Nonbelievers, Apostates, and Atheists in The Muslim World

Nonbelievers, Apostates, and Atheists in the Muslim World offers a contemporary, cross-cultural look at non-belief and non-religion in Islam. Providing historical, conceptual, statistical, and ethnographic data on non-believers from Morocco to Egypt, Turkey, and Bangladesh, it explores the unique nature and challenges of non-religion for Muslims. It includes eleven chapters by experts on non-belief, non-religion, and atheism in an array of Muslim-majority countries. The book features multiple disciplines and offers both ethnographic and statistical information on this important, growing, but neglected population. It explores the unique nature of non-religion in Islam, illustrating that non-belief is specific to a particular religious tradition. It also examines how ex-Muslims navigate complexities and dangers of their societies—especially for women—and how non-belief and non-religion do not equate to atheism or the total repudiation of religion or of Muslim identity. This book is an outstanding resource for scholars and students of non-belief, atheism, secularism, religion, and contemporary Islam.