Leaving Islam

Submitted by A very concerned reader (Australia), Mar 30, 2021 at 15:49

Dear M Tovey,

I understand pretty well your feelings in regards to Ali Sina's words, but I ask you to understand them in its context and also in his context.

Leaving Islam is not an easy task. It's leaving a cult, it's painful, it's scary and it's something that not everyone can afford due to strong bonds and unhealthy attachments with relatives and spouses, and of course, the high societal pressure. Let alone the punishment for doing such a deviant thing. An ex Muslim's life change 360° because now their lives are not ruled by the 5 prayers, the fasting, the stringent rules, the dressing code and eating and toilet sunah rules, how to have intimacy what to eat, how to think. How to think! That's the point. The person who never had to question anything and think about how to proceed in every matter of their lives, now has to think about how to start their days. Baby steps. Hence, the first thing one feels is truly rejection and sometimes real disgust for religions. Any.

I thought that you will understand better his point and also his beliefs by reading this letter that he wrote to another apostate:

https://www.faithfreedom.org/my-story-of-leaving-islam/

When you read the link I'm providing you, look at how he talks about Jesus and how he hopes that all ex Muslims were able to find Jesus somehow. Ali Sina found relief in his baptism. I don't know what his spirituality progression was after that but believe me that through his work, articles and books, you can sense a very thoughtful person with a very clear understanding of what he was into. Beyond any religion that he may follow or practice now, I can sense the person. Not the pride. Someone who has made such a great effort to spread what he knows about Islam, to help others and explain so well how the dynamic of a cult works, can't be arrogant. Precisely, he stated that Islam is full of narcissistic men and repressed and depressed women since the backbone of their religion is based on a leader who was narcissistic himself and lacked of empathy, and still nowadays, he is the role model for every Muslim to keep perpetuating this wrong system.

Ali Sina shares with readers his great knowledge about history, Islam and the Qur'an itself for a better understanding of all the issues in regards to this very sensitive matter. I am very grateful for his work since it truly helped me not to keep falling into a non-return land.

Leaving Islam leaves a person lost and with severe identity problems that are not easy to both address and overcome. He describes the process of conversion like becoming an empty shell. Muslims take away all your identity and leave nothing. When they're done with you, there is normally nothing left. Unless you have something inside you that avoids that the complete process is done. Usually, if this happens, it's because the person has a strong habit of questioning her/himself and the facts that occur around. And also, a healthy self-esteem. It happens in rare occasions. A Muslim who is decided to convert and infidel, doesn't usually fail. Why? Because they're taught about how to do it from an early age. Because they're expert on manipulation strategies as their leader was.

Again, and I would like to stress this as much as I can, leaving Islam is unspeakably hard. It is required a lot of therapy. Please, believe my words because that's precisely my field, and after the experience that I shared in here with some of you, I can tell you that I don't wish this to anyone, not even my worst enemy. What Ali Sina meant about love and religion, one has to comprehend it into Islamic terms. Since no religion commands to its believers to spread the faith by hook or by crook, it makes no sense to me to include any other beliefs system into these statements. Don't you agree?

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