List of former Muslims
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It is estimated that there are as many as 200,000 former Muslims live in the United Kingdom.[1] Additionally, Ahmad Al-Katani suggests in an interview on Aljazeera that in Africa, 6 million Muslims convert to Christianity every year.[2] Furthermore, although there are former Muslims in the Middle East, there are currently no definitive figures available as former Muslims are usually persecuted in this region (and may keep their conversion hidden from society), and therefore can not be reliably numbered.[3]
This is a list of notable people who have been Muslims sometime during their lives but no longer are.
Contents |
[edit] Converted to a different Abrahamic religion
[edit] Converted to Christianity
- Carlos Menem - former President of Argentina[4]
- Yadegar Moxammat of Kazan - last khan of Kazan Khanate
- Utameshgaray of Kazan - khan of Kazan Khanate[5]
- Walid Shoebat - author and former member of the PLO[6]
- Nonie Darwish - freelance writer[7]
- Mehdi Dibaj - Iranian pastor and Christian martyr[8]
- Ghorban Tourani - former Iranian Sunni Muslim who became a Christian minister. He received the death penalty for Apostasy in Islam[9][10][11][12][13][14]
- Jean-Bédel Bokassa - Central African Republic Emperor (from Christianity to Islam back to Christianity)[15]
- Mark A. Gabriel- Islamic scholar and writer[16]
- Akbar Gbaja-Biamila - American football player
- Kabeer Gbaja-Biamila - American football player[17]
- Qadry Ismail - former American football player
- Raghib Ismail - former American football player
- Tunch Ilkin - former American football player[18]
- George Weah - Liberian soccer player (from Christianity to Islam back to Christianity)[19]
- Tuğçe Kazaz - Turkish model; Miss Turkey 2001[20]
- Nazli Sabri - Queen consort of Egypt
- Begum Samru - powerful lady of north India, ruling a large area from Sardhana, Uttar Pradesh[21]
- Hussain Andaryas - Afghani Christian activist[22]
- Patrick Sookhdeo - British Anglican canon
- Abdul Rahman - Afghan convert to Christianity who escaped the death penalty because of foreign pressure[23]
- Mathieu Kérékou- President of Benin (from Christianity to Islam back to Christianity)[24]
- Alexander Bekovich-Cherkassky - Russian officer of Circassian origin who led the first Russian military expedition into Central Asia (note: was converted under unknown circumstances)
- Emily Ruete - Born Sayyida Salme, Princess of Zanzibar and Oman
- Alexander Kazembek - Russian Orientalist, historian and philologist of Azeri origin
- Emir Kusturica - Bosnian film director[25][26]
- Daniel Ali- former Iraqi muslim and writer
- Daveed Gartenstein-Ross- from Judiasm to Islam to Christianity- counter terrorism expert.[27][28]
[edit] Converted to Judaism
- Avraham Sinai - former Hezbollah intelligence officer and spy for Israel[29]
[edit] Converted to the Bahá'í Faith
- Mírzá Abu'l-Fadl- foremost Bahá'í scholar who helped spread the Bahá'í Faith in Egypt, Turkmenistan, and the United States. One of the few Apostles of Bahá'u'lláh who never actually met Bahá'u'lláh.[30]
- Mishkín-Qalam- was a prominent Bahá'í and one of the nineteen Apostles of Bahá'u'lláh, as well as a famous calligrapher of 19th century Persia.[31]
- Táhirih- poet[32]
- Nabíl-i-A`zam- Bahá'í historian, one of the nineteen Apostles of Bahá'u'lláh[31]
- Hají Ákhúnd- follower of Bahá'u'lláh[31]
- Ibn-i-Abhar- appointed a Hand of the Cause, and identified as one of the nineteen Apostles of Bahá'u'lláh.
- Dhabihu'llah Mahrami- Iranian Bahá'í who was charged with apostasy from Islam and jailed in Iran.[33] After 10 years in prison he was found dead in his cell.[34]
- Núrayn-i-Nayyirayn- two brothers who were beheaded in the city of Isfahan in 1879.
[edit] Part of a unorganized religion or no religion
[edit] Became atheists
- Ayaan Hirsi Ali - Somali born politician.[35]
- Salman Rushdie - author who wrote many books critical of Islam[36]
- Lounès Matoub- secularist singer[37]
- Nursultan Nazarbayev- President of Kazakhstan[38]
- Ibn Warraq- bestselling author on Islam[39]
- Al-Ma'arri[40]
[edit] Secular
- Aman Tuleyev - secular[41]
- Taslima Nasrin - secular humanist and writer[42]
- Ali Sina, an online critic of Islam and founder of the Faith Freedom International web site, who has contributed to a book by Ibn Warraq called Leaving Islam: Apostates Speak Out[43][44]
- As'ad Abu Khalil- Lebanese secularist[45]
- Wafa Sultan - secular humanist[46][47]
- Mina Ahadi - Iranian-born pazifist, founder of the German apostate-organisation "Zentralrat der Ex-Muslime"[48]
- Ekin Deligöz- feminist[citation needed]
- Cem Özdemir- german politition[citation needed]
[edit] Rationalist or free-thinker
- Younus Shaikh - Pakistani rationalist and free-thinker[49]
[edit] Converted to a Dharmic religion
[edit] Converted to Buddhism
- Tillakaratne Dilshan- cricket player[50]
- Kenneth Pai- writer[51]
[edit] Converted to Hinduism
- Nadira Naipaul - Convert to Hinduism. The wife of Nobel prize-winning novelist Sir Vidiadhar Naipaul.
- Annapurna Devi - surbahar (bass sitar) player and music teacher in the North Indian classical tradition[52]
- Anwar Shaikh - Pakistani born author. Passed away in November 2006.[53]
- Aashish Khan- Indian musician[54]
[edit] Converted to Sikhism
- Kuldeep Manak - Famous Punjabi folk singer, converted from Islam[55]
[edit] Other
[edit] Religious founders
- Akbar - Ruler of Mughal Empire and founder of Din-i-Ilahi.[56][57]
- Ariffin Mohamed - Founder of the Sky Kingdom.
- Salih ibn Tarif - Proclaimed himself prophet of a new, now extinct, religion.
- Báb - founded Babism virtually all his followers upon his death accepted Bahá'u'lláh[58]
- Bahá'u'lláh - claimed to be the prophet the Báb spoke of thus forming the Bahá'í Faith[31]
[edit] Undetermined current belief system but are former Muslims
- Wesley Snipes[59]
- Parvin Darabi- Iranian Critic of Islam[60]
- Kateb Yacine
- Khalid Duran[61]
- Afshin Ellian
- Jacques Vergès
[edit] References
- ^ Muslim apostates cast out and at risk from faith and family Times Online
- ^ 6 Million Muslims Leave Islam every year Aljazeera (in Arabic}
- ^ [1]
- ^ Carlos Menem- Biography
- ^ (Tatar) "Үтәмешгәрәй". Tatar Encyclopedia. (2002). Kazan: Tatarstan Republic Academy of Sciences Institution of the Tatar Encyclopaedia.
- ^ [2]
- ^ Friedman, Lisa. "Ex-Muslim calls on her people to reject hatred", Los Angeles Daily News, 5 June 2005. (reproduced)
- ^ [3]
- ^ [4]
- ^ [5]
- ^ [6]
- ^ [7]
- ^ [8]
- ^ [9]
- ^ I Love Jeddah in the Springtime Time magazine
- ^ Against the Tides in the Middle East, International Academic Centre for Muslim Evangelism in South Africa, 1997 (published under the name "Mustafa").
- ^ [10]
- ^ [11]
- ^ [12]
- ^ http://www.haber7.com/haber.php?haber_id=191607&comments=allce
- ^ The Indian Mutiny and the British Imagination by Gautam Chakravarty · Cambridge, 242 pp ISBN 0521832748
- ^ He saved me - The story of Hussain Andaryas from Afghanistan. Retrieved on 2006-08-17.
- ^ http://english.aljazeera.net/news/archive/archive?ArchiveId=21687
- ^ Okanla, Karim. "Benin's 'magical' leader", BBC news, Wednesday, 20 August, 2003.
- ^ Article about Kusturica's religion on pionirovglasnik.com
- ^ News of Kusturica's baptism on passagen.se
- ^ Prison Radicalization: Are Terrorist Cells Forming in U.S. Cell Blocks? Government testimony (PDF)
- ^ Daveed Gartenstein-Ross biography on his website
- ^ Avni, Idan. "A righteous man from Hizbullah land", YNetNews, 2006-09-14. Retrieved on 2006-12-17.
- ^ Momen, Moojan (2002-03-04). Abu'l-Fadl Gulpaygani, Mirza. Retrieved on 2007-02-19.
- ^ a b c d Balyuzi, H.M. (1985). Eminent Bahá'ís in the time of Bahá'u'lláh. The Camelot Press Ltd, Southampton, pp. 270-271. ISBN 0853981523.
- ^ `Abdu'l-Bahá [1915] (1997). Memorials of the Faithful, Softcover, Wilmette, Illinois, USA: Bahá'í Publishing Trust. ISBN 0877432422.
- ^ U.S. Department of State's Bureau of International Information Programs (2006-12-23). U.S. Condemns Iran's Persecution of Bahai Religious Prisoner. U.S. Department of State. Retrieved on 2006-10-31.
- ^ Amnesty International (2006-01-25). IRAN: Dhabihullah Mahrami and Musa Talibi - Update. Amnesty International. Retrieved on 2006-10-31.
- ^ Dutch article link: 'Ik geloof niet meer'
- ^ Interview with Rushdie by Gigi Marzullo; Sottovoce, RAIUNO, March 31, 2006.
- ^ interview with Lounès Matoub
- ^ Kazakstan - Government Mongabay
- ^ "Warraq's book Why I Am Not a Muslim presents a strident historical, moral, and philosophical indictment of Islam and advocates not just a firm separation of mosque and state but outright atheism." Holy War, by Chris Mooney at The American Prospect online (Accessed 29 August 2006).
- ^ Freethought Traditions in the Islamic World by Fred Whitehead
- ^ Religion in Russia "Theologians from Chechnya and Dagestan, a neighbouring mainly Moslem region of Russia, called at an assembly in Grozny for Tuleyev's death, Interfax said. They urged all Moslems to carry out the sentence at the first possible opportunity."
- ^ Indian Muslim group calls for beheading of writer, Khaleej Times Online / AFP, 17 March 2007
- ^ Leaving Islam: Apostates Speak Out Prometheus Books (May 2003) ISBN 1-59102-068-9
- ^ Faith Freedom International- about
- ^ The Angry Arab News Service commnets from her blog
- ^ Time Magazine- Interview with Wafa Sultan
- ^ There is No Clash of Civilizations but a Clash between the Mentality of the Middle Ages and That of the 21st Century Feb. 2006
- ^ "Founder of ex-Muslim group threatened", United Press International, February 23, 2007.
- ^ Younus Shaikh- short biofraphy
- ^ Cricinfo Profile Retrieved 20-12-2006.
- ^ Peony Dreams Retrieved 27-7-2007.
- ^ Unveiling the Mystique of a Reclusive Artiste, Jaya Ramanathan, The Hindu, 28 June 2005.
- ^ Autobiography of a Dissident - Anwar Shaikh in Leaving Islam: Apostates Speak Out by Ibn Warraq. Prometheus Books (May 2003) ISBN 1-59102-068-9 .
- ^ Ali Akbar's son claims to be Hindu Times of India - September 1, 2006
- ^ [13]
- ^ Abul Fazl - Akbarnama Volume III
- ^ Abul Fazl - Akbarnama Volume II
- ^ Shoghi Effendi, introduction to The Dawn-breakers, p. xxx.
- ^ Wesley Snipes, Hollywood's hottest new star talks about: his divorce, his days on the streets and why he doesn't have 'jungle fever. Ebony Magazine. Sept, 1991 by Laura B. Randolph
- ^ Darabi, Parvin Rage Against the Veil: The Courageous Life and Death of an Islamic Dissident ISBN 1-57392-682-5
- ^ Duran, KhalidChildren of Abraham : An Introduction to Islam for Jews Ktav Publishing House ISBN 0881257249
[edit] See also
- Apostasy in Islam
- Pseudonymity
- Criticism of Islam
- List of converts to Islam
- Religious conversion
- Apostasy
