Are Muslims victims of Islam? Yes, many Muslims are victims of Islam, says Soran Tarkhani. He adds: “If you sympathize with the current plight of Muslims, you must criticize Islam. It’s the only rational and reasonable way forward.

I grew up in “Kurdistan”, a country readily associated with secular philosophy, and my sympathies naturally ran to the political left, against conservative views that I saw as religious and backward-looking.

When I came to study in the U.S., I maintained this position and joined various liberal-minded university groups, whose members joined those in my social network who were openly left-wing. Apart from my strong support for the war in Iraq and the liberation of Kurdistan, I felt a sense of closeness to my liberal colleagues whose ideals I shared.

The dividing line

But after the terrible terrorist attacks in Paris (2015), this sense of solidarity and belonging began to crumble. Students shunned me and accused me of sectarianism and racism because I spoke openly about the dangers of Islam. Back home in Kurdistan, I’ve always campaigned for the separation of mosque and state. But opposing religious domination in the United States turned out to be a different story. Apparently, only certain religions could be criticized, while others seemed to enjoy sacrosanct status. As a result of my interventions, I was excluded from various left-wing forums and Facebook groups where I had long been considered a welcome participant. The situation deteriorated to such an extent that I was afraid to express my opinion honestly, a situation I had never experienced, even in Iraq.

The greatest obstacle in the path of the Muslim world

For some reason, some people don’t want to listen to those who have been victims of Islam express their opposition to this religion. Yet I firmly believe that the greatest obstacle standing in the way of the Muslim world is Islam itself. It is therefore an absolutely distressing situation to see members of a Western liberal democracy fear criticism if they oppose a form of religious hegemony, while those living in a war-torn Middle Eastern country know no such fear.

Since I didn’t have enough intellectual space to frankly express my opinion and talk about my experiences, I had to turn to Ex-Muslims in North America, an organization dedicated to those who, like me, are anti-clerical dissidents with an Islamic background.

Criticizing Islam should be a liberal’s priority

Personally, I still don’t understand how defending Islam has become a liberal posture when Islam is a deeply conservative ideology that stands against most liberal norms and values. Isn’t at the heart of liberalism the desire to combat ideologies that undermine human dignity? Why should we protect an unreformed Islam that looks back on the 6th century with nostalgia and tries to take us back to it? There’s a considerable difference between defending the individual freedoms of human beings, whether Muslim or otherwise, and defending the ideas they hold dear.

If you believe that treating women as second-class citizens, killing apostates, banning gay rights, restricting or eliminating individual freedom, supporting child abuse, allowing female circumcision and underage marriage, and many other such practices, require no questioning, how can you, in good conscience, still call yourself a “liberal”? How can you jeopardize your fundamental principles by tolerating what directly threatens your standards and beliefs?

See also: Can you criticize Islam without being Islamophobic? and How does Islam punish apostasy?

Converging views

I grew up in a Muslim environment. This gives a certain weight to my word, at least for those who believe that experience can give weight to a word. So, let’s start by putting aside al-Qaeda and the Islamic State, since they are generally considered too barbaric to belong to the liberal, civilized world. So let’s consider Muslim-majority communities and countries. According to the 2015 report by the IHEU – International Humanist and Ethical Union’s Freedom of Thought – 13 of the 13 countries that impose capital punishment for apostasy are Muslim-majority.

Pew Research Center data from 2012 also indicated that the vast majority of Muslim countries prohibit apostasy and blasphemy, both punishable by sentences ranging from 10 years’ imprisonment to capital punishment. No Muslim country fully recognizes the rights of ex-Muslims and anti-clerical dissidents. Most of them, including liberal bastions like Turkey (sic), hold men and women in prison on charges of disbelief. Compare this practice with the fate of disbelievers in most Western countries. When was the last heresy trial held? How many men and women are imprisoned today for unbelief?

It’s my deep love for Muslims that motivates my criticism of Islam

I’ve often been told that defending Islam is like defending the victims of discrimination and racism. While this may be true in some Western contexts, the fact is that ex-Muslims, like me, are threatened and regularly murdered by Muslims, all over the world. Compare this to another fact: how many Western countries prescribe capital punishment for Muslim people? NONE! This does not mean that there is no anti-Muslim racism or bigotry in these countries…. (The problem is that neither the far right nor the liberals) want to break Islam’s hegemony over our lives. Neither is willing to make the distinction between individuals and ideology. Nevertheless, I remain convinced that all ideologies must be criticized.

When we say that Islam is a bad ideology, we’re not saying that individual Muslims are bad. If Muslims condemn apostasy, their reason for doing so lies not in themselves but in Islamic doctrine. Their intolerance of dissent is not genetically programmed. My whole family is Muslim and I care deeply for them. In fact, it’s my deep love for Muslims that motivates my criticism of Islam. I believe that the main source of the problems facing the Islamic world lies in Islam itself, rather than in colonialism, unemployment, illiteracy, poverty and so on. The two factors doing most harm to the Muslim world are terrorism and radical Muslims who, according to Maajid Nawaz, have “hijacked Islam” and demonize anyone who thinks differently from them.

See also: Islamist terrorism and Christian terrorism

Let those who are victims of Islam fight for their freedom

Those who blow themselves up sing “Allah u Akbar” rather than Rock and Roll. They are motivated by Islamic doctrine…. They are motivated by their vision of Islam, not by any material gain. For things to change, these norms must be challenged. For ex-Muslims to live without fearing for their lives, it’s necessary to challenge the relevance of Islam. If you sympathize with the current plight of Muslims, you are obliged to criticize Islam. It’s the only rational and reasonable way forward. It’s also the way the West has progressed by breaking the chains of Christian dogma.

If you’re too scared and insecure, if you feel ill-equipped to criticize Islam, at least make some room and let those of us who are its victims stand up and fight back. Please stop trying to silence us and erase our existence. If you choose to take the side of Islamic religious conservatives against liberals, against secularists – because of our skin color or because of our different geographical origin – please know that you are obstructing human development and hurting the victims of Islam a little more by silencing voices that are essential to progress.

Source: https://www.theexmuslim.com/2016/04/12/what-about-the-victims-of-islam/

*Disclaimer: The author of this article is solely responsible for his comments. The fact that we publish his point of view does not mean that we agree with it in all respects.