In parts of the Middle East, being an atheist is punishable by death, but there are some trying to fight for their freedom of speech
Sami is a Saudi Arabian atheist “living among the religiously insane”. He is an apostate, a former Muslim who has come to deny Islam. In Saudi Arabia – as in Iran, Egypt, Pakistan, Somalia, the UAE and Yemen– the official penalty for apostasy is death. Even in Qatar, home of the 2022 World Cup, an atheist’s beliefs can result in them facing capital punishment.
“Forgive me my English, I have learned from films and reading”, Sami tells me. He likes “American films… serious ones”, and I now know why his profile photo is taken from Spike Jonze’s latest film, Her. Another reason is that if he were identified as a kaffir – an unbeliever – he could be punished by death.
Although there have been no recently reported executions in Saudi Arabia, Sami explains his anxieties to me: “The government make it clear that to talk about atheism or to be an atheist, or to say anything against the religion, is a crime and you will go to jail. They are so serious about this.” Indeed, so serious are the Saudi government that in June 2013 they jailed atheist blogger Raif Badawi (below) for the supposed crime of setting up a website called ‘Free Saudi Liberals’. According to Badawi’s brother-in-law, he worries that he will be kept in prison indefinitely.
In many strict Islamic countries atheists face persecution not only by their government, but also at the hands of their fellow citizens. Despite telling me that many other young Saudi atheists talk to one another on WhatsApp, the only other Saudi atheist that Sami dares communicate with privately is his girlfriend. He often worries that people purporting to be atheists online may in reality be people hoping to gain favour with the authorities by reporting an apostate. He adds that he made sure to research me thoroughly online before agreeing to talk.
Sakhil, a founding member of the Afghans Atheists Organization, told me that in Afghanistan, as in Saudi Arabia, the government are not the only threat to atheists. Sakhil explained that “Islamic extremists, Mujahidin, fundamentalist Muslim groups and the Taliban” still pose a threat. Unlike in Saudi Arabia, where Atheist Alliance International (AII) is not aware of any specific atheist organizations or movements, in Afghanistan, Sakhil’s secretive atheist group has been active since 2008. Sakhil helped establish the group while he was at university, and as of May 2013 it had approximately 170 members working throughout the provinces of Kabul, Balkh, Kandahar and Heraat, to help promote secularism and atheism.
Sakhil tells me that the group once held monthly meetings where about eight to 10 of its organizers and activists – university professors and students, civil servants, journalists, and even TV presenters – would discuss the group’s progress and future. However, this all changed in May 2013, when Sakhil was bombarded with calls from the Afghan secret security service. The authorities had discovered the group, and interrogated Sakhil, who feared they intended to send him to trial, detain him indefinitely, or take him to the desert and shoot him. Fortunately for Sakhil, after fervently denying his identity and all connections to the group, he was able to flee the authorities. He describes his life now as an anxious and solitary existence: “Still the government are chasing to find me, and I live a lonely life in hiding. I rarely come out from my room.”
“Still the government are chasing to find me, and I live a lonely life in hiding. I rarely come out from my room”
In January, a man who fled Afghanistan with his family in 2007 was granted asylum in Britain, on the grounds that he had become an atheist while living in the UK, and would therefore face persecution and possibly a death sentence if he returned to Afghanistan. Sakhil has tried to leave Afghanistan – he tells me that the AAI contacted the US embassy in Kabul and various organisations on his behalf, but that because “the countries and embassies have different policies on seeking asylum and traveling”, it has been difficult to make progress.
It has recently been reported that in Iraq groups of atheists are beginning to demand recognition and a guarantee of their rights. However, since the 2013 crackdown, the Afghans Atheists Organization has been limited in their activities – they no longer hold their monthly meetings. They do still have a Facebook page, where their members and supporters share their ideas and vent their frustrations, often in the form of atheist memes.
Facebook is full of similar Arabic-language pages – from the Sudanese Atheists page, which has nearly 3,000 likes, to the smaller Yemeni atheists one, whose creator told me: “No one knows that we are atheists, because if they did, we would surely be killed. I have a fake account where I express my opinion freely, but with my own account it’s impossible to show the way I really am.”
There appear to be no such Saudi pages, which is surprising given that a 2012 poll found that 5% of Saudis consider themselves to be atheist. This is probably because, as Sami tells me, his government removes websites and blogs that encourage the discussion and dissemination of liberal ideas. A recent report by the International Humanist and Ethical Union highlights the extent to which the Saudi Ministry of Information polices what its citizens post on the web.
While atheists exist in Saudi Arabia, it is dangerous and difficult for them to interact with one another. My contact explains that he introduces himself as a ‘liberal Muslim’ to people he suspects may be sympathetic to his beliefs. However, to be liberal is itself dangerous – on the rare occasion that he mentions a liberal idea to his family, he immediately notices “a look in their eyes or a reaction that shows it is too much for them”.
When I ask Sami whether he thinks things will improve for Saudi atheists, he laughs a little, replying, “I can’t see that coming, I think we need at least another 50 to 60 years”.
Towards the end our conversation, Sami emphasizes that it is not just atheists whom his government persecute – it is anyone who questions the religion of the land, or more specifically, he adds, “the religion as the Saudi government see it”. For while certain verses in the Qur’an are interpreted as condemning apostasy, there is another that states: “There shall be no compulsion in [acceptance of] the religion.”
Featured Image: vladislav.bezrukov via Flickr, Inset image: Facebook, Afghans Atheists Organization via Facebook
Some names have been changed to protect people’s indentity
The post ‘No one knows who we are, if they did we would surely be killed’: The secret lives of Middle Eastern atheists appeared first on Planet Ivy.