Moroccan apostate of the second generation  (March 30, 2013)

Being the second generation of Moroccan descent in Belgium, I grew up with the practice of Islam. During my early childhood, courses of islamic religion did not exist at school. Muslims had no radical discourse. The most amazing thing was the spirit of openness between the different people. Muslim girls and boys were dressed in a similar way as the other children (there were no headscarves).

I was attending classes about Islam from the age of 12. The teacher of Islam seemed to be very strict. He would not tolerate a boy sitting next to a girl in class or a boy talking to a girl (for the boys and the girls themselves there was no problem). It was very important to learn Arabic. The worst is that we spent a lot of time to memorize verses from the Quran of which we did not understand the meaning. Read on

Jeune Flamande ex-musulman convertie donne un avertissement à toutes les jeunes filles (15 mai 2011)
 
J'ai toujours été avec des garçons marocains, qui m’ont beaucoup parlé sur l'Islam, de façon que je suis entrée dans la pensée islamique sans le savoir. Bien évidemment, on te dit seulement les bonnes choses, jamais il y a quelque chose de mauvais.

J'ai eu une enfance traumatisante et je cherchais une raison de vivre. Mon ami m'a beaucoup parlé sur l'Islam et il disait que ça allait changer ma vie. J'ai alors commencé à lire sur l'islam sur les forums islamiques, des livres, etc. Puis je suis tombé sur un professeur de religion islamique. Elle m'a appris beaucoup de choses et j’ai fait la shahada avec elle. Read on

I am marked as Muslim but don’t believe in Allah (October 25, 2009)

When asked to write about my “battle” as an ex-Muslim i found it to be a very difficult task. For various reasons, the most important is that as far as I can remember I've never felt a Muslim. That which makes a Muslim different from all other people is the "shahada" (islamic creed), something I've said out loud, but never meant.

I do not believe in Allah or God or whatever you want to call him, I believe there is no form of higher power. That makes me different from not only Muslims, but from every believer. But given my roots in Islam I will always be inextricably linked with it. All and all, it doesn’t matter to me, I'm not ashamed of my heritage and Westerners are often associated with Christianity as well. Read on

Testimony of a Christian ex-muslim lady (22 September 2009)

I am the daughter of a Flemish mother and a Moroccan father. There has always been a great void in my heart: everywhere I went I was bored, whatever I did I was bored. I got married at a very young age and before we went to bed we used to recite Suras. The religion was omnipresent in our lives. We did not eat pork or drink alcohol. I didn’t wear offensive clothes, was never in the presence of men. I did everything Islam said.

One day I decided to start wearing a veil. How proud I was to be a good Muslim! I watched as many videos as possible about Islam; I was looking for something but I didn’t know what it was.  I didn’t know much. Little by little, finding nothing, I felt abandoned. Year after year life seemed gloomier, the void was still there and my boredom and my problem persisted. Read on

Testimony of an ex-muslim convert (September 11, 2008)

I was raised in a wealthy traditional Flemish catholic family, growing up in a "golden cage", but had very little personal freedom, also psychological, well mainly psychological.

As a result of this, I left home as soon as I had the chance to do so. I looked for a job, found one and started living on my own.

After a few short, not very meaningful  relationships, I met my future husband. A Tunisian Muslim, however not very religious. He even ate pork. He had never read the Quran and never participated in Ramadan. Read on

Testimony of an ex-muslim convert (April 16, 2008)

More than 25 years ago I started a ‘discrete’ relationship with an adult Muslim woman. The majority of her relatives lived in her country of origin. She warned me there could be some “problems” and that her ‘family’ would expect something from me. As a true humanist I was convinced that I could negotiate in all reason with that family and make my points of view acceptable.

More than 3 years later we got married. Her residence permit had expired and this was the only way she could stay here. The family was informed in writing after the marriage and were put at an ‘accomplished’ fact. After a while our relationship was disturbed by severe discussions: the point was that I had to ‘convert’ to Islam. Read on

Testimony of an ex-muslim convert (April 15, 2008)

I converted to Islam long ago. I have been raised in a very strict Catholic family and grew up in a loving environment. I always felt real good in the “Catholic "system". Even though my conversion was a very big shock for my parents, they always considered me as their beloved son. In this respect and in many other points my parents are true Christians.

Many people convert to Islam because their partner is Muslim. They think Islam is equal to Christianity plus Muhammad; a type of 2.1 version of the Windows of religion. For men like me this is because it is a (legal) obligation or necessity, to marry a muslim woman. Women mostly convert because their partner shows so much love for his religion and the rituals (praying, fasting, ...) have a charming effect, and to come closer to their partner, they just want to join in and convert. One falls in love with the so-called Islamic atmosphere and solidarity without knowing what Islam really is about. Read on