Ex-Muslims of North America

Last updated
Ex-Muslims of North America
AbbreviationEXMNA
FoundedSeptember 28, 2013
Type 501(c)(3) Nonprofit organization
46-4333040 [1]
Focus Islamic apostasy
Area served
North America
President
Muhammad Syed [2]
Website exmuslims.org OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg

Ex-Muslims of North America (EXMNA) is a non-profit organization which describes itself as advocating for acceptance of religious dissent, promoting secular values, and aiming to reduce discrimination faced by Ex-Muslims.

Contents

History

The organization was founded in 2013 in Washington, D.C., by Sarah Haider and Muhammad Syed, and in Toronto by Sadar Ali and Nas Ishmael. They say that it is the first organization of its kind to "establish communities exclusive to ex-Muslims in order to foster a sense of camaraderie and offer a space free of judgement for lack of religiosity." [3] [4] [5]

Organization

Its stated mission is to reduce discrimination faced by those who leave Islam, advocate for acceptance of religious dissent, and promote secular values; counter the isolation facing non-theist ex-Muslims by fostering communities and support networks; and strive to amplify diverse ex-Muslim voices and experiences, and stand against those who seek to stifle criticism of Islam. [6]

The organization has chapters in 25 cities across North America, a BBC article says that the organization has about 1,000 volunteers in 25 cities in North America and an article in the Democrat and Chronicle says that the group has about 4,000 total members. [4] [7]

The organization is run by staff, [8] volunteers and relies on donations. [4]

Activities

Sarah Haider explains the goals and actions of EXMNA (2017).

EXMNA organizes support chapters across the United States and Canada which are closed-group meetings for safety reasons; individuals who wish to attend the support group events must go through a screening process for identity authentication purposes. [3] [5] [9]

EXMNA provides emergency support and grants to ex-Muslims in dire times – from escaping abuse to finding shelter and professional assistance. [10] In 2018 Mahad Olad, a US college student was taken to Kenya and held against his will. He was to undergo conversion therapy to cure his apostasy and homosexuality. He was rescued through EXMNA's efforts and provided a grant to pay for his flight back to the US. [11] [12]

EXMNA spearheaded a campaign which successfully pressured Twitter to reverse its decision to submit to a request by the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority to block content and accounts which the agency deemed blasphemous in what a report by The New York Times said was the first time that the social networking service had agreed to withhold content in Pakistan. [13] [14] [15]

EXMNA went on a 2017–2018 campus tour across North America in what the organization said was a first-of-its kind effort to bring Muslim apostates and other activists to colleges across the United States and Canada. [4]

WikiIslam

In late 2015, EXMNA took over ownership of the website WikiIslam. [16]

In 2018, Daniel Enstedt cited WikiIslam as an example of a website containing anti-Muslim rhetoric, [17] and Göran Larsson cited WikiIslam as an "anti-Muslim webpage." [18] In 2019, Asma Uddin, advisor on religious liberty to OSCE and a fellow at the Aspen Institute, [19] reiterated WikiIslam to be a "rampantly anti-Muslim website". [20] The same year, Syaza Shukri, Professor of Political Sciences at International Islamic University Malaysia, deemed the lack of positive content on WikiIslam to demonstrate a "definite agenda": the promotion of a monolithic version of Islam—violent, oppressive, and unrepresentative of "how a majority of Muslims view their religion". [21] :65 In 2022, Rabia Kamal, a cultural anthropologist based at University of San Francisco, noted WikiIslam to be of the many Islamophobic websites dedicated to "surveillance" of Islam and Muslims. [22]

In March 2021, EXMNA announced that it had implemented new content standards on WikiIslam, archived and deleted articles that did not meet those standards, and initiated re-writes of other articles. [23]

Reactions

In 2016 a Wegmans in Fairfax, Virginia, refused to make a cake for the organization that was to be used in celebration of the third anniversary of the group's founding after a supervisor deemed the name of the group offensive; the company subsequently filled the cake order free of charge and issued an apology to EXMNA after legal intervention by a staff attorney from the Freedom From Religion Foundation who described the decision by the employee to refuse service as "a potential civil rights violation". [7] [24]

In 2017, Facebook locked out EXMNA's account for a week because it had allegedly violated the company's terms of service although it did not specify which standards the account had allegedly violated. [25] The page was subsequently unblocked, with a Facebook spokesperson saying in an email to the Observer that "the pages were removed in error and restored as soon as we were able to investigate." [25]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Apostasy</span> Formal disaffiliation from or abandonment or renunciation of a religion

Apostasy is the formal disaffiliation from, abandonment of, or renunciation of a religion by a person. It can also be defined within the broader context of embracing an opinion that is contrary to one's previous religious beliefs. One who undertakes apostasy is known as an apostate. Undertaking apostasy is called apostatizing. The term apostasy is used by sociologists to mean the renunciation and criticism of, or opposition to, a person's former religion, in a technical sense, with no pejorative connotation.

Islamophobia is the irrational fear of, hostility towards, or hatred against the religion of Islam or Muslims in general. Islamophobia is primarily a form of religious or cultural bigotry; and people who harbour such sentiments often stereotype Muslims as a geopolitical threat or a source of terrorism. Muslims, with diverse ethnic and cultural backgrounds, are often inaccurately portrayed by Islamophobes as a single homogenous racial group.

Takfir is an Arabic and Islamic term which denotes excommunication from Islam of one Muslim by another, i.e. accusing another Muslim of being an apostate. The word is found neither in the Quran nor in the ḥadīth literature; instead, kufr ("unbelief") and kāfir ("unbeliever") and other terms employing the same triliteral root K-F-R appear.

Apostasy in Islam is commonly defined as the abandonment of Islam by a Muslim, in thought, word, or through deed. It includes not only explicit renunciations of the Islamic faith by converting to another religion or abandoning religion, but also blasphemy or heresy by those who consider themselves Muslims, through any action or utterance which implies unbelief, including those who deny a "fundamental tenet or creed" of Islam. An apostate from Islam is known as a murtadd (مرتدّ).

Criticism of Islam can take many forms, including academic critiques, political criticism, religious criticism, and personal opinions. Subjects of criticism include Islamic beliefs, practices, and doctrines.

The Central Council of Ex-Muslims is a German association (Verein) advocating for the rights and interests of non-religious, secular persons of Muslim heritage who have left Islam. It was founded on 21 January 2007 and as of May 2007 had about 200 members, with "hundreds" of membership applications yet to be processed.

Zachariah Anani was a Lebanese-Canadian former Sunni Muslim citizen of Lebanon who later converted to Christianity and settled in Canada in 1996. He described himself as a former militia fighter.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Council of Ex-Muslims of Britain</span> British branch of the Central Council of Ex-Muslims

The Council of Ex-Muslims of Britain or CEMB is the British branch of the Central Council of Ex-Muslims. It was launched in Westminster on 22 June 2007.

Ali Sina is the pseudonym of an Iranian-born Canadian ex-Muslim activist and critic of Islam. Sina is the founder of the anti-Muslim website WikiIslam and maintains a number of websites promoting what he refers to as "the truth" about Islam. He is associated with the counter-jihad movement.

The use of politically and religiously-motivated violence in Islam dates back to its early history. Islam has its origins in the behavior, sayings, and rulings of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, his companions, and the first caliphs in the 7th, 8th, and 9th centuries CE. Mainstream Islamic law stipulates detailed regulations for the use of violence, including corporal and capital punishment, as well as regulations on how, when, and whom to wage war against.

The Investigative Project on Terrorism (IPT) is a non-profit research group founded by Steven Emerson in 1995. IPT has been called a prominent part of the "Islamophobia network" within the United States and a "leading source of anti-Muslim racism" and noted for its record of selective reporting and poor scholarship.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Islamophobia in the United States</span> Prejudice towards Islam or Muslims in the US

American Muslims often face Islamophobia and racialization due to stereotypes and generalizations ascribed to them. Due to this, Islamophobia is both a product of and a contributor to the United States' racial ideology, which is founded on socially constructed categories of profiled features, or how people seem.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WikiIslam</span> Wiki covering selective topics on Islam and owned by Ex-Muslims of North America

WikiIslam is an anti-Muslim and anti-Islam wiki. The website was founded by Ali Sina in 2006. Registered users may modify and edit its content; in 2015, the website was acquired by the Ex-Muslims of North America and underwent a major revision in 2020.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bill Warner (writer)</span> American critic of Islam and former physics professor (born 1941)

Bill Warner is the pen name of Bill French, a former physics professor and anti-Islam writer. He founded the Center for the Study of Political Islam International, which is based in the Czech Republic. The Southern Poverty Law Center in 2011 described him as one of a core group of ten anti-Islam hardliners in the United States. He has also been described as a part of the counter-jihad movement.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Muhammad Syed</span> Pakistani-American ex-Muslim activist

Muhammad Syed is a Pakistani-American writer, speaker, and political activist. He created the Ex-Muslims of North America (EXMNA) advocacy group in 2013 which seeks to normalize religious dissent and to help former Muslims leave the religion by linking them to support networks. He is the co-founder, executive director, and currently the president of EXMNA.

Ex-Muslims are individuals who were raised as Muslims or converted to Islam and later chose to leave the religion. These individuals may encounter challenges related to the conditions and history of Islam, Islamic culture and jurisprudence, as well as local Muslim culture. In response, ex-Muslims have formed literary and social movements, as well as mutual support networks and organizations, to address the difficulties associated with leaving Islam and to raise awareness of human rights issues they may face.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Apostasy in Islam by country</span> Statistics of people leaving Islam by country

The situation for apostates from Islam varies markedly between Muslim-minority and Muslim-majority regions. In Muslim-minority countries, "any violence against those who abandon Islam is already illegal". But in some Muslim-majority countries, religious violence is "institutionalised", and "hundreds and thousands of closet apostates" live in fear of violence and are compelled to live lives of "extreme duplicity and mental stress."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Halal conspiracy theories</span> Conspiracy theories about halal certification

Halal conspiracy theories revolve around a series of Islamophobic conspiracy theories and hoaxes regarding halal certification in products such as food, beverages and cosmetics. The claims usually made include that the sale of halal-certified goods in stores is a precursor to the terrorization or institution of Sharia law in a non-Muslim country, that the fees paid by companies for halal certification fund Islamic terrorism, that halal slaughter for meat is cruel, unhygienic or constitutes as animal sacrifice, among others. The spread of these claims has resulted in boycotts and harassment campaigns against businesses who sell halal-certified products, most notably in Australia and India, although anti-halal boycott movements also exist in Denmark, France, Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and the United States.

Kamal Saleem is the pseudonym of a Lebanese-American self-claimed former Muslim terrorist. He is a convert to Christianity and minister who evangelizes to Muslims.

References

  1. "Ex-Muslims of North America | Charity Navigator Profile". Charity Navigator.
  2. "Muhammad Syed". The Humanist.
  3. 1 2 "Leaving Islam for Atheism, and Finding a Much-Needed Place Among Peers". The New York Times . May 23, 2014.
  4. 1 2 3 4 Amos, Owen (December 29, 2017). "They left Islam and now tour the US to talk about it". BBC News.
  5. 1 2 Hrishikesh, Joshi (February 3, 2017). "Leaving Islam in North America". National Review. Archived from the original on July 5, 2018.
  6. "About Us". EXMNA.
  7. 1 2 Clausen, Todd (June 23, 2016). "Clausen: Wegmans says Ex-Muslims group can buy cake". Democrat and Chronicle.
  8. "Our Team". Ex-Muslims of North America. March 8, 2015.
  9. "Support Communities". Ex-Muslims of North America. July 13, 2019.
  10. "Emergency Aid". Ex-Muslims of North America. July 15, 2019.
  11. Amos, Owen (February 26, 2018). "Ex-Muslims: The American who fled 'gay conversion' in Africa". BBC News.
  12. Olad, Mahad. "Escaping gay conversion therapy in Kenya | The Ithacan". theithacan.org.
  13. "14 campaign groups ask Pakistan to stop its censorship of 'blasphemous' Twitter content". Humanists UK. June 10, 2014.
  14. Kellner, Mark A. (June 10, 2014). "Secularists band together to fight Pakistan's #TwitterTheocracy blockings". Deseret News.
  15. Kellner, Mark A. (June 18, 2014). "Twitter relents, won't allow Pakistan government to block controversial messages". Deseret News.
  16. "Ex-Muslims of North America takes ownership and operation of WikiIslam". Ex-Muslims of North America. 2015-12-03. Retrieved 2020-05-26.
  17. Enstedt, Daniel (2018). "Understanding Religious Apostasy, Disaffiliation, and Islam in Contemporary Sweden". In van Nieuwkerk, Karin (ed.). Moving in and out of Islam (First ed.). Austin, TX: University of Texas Press. p. 74. ISBN   978-1-4773-1748-8. Anti-Muslim rhetoric on internet sites such as WikiIslam.net ... and faithfreedom.org ... reproduce[s] a negative image of religion that is associated with Islam.
  18. Larsson, Göran (2018-03-13). "Disputed, Sensitive and Indispensable Topics: The Study of Islam and Apostasy". Method & Theory in the Study of Religion. 30 (3): 201–226. doi:10.1163/15700682-12341435. ISSN   0943-3058. For example, the anti-Muslim webpage WikiIslam (on this homepage, see Larsson 2007; Enstedt and Larsson 2013) simply concludes: 'The punishment for apostasy in the Islamic faith is death.'
  19. Affairs, Berkley Center for Religion, Peace and World. "Asma Uddin". berkleycenter.georgetown.edu. Retrieved 2021-12-26.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  20. Uddin, Asma T. (2019). When Islam Is Not a Religion: Inside America's Fight for Religious Freedom (First Pegasus Books hardcover ed.). New York. ISBN   978-1643131740. The rampantly anti-Muslim website, WikiIslam, connects Islam and pedophilia even more brazenly, 'Pedophilia is permitted in the Qur'an, was practiced by Prophet Muhammad and his companions, and some Muslims today continue to commit the crime, following their prophet's example.'{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  21. Shukri, Syaza Farhana Mohamad (2019). "The Perception of Indonesian Youths toward Islamophobia: An Exploratory Study". Islamophobia Studies Journal. 5 (1): 61–75. doi:10.13169/islastudj.5.1.0061. ISSN   2325-8381. JSTOR   10.13169/islastudj.5.1.0061. S2CID   213425625. Larsson (2007) did a research on Islamophobia on the Internet, specifically the anti-Islam portal WikiIslam. Unlike Wikipedia, WikiIslam only produces content that are critical to Islam. While the owner does not consider the website to be a hate site, the fact that there is nothing positive about Islam on it proves that it has a definite agenda.... WikiIslam is of course promoting Islam as a monolithic religion that is violent and oppressive, and more importantly, does not represent how a majority of Muslims view their religion.
  22. Kamal, Rabia (18 July 2022). "Muslims and Social Media in North America". Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Religion. doi:10.1093/acrefore/9780199340378.013.899. ISBN   978-0-19-934037-8. In fact, many Islamophobic websites have taken on the responsibility of nongovernmental surveillance as an element of their agenda. Internet hubs such as WikiIslam and websites such as Campus Watch, Jihad Watch, and thereligionofpeace.com are just a few of the digital platforms explicitly dedicated to the surveillance of Muslims and Islam both on- and offline.
  23. "WikiIslam overhaul milestone achieved". Ex-Muslims of North America. 18 March 2021. Archived from the original on 19 March 2021. Retrieved 31 December 2021.
  24. Gryboski, Michael (June 21, 2016). "Wegmans Apologizes for Refusing to Bake Cake for Ex-Muslims". Christian Post.
  25. 1 2 Bonazzo, John (12 May 2017). "Facebook Blocks Posts From Atheist, Ex-Muslim Pages". Observer.