Recently I received an email from a remarkably courageous woman in a Muslim country. Raised a Muslim, she practiced Islam all her life. However, she has now left Islam, and is now -- because of Islam's death penalty for apostasy -- living a precarious existence in her native land. She has now started a blog, Liberated, in which she will detail her journey and keep us up-to-date on her experiences. Please bookmark it and visit it regularly. Here is an excerpt from her first entry, in which her relief and resentment at her longtime intellectual and spiritual bondage are palpable:
[...] After 9/11, I seriously started to doubt my beliefs, but I never had the guts or the courage to face them until I came across my friend, my savior and my mentor Ali Sina just a few months ago. He has changed my outlook of life and he really opened up my eyes to the false and evil cult of Islam, which I had been blindly following for the last 35 years, albeit halfheartedly. It is not that I wasn't aware of the evil of Islam, because I had been fairly well acquainted with the works of accomplished and judicious writers like Robert Spencer, Pamela Geller, Daniel Pipes and Raymond Ibrahim, but they were not Muslims, so somewhere deep down inside, I always ended up giving Mohammed the messenger of Allah the benefit of the doubt. It was only when I suddenly stumbled upon Ali Sina's website and subsequently his book "Understanding Mohammed" that actually made me wake up to this harsh reality. The truth hurts, as they say, so when I realized for the first time that Islam was actually a hoax, it broke me down completely. It took me a while to come to terms with it; I went through several stages like denial and anger, but finally I have come to the acceptance stage....
Good for you dear lady. I know you are in danger for your beliefs but I pray the God of love and mercy and peace will guard your heart and mind. You have the opportunity to see God in a whole new way, not the God of hatred and murder, but rather the Father who loves you so much that he gave his only Son to die for your sins and give you freedom to enjoy your life with the assurance that death is no longer something to fear, but rather the opening of a new door that assures you that no matter what life holds you have a place in heaven waiting for you. I wish you well.
It may not be a mistake to love God, but it is a mistake to love a religion...If you love God and find your religion is false and reject it, there is no loss because religions are not God...Anyone who is actively engaged in Loving God, knows that religions, and it's books, and it's philosophies, are irrelevant and can be a hindrance...The Bible is a road sign pointing to Jesus who is another road sign pointing to the Kingdom of Heaven, love is the vehicle...The Quran is a road sign pointing to Mahound, who is another road sign pointing to The Kingdom Hell...Hate is the vehicle...So if you are a Mahoundian, you are on the wrong bus...You don't have to become a Christian, but you need to get off the bus...
At the risk of the ire of the other commenters here, I would say that you are now free of Islam and free of the need for any other religious beliefs as well.
No need to join any other irrational ideology; you are free to be you. Don't be hung up on guilt as there is no such thing as inherited sin. You do not need anyone to die for your right to be free; nor do you need to believe in any magic guy in the sky to have created the universe.
Good luck, be discreet and stay safe.
Dear Liberated,
Welcome to the world of reason, where you are free to act on your own reasoning and conclusions. You will not be punished in this world for any choice you make, as long as you don't hurt someone else. You may even choose to go back to Islam. Not that you would, but in this world, you are free to follow your own path.
I do have one suggestion. Take it very, very slow as far as how you change your external life and how you communicate with your family, friends, and associates. People who make major changes, such as religion, tend to want to broadcast their new passions. Resist the temptation. Don't drop hints. There is almost no other religion on Earth where you are in physical danger for leaving, but there you have it. You know Islam very well. You can be in dire danger just by being happy.
Give yourself a year or two just to sniff out the landscape. Keep yourself under the radar. If you come to the attention of the Islamist enforcers, you may be able to save your life by pretending to reenter Islam, but you will be under intense scrutiny. Your private life, such as it is under Islam, will be totally gone.
There's an old adage that says, if you tell a lie often enough, you will begin to believe it yourself. Khadijah's exploitation of her delusional husband put in motion the lie which is Islam today.
Islamic elitists continue to exploit those who continue to believe the lie.
It was all about money then and it's all about money today.
Standing headlines,
Day 1,
"Courageous ex-Muslim in Muslim country starts an extraordinary new website"
Day 2,
"New blogger's website hacked, taken down; blogger whereabouts unknown"
Please, for your own sake, do nothing to bring attention to yourself. Your blog, while admirable, may be ill-advised.
I believe many muslims are like yourself; they go along to get along. They're aware that islam is a prison run by madmen; but with no realistic chance to escape they cope.
One wonders. If an honest, no adverse consequence type of poll could be taken among muslims asking, If you could leave islam and live in a society of basic live-and-let-live, would you?
What percentage would say Yes?
God is Love. Mohammad carried the wrong message.
To this brave young liberated woman, Brava!
"...so when I realized for the first time that Islam was actually a hoax"
The biggest scam ever perpetrated in the history of man. Muhammad was a 7th century Warlord Con Man.
Dear Liberated,
Congratulations on breaking free from the shackles of Islam.
Thank you everyone.. Your words of encouragement mean a lot to me. As Ronald B very aptly pointed out, I am really struggling to keep my mouth shut. I just wish I could just shout all this on top of the roof instead of creating a fake ID and account and having to ask Robert to help. But I guess I really do not have any option, I have to keep a low profile for the time being..
But it means a lot that so many people who I never known actually understand me more than my own people do.
Regards
Shakila
Shakila,
I hope that is not your real name. There is a rather threatening comment on your blog already from 'slave of allah'. It's quite pathetic but it does confirm the need for discretion and anonymity on your part.
I hope the time will soon come when people everywhere are free to convert or apostatize to any religion or none.
Thank you for your story and please continue to be secretive to be safe.
Best wishes.
Yeah Shakila is definitely not my real name.. I have been pretty careful in covering up my track.. I wanted to respond to that Slave of Allah but I am not able to comment. Actually Robert Spencer has set up that blog for me and linked it to Jihad watch. He has been really very helpful. God bless him.
Yes, Shakila, I'm very glad to hear that.
I suspect there are many more like yourself who are close to abandoning the militant totalitarianism of Islam.
We need more 'white hats' like Spencer and Geller to help and support them.
Better times ahead, if we follow our consciences and don't weaken.
I understand you. I was born and raised a muslim in a conservative muslim hous hold in Iran. so conservative that we were not allowed to listen to music. I admire you. Islam is the biggest curse on humanity. look at the muslims countirs. what do they offer the world. nothing. Pakistan and egypt are welfare states living off of our federal tax dollors. I take it from your name you are Pakistani. if you are bloging from there or any other muslim country I can see why your keeping a low profile and as well you must. however if you are blogong from a western country you should expose Islam out in open as I do. one of islamist biggest agenda is to curtail free speech and they must not be allowed to do so in western country. good luck.
M
Well, she'll be raped and beheaded outside of 2 days, due to the "peaceful and intolerant" religion of Islam.
But that is what we have been saying - we aren't anti-Islam or against any religion. We are Pro-Freedom. I am glad this woman has the guts to not only leave Islam, but stay in a radical Muslim country and risk life and Blasphemy charges to discuss why she left Islam.
Hats off to you - you are a brave woman.
Welcome to the free world. You done a great favor to Islam by exiting it. Any caring and loving human being does not belong to it. Enjoy your new journey ahead. Stay with us on this site. We need your help to expose the Slaves of Mo as much as you need ours. Once more, welcome to the freedom. A little advice based on reading similar cases that went wrong - NEVER again look back and return to that cult no matter how many candies they will showers you with, because that is how they set the trap.
Dear Shakila,
While I know you are very excited about finding your freedom, so much so that you probably what to bust, you are in a tremendous position to gather information and use it to further cripple Islam because of your present station in life. Even though it is dangerous, you've been set free for a reason. Hang tough, and when you want to talk to somebody, come here and talk to us. Many of the people who gather here understand that our freedom is precious and worth fighting and even dying for. For you it is definitely worth seeking and finding. I'm very happy to know that you have found it.
Oh and Merry Christmas!
Isabella the Crusader
Welcome to the Real World, Shakila! We're all very excited for you!
I believe traeh left a comment on your blog about using a proxy server. I'd recommend you use Tor. When it's configured correctly, it makes one extremely difficult to trace. There's also JanusVM, but I haven't used it. Anyway, stay safe. I'm excited to see your future posts :)
Congrats on your new blog Shakila.
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
Thanks John K.. How have you been? Sorry have not logged into Faithfreedom for sometime hence have not been in touch. Wish you Merry Christmas and a very Happy New Year,..
Thanks argpirate, I have been using Tor to log in and comment and as well as when I log into any such sites which could implicate me. Your support means a lot..
Shakila. . .Big hug and a Christmas kiss under the mistletoe winging its way from London to you. . .right about Now. . .
Bless you, Shakila.
Be careful.
. . .and with your night-eye, watch Orion's Belt. . .
???
Hi Miriam,
It is always a pleasure to meet other ex Muslims because no one can understand me better than a person who has gone thru a similar ordeal. I am from Pakistan but I am currently living in an another Muslim country. There is no way I can come out in the open or else I would get into deep trouble that is putting it mildly. Even if I did move to the West in future, I still cannot expose my true identity because my family is still very much Muslim and they have no idea about my apostasy. If I did that, I would lost them forever because they surely would disown me for life.
What about you? Did you tell your family about your apostasy? How did they react? It is interesting to note that the maximum number of apostates come from an Iranian background. Why is that Miriam?
I would love to hear your story so please email me on kshakila13@gmail.com
Regards
Shakila
Shakila, apologies, went off on a tangent there.
Shakila, you are a smart, principled, and brave woman.
I know leaving Islam must not have been an easy decision for you—be careful not just with your community, but even with friends and family—I'm sure you know this better than I do!
Good luck with your blog, "Liberated". I hope you you reach other Muslims who are questioning the ugliness and violence of Islam.
I also wish you luck on your spiritual path—whatever eventual choice you make, at least now you are free to make it.
I wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year, if you wish to observe either holiday.
Glad to read your courageous blog. Whatever you do, stay safe! Thank you!
Yeah it sure was difficult.. In fact the most difficult decision of my life.. I feel like a new person as if I have been given a new life.
I am so fortunate that I have such good friends and well wishers.
Regards
S