Transmissions From Closed Society: Tadamun al Murtadin from Morocco

The following is from a young man living in Morocco who we will call Tadamun al Murtadin, or Tad.  Tad is 18 years old: Follow Tad at twitter.com/Tadamunn and facebook.com/tadamun.almurtadin

Apostate in Morocco

My name is Tadamun, I'm a 18 years, I'm an Ex-Muslim atheist. I live in Morocco and I study in college currently. As an apostate I face persecution, oppression and violence from society and even from my family.

   I left Islam more than 1 years ago, after a long time of reading and seeking the truth. I was 17 years old back then. I was never okay with blindly following, as a skeptical person i couldn't keep believing without evidence, especially when i start to notice the brutal, cruel teaching of Islam and the many illogical things in Quran. So when i got the chance to read more about Islam, and raise my scientific knowledge, especially reading about Evolution theory, i realized that scientific method is the only true way of knowing, and that Islam is literally a source of terrorism all around the world, so i ended up being an atheist.

  Talking about my family, I'm literally in a quite hard situation dealing with my extremist father, who's forcing me to Islam, he did punch me several times just because I don't pray and do other Islamic things, and he's keep threatening. He once said to me: "If I see you talking bad about Islam one more time, i will kick you out of my house, and I won't consider you my son anymore". That hurts, he's so cruel when it comes to Islam, he can even kill me if he figured out that I'm no longer a Muslim.

    I have two little innocent sisters, I love them so much, and I feel sorry when I think that they will be raised as Muslims too, I wish to do something about it when they're old enough. but I am not rich, and it's quite hard for a young guy like me to find a job in this country. I can't blame my mother for being a Muslim inside this manly society which is under the control of men. My father for example, he have complete control over my mother, and she can't do anything about it, he decides what she should wear, when she's allowed to go out, and if she didn't obey him he punches her, it makes me so sad seeing my mother treated like this, this what it's like to live in a Muslim country no one cares about Humans rights.

  This society is sick, during summer days I will have to starve myself, and hide myself if I want to drink just a cup of water because of Ramadan, and if I do eat something in public I will immediately go to jail. Also there is no LGBT rights over here, one of my best friends is gay, and he's treated so cruel, religious people are making fun of him, and even they try to fight him. One day In college, one of the teachers there was treating my friend so bad in class when he knows that he's gay, I tried to defend him by discussing the whole thing with him, I explained to him that homosexuality isn't a choice.  And it exists in several animals as well as humans so it's completely natural thing, as expected from a Muslim teacher he got mad, and I was about to get fired from college because of that. I ended up getting a very bad treatment from my classmates and other teachers. We're in a bad situation just because we're different, just because we're using our brain to think. I hope one day I will be able to continue my study in a better place, where I can peacefully express myself and study what I'm passionate about.

  Since I became an atheist, I have convinced 3 of my close friends to leave Islam, because I wanna be a part of this revolution against this culture, to open the eyes of people to see what Islamic doctrine really is. And I will always fight against any inhumane behavior. I need help to build my life, to learn and study, and most of all to keep myself safe, because it's really dangerous to be around all of these starving Muslims

  Just like any other young man in this world, I have my own dreams. I wanna live in a secular country and continue my study there. To be honest I have a lot of financial problems stopping me from leaving Morocco, my Muslims family doesn't support me, and they're doubting that I'm an atheist. I love computer science and I'm really into graphic design, I wanna be a creative literate man, and it would be awesome if I got the chance to study In a great university to study Graphic design or Computer science. But I'm facing these problems that stopping me to develop myself and have a good life.

Tadamun al Murtadin
Morocco

Transmissions From Closed Society: Impiety, A Taboo In Pakistan by Rafiq

The following essay was written by a young man from Pakistan.  We'll call him Rafiq. He is 19 years old.

Impiety, A Taboo: by Rafiq in Pakistan

 Out of the early 7th century Hejaz region of the Arabian Peninsula comes the second largest religion in the world. Apparently just another monotheistic religion, Islam includes a large number of practices that affect lives of the people and leaves a remarkable impact on society.

The vast majority of followers of this religion today inhabit North Africa, the Middle East and South Asia. While the majority of the population in these areas are Muslims, there are also some people living in “closets” among them. To their own people they don’t appear very alien, but in reality, they are segregated from almost everyone around them. For excellent reasons, these people have to live a secret life, because hardly any of them would want to come out and risk their life. Out of their own league, these people actually happen to be cultural critics, rationalists and free thinkers. They commit what, to the majority of the people around them, is a crime known as blasphemy. In such a rigid atmosphere it is easy to go with the flow, but they go against it. They are almost unknown to everyone around them, including their blood relatives.  They lead a life in secret, a prisoner in their own minds.

Skeptical thinking and questioning the religious traditions are not the norm in Islamic societies. Most of the Muslim majority countries apply Sharia, a religious law based on the Quran and other Islamic doctrines, to their legislature. This includes blasphemy laws, which contain penalties from life imprisonment up to death for anyone who is found guilty of blaspheming the religion of Islam or its prophet. There have been a number of cases where the blasphemy convicts are sentenced to horrendous punishments. Besides having such severe laws, the societies in these countries are not very tolerant either. Unlike in the western societies where people do not question an individual’s right to freedom of speech, in the Muslim societies it is quite the opposite. Religion is a very sensitive subject to the Muslim people. Anything negative said about their religious dogma or the prophet is not tolerated at all.  Apostasy, leaving Islam, is considered one of the biggest social crimes and in a great lot of societies it is punishable by death. This too mostly does not require a proper court ruling in accordance with the laws but a simple social and religious construct.


To someone who has lived in such a society for whole of their life, these are the facts of life. Being born and raised into such a totalitarian culture that considers itself the absolute, final and unchangeable word of god, a child undergoes an intense level of indoctrination. The indoctrination does not only include irrational superstition but also dissension, execration and fanaticism. This kind of brainwashing injures the minds and deprives people of the ability to create a pluralistic, tolerant and multicultural society. People holding different beliefs and opinions are viewed as heretics and it becomes very difficult for the minorities in these Muslim majority countries to survive such kind of social persecution.

Transmissions From Closed Society: Khazana

The following was written by a young woman from Tunisia.  We'll call her Khazana. She is 28 years old.

I Want To Live: from Khazana in Tunisia

I am a woman, an Arabic atheist from Tunisia; do you know what it means to be an atheist in a country where 99% are Muslims?  It means you must keep your atheism to yourself and try not to reveal yourself to people around you. It means your life might be threatened at any time.  Your life is less valuable here because in my country being an atheist means you are a sinful person.  You are guilty. You are wrong.  For this you will be rejected, dissed or killed.

I am thankful for science and reason for opening my eyes to the truth. I am not a slave to illusions and lies anymore. I don’t believe in supernatural beings and I don't wish to be subject to morality based on outmoded religious beliefs.  I am capable of making up my own mind.  The people around me cannot find out that I have stopped believing.

I am 28 years old and I am desperate to have a relationship with some like-minded people. How can I get along with people if I don’t share the same beliefs and mentality!? I can’t be in a romantic relationship with men who might abuse me if they discover my secret.  I am afraid I will be forced to marry and obey a man that will treat me as if I am not an independent adult human worthy of dignity. I do not wish to live a secret life where I pretend to be religious and perform 5 prayers per day with a scarf on my head.

I would like to leave Tunisia, but it is hard to find a job.  I could not afford a plane ticket.  I am stuck here with no one to talk to, no one to listen.  It is just me, helpless and alone in the dark.

I am not the only one who is struggling. The unemployment rate among women is 41.1% and the unemployment rate among men is 21.4%.  I have spent 3 years trying and failing to find a job.

There is no future for me here. I am done with my situation I want to have a life.  I want to experience freedom. I want a job that makes me feel like a human. I want the opportunity to have an impact on society. I want rights. I want to defend those rights. I want TO LIVE!

Khazana,
Tunisia

Transmissions From Closed Society: Samat

The following is from a young man living in Pakistan. We will call him Samat. He is 23 years old.

Fake Prayers with my Jihadi Family: from Samat in Pakistan

I am a 23-year old Ex-Muslim in Pakistan who has been living underground for almost two years now. I say I’m underground instead of "in the closet," because underground is where I feel I’ve been for the past two years: I have an ‘Islamist’ family.

My uncle is a convicted terrorist. He was with the Taliban. I have a cousin who is a recruiter for ISIS in a village where I have other relatives on my mother's side. Many people in that same village morally and financially support some Islamist militant groups in Pakistan. Things are not so good on my father’s side as well, since my parents were distant relatives before they got married. I used to be the same as my militant family members. I used to be an admirer of Osama bin Laden. I had plans to join Hamas when I was 18 or 19, but I ended up losing my faith, for a variety of reasons.

I still go the mosque, to fake prayers. I do my best to pretend to fast in Ramadan. I help slay the goat at Eid. This is something you just can’t get used to. You can’t get used to hiding your identity all the time, because you are afraid that if you come out, you will get physically harmed for it. You can’t get used to constant fear. If there was no death penalty for apostasy under Islamic law that many Muslims (including my family) believe in, I wouldn’t be hiding my identity. I would only get disowned if that were the case. One can get over social ostracization in my opinion, but once you’re dead, you’re dead.

Previously my aim in life was Jihad and martyrdom. Now, it’s to get out of Pakistan somehow. I don’t think I can hide my identity forever. Not with these family members. I have been approached by the recruiter in my mother’s village to join ISIS. The recruiters present you with a warped, binary perspective of world politics, framing it in terms of Muslim vs Non-Muslim and they justify this worldview with a plethora of Quranic verses, hadith and their explanations. I’ve refused to join, mentioning half-forgotten peaceful verses in the Quran in an attempt to delegitimize ISIS in religious terms. Other times, I’ve said I’ll study Islam myself and then decide.

I know my pretense can’t last forever. Will I be faking prayers, faking fasting in Ramadan 10 years from today? Will I always be watching over my shoulder, concerned that nobody in the family finds out there’s an apostate in the family? Some classmates of mine from University know I’m an atheist and the news about my apostasy seems to be spreading around in my social circle. I have to get out, sooner or later. I’d rather die trying to get out than get caught my family…or the state for that matter. Officially, atheists don’t exist in Pakistan. We are an unrecognized minority. There have been cases where the state has imprisoned atheists in Pakistan over blasphemy charges. (1) Talks about apostasy bills have taken place in government (2). But my biggest fear is getting assaulted by a mob or physically beaten by family members. Even the accusation of apostasy can get you in serious danger (3). I was almost lynched once for eating in public in Ramadan. I had to beg people around me to forgive me and that I won’t eat again while others are fasting.


I’m uncertain about my future here and the uncertainty can be unnerving at times. I like to take comfort in the fact that, one way or another, this will end, eventually.

Samat,
Pakistan