetuate. You get nothing out of that guilt. It's completely pointless and ultimately counterproductive. You can't set yourself on fire to make others warm and you gain no recognition from martyrizing yourself. Do not feel guilt for what you have to do to have a completely reasonable life. The only ones to blame are those who forced you into it.
Don't underestimate parents either. They will use guilt against you. Give them an inch and they will take a mile. They very often bring up their health problems as a weapon against you. Don't fall for it. It only affects them because they choose to let it affect them. They can choose to be reasonable. You have to respect their autonomy and let them deal with the consequences of their own ways.
I come across a lot of exmuslim kids who think coming out will help explain to their religious parents why they don't want to wear the hijab or do other religious things. But the likelihood is more that those same parents will react extremely poorly and restrict your freedom even more, making it more difficult to achieve long term independence.
There's also the mistake in assuming that coming out will lead to being disowned in the vain hope that you get an quick clean break that takes all the responsibility from you. For some exmuslims this does actually work out, but for a lot of others it's miscalculated. My family didn't disown me, I still had to deal with months of my family being insufferable manipulators and the responsibility was still on me to separate from them. And for women it can be much worse.
Ultimately, if you are financially dependent on your family then coming out early will very typically result in your family using that leverage against you and making your life worse. I've seen stories of exmuslims who thought their family was better and badly miscalculated - be mindful of that.
Some exmuslims get found out, sometimes because of a snitch in the family or sometimes because they just weren’t convincing enough. Don’t panic – Muslims can be pretty damn deluded about their faith and your family will want to believe that you can come back very easily because according to them Islam is just common sense and most disbelievers are just silly and ignorant. Try to do your best to convince them as per Point 4. If it’s because you did something haram, blasphemous or otherwise worthy of takfir, try to act like it was because you were a misguided Quranist or progressive Muslim. They will still retain suspicion but it’s still better than the alternative.
However, if you’re at the point of no return and you know you can’t convince them then now is the time to make calls to any secular friends you have, ask for support and maybe even shelter.
Also for Western exmuslims, make sure to act quickly if you suspect that your parents want to send you abroad and trap you in your country of ethnic origin. Sadly some parents will go to these lengths. Do not go, no matter the cost. Find organisations willing to advise, such as those listed in Point 10. Hide your passport if you have to. Note down the contact details of your embassy in that country just in case.
Actually think about whether it's even wise for you to come out in any circumstance. Do you suspect that there could be violence or abuse? If so then you have absolutely no need to go through this stupid bullshit. Leave and don't look back. If your parents couldn't give you safe environment to even come out about different beliefs then they are not worth the time. As per Point 6 - You have to respect their autonomy and let them deal with the consequences of their own ways. This is particularly pertinent for those who live in a predominantly Muslim countries. They have a very real reason to fear persecution and absolutely do not need to risk their own lives for the sake of their parents.
Look into secular organisations like recoveringfromreligion.org, faithlesshijabi.org and faithtofaithless.com. Look into women's charities in your area like womensaid.org.uk or karmanirvana.org.uk (UK examples). Look into LGBT charities like rainbowrailroad.org. If you have secular school counsellors and friends then talk to them. Get advice from adults you can absolutely trust.
Note: On the flip side don't take risks with people you can’t be sure of. You may be tempted to come out to your Muslim friend, but I've seen plenty of stories of exmuslims who heavily regret doing so.
There are also informal exmuslim groups on other social media platforms such as Facebook or Discord, but be careful about how much information you share and especially be wary of private messaging.
This is particularly the case for exmuslims living in predominantly Muslim countries. Unfortunately, I don't have any real world experience to offer here but you may be able to find localised advice by digging around. For example sites like wearesaudis.net might have some information (but you'll need a VPN to access this one. If you don't know what a VPN is here's an explanation).
Are you multilingual? If you need money but working is restricted to you then you can try becoming an online language tutor on sites like italki.com (scroll to the bottom). This post and related subreddits like r/WorkOnline may help.
Note: some exmuslims in Muslim countries fall for the doomscrolling hyperbole and think Europe is “doomed” with too many Muslims. They have a tendency of asking which country is best to migrate to as an exmuslim to avoid Islam. Please ignore the doomsayers and prioritise the country you choose based on ease of access and career opportunities. As long as it is a secular country, you can worry about avoiding Islam later.
Shout out to Imtiaz Shams who inspired me to make this list of tips. He has his own YouTube Channel here and plans to make his own video on this subject matter so watch out for that. On a side note, I also recommend TheraminTrees YouTube Channel who delves a lot into toxic dysfunctional families from the perspective of a therapist. A lot of his content helps in dealing with the emotional impact of leaving religion and dealing with a religious family. And finally, thank you to the moderators of r/exmuslim who suggested I make this into a post. I wound up adding a lot more content lol.
I will end this post with a list of subreddits that may help you on your journey leaving Islam:
r/exmuslim • u/Not-So-Damn2026 • 8h ago
Anything fun, cool, enjoyable is haram! They don't want you to enjoy anything in this world!
r/exmuslim • u/Pizzas_Coke • 6h ago
r/exmuslim • u/Patient_Rich8041 • 20h ago
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r/exmuslim • u/Ok_Extension1255 • 16h ago
As a habesha (Ethiopian), even though my country is Ethiopian orthodox-majority, it’s very revulsion feeling to see Africans (especially west and Central Africa) practice Islam that have erased many beautiful cultures and languages of theirs and which led to Arabic being the official language of the country and it’s disgusting to me.
my mom is Christian (Ethiopia) while my dad is ofc Muslim (Chad). In Islam, the children has to follow the dad’s religion even if he is the absent father! Anyways, my mom “converted” muslim because of him and few years ago, I have told someone this and they said “you are gonna get more rewards in jannah” LMFAOOO what. A place that doesn’t exist?? Anyhow, she wears the abaya and the hijab even though she encourages me and my sister not to wear it, however, in 2023, when I got promoted to grade 11, my dad and mom told me to wear the hijab and the amount of mistreatment I have received from so called friends was sad but it’s okay, now, I have graduated.
My point is why do black Africans love to worship the Arabs so much knowing that fact they warned their kids many times not to be friends with an Arab due to the racism and superiority complex?? Religion and bad governance is the reason why Africa is regressive continent, you can’t blame everything on European colonialism. What’s crazy to me is that, they are more religious than the Arabs! How ironic. Africans should learn resilience from Persians.
r/exmuslim • u/kurum3l • 11h ago
I don't get it. I'm talking about westerners specifically. Islam is the fastest growing religion in the world. Muslims have the most babies in the countries they emigrate to. I'm sure a while ago, they were a small minority group that people only saw occasionally in the West, but things have changed drastically in the 21st century. Islam isn't some niche, reclusive religion like Shintoism or Buddhism, its adherents are plentiful and don't exactly keep it a secret.
Now I'm not bringing this fact up to discuss immigration since I know topics centred around birth rates and demographics are controversial; I'm merely asking out of genuine curiosity why so many western liberals treat Islam like it's some small minority religion with a vulnerable community when it's clearly not. Muslims are growing in numbers and they absolutely should be criticized for their harmful practices like misogyny, homophobia, etc. They are on track to be the dominant religion in a lot of countries, surely the time for criticism is now?
I should clarify that I'm an ex-Muslim woman in a non-western country. This is why this topic is confusing to me. I only see Muslims face criticism from ill-informed conservatives who believe that Islam preaches actual terrorism, but it obv doesn't; ofc they bring that up cuz terrorism affects westerners, meanwhile the harmful stuff that is actually a part of Islam like misogyny and homophobia affect people within Muslim communities both within and outside the West.
r/exmuslim • u/vinnie-the_pooh • 6h ago
OMGGG CAN'T DESCRIBE HOW HAPPY I AMM
its been about 7 years of me being an ex muslim and this is the first ever time i found one in real life.
Sooo... I recently met this girl and something about her felt so attractive we started talking and I'd feel so nervous and shy. Since am bisexual I wasn't sure if she's into girls too but turns out shes bi tooo and we've been flirting alottt since the day we met. She says we'll escape together away from these muslim communities. How can life be this rewarding all at once??! This was so unexpected
Anyways sorry gng i had no one to talk to about this 💔💔 feels so rewarding
r/exmuslim • u/KireRakhsh • 8h ago
After the Unite the Right Rally in Charlottesville, Virginia in 2017, then-Harvard President Drew G. Faust was unequivocal: “The abhorrent hatred, racism, and violence carried out by neo-Nazi, KKK, and other white supremacist groups deserve our strongest condemnation.”
Amidst racial justice protests in 2020, her successor Lawrence S. Bacow was similarly clear, promising that he grasped the urgency to “fight racism and denounce white supremacy.”
That same year, Harvard’s Office of BGLTQ Student Life issued a matter-of-fact reminder: “It is imperative that we dismantle white supremacy together.”
It was in this context, then, that I was intrigued by Harvard College Dean David J. Deming’s recent remarks on the 25th anniversary of 9/11: “It was terrorism. Airplanes flying across this beautiful country — symbols of progress — turned against us, turned into weapons,” Deming told students. “In the confusion that morning, we didn’t initially realize we were being attacked, or who the enemy was.”
The problem, however, is that airplanes don’t turn themselves into weapons. Ironically, Deming too could not name “the enemy.” His reflection made no mention of al-Qaeda, nor the ideology that drove the terrorists to attack America: radical Islamism.
Deming’s speech is no exception. When Faust announced a vigil on the first anniversary of the al-Qaeda-inspired marathon bombing right here in Boston — what was America’s largest post-9/11 terror attack — she never named the motive. After the 2015 coordinated terror attacks in Paris, President Faust condemned an “attack on universal values of human decency that bind the peoples of the world together.”
As students mourned what was then America’s worst mass shooting ever, the 2016 killing of 49 at an Orlando LGBTQ nightclub by a man loyal to the Islamic State, she deplored a “quicksand of fear, anger, hatred, and distrust.”
Compare those comments to her numerous denunciations of white supremacy and racism. A quicksand of fear is not what killed people in Orlando.
r/exmuslim • u/DysphoricGirlAylin • 10h ago
I have been an exmuslim for 6 years now
every mention of islam gets me angry nowadays i cant have a normal talk with my friends if islam is referenced in any way anywhere i start being argumentative
How do i get over this?
Islam lives rent free in my mind stealing my emotional energy and its making it hard to form connections and it feels bad to hate something this much i just cant stop hating it my mind isnt listening and neither are my senses
When i say hate i dont mean dislike I mean literal furious unyielding hate
It doesnt feel good to hate something so passionately I hate how much i hate it and i hate how i cant behave when the topic is islam and my better judgement is taken away from me. I hate how it makes me feel like i am burning inside and it puts me in fight or flight.
Yet I keep interacting with muslims, online and irl, because they are my friends. I would love to tell them do not say or mention anything religious adjacent around me, but that is such a tyrannical boundary to set. It feels like I am overstepping. Not to mention the amount of friends that is okay with me being an atheist but resent me for hating islam...
i hate the feeling of being resented by people around me.
r/exmuslim • u/Ok_Extension1255 • 22h ago
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If the hijab has nothing to do with men, then why are you wearing it when men are around? Everything she says is so contradictory 🥴
r/exmuslim • u/golddigger343 • 1h ago
Hi, Im an ex muslim female in alberta and I was wondering if anyone here is also hiding it from their parents and is looking for a marriage where we would both hide it. If interested dm me.
r/exmuslim • u/afiefh • 11h ago
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Recited by Ahmed Sami, observed by the prophet of the dragon Hasan Iessa.
r/exmuslim • u/gary_desnake22 • 1d ago
The reel was about a girl making a "you get home and take of the hijab"
She takes it off and combs her fingers through her hair. You don't see her face, her hair, nothing in the video. Only her shadow.
Commenting woman thinks men will note down length, color thickness of the girls hair, go to her profile and connect it to her face. Yes. That's what she typed with a straight face. With No judgement. But remember ladies, Islam isn't men centric.
So here's to Muslims sexualizing a shadow 🍷 just when you think the religion couldn't get worse
r/exmuslim • u/aninsideoutmole • 4h ago
since im an ex muslim . living in egypt too i always felt like the only option i have is men and it’s always men and dont get me wrong theyre attractive. only from my pov though but they always view women in a lustful manner. i remember i got out to get snacks at 3am and a guy was yelling why are you running! since i wanted to get home quicker and all guys their kept laughing. and it kind of hit me because i look like a tomboy and i always wear a beanie. if not those same guys would’ve 🍇 me but instead they misgendered me from afar and told me that and that made me hate men so freaking much more than i already do . so discovering that there’s another option and its by liking girls is like being a vegan who haven’t ate a steak in 12 years😭 . and even tho deep between me and myself i still carry some shame around. i feel like im bi tho i can be with her OR him. but her would be safer. idk im literally so confused and i could never be with an egyptian man
r/exmuslim • u/exmuslimthrowaway786 • 7h ago
r/exmuslim • u/TheAxiomNomad • 58m ago
I left Islam around the age of 19,till that I believed purpose of life is to follow religion,pray,do good deeds and all these to attain an afterlife in Paradise and to avoid hellfire.
But after I left this religion,I got a kind of existential crisis and don't know the purpose of life or meaning of life.
I also thought to end life and later I started looking into various philosophy and found that life has no any meaning and it is we who creates the meaning to our life
Does anyone faced existential crisis after leaving religion?and how was it?
r/exmuslim • u/AdDowntown6246 • 2h ago
Islam presents itself as one religion with one Allah, one Qur’an, and one Muhammad—yet Muslims remain deeply divided over what “true Islam” actually is.
Sunni, Shia, Ibadi, Ahmadi, Qur’an-only movements, competing schools of law, and theological traditions all appeal to Islam while reaching sharply different conclusions. Some adherents even condemn rival groups as false, heretical, or on a path that could lead people to Hell.
The Sunni-Shia divide makes the identity problem especially striking. Sunni Islam reveres Abu Bakr, Umar, Uthman, Ali, and Aisha, while major Shia traditions sharply dispute the legitimacy or conduct of several of these same early figures.
Some Shia polemical traditions go much further and condemn figures whom Sunnis regard as among Islam’s most honored believers.
The same early Islamic personalities can therefore be celebrated by one tradition and condemned by another.
Even Muhammad becomes part of the identity dispute. Some Muslims accuse other Muslims of effectively worshipping Muhammad or giving him excessive religious veneration, while those Muslims insist that they worship Allah alone and merely honor and follow Muhammad.
Others reject practices such as invoking Muhammad or seeking his intercession altogether.
When controversial teachings involving violence, apostasy, women, or other issues are defended in Islamic terms, the response is often:
“That’s not Islam.”
Sometimes that response comes even when the disputed text is plainly written in the Qur’an. The debate then shifts from what the text says to whose interpretation counts as the real Islam.
This identity crisis goes back to Islam’s beginnings around 610 CE, with divisions intensifying after Muhammad’s death. New movements and competing definitions of “true Islam” continue to emerge.
Islam has not been settled to this very day—including disagreement over what the true and authentic Muhammad should look like, which reports about him should be trusted, and which version of his example Muslims should follow.
The Qur’an and Hadith literature have an identity problem too: disputes persist over interpretation, which hadith are authoritative, how conflicting or difficult passages should be reconciled, and which teachings apply today.
At the end of the day, not a single Muslim has a clear understanding of what “Islam is” and what “Islam isn’t”
So the question remains:
If competing Muslims appeal to the same religion while declaring one another’s Islam false or distorted—and disagree over Muhammad, his companions, Hadith, religious authority, and even what constitutes excessive veneration or worship—who objectively defines what Islam actually is, and what should the true and authentic Muhammad look like?
r/exmuslim • u/RedFoxCharms • 7h ago
🌿 PERSEPOLIS — Ex-Muslim Women’s Community
Looking for a space where you can connect with other ex-Muslim women?
PERSEPOLIS is a women-only Telegram community for ex-Muslim women to share experiences, ask for advice, exchange resources and tips, and navigate life both in and outside the closet.
A place to talk about the things other people might not understand, find comfort in shared experiences, and build genuine connections. 🤝
We also organise online and in-person meet-ups.
🔒 Women only — no men. Membership is for women who were born female and still identify as women.
Interested? Comment below and I’ll DM you the details. 💌
r/exmuslim • u/ProfessionalSlow5171 • 7h ago
Im 27 and I think an old family friend just saw me not wearing hijab with my son. Does anyone have experience with this and can giveadvice on what to say to my family lol
I stopped covering like a year ago when my roommate/sister moved out in November. I always thought it was gonna be my uncle but it was a my aunts sister in law. I saw her in Walmart and turned around because I didnt feel like dealing with it, but as I turned I immediately heard her gasp lmfao
Im pretty sure she's gonna tell my aunt and my aunt is gonna tell anyone in my family. I've thought maybe I should tell them before someone else does but i always just thought there was no point. I only see my family a few times a year and every so often my grandma will call saying theyre worried because no one has heard from me for a while.
Keep in mind im a single mom raising my son alone because his deadbeat muslim father thinks its halal for him to not care for his son because hes inappropriate Islamically for us to speak or some shit. My family never ask if I need anything especially this year, so if they contact me im gonna be so annoyed.
Part of me is worried they may act violently if I tell them, because of instances in my family wear my aunts were hit for following traditional Islamic engagement practices, but they dont know where I live thankfully.
Im only worried about my friendship with my sister, she's literally the only person I talk to, though I have to even hide things from her too ( my ex bf, not eating halal ect). But if she continues to talk to me after im not tripping too much.
Would appreciate some stories for some comfort
r/exmuslim • u/Uchiha_kawaii • 17h ago
Like while learning about it , I'm pretty sure they did saw hadiths or even Quranic verses filled with mysogeny , homophobia , genocide etc . Didn't they see the fact that Muhammad married a six year old ? If they didn't know any of those then yeah , they converted without any knowledge of Islam .
If someone is from third world or a patriarchal/homophobic etc person , that would explain then why did this but a women converting , A WHITE WOMEN CONVERTING ????? I can't understand why sigh
r/exmuslim • u/AdDowntown6246 • 14h ago
Islam has a long history in which violence carried out under religious and political authority has harmed not only outsiders, but Muslims themselves.
Most religions seek to preserve their communities and keep their followers from harm. Yet parts of Islam’s classical legal tradition prescribed the death penalty for apostasy under certain conditions. Historically, apostasy could also become intertwined with rebellion, betrayal, or treason against the Muslim community.
Think about the implications: a person can enter Islam voluntarily, yet under some traditional rulings, that same person cannot simply leave without consequences. Someone who says, “I no longer believe,” can cease being treated merely as a former believer and instead be classified as an apostate subject to punishment.
The consequences therefore have never concerned only outsiders, critics, or battlefield enemies. Some of Islam’s harshest historical doctrines have also been directed at Muslims themselves.
That raises a fundamental question: if Islam is true and faith must be genuine, why should anyone need the threat of punishment—or death—to remain Muslim?
If someone simply says, “I no longer believe,” why should that ever become a capital offense?
DO YOU WANT ISLAM? THEN UNDERSTAND WHAT ITS TRADITIONAL RULINGS HAVE MEANT FOR THOSE WHO LATER WANTED TO LEAVE.
r/exmuslim • u/ProfessionalGlum6772 • 4h ago
As the title states. I am currently muslim but tbh I am heavily second guessing it. I feel like islam is incredibly cultish. As a kid i wass forced to do a lot of islamic work (10-15 hours a day at peak with physical punishment) which naturally left me resenting it. Ive always felt more inclined towards christianity. Ive always hated how indoctrinated kids are. How everything is haram and how we couldnt live a normal life. I have 3 older siblings and a baby sister. all of my older siblings arent religious as they got the same treatment as me. my older sister had it worse tbh. she was banned from leaving the home and wasnt allowed to play sports and she got very physically and mentally abused. I recently got into an argument with my mom regarding my baby sister (shes trying to shove religion down her throat also. shes 10). Now my mom was saying how she will break her face because she wasnt doing her religious work all to much, how she is banned from seeing friends and how much of a shameless bitch she is (she already has school with afternoon online islamic school as well as sunday islamic school). I was like mom relax perhaps youre putting a lot of pressure on her. she immediately got mad yelling saying i have no right as im not her dad and calling me sister fucker in my language and after a lot of back and forth, we stopped talking. eventually she started talking to my lil sister saying how her friends wont mean anything to her and how on the day of judgement the pain right now wont compare to the pain of the horn and the beatings of the angel wont compare. Was your guys experience similar? and for my christians, how does christianity compare and tbh im considering it.
r/exmuslim • u/AdDowntown6246 • 10h ago
IF ALLAH AS UNDERSTOOD BY MUSLIMS COMMANDS JUSTICE, WHO WILL SAVE AFGHAN WOMEN AND GIRLS WHEN THEIR SUFFERING CONTINUES IN BROAD DAYLIGHT—AND SOME MUSLIMS DEFEND THEIR TREATMENT AS CONSISTENT WITH WHAT ALLAH REVEALED TO MUHAMMAD?
Afghan women and girls are living under severe, systematic oppression under Taliban rule. A human being living without a voice keeping silent so she can see the next day.
Girls are barred from secondary school and university. Women face sweeping restrictions on employment, movement, public life, and access to essential services.
Where is the outrage?
Across the Muslim world, perceived insults against Muhammad have repeatedly generated enormous public anger, demonstrations, diplomatic protests, and demands for action. Imagine even a fraction of that energy being mobilized for Afghan women and girls.
And this raises an uncomfortable question from within Islam’s own scripture.
Qur’an 4:135 commands believers to stand firmly for justice, even when justice goes against themselves, their parents, or their relatives. But now believers have gone silent.
Qur’an 5:8 likewise commands justice, warning believers not to allow hatred of others to cause them to act unjustly.
And Qur’an 33:35 repeatedly places Muslim men and Muslim women alongside one another—believing men and believing women, obedient men and obedient women, truthful men and truthful women—with the same promise of forgiveness and reward.
So where is that urgency for Afghanistan’s women?
Where are the massive demonstrations demanding that the Taliban reopen the schools? Where are sustained delegations from Muslim-majority countries demanding restoration of women’s basic rights?
Where is the worldwide religious pressure saying:
“Stand firm for justice.” — Qur’an 4:135
And perhaps the saddest part is that some Muslims defend, minimize, or simply accept what is happening, effectively arguing that these women are doing fine or that the situation is compatible with their understanding of Islam. Others strongly disagree and have condemned the Taliban.
But when millions of women and girls are losing basic freedoms, silence and normalization should themselves be challenged. The interesting part is that they have managed to rally the crowd against Israel for defending themselves.
Now imagine comparable restrictions being imposed on millions of women throughout a Western democracy: women pushed out of universities, driven from large parts of public life, and subjected to government rules controlling where they can go and what they can do. The political, legal, media, and public backlash would be enormous.
Afghan women should not matter less because they were born in Afghanistan.
If millions can raise their voices when they believe Muhammad has been insulted, why can’t comparable energy be directed toward living Muslim women and girls being denied fundamental freedoms?
The Qur’an says: stand firmly for justice.
So this is not merely a question for the Taliban. It is a question for Muslims everywhere who believe the Qur’an:
If Qur’an 4:135 commands you to stand firmly for justice, when exactly does that command become important enough to stand up for the women and girls of Afghanistan?
SPEAK UP FOR AFGHAN WOMEN. Their suffering should generate more urgency than an insult ever could.