Ex-Muslims of India find the X factor online

The Internet is doing to Islam what the printing press did to Christianity.
~ Maryam Namazie, Iranian-born writer and rights campaigner

All that the invention and then proliferation of the printing press did to Christianity is loosen the grip of orthodoxy over it and help spread what is called the enlightenment values. The Ottoman Empire, then flagbearers of Islam, resisted and even banned printing presses. But then the time of that idea had come. The printing press was not only adopted in the Muslim world, but it also flourished. The Holy Quran was soon being printed in volumes and became accessible to the common man.

Then came the Internet, which allowed knowledge and information to travel in real time. Everything became accessible to everyone. Increasingly, in their own language.

While it has become easier to spread God’s word, it is now equally easy to spread the disagreements with the faith. A new band of people emerged, who had freshly left the faiths they were born into. They were the new atheists. But those who left Islam insisted they be recognised as Ex-Muslims, unlike Ex-Christians or Ex-Hindus who prefer to be bunched under the umbrella term atheist.

Ex-Muslims, initially, were a phenomenon in the West. They came from the Muslim-dominated West Asia and sought to fight the faith. Iranian-Canadian Ali Sina started his blog way back at the dawn of the century. He inspired a bunch of Ex-Muslims to go online and declare their abandoning of Islam from the safety of their new, secular homes. Apostasy, or the act of leaving one's religion, is punishable by death in Islamic countries.

Then YouTube happened. And the Indians arrived on the scene. And it blew up in 2020.

These Indian Ex-Muslims began discussing the Quran and the Hadith, and debating with clerics on social media. All this while not revealing their location or identity for fear of facing violent retribution.

Muslim leaders and clerics call the Ex-Muslim movement in India a “stunt”, and trash it, saying their numbers are “too small to matter”.

But there are ripples now, if not waves, in the ocean of one of the biggest faiths in the world.

Islam is the fastest-growing religion in the world and is expected to overtake Christianity as the biggest religion by 2035, according to a Pew Research Center report in 2017.

However, there is also an undercurrent of people quitting Islam, which is true for most other religions.

In the US, about 23 per cent of adults who were raised as Muslims no longer identified as members of the faith, according to a Pew Research Center report published in 2018. Of those who left Islam, 7 per cent said “they didn’t agree with the teachings of Islam”.

That is exactly what the Ex-Muslims in India cite as the biggest reason for giving up Islam.

WHY EX-MUSLIMS DON’T COME OUT

The fact that many are leaving Islam has gone unnoticed because people do not come out for fear of being ostracised or even losing their lives.

“Ex-Muslims face threats primarily from the orthodox sects of Islam. For the same reason, many individuals are unwilling to come out [as Ex-Muslims]. Even on social media, they are forced to hide behind fake profiles and names,” EA Jabbar, an Ex-Muslim and activist from Kerala, tells IndiaToday.in.

Jabbar, who has been associated with the atheist movements in Kerala for decades now, refers to the 2017 Coimbatore killing to highlight the risk to lives of Ex-Muslims.

Thirty-one-year-old H Farook was hacked to death by a group of four people, which included two of his friends, for his views that were critical of Islam.

Such threats prevent atheists, agnostics and non-believers from coming out of their closeted lives.

‘Islam’s Non-Believers’, a 2016 film by Norwegian documentary film director Deeyah Khan, documents the lives and experiences of Ex-Muslims.

“The documentary provides an important insight into the hidden plight of young people in Britain, many of whom are leading double lives – pretending to still be Muslims, including by wearing the veil or attending mosque, in order to avoid ostracisation, abuse and even violence,” writes Maryam Namazie, who has herself renounced Islam. The Iranian-born writer and rights campaigner now resides in the UK and Namazie's Council of Ex-Muslims of Britain holds regular protests.

In 2018, pop singer Zayn Malik told British Vogue that he stopped believing in any of the Islamic doctrines. A person of Pakistani-British descent, Zayn Malik, said he neither identified as a Muslim nor did he carry out the religious practices.

But how have Ex-Muslims suddenly come to prominence and created a buzz?

EX-MUSLIMS IN INDIA AND SOCIAL MEDIA

Social media, says Maryam Namazie, has not only given countless young people access to “forbidden” ideas, it has also helped them find each other, share their stories and see that they are not alone. “It’s become a global resistance movement,” she adds.

That’s true in the case of India too.

Kerala Ex-Muslim EA Jabbar agrees that the internet is the big reason for the visibility [of Ex-Muslims]. He says the internet significantly helped the Ex-Muslims connect, meet and ideate, and finally get organised.

“I started writing blogs in 2007 [on rationalist, atheist thoughts] and the response was immense. A large number of people connected with me. We started a Facebook group ‘Free Thinkers’, and it had more than 2 lakh members. We cannot say that all of them are Ex-Muslims, but the movement emerged with the help of the internet,” tells IndiaToday.In.

Ex-Muslim Sahil, Sameer, Azaad Ground, Zafar Heretic, Sachwala, and Faiz Alam (The Humanist Murtad) have used social media platforms and their YouTube channels to reach out to more and more Indian Muslims. A regular on Sahil's channel, Ex-Muslim Munna Bhai aka Adnan is a fearlessly funny Ex-Muslim who entertains his audience in his Mumbai Tapori-style language.

They have been engaging with clerics and practising-Muslims on these platforms. But they do so mostly without revealing their identity and location.

But before the advent of all these masked social media crusaders was Shakeel Prem. He came out as a freethinker and runs the website Tarksheel Bharat. He questions the “orthodox way of life and beliefs" of Muslims in India.

Ex-Muslim Sahil took the internet by storm. His YouTube channel ExMuslim Sahil has over 500,000 subscribers and he has over 33,000 followers on Twitter, now X.

Sahil’s X bio says: “I am an Indian Ex-Muslim and my aim to present the other side of Islam and Prophet Muhammad SAW in a very simple and non-technical way to Muslim Ummah."

His YouTube livestreams, which at times run to 13 hours at a stretch, have seen over 13,000 real-time viewers, which even some news channels might find difficulty matching.

YouTube blocked Ex-Muslim Sahil’s channel on July 6. But immediately after the ban, #UnblockExMuslimSahillnIndia started trending on Twitter. The ban is yet to be revoked but Sahil is livestreaming to the world. Ex-Muslim Sahil now has a "backup channel" too.

Sahil’s journey to becoming an Ex-Muslim is one of U-turn.

He was born and raised in an orthodox Muslim family in Mumbai’s Dharavi. He participated in Tablighi Jamaat programmes and even extended Da’wah or proposals to non-Muslims to convert. According to his interviews, closer reading of Islamic religious texts raised several questions in his mind and he drifted away from the faith that he had once invited people to.

Ex-Muslim Sahil used to hide behind a mask until he was doxxed by a Pakistani cleric. Now that his real name and identity were revealed, he came out with a bang. Now he and Ex-Muslim Sahil both appear on mainstream channels without masks.

The other regular on Ex-Muslim Sahil's YouTube channel is Adam Seeker.

Adam Seeker is an Ex-Muslim Youtuber from a Pakistani Sunni family and is said to be well-versed in Islamic scriptures.

Adam Seeker, who has moved out of Pakistan, says "questions are restricted" in the Islamic country. In India, he says, people try to answer questions and queries. Adam Seeker reveals that he was a strict adherent of the religion since he was 7-8-year-old but moved away from the faith as he delved into the "details".

MUSLIM WORLD AND ISLAM

A 2020 survey of Iranians' attitudes towards religion threw up some surprising results for the Islamic republic that has a strict anti-apostasy regime.

The Group for Analyzing and Measuring Attitudes in Iran (GAMAAN) surveyed over 50,000 respondents and found that around 20 per cent of the respondents believed neither in God, heaven-hell or in life after death.

The survey also found that approximately half of the population reported “losing their religion” and 60 per cent reported that they did not pray.

“The rise of the so-called ‘nones’, who do not identify with a particular faith, has been noted in Muslim majority countries as different as Iraq, Tunisia, and Morocco,” Pooyan Tamimi Arab, assistant professor of Religious Studies at Utrecht University and co-author of the GAMAAN survey, was quoted by DW, a German media outlet, as saying.

Going by that, the results of a survey by Arab Barometer, a pollster that surveys Arab countries, should hardly be surprising.

The share of Arabs describing themselves as “not religious” was up at 13% in 2019, from 8% in 2013, according to the Arab Barometer.

In 2012, a wide-ranging WIN/Gallup International poll found that 5 per cent of Saudi citizens — over 10 lakh people — identified as “convinced atheists”.

But what is the difference between an atheist and an Ex-Muslim?

“Unlike atheists, Ex-Muslims include everyone who leave Islam, be it an atheist, or an agnostic or someone who converted to another religion,” says Indian activist Jabbar.

Even Pakistan, which has harsh laws against blasphemy and apostasy, has seen the rise of atheists.

Harris Sultan is one of the most popular Ex-Muslims of Pakistani descent. Born in Lahore, Harris Sultan moved to Australia when he was 19. Though he credits Richard Dawkins for pulling him towards atheism, he adds that the “honest study of the Quran” was what actually moved him away from Islam.

Harris Sultan, the author of ‘The Curse of God: Why I Left Islam’, a critical analysis of religion in general and Islam in particular, has a huge fan following on social media.

In a long tweet in April, he warned Pakistanis to “stop forcing Islam down the throats of children”.

“I have been warning the Pakistani clergy, intelligentsia, and wider community that, sooner rather than later, they will have to face the sudden rise of apostates,” Harris Sultan wrote in the post on X. “Now, they are crying and wondering where these apostates came from. There are hundreds of thousands of ex-Muslims in Pakistan who are blaspheming and insulting their sacred Islamic personalities.”

In the long tweet, Harris Sultan added, “According to the latest FIA report, there are nearly 400,000 Pakistanis from all walks of life, who regularly engage in bashing Islam.”

Ghalib Kamal (an alias, not his real name) is another Pakistani YouTuber and blogger who identifies himself as a “Human Rights Defender” and freethinker who rejects dogma and religious extremism.

A geophysicist by qualification, Ghalib Kamal has worked to promote “freethought” in Pakistan through his blogs and social media handles. He and his wife are in exile since the crackdown against freethinkers by Pakistani authorities in 2017.

“People like me can’t speak freely in the presence of Pakistani blasphemy laws. Still, no matter how complex and challenging things may become, I will continue to play my role in the enlightenment of the Pakistani masses,” Ghalib Kamal says in his YouTube bio.

Pakistan has regularly cracked down against rationalists and atheists. Indian YouTuber Zafar Heretic’s YouTube channel was blocked by Pakistan in 2020.

The YouTube channel of Zafar Heretic -- who describes himself as an Indian Ex-Muslim, atheist and activist -- has over 3 lakh subscribers. Zafar Heretic says he works to “promote humanity and scientific temper along with free speech and rational thinking”.

Ridvan Aydemir whose YouTube channel is called Apostate Prophet is another big name in the internet world of Ex-Muslims. The 32-year-old Turkish-German YouTuber is known for his “critical views" on faith.

Ridvan was formerly a devout Sunni Muslim who was born to a Turkish family in Germany. He moved back to Turkey as a teenager and became interested in Islam and decided to practice it devoutly. His study of Islam led him to doubt the religion, and eventually, he left it altogether. This hit his relationship with his family, friends, and the Turkish government.

He immigrated to the United States and started publishing videos on his YouTube channel Apostate Prophet from November 2017.

It’s not only men who are taking to social media and discussing Islam.

Amina Sardar is one of the most vocal Ex-Muslims and her interviews get massive views on YouTube.

A resident of Denmark, Amina Sardar was raised as a Muslim. “My purpose was never to leave Islam. But when I went to educate myself about Islam, I ended up leaving Islam,” she reveals in an interview.

Originally from Afghanistan, Amina Sardar's family moved to Dehradun, India, in the 1930s. Some of her family members moved to Pakistan and some stayed back in India after Partition.

HOW MANY EX-MUSLIMS IN INDIA?

In India too, women are a big part of the Ex-Muslim movement, according to Kerala-based activist Jabbar.

“Surprising numbers of women are joining the movement. In fact, the women and girls who left Islam are the biggest headaches for the maulanas now. They are the ones who are throwing piercing questions at the religious leadership,” he says.

Jabbar sites as example that when a maulana recently warned against participating in Onam, a group of Muslim girls joined in the celebrations and performed Thiruvathira (a traditional dance). “Muslim girls are taking bigger steps in this direction,” adds Jabbar.

Among the Indians who are prominent on social media, especially YouTube, is Sachwala. He is well-versed in classical Arabic and has memorised the Holy Quran.

The personal life of Sachwala Abdul Hamid is shrouded in mystery, but people do get glimpses of it during his interactions.

Sachwala said he was forsaken by his father and sisters when he revealed to them that he was renouncing Islam. “They were okay even with me committing murder and dacoity, but they couldn’t tolerate that I was leaving the religion,” he says during one of his interactions on his YouTube channel.
The story of being repelled by family and community is common.

Azaad Ground, another popular Ex-Muslim, was excommunicated and told that he wouldn’t find space in a Muslim graveyard after his death. Azaad Ground ended up buying land for his and other atheists’ burial.

But how many Ex-Muslims are there in India?

Ex-Muslim Sahil says there are "about 1.2 crore Ex-Muslims in India". He quotes from the 2021 Pew Research Center that says 6 per cent of Muslims in India ‘do not believe in God’. So, he calculates, “Of the 20 crore Muslims in India, 1.2 crore are now Ex-Muslims”.

All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) spokesperson SQR Ilyas tells IndiaToday.In that the number of the “so-called Ex-Muslims is very small to even matter”. He says the YouTubers were brought to his notice some 5-6 months ago.

Jabbar says it is impossible to get a count of Ex-Muslims in India as people are afraid of coming out, fearing threats from the community leadership and family. “In the case of Kerala, I believe at least 4-5 per cent members of the Muslim community have given up their beliefs,” says Jabbar, who is from Kerala's Malappuram.

Being a Muslim is not just about religious identity, it’s about political identity as well. So, how do the Ex-Muslims align themselves on political issues like the Uniform Civil Code?

“We have been batting for a Uniform Civil Code (UCC) and gender justice for Muslim women. But we are apprehensive about the UCC the central government is trying to bring in. It is already clear that it will not be a ‘uniform’ one, as it would target Muslims... I don’t think their intention is to bring a Code to ensure justice,” says Jabbar.

Whenever Muslims are targeted by the state, the Ex-Muslims of Kerala stand with the community, he says. “For example, when the hijab issue happened in Karnataka, we supported the girls. For us, it was not a religious issue, but a human rights issue,” explains Jabbar.

All India Muslim Personal Law Board spokesperson SQR Ilyas calls the YouTube channels a “stunt” and says “they have been created to attack Islam”.

"Either you will be Muslim, Hindu, Christian, atheist or non-Muslim. There’s nothing called Ex-Muslim,” SQR Ilyas tells IndiaToday.In.

The Muslim leader blames the “poor upbringing” and “shoddy reading of religious texts” for people drifting away from Islam.

But whatever the reason, Ex-Muslims are a phenomenon on social media platforms, especially YouTube, and no one can deny that.

“As a movement, it is growing and more people, especially young, educated Muslims are coming out of the religion questioning it. But the issue they are facing is, a majority of them cannot say it aloud. They will be targeted. But, becoming an organisation is the solution. I think it needs more time,” says Jabbar.

(Rishabh Sharma assisted with the research for this report)