It's great to hear your story, Yasmina

Submitted by L (United States), Apr 27, 2007 at 17:55

Hello, Yasmina.

I read your post, and I just wanted to tell you that I think it is wonderful that you had the courage to think, to ask questions, and to follow your brain and your heart. I'm glad to hear that there ARE Muslims--especially women!--who end up deciding to not follow Islam in the traditional sense and to follow their own paths. It gives me hope for my relationship.

I am an American woman married to a Tunisian man, and I was raised without a particular religion. I am agnostic, and I am truly at peace. My husband is, for the most part, a non-practicing Muslim (I've never seen the man pray in three years, I'm happy to say), and I have made it clear to him that our children, if we have them, will NOT be indoctrinated into a particular religion. I want to raise them the way I was raised. I want them to learn ABOUT religion, but I don't want them to be brainwashed. I want them to go on their own religious and spiritual journeys and make their own decisions; they will learn how to be ethical people--honest, responsible, kind, hard-working, respectful--by following the behaviors that my husband and I will hopefully model for them.

I have made it very clear to my husband that, if he wants to stay with me and build a life with me and have children with me, then he must realize that his children will NOT be raised as Muslims. We've talked about it many times, and he hasn't left yet! But it is amazing to me that MOST Muslims view my thoughts as an impossibility. That is not true. It IS possible, and I bet it has happened. There are MANY people who do not participate in a traditional religion, and that is OKAY. As long as my husband and I treat each other well and treat our children well AND as long as we agree about how to raise them--that's the key--then they will be FINE without being raised as Muslims. They may even be better off.

So, Yasmina, it was fantastic to read your story, and I wish you all the best. I hope that I will find more people like you. I hope you read this post, and best wishes!

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