A man who received death threats after renouncing his faith wants to reach out to other people like him.
Imtiaz Shams grew up in a Muslim family in Ilford in the late 1990s and early 2000s, going to school in Hainault and Seven Kings.
The 28-year-old says he was “very religious” as a youngster, always reading books about Islam and going to the mosque.
But as he approached his twenties, Mr Shams started to question things.
He said: “Every Muslim has questions about their faith when they they’re growing up, and that’s totally fine.
“But as I got older and my critical thinking developed, I started to doubt whether the answers I was getting really made sense anymore.”
Despite having doubts, Mr Shams did not actually consider leaving his faith until several years later.
He said: “Even though I wanted to leave, I had absolutely no idea how.
“I didn’t know anyone who had left Islam, I didn’t even know it was something people did.
“But in reality, lots of people feel the same as I did, they’re just not out to their families and the community.
“A lot of non-Muslims aren’t out because they think it’s not worth the abuse they’d face.”
He added: “I’ve had two death threats in the past three months – but it’s not just extreme stuff like that, it’s how people’s interactions with you change too.
“They ignore you, try to keep their children away from you..."
London, in the 21st century.
The same local paper also recently reported this:
http://www.guardian-series.co.uk/news/15093631.Father_forced_to_move_after_renouncing_Islam_calls_for_more_action_on_hate_crime/
Posted by: Nick Tiratsoo | February 23, 2017 at 03:04 PM