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Although their numbers have increased in the US, ex-Muslims still face ostracism or retaliation from their families and communities due to beliefs about apostasy in Islam.[1]
In 23 countries apostasy is a punishable crime and in 13 of those it carries the death penalty.[2]
Mustafa Kemal Atatürk – Turkish field marshal, statesman, secularist reformer, and author. Sources point out that Atatürk was a religious skeptic and a freethinker. While his specific religious views are unclear, he was a non-doctrinaire deist.[3][4] According to Atatürk, the Turkish people do not know what Islam really is and do not read the Quran. People are influenced by Arabic sentences that they do not understand, and because of their customs they go to mosques. When the Turks read the Quran and think about it, they will leave Islam.[5] Atatürk described Islam as the religion of the Arabs in his own work titled Vatandaş için Medeni Bilgiler by his own critical and nationalist views.[6]
Luai Ahmed – Yemeni-Swedish journalist, columnist and influencer considered as a controversial critic of the radical Islam and the anti-Semitism and hatred of Israel inherent in it.[12] He is affiliated with Sweden Democrats, a Swedish right-wing nationalist party.[13] Ahmed is openly gay and considers himself Zionist.[14][15]
Nas Daily – Israeli-Palestinian vlogger, he identifies as a non-religious Muslim.[16]
Alyque Padamsee – Indian theatre personality and ad filmmaker. He was the father of Indian advertising. He was agnostic.[19]
Fareed Zakaria – Indian-American CNN host. He is a self described secular and non practicing Muslim. He added: "My views on faith are complicated—somewhere between deism and agnosticism. I am completely secular in my outlook."
Abdullah al-Qasemi – one of the most controversial intellectuals in the Arab world because of his radical change from defending Salafism to defending atheism and rejecting organized religion.[31]
Ahmed Harqan – Egyptian human rights activist and outspoken atheist.[34]
Ahmed Sharif – Bangladeshi humanist book seller, human rights activist and secular humanist.[35]
Al-Ma'arri – blind Arab philosopher, poet and writer.[36]
Alexander Aan – Indonesian atheist and ex-Muslim of Minang descent, who was attacked by a mob and arrested in 2012 for posting "God does not exist" and other antireligious writings on Facebook, attracting international attention.[37]
Ali A. Rizvi – Pakistani-born Canadian physician, writer and ex-Muslim activist[38]
Ayaz Nizami – Pakistani Islamic scholar became atheist, founder of realisticapproach.org.[45] an Urdu website about atheism, and Vice President of Atheist & Agnostic Alliance Pakistan[46] He is currently detained under the charges of blasphemy and could face the death penalty.[47][48]
Catherine Perez-Shakdam – French journalist, political analyst and commentator; formerly a convert to Islam, born to a Jewish family[51]
Bonya Ahmed – Bangladeshi-American author, humanist activist and blogger, wife of Avijit Roy; hacked to death after receiving threats related to his promotion of secular views.[52]
Faik Konitza – Albanian stylist, critic, publicist and political figure that had a tremendous impact on Albanian writing and on Albanian culture at the time.[58]
Faisal Saeed Al Mutar – Iraqi-born satirist, human rights activist, writer, founder of the Global Secular Humanist Movement (GSHM).[59]
Farhan Akhtar – Indian actor, singer, songwriter, playback singer, producer and television host.[60][61]
Fauzia Ilyas – founder of Atheist & Agnostic Alliance Pakistan
Nahla Mahmoud – Sudanese-born British writer, secularist, environmentalist, and human rights activist, and spokesperson for the Council of Ex-Muslims of Britain.[84]
Parvin Darabi – Iranian born American activist, writer and woman's rights activist.[85]
Sarmad Kashani – seventeenth-century mystical poet and sufi saint, arrived from Persia to India, beheaded for assumed heresy by the Mughal emperor, Aurungzebe. Sarmad renounced Judaism, briefly converting to Islam and then Hinduism. He later denounced all religions and rejected belief in gods.[95][96]
Sibel Kekilli – German actress of Turkish origin, known for her role as 'Shae' in Game of Thrones. Kekili was raised as a Muslim, but does not belong to any religion anymore, and although she stated she respects all religions,[97] has criticised the physical mistreatment of women in Islam.[98]
Sherif Gaber – Egyptian political activist and blogger.
Taslima Nasrin – Bangladeshi author, feminist, human rights activist and secular humanist.[99]
Turan Dursun – Turkish author and Islamic scholar. He was once a Turkish mufti and later authored many books critical of Islam.[100]
Valon Behrami – Kosovo-born Swiss professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for English club Watford.[101]
Waleed Al-Husseini – Palestinian philosopher, essayist, writer, blogger and co-founder of Council of Ex-Muslims in France[fr] (CEMF).
Yasmine Mohammed – Canadian-born human rights activist, founder of Free Hearts, Free Minds and author of Unveiled: How Western Liberals Empower Radical Islam.[102]
U.S. actor Wesley Snipes converted from Christianity to Islam in 1978, but left in 1988.[108]Zayn Malik, English singer-songwriter
Charles Bronson – British criminal and self-styled "most violent prisoner in Britain".[109]
David Hicks – Australian-born Guantanamo Bay detainee who converted to Islam[110] and was notorious in his homeland for his once support of radical Islam and for the circumstances surrounding his incarceration, is believed to have renounced Islam whilst incarcerated at Guantanamo Bay.[111]
Gérard Depardieu – French actor, had converted to Islam in his youth after listening to Umm Kalthum's recitation of the verses of the Qur'an at a concert, he was a practicing muslim for a few years before abandoning Islam.
Khalid Duran – specialist in the history, sociology and politics of the Islamic world.[112]
Linda Thompson – British folk singer who, along with her husband Richard, converted to Sufism in the 1970s. The couple have since divorced and she has left the religion.[114]
Trie Utami – Indonesian singer who after a stormy divorce is known to have left Islam after 2005, but she refuses to declare to what religion she converted.[115][116]
Wong Ah Kiu (1918–2006) – Malay woman born to a Muslim family but was raised as Buddhist; her conversion from Islam became a legal issue in Malaysia on her death[123]
Annapurna Devi (born Roshanara Khan) – surbahar (bass sitar) player and music teacher in the North Indian classical tradition. She converted to Hinduism upon marriage.[127]
Aashish Khan (born Ustad Aashish Khan Debsharma) – Indian musician[129]
Asha Gawli – (born Ayesha) wife of Arun Gawli, notorious gangster turned politician from Mumbai, India. She converted to Hinduism upon marriage.[130]
Bukka I – King of Vijayanagara empire who converted to Islam, then reverted to Hinduism. The early life of Bukka as well as his brother Hakka (also known as Harihara I) are relatively unknown and most accounts of their early life are based on theories.[131]
Chander Mohan – former Deputy Chief Minister of Haryana State in India. He was born Chandra Mohan he converted to Islam after marriage and again reverted to Hinduism after his divorce.[132][133]
Amina Dawood Al-Mufti – Jordanian Muslim of Circassian origin, converted to Judaism upon marrying an Israeli Jewish pilot in secret in Vienna. She later became a spy for Mossad. An Arabic TV series called An Eastern Girl (فتاة من الشرق) (Fatah min Asharq) was made about her starring Suzan Najm Aldeen as Amina.[146][147] The book (مذكرات أخطر جاسوسة عربية للموساد .. أمينة المفتي) was written about her.[148]
Avraham Sinai – Lebanese former Shi'ite who converted to Judaism. He served as an informant for the Israelis while serving in Hezbollah, until his actions were uncovered. He fled to Israel and subsequently converted.[149]
Dario Hunter – American politician. Became the first Muslim born individual to be ordained a rabbi.[150]
Yasmeen Ali – British adult actress of Afghan origin. Converted to Judaism while dating her Jewish boyfriend.[151]
Converted to the Bábí and Baháʼí Faith
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.[152]:270–271
These were mostly people who were followers of the Bahá'u'lláh at the time he founded the Baháʼí Faith. They were formerly Muslims.
Born into a Muslim Batak family, Indonesian Prime Minister Amir Sjarifuddin converted to Christianity in 1931. He was one of the Indonesian Republic's first leaders.[168]
Amir Sjarifuddin – Indonesian socialist leader who later became the second prime minister of Indonesia during its National Revolution.[168]
Bob Denard – French soldier and mercenary leader. Converted from Roman Catholicism to Judaism, then Islam and eventually back to Roman Catholicism.[179]
Carlos Menem – former President of Argentina. Raised a Muslim but converted to Roman Catholicism, the majority religion of Argentina, due to his political aspirations (before the 1994 reform, the Argentine Constitution established that the President of the Nation had to be a Roman Catholic).[182][184]
Fathima Rifqa Bary – American teenager of Sri Lankan descent who drew international attention in 2009 when she ran away from home and claimed that her Muslim parents might kill her for having converted to Christianity.[214]
Ghorban Tourani – former IranianSunni Muslim who became a Christian minister. Following multiple murder threats, he was abducted and murdered on November 22, 2005.[218]
Hakan Taştan and Turan Topal – two Turkish Christian converts who went on trial in 2006, on charges of "allegedly insulting 'Turkishness' and inciting religious hatred against Islam".[223]
Jabalah ibn al-Aiham – last ruler of the Ghassanid state in Syria and Jordan in the seventh century AD. After the Islamic conquest of Levant he converted to Islam in AD 638. He reverted to Christianity later on and lived in Anatolia until he died in AD 645.[233]
Jacob Frank – 18th century Jewish religious leader who claimed to be the reincarnation of the self-proclaimed messiah Sabbatai Zevi, and also of King David. Frank publicly converted to Islam in 1757 and later to Christianity at Poland in 1759, but actually presented himself as the Messiah of a syncretic derivation of Shabbatai Zevi's Messianism now referred to as Frankism.[234]
Lina Joy – Javanese Malaysian former Muslim converted to Roman Catholicism. The desire to have her conversion recognized by law was the subject of a court case in Malaysia.[254][255]
Marina Nemat – Canadian author of Iranian descent and former political prisoner of the Iranian government. Born into a Christian family, she converted to Islam in order to avoid execution but later reverted to Christianity.[269]
Mehmet Ali Ağca – Turkish ultra-nationalist assassin, who shot and wounded Pope John Paul II on May 13, 1981. In early 2009, Ağca renounced Islam in prison and announced his intention to convert to the Catholic faith upon release.[275][276]
Nabeel Qureshi – former Ahmadi Muslim and now co-director of Acts 17 Apologetics Ministries. He has given lectures at universities and seminaries throughout North America.
Pinkan Mambo – (born Pinkan Ratnasari Mambo) Indonesian singer converted in 2010. Decision taken after admitting she studied various religions of the world and eventually dropped in awe of Jesus Christ.[301][302][303]
Rianti Cartwright – Indonesian actress, model, presenter and VJ. Two weeks before departure to the United States to get married, Rianti left the Muslim faith to become a baptized Catholic with the name Sophia Rianti Rhiannon Cartwright.[312][313]
Sharena Gunawan – Indonesian actress and model. Converted to Christianity after remarried with Indonesian actor Ryan Delon Situmeang.[328]
The Shihab family – prominent Lebanese noble family. The family originally belonged to Sunni Islam and converted to Maronite Catholicism at the end of the 18th century.[329][330]
Udo Ulfkotte – German journalist who was born a Christian, became an atheist, then converted to Islam and finally converted back to Christianity.[342]
Umar ibn Hafsun – leader of anti-Ummayad dynasty forces in southern Iberia. Hafsun converted to Christianity with his sons and ruled over several mountain valleys for nearly forty years, having the castle Bobastro as his residence.[343]
Mughal emperor Akbar proclaimed that no single religion possessed the absolute truth. This inspired him to create the Din-i Ilahi in 1581.[350]Akbar the Great – Mughal emperor and founder of Din-i Ilahi, a religious movement whose followers never numbered more than 19 adherents,[350] although Akbar never renounced Islam publicly or privately,[351] and modern scholars have argued that it was a spiritual discipleship program rather than a new religion.[352]
Ariffin Mohammed – founder of the Sky Kingdom who claimed a unique connection to God. In spite of renouncing Islam in 2001, he stated that there was no restriction on practising your own faith and at the same time belonging to the Sky Kingdom.[353]
Báb – founder of Bábism. Most of his followers later accepted Bahá'u'lláh and thus joined the Baháʼí Faith.[354]
Bahá'u'lláh – after the Bab's death, claimed to be the prophet the Báb spoke of, thereby founding the Baháʼí Faith.[355]
Kabir – 15th-century mystical poet and founder of the Kabir panth. Born to a Hindu widow but adopted and raised as Muslim by a childless Muslim couple, later denouncing both Hinduism and Islam.[358][359]
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