I make no secret of the fact that I dislike the ideology of Islam. I dislike its theology, I dislike its moral code which is an inversion of those found in the genuinely Abrahamic religions like Christianity and Judaism, I dislike its effect on the societies and nations it colonises or attempts to colonise and I dislike its violent suppression of women, LGB’s and free thinkers. Yes I know Islam wasn’t always like that and that there have been historical pockets of Islam where freedom of thought was greater at that time than could be found in the Christian world. But we are dealing with what Islam is in the here and now and what I see I dislike.
However I have never believed that we should judge all individual Moslems by the tenets of Islam itself. There are a whole host of Moslems who do what Christians and Jews do every day which is to be selective about what paths within Islam and what strictures imposed by that faith they follow or take seriously. It would be morally wrong to judge the peaceful, integrated and loyal ‘Joe Mohammed from the tyre shop’ type of Moslem as being the same as the growing number of Islamic extremists who are stressing Western societies. The ‘Joe Mohammeds ‘ who we deal with every day are not the problem and should not be treated as such and should be protected from both mindless assault by the ignorant outside of Islam and from the extremists in their own community.
But there is another group that we should also look out for and it is one that I’ve pleaded on their behalf for many years and that are the ex-Muslims. Why people leave Islam is personal to each individual but for some it’s a growing disgust at what Islam tells its followers to believe and do that pushes people out of Islam.
Ex-Muslims are a community at risk from their former community’s extremists who take to heart the commandment in Islam to kill those who leave Islam. These people speak up often at great risk to themselves to expose the bad sides of Islam and the troubling nature of Islamic belief as expressed in the modern world. It is ex-Muslims who have told us of the dire state of play for women, LBG’s, free thinkers and religious minorities in modern Islamic communities. It is to ex-Muslims that the world looks to when it comes to insider commentary on Islamic belief systems, theology and culture and we look to ex-Muslims for this information. This is because we in the Western world cannot trust what Islamic activists and true believers tell us about Islam as they have a vested interest in glossing over the more nasty bits of Islamic theology with the lunatic and dishonest phrase ‘Islam is a religion of peace’ being one of the most egregious of these types of comments.
We must as members of Western societies, cultures and nations look out for the ex-Muslim and as much as possible have their backs when times get difficult for them. Ex-Muslims risk a great deal to expose the problems within Islam and the problems certain sorts of Islam pose for the rest of us. We must protect and cherish such people as they are not just on ‘our ‘ side but on the side of every Muslim who is oppressed by extremist Islam.
I will leave you with a quote from Mosab Hassan Yousef the ‘son of Hamas’ who rejected extremist Islam and ultimately Islam itself in order to fight back against Hamas. In a post on the X platform Mr Yousef put out a plea to young Muslims to reject the ideology that they’ve been brainwashed to believe. Mr Yousef said:
“A Message to Young Muslims
Young Muslims who have been conditioned by their parents and society to believe that their fate is to live and die as Muslims should rebel.
Allah is man-made; there is no hellfire in the afterlife. Enjoy your freedom, reject slavery to others.
You are a child of Life with limitless potential. Not a slave to any belief system.
Rise up and do not fear what they say about you. You should not be afraid even if they threaten to kill you. And most importantly, never be afraid of their gods, they are not real. When you succeed in conquering your shame, pride, guilt, and fear, the gods you fear today will fear you.
Grow wings, fly high, leave the herd behind.
Become a Lion.”
You can find the original post by Mr Yousef via the link below:
https://x.com/MosabHasanYOSEF/status/2001411578407588197
Whilst what you say about “Jo Mohammed” et al and the periods in history during which Islam was more tolerant is true, what has to be realised is that for an orthodox Muslim (or anyone who actually knows what Islam teaches) then Jo Mohammed is, at best a Munifiq (hypocrite) and at worst an apostate. I say this not to ‘attack’ the Jo Mohammed’s in any way (whom I consider to have risen, due to their humanity, above Islam’s teaching) but to point out that their beliefs and attitudes are not in accord with Islamic teaching.
Similarly, those periods of history in which Islam was tolerant are also not in accord with Islamic teaching and several such rulers (e.g. Akbar the Great of India) were considered apostates by the religious authorities.
My general point is that we should never mistake the Jo Mohammed’s for genuinely faithful Muslims – they are something better than that, nor the tolerant periods as reflecting “real Islam”.
Ex-Muslims are often the strongest and most vitrolic critics of Islam for the very reason that they have understood its true message (which is diametrically opposite its “religion of peace” faux-subriquet) and have rejected it in total and (very bravely) spoken out.
I suspect that at least some Jo Mohammeds are actually “silent apostates”. They no longer really believe and know that they are not really “mumin” (faithful Muslims) at all, but at least continue to adopt the outward forms which means the orthodox will not try to remove their heads.
But I am also aware that most orthodox Muslims in the west think of themselves as “In Mecca” and consequently will act according to Islam’s early message of ‘peace and tolerance’ rather than the final recitations of vioence and aggression, but as the demographics etc. change, so will they.
Good post. I think it was the Religion of Peace site that once said “Do not judge Muslims by the Islam you know and do not judge Islam by the Muslims you know’. The nice, admirable Muslim might not represent the fundamentals of Islam and the screaming hatred of Islamic theology may not represent some ordinary Muslims.
I agree with you about silent apostasy in Islamic communities as they are silent because of fear of the extremists.