Irreligion in the Middle East

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Irreligion in the Middle East is the lack of religion in the Middle East. Though atheists in the Middle East are rarely public about their lack of belief, as they are persecuted in many countries where they are classified as terrorists, [1] there are some atheist organizations in the Middle East. Islam dominates public and private life in most Middle Eastern countries. Nonetheless, there reside small numbers of irreligious individuals within those countries who often face serious formal and, in some cases, informal legal and social consequences.

Contents

In terms of atheism and apostasy, while the Quran condemns the practice, it does not explicitly criminalize or pronounce a hadd (a specific criminal punishment) for apostasy. Muslim scholars have traditionally believed that it should be penalized with execution as per the hadiths on the matter but many scholars today argue that this punishment should not be implemented as it related to treason in the past and does not anymore. [2] [3]

Middle Eastern nations with some form of Sharia law in court punish non-believers in varying ways, however, many non-Muslims and even some Muslims argue that these punishments are barbaric and inhumane.

Background

In the World Values Survey conducted from 2010 to 2014, results show that in Yemen, Jordan, and Iraq, fewer than 0.5% of those surveyed self-defined themselves as atheists; meanwhile, the highest percentage of self-defined atheists within the Middle East was in Kuwait, at 0.8%. [4] Despite the relatively low number of publicly atheist individuals in the Middle East, some media platforms have claimed that the Middle East is witnessing a new rise of outspoken secular and irreligious citizens. In a BBC News article that highlights a recent Arab Barometer survey on Middle East and North African citizens, Egypt was shown to have a comparatively significant increase in the proportion of people who say they are not actively religious from 2013 to 2019. [5]

Some of these citizens who come from a state with severe punishments for atheists, like the death penalty, have reported to living in fear.

Regardless, transparent data on how many citizens in the Middle East are atheists, apostates, or of other form of irreligious identity have been challenging for researchers to discover. In one report by the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada, atheists residing in Kurdish region of Iraq also have difficulties expressing their disbelief publicly—despite the Kurdish government generally considered to be secular. [6]

Rise of the "New Atheists"

One of the rising form of non-religious sectors within the Middle East have been labeled as the new atheists. This organization essentially retaliates against religious institutions by claiming they are violent and unnecessary, though some argue that they are mostly criticizing the Islamic faith and community. [7] The new atheism popularly rose from the U.S. following the 9/11 attacks and widespread coverage on Islamic extremists, and it found a number of followers within the Middle East. [8]

Ismail Mohammed, from Egypt, is a new atheist who utilizes social media platforms to vocalize atheism. An Egyptian newspaper Al-Sabah claimed 3 million of Egypt's 84 million population have no religion, citing an unnamed US survey but no such survey exists. [9] [10] However, the exact number of apostates or atheists in Egypt has not been accurately measured, and the validity of this estimate has not been proven.

Persecution of non-believers

Like other non-Muslims, atheists suffer persecution in the Middle East. [11] 88 percent of Muslims in Egypt reportedly approve of the death penalty for those who leave Islam. [11] In one report by the International Humanists, in Article 121 of Iranian law, homosexuality is punishable up to death for a non-Muslim subject, while the Muslim active party is punished through 100 lashes. [12]

Though persecution of blasphemous atheists are often carried out by law in the Middle East, some states like Turkey and Lebanon do allow atheists to live rather safely though withstanding any promise of legal form of safety. [13]

Meanwhile, some scholars have been opposing the death penalty for apostasy in the Islamic realm. Writers Abdullah Saeed and Hassan Saeed published a book claiming the history and fundamentals of Islam support freedom of religion, and that since the Quran does not explicitly state to punish apostasy with death it is unethical to support capital punishment for non-religious individuals. [14] And although the Quran does not state exactly how apostasy should be punished, it has historically been debated among the Islamic communities. Scholars Rudolph Peters and Gret J.J. De Vries document that some, like the Hanafite lawyers, did argue that under the penal law an Imam should execute the apostate by a sword; meanwhile women and children have been seen as uniformly by the community as the exceptions to execution. [15]

Prevalence

Though still uncommon, public acknowledgement of atheism is widely considered to be growing in the Middle East. Though data on how prevalent atheism is can be difficult to measure where social desirability bias may obscure survey answers, there have been attempts to record potential trends. Youth in the Persian Gulf countries have increasingly been expressing their atheism on the Internet in recent years, despite residing in heavily religious societies. [16] The Web and the Internet have been a popular tool where more than 50 atheist Facebook groups and pages, some with more than 8,000 followers, [17] have formed especially since the Arab spring. [18]

Relevant data

In a 2012 Global Religious based survey conducted by Gallup showed the percentage of people who identify as religious, with the highest being 96, Iraq came in at 88 and Saudi Arabia at 75. Meanwhile, the Global Atheism Index for the same year shows the percent of self-identified atheist in Iraq at 0 and in Saudi Arabia at 5. In comparison, the Global Distribution of self-identified atheist was at 13 percent. [19]

In another aspect of BBC News' survey conducted by Arab Barometer in 2013, which was shortly after the Arab Spring, Lebanese citizens have significantly declined in religious beliefs. According to a summary by Arab Weekly, the survey indicates that less than 25 percent of Lebanese identify as religious, but it is not clear how many are atheists. [20]

A 2020 Online Survey by Gamaan found a much larger percentage of Iranians identifying as atheist (8.8%), Zoroastrian (8%), a large fraction (22.2%) identifying as not following an organized religion and only 40% self-identifying as Muslims. [21] [22] [23] [24]

In 2010, a Pew Research study found that in Jordan and Egypt, where 58 percent and 74 percent respectively believe that Sharia law should be imposed on both Muslim and non-Muslim citizens of their nation, had a high number of people who believe in the death penalty for those who abandon their Islamic faith. The study found 86 percent of Egyptians, 82 percent Jordanians, as well as 66 percent from Palestinian Territory surveyed citizens support capital punishment for apostates; also 46 percent Lebanese and 42 percent Iraqis agreed to the capital punishment. [25]

List of notable non-religious Middle Eastern people

See also

Related Research Articles

Sharia,Sharī'ah, Shari'a, Shariah or Syariah is a body of religious law that forms a part of the Islamic tradition based on scriptures of Islam, particularly the Qur'an and hadith. In Islamic terminology sharīʿah refers to God's immutable, intangible divine law; contrary to fiqh, which refers to its interpretations by Islamic scholars, elaborated and developed over the centuries by legal opinions issued by qualified jurists, always been used alongside customary law from the very beginning in Islamic history. Applied in courts by ruler-appointed judges, integrated with various economic, criminal and administrative laws issued by Muslim rulers.

<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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yusuf al-Qaradawi</span> Egyptian-born Qatari imam (1926–2022)

Yusuf al-Qaradawi was an Egyptian Islamic scholar based in Doha, Qatar, and chairman of the International Union of Muslim Scholars. His influences included Ibn Taymiyya, Ibn Qayyim, Sayyid Rashid Rida, Hassan al-Banna, Abul Hasan Ali Hasani Nadwi, Abul A'la Maududi and Naeem Siddiqui. He was best known for his programme الشريعة والحياة, al-Sharīʿa wa al-Ḥayāh, broadcast on Al Jazeera, which had an estimated audience of 40–60 million worldwide. He was also known for IslamOnline, a website he helped to found in 1997 and for which he served as chief religious scholar.

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.

Takfiri is an Arabic and Islamic term denoting a Muslim who excommunicates one of his/her coreligionists, i.e. who accuses another Muslim of being an apostate.

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Religion in Egypt</span>

Religion in Egypt controls many aspects of social life and is endorsed by law. The state religion of Egypt is Islam, although estimates vary greatly in the absence of official statistics. Since the 2006 census, religion has been excluded, and thus available statistics are estimates made by religious and non-governmental agencies. The country is majority Sunni Muslim, with the next largest religious group being Coptic Orthodox Christians. The exact numbers are subject to controversy, with Christians alleging that they have been systemically under-counted in existing censuses.

Discrimination against atheists, sometimes called atheophobia, atheistophobia, or anti-atheism, both at present and historically, includes persecution of and discrimination against people who are identified as atheists. Discrimination against atheists may be manifested by negative attitudes, prejudice, hostility, hatred, fear, or intolerance towards atheists and atheism or even the complete denial of atheists' existence. It is often expressed in distrust regardless of its manifestation. Perceived atheist prevalence seems to be correlated with reduction in prejudice. There is global prevalence of mistrust in moral perceptions of atheists found in even secular countries and among atheists.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Islam and blasphemy</span> Overview of Islamic views on blasphemy

In Islam, blasphemy is impious utterance or action concerning God, but is broader than in normal English usage, including not only the mocking or vilifying of attributes of Islam but denying any of the fundamental beliefs of the religion. Examples include denying that the Quran was divinely revealed, the Prophethood of one of the Islamic prophets, insulting an angel, or maintaining God had a son.

For approximately a millennium, the Abrahamic religions have been predominant throughout all of the Middle East. The Abrahamic tradition itself and the three best-known Abrahamic religions originate from the Middle East: Judaism and Christianity emerged in the Levant in the 6th century BCE and the 1st century CE, respectively, while Islam emerged in Arabia in the 7th century CE.

The main blasphemy law in Egypt is Article 98(f) of the Egyptian Penal Code. It penalizes: "whoever exploits and uses the religion in advocating and propagating by talk or in writing, or by any other method, extremist thoughts with the aim of instigating sedition and division or disdaining and contempting any of the heavenly religions or the sects belonging thereto, or prejudicing national unity or social peace."

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Irreligion in Egypt</span> Lack of religious belief or religion by some of Egypts population

Irreligion in Egypt is controversial due to the prominence of conservative social traditions and the persecution by the religious institutions in the country. It is difficult to quantify the number of atheists or agnostics in Egypt, as the stigma attached to being one makes it hard for irreligious Egyptians to publicly profess their views and beliefs.

Irreligion in Iraq has a societal, political and historical background. Although the Constitution of Iraq guarantees freedom from religious coercion, and states that all citizens are equal before the law without regard to religion, sect, or belief, irreligious people may encounter difficulties with the authorities. Another source of problem is usually the community and family, with reactions varying from one family to another. The “Global Index of Religiosity and Atheism” listed Iraq as one of six countries as having the lowest rate of atheism in 2012. After six years, with religious figures coming to power, the situation changed rapidly as the tide of religiosity receded. According to various Iraqi thinkers, this occurred after the religious politicians came to power, and their role in sectarianism and state corruption, and by regularly occupying television slots to spread their agendas. The increasing prevalence of atheism and agnosticism signals a tidal public opinion change.

Irreligion in Iran has a long historical background, but is difficult to measure, as those who profess atheism are at risk of arbitrary detention, torture, and the death penalty. Non-religious citizens are officially unrecognized by the Iranian government. In the official 2011 census, 265,899 persons did not state any religion. Between 2017 and 2022, the World Values Survey found that 1.3% of Iranians identified as atheists, and a further 14.3% as not religious. In the 1999-2004 cycle, the WVS had found 1% identified as atheist and 3% as not religious.

Capital punishment for offenses is allowed by law in some countries. Such offenses include adultery, apostasy, blasphemy, corruption, drug trafficking, espionage, fraud, homosexuality and sodomy not involving force, perjury causing execution of an innocent person, prostitution, sorcery and witchcraft, theft, treason and espionage. In addition to civilian treason and espionage, often considered capital crimes against the state where the death penalty is retained, military laws frequently ordain execution for serious offences, including in jurisdictions where capital punishment is illegal or obsolete under civilian law.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ismail Mohamed (activist)</span>

Ismail Mohamed is an Egyptian atheist activist, blogger and producer of The Black Ducks programme. He is also a contributing editor to Arab Atheists Magazine. His last name is sometimes transcribed as Mohammed.

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."

References

  1. ↑ Withnall, Adam (1 April 2014). "Saudi Arabia declares all atheists are terrorists in new law to crack down on political dissidents". The Independent. Retrieved 23 July 2015.
  2. ↑ Mayer, Ann Elizabeth. "Law and Religion in the Muslim Middle East." The American Journal of Comparative Law, Vol. 35, No. 1 (Winter, 1987), pp. 127-184
  3. ↑ Maliki Fiqh: The Risala of 'Abdullah ibn Abi Zayd al-Qayrawani A Treatise on Maliki Fiqh (Including commentary from ath-Thamr ad-Dani by al-Azhari)(310/922 - 386/996) Shafi Fiqh: Ahmad ibn Naqib al-Misri, Edited and Translated by Nuh Ha Mim Keller (p. 595) and Ahmad ibn Naqib al-Misri, Edited and Translated by Nuh Ha Mim Keller (p. 508, o1.1-2) Hanafi Fiqh: Shaybani's Siyar (The Islamic law of nations) Hanbali Fiqh: By Imam Muwaffaq Ibn Qudama (A.H. 541-620), page 309
  4. ↑ Yearbook of International Religious Demography, 2015.
  5. ↑ Becky Dale, Irene de la Torre Arenas, Clara Guibourg, and Tom de Castella (23 June 2019). "The Arab world in seven charts: Are Arabs turning their backs on religion?". BBC News. Retrieved 23 February 2023.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  6. ↑ "IRQ105624.E Iraq: Information on the treatment of atheists and apostates by society and authorities in Erbil; state protection available". United States Department of Justice. 2 September 2016. Retrieved 22 February 2023.
  7. ↑ Khader, Jamil. "The irrational hatred of new atheists". www.aljazeera.com. Retrieved 2023-02-23.
  8. ↑ KHALIL, MOHAMMAD HASSAN. "Jihad, Radicalism, and the New Atheism." New York: Cambridge University Press, 2018.
  9. ↑ Youssef, Nancy A. (2015-06-28). "Meet The Middle East's Atheist Preacher". The Daily Beast. Retrieved 2023-02-23.
  10. ↑ "Egypt: Are there really three million atheists?". BBC News. 2013-11-19. Retrieved 2021-03-12.
  11. 1 2 Fisher, Max (2013-05-01). "Majorities of Muslims in Egypt and Pakistan support the death penalty for leaving Islam". The Washington Post. Retrieved 2015-07-23.
  12. ↑ "Iran". Freedom of Thought Report. Retrieved 2023-02-23.
  13. ↑ "No God, Not Even Allah; Atheists and Islam." The Economist Nov 24 2012: 67, n/a. ProQuest.
  14. ↑ Saeed, Abdullah and Hassan Saeed. Freedom of Religion,"Apostasy and Islam." New York: Routledge, 2004.
  15. ↑ Peters, Rudolph and Gret J.J. De Vries. "Apostasy in Islam."Die Welt des Islams, Vol. 17, Issue 1/4 (1976-1977), pp. 1-25.
  16. ↑ "Is Gulf youth increasingly drawn to atheism? | The National". Thenational.ae. 2012-08-19. Retrieved 2015-07-23.
  17. ↑ https://www.facebook.com/atheistsgotoheaven/ [ user-generated source ]
  18. ↑ "Arab Atheists, Though Few, Inch Out Of The Shadows". Huffingtonpost.com. Archived from the original on 2014-03-20. Retrieved 2015-07-23.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  19. ↑ "Win-Gallup International Global Index of Religiosity and Atheism-2012 | PDF | Irreligion | Atheism". Scribd. Retrieved 2023-02-23.
  20. ↑ "Poll describes Arabs as moving away from religion, Islamism | AW staff". AW. Retrieved 2023-02-23.
  21. ↑ "IRANIANS' ATTITUDES TOWARD RELIGION: A 2020 SURVEY REPORT". گَمان - گروه مطالعات افکارسنجی ایرانیان (in Persian). 2020-09-11. Archived from the original on 2020-09-18. Retrieved 23 October 2020.
  22. ↑ Maleki, Ammar; Arab, Pooyan Tamimi. "Iran's secular shift: new survey reveals huge changes in religious beliefs". The Conversation. Retrieved 23 October 2020.
  23. ↑ "Iranians have lost their faith according to survey". Iran International. 2020-08-25. Retrieved 23 October 2020.
  24. ↑ Holleis, Jennifer (4 February 2021). "Middle East: Are people losing their religion?". Deutsche Welle . Archived from the original on 27 February 2021.
  25. ↑ Wormald, Benjamin (2013-04-30). "The World's Muslims: Religion, Politics and Society". Pew Research Center's Religion & Public Life Project. Retrieved 2023-02-23.
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