One of the
frequently asked questions the ex-Muslims of Bangladesh gets is – if we are
atheists, why do we choose to speak against one particular religion, namely
Islam, and rarely talk about other religions. They accuse us being Islamophobic
and also claim that we are not true atheists because we only speak against
Islam. I will try to address their concern in this article.
Long story in
short, the reason I choose to speak against Islam mostly is because I am
surrounded by Muslims. All my life, I have been a practicing Muslim. On top of
that, my whole family is still a group of practicing Muslims. Their ideology,
Islam, affects me in all shapes and forms. Not only that, the society I live in
is filled with people, most of whom claim to be Muslims.
It is quite
difficult for indoctrinated people like Muslims to accept an ex-Muslim, let
alone an atheist, in the community. So, I want to normalize atheism in this
community. I want people to realize that atheists do exist and it is okay to be
an atheist. I cannot do that unless I tell them again and again why I left
Islam in the first place; what the flaws are in their ideology. It is not a
personal attack against them, it is a criticism of their belief system.
