In the Middle East and North Africa, where religion is often ingrained in daily life's very fabric, rejecting faith can come with repercussions.
FILE - Egyptian Muslims perform Eid al-Fitr prayers outside al-Seddik mosque in Cairo, Egypt, Friday, April 21, 2023. In the Middle East and North Africa, where religion is often ingrained in daily life's very fabric, rejecting faith can come with social or other repercussions, so many of the"nones," a group that includes agnostics, atheists and"nothing in particular" conceal that part of themselves, as blasphemy laws and policies are widespread in the region.
“I have a double life all the time,” said the 27-year-old Tunisian woman. “It’s better than having conflict every day.” Many in Arab countries, he said, associate lack of religion with immorality and see it as a threat. “To them, you cannot talk about the rights of someone who is a danger to society.”
Resisting traditional interpretations of such things as gender roles, she sought refuge in progressive Muslim communities and readings. “It’s not the revolution that turned some into atheists or irreligious; the revolution gave them the freedom and courage to speak up,” said Elmihy. He was threatened and attacked in the ensuing period.
“We believe that those who don’t belong to religion are committing a sin, but it’s not our responsibility to hold them accountable,” said Abbas Shouman, an official with Al-Azhar, the Cairo-based seat of Sunni Muslim learning. The role of religious authorities, he said “is only to explain, clarify, spread the correct information and respond to suspicions.”“They have the right to defend their beliefs as they wish but not to go after others’ beliefs,” he said.
“We have an unspoken agreement: I don’t criticize religion and you don’t criticize my lack of religion,” he said.
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