The Question Muslims Often Ask
Muslim preachers frequently ask us, "Why do you call yourselves ex-Muslims? Why not just call yourselves atheists, Christians, or whatever you've become? Why do you need to define yourselves by what you left behind?"
This question might seem reasonable on the surface, but it reveals a fundamental misunderstanding of our situation and our struggle.
Our Right to Define Ourselves
Ex-Muslims respond to this objection with a simple parallel.
Muslims assert their right to reject all false deities before acknowledging Allah. The shahada itself begins with a negation: لأ إله إلا الله (There is no god but Allah). Muslims first declare what they reject before stating what they accept.
So what's wrong with us exercising our right to renounce Islam first by identifying as ex-Islamic community? If the Islamic community can define themselves by first rejecting other beliefs, why can't we define ourselves by rejecting Islam?
The Reality of How Islam Treats Us
Here's the crucial point that Muslim preachers conveniently ignore. Even if we call ourselves Christian, Hindu, Buddhist, or atheist, does Islam actually recognize these identities for us?
The answer is absolutely not.
Islam and the Islamic community don't consider us like other non-Muslims. They don't call us Christian, Hindu, or Atheist. Instead, they specifically label us as Murtad, which means "Islamic apostate".
This distinction is critical. Let me explain why.
The Legal Reality
In Islamic countries, all non-Muslim minorities can register their religious identity. Christians register as Christians. Hindus register as Hindus. Jews register as Jews. Even atheists can sometimes register under "None" or similar categories.
But ex-Muslims? We cannot register as Christians, Hindus, or Atheists, even if that's what we've become. Instead, Islamic governments specifically register us as Murtad, which is not just an identity marker but a criminal charge. This label can lead to imprisonment and, in many cases, execution.
The Social Reality
Even in Western countries where they cannot legally harm us, the Islamic community still doesn't treat us like other Christians, Jews, or atheists. It always view us specifically as Murtad, as traitors to Islam.
Can you see this crucial difference? A person born Christian who remains Christian is treated very differently from an ex-Muslim who becomes Christian. A person born atheist is treated very differently from an ex-Muslim who becomes atheist.
The label "ex-Muslim" captures this unique position and the unique persecution we face.
The Double Standard
Here's where the hypocrisy becomes obvious.
When Islam refers to us with the term Murtad, Islamic preachers happily accept and use this terminology. They have no problem with it. The term Murtad appears in Islamic texts, and they embrace it completely.
But when we choose to label ourselves ex-Muslims, suddenly it becomes a problem for these same preachers. They tell us we're being divisive, we're being provocative, we're dwelling on the past.
This is a clear double standard.
What Would It Take for Us to Stop Using This Term?
If Muslim preachers genuinely want us to stop identifying as ex-Muslims, then certain conditions must be met first.
First condition: The Islamic community must stop using the term Murtad.
Murtad doesn't simply mean "apostate." It specifically means "Islamic apostate." Notice that Islam and the Islamic community have no problem with apostasy when it works in their favour. When a Christian converts to Islam, that's celebrated, not condemned. When a Hindu leaves Hinduism for Islam, that's seen as guidance, not betrayal.
The problem only exists when someone leaves Islam.
Second condition: The Islamic community must acknowledge that using the word Murtad is harmful and discriminatory.
The term Murtad is deeply derogatory. It's not just a neutral descriptor. It's a loaded term that carries centuries of condemnation, hatred, and violence. When someone is labeled Murtad, it justifies their persecution in the minds of millions of Muslims.
Third condition: The Islamic community must treat us exactly like other non-Muslims.
When Muslims start considering us like other Christians, Jews, atheists, or Hindus, without the special category of "traitor," only then can they reasonably ask us to stop calling ourselves ex-Muslims.
Until these conditions are met, we have every right to use the terminology that best describes our unique situation.
The Truth About Our Relationship with Islam
There's a saying in our community that captures the reality perfectly.
We left Islam, but Islam never left us.
It's true. We made the decision to leave. We walked away from the religion. But Islam continues to define how we're treated, how we're viewed, and in many cases, whether we're allowed to live freely or even live at all.
The obsession isn't ours. It's Islam's obsession with us.
We challenge Muslim preachers to prove otherwise. Show us that Islam truly lets us go. Show us that Islam isn't obsessed with controlling those who leave. Show us Islamic countries where ex-Muslims live freely without fear, without hiding, without persecution.
They cannot show this because it doesn't exist.
Why This Terminology Matters
It's our fundamental human right to select whatever terminology we believe best represents us. And we will continue using "ex-Muslim" because it serves crucial purposes in our fight against oppression.
Building Community and Solidarity
The term "ex-Muslim" gives individuals a feeling that they're not alone in questioning or leaving Islam. It signals that there's a whole community of people who have taken this difficult journey.
This matters immensely because ex-Muslims are arguably among the most persecuted groups on earth today.
The Reality of Ex-Muslim Lives
Consider the situation many ex-Muslims face.
They're often isolated individuals who must conceal their true beliefs and live in constant fear. They cannot share their doubts or disbelief with their Muslim families. They cannot even confide in their own children because innocent children might accidentally reveal the secret to others.
Many feel obligated to raise their children as Muslims, teaching them beliefs they personally consider false, simply to maintain their cover and protect their safety.
This is not a theoretical problem. This is the daily reality for millions of people around the world.
Raising Awareness
The term "ex-Muslim" is the most effective way to bring awareness to the existence of these oppressed individuals who have left Islam.
This terminology helps highlight their struggles, their hardships, and their suffering to the world. It makes visible a group that Islam desperately wants to keep hidden.
The term is self-descriptive and eye-opening. It reaches people who have been kept in the dark, people who genuinely didn't know you could be an ex-Muslim, people who assumed that everyone born into Islam stays in Islam.
When someone hears "ex-Muslim" for the first time, it challenges the narrative. It questions the claim that Islam is growing. It reveals that people do leave, even if they must do so in secret.
A Form of Passive Resistance
The name "ex-Muslim" itself passively fights against Islamic propaganda.
Muslim preachers love to talk about converts to Islam. They celebrate every celebrity who converts. They publicize every conversion story. But they want to hide ex-Muslims. They want us to disappear into other categories where we become invisible.
By identifying as ex-Muslims, we refuse to disappear. We assert our existence. We challenge their narrative.
Answering the "Why Don't Other Religions" Question
Muslim preachers sometimes ask, "Do ex-Jews exist? Ex-Hindus? Ex-Christians? Ex-Buddhists? If not, why are you the only ones who need this label?"
This question reveals either ignorance or dishonesty.
Yes, people leave every religion. But here's what Muslim preachers refuse to acknowledge.
Ex-Muslims challenge these preachers to show where any other religion, besides Islam, is obsessed with people who leave it.
Show us another religion that has a specific derogatory term for those who leave.
Show us another religion where leaving can legally result in execution.
Show us another religion where apostasy is considered one of the gravest crimes.
Show us another religion where former members must hide their disbelief from their own families for their entire lives.
Judaism doesn't execute ex-Jews. Christianity doesn't hunt down ex-Christians. Hinduism doesn't imprison ex-Hindus. Buddhism doesn't demand the death of ex-Buddhists.
This unique persecution is why we need this unique identifier.
When other religions treat their former members the way Islam treats us, then those communities can also adopt similar terminology. Until then, the comparison is meaningless.
Conclusion
We call ourselves ex-Muslims because it accurately describes who we are and what we face.
We are people who left Islam and continue to be defined, persecuted, and threatened by Islam because we left.
We are people who cannot simply blend into other religious or non-religious communities because Islam won't let us.
We are people who need community, solidarity, and visibility in a world that often wants to pretend we don't exist.
This is not about dwelling on the past. This is about surviving the present and building a better future.
Until Islam stops its obsession with us, until Muslims treat us like they treat other non-Muslims, until we can live openly without fear, we will continue to identify as ex-Muslims.
And we will continue to demand our fundamental human right to define ourselves on our own terms, not on the terms our oppressors choose for us.
Our identity is not up for debate. Our right to name ourselves is not negotiable. Our struggle is real, and our terminology reflects that reality.
Please also watch this excellent video:
Hassan Radwan