The Central Council of Ex-Muslims (

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

: ''Zentralrat der Ex-Muslime'', ''ZdE'') is a German association ( Verein) advocating for the rights and interests of non-religious, secular persons of

Muslim Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...

heritage who have left Islam. It was founded on 21 January 2007 and had about 200 members, with "hundreds" of membership applications yet to be processed. The organisation opened branches in

Britain Britain most often refers to: * The United Kingdom, a sovereign state in Europe comprising the island of Great Britain, the north-eastern part of the island of Ireland and many smaller islands * Great Britain, the largest island in the United King ...

and

Scandinavia Scandinavia; Sámi languages: /. ( ) is a subregion#Europe, subregion in Northern Europe, with strong historical, cultural, and linguistic ties between its constituent peoples. In English usage, ''Scandinavia'' most commonly refers to Denmark, ...

and the

Central Committee for Ex-Muslims The Central Committee for Ex-Muslims ( nl, Centraal Comité voor Ex-moslims) was a Dutch committee that aimed to aid Muslims who wish to leave Islam through the constitutional right of freedom of religion. In addition, the committee fought to bre ...

was created in the Netherlands. The British chapter is affiliated with The Ex-Muslim Forum.The Independent: "Allah vs atheism: ‘Leaving Islam was the hardest thing I’ve done’" by Sarah Morrison
19 January 2004 Another Ex-Muslim grassroots group,

Ex-Muslims of North America Ex-Muslims of North America (EXMNA) is a non-profit organization which describes itself as advocating for acceptance of religious dissent, promoting secular values, and aiming to reduce Religious discrimination, discrimination faced by Ex-Muslim ...

, launched independently in Canada and the United States and affiliated itself with the Central Council of Ex-Muslims.

Foundation

The Council was founded by about 30 ex-Muslims including

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

ian women's rights activist

Mina Ahadi Mina Ahadi ( fa, مینا احدی, Minâ Ahadi, born 1956) is an Iranian-Austrian political activist. As a Communist political activist, she is a member of the Central Committee and Politburo of the Worker-communist Party of Iran. Advocacy ...

(chairman), who was sentenced to death in 1981 in her home country; the

Turkish Turkish may refer to: *a Turkic language spoken by the Turks * of or about Turkey ** Turkish language *** Turkish alphabet ** Turkish people, a Turkic ethnic group and nation *** Turkish citizen, a citizen of Turkey *** Turkish communities and mi ...

-born publicist

Arzu Toker Arzu Toker (born 1952) is a German-speaking writer, journalist, publicist and translator of Turkish descent. Biography Toker was born in 1952 in Halfeti, Turkey. She moved to Germany in 1974, where she has lived ever since. Early 2007, she ...

(vice chairman); and Nur Gabbari, the son of an Iraqi clergyman. ''

Focus Focus, or its plural form foci may refer to: Arts * Focus or Focus Festival, former name of the Adelaide Fringe arts festival in South Australia Film *''Focus'', a 1962 TV film starring James Whitmore * ''Focus'' (2001 film), a 2001 film based ...

''
Zentralrat der Ex-Muslime in Köln gegründet
Even in lands where execution for apostasy is prohibited, former Muslims are not sure of their lives, as their Muslim relatives may try to kill them. Chairwoman Ahadi has been put under personal security by German police after receiving death threats. Anna Reimann

, ''

Der Spiegel ''Der Spiegel'' (, lit. ''"The Mirror"'') is a German weekly news magazine published in Hamburg. With a weekly circulation of 695,100 copies, it was the largest such publication in Europe in 2011. It was founded in 1947 by John Seymour Chaloner ...

'', 21 February 2007 Ahadi says that she and other members have been "terrorized". The choice of the association's name is furthermore deliberate, as it is an allusion to the name of the

Central Council of Muslims in Germany The Central Council of Muslims in Germany (ZMD; german: Zentralrat der Muslime in Deutschland) is an Islamic organization in Germany. With 15,000 to 20,000 members, mainly Germans, German, German Arab, and Turks in Germany, German Turkish Musli ...

, which represents approximately 20,000 of the over 3 million German Muslims, and whose name is an allusion to the

Central Council of Jews in Germany The Central Council of Jews in Germany (German name: Zentralrat der Juden in Deutschland) is a federation of German Jews. It was founded on 19 July 1950, as a response to the increasing isolation of German Jews by the international Jewish communi ...

.Abdul-Ahmad Rashid
Mission of the Reformed
, ''Qantara.de'', 2007 The Central Council of Ex-Muslims receives support from the

Giordano Bruno Foundation The Giordano Bruno Foundation (german: Giordano-Bruno-Stiftung, abbreviated: gbs) is a Germany-based non-profit foundation under public law that promotes evolutionary humanism and the enlightenment. It was founded by entrepreneur Herbert Steffe ...

in Germany and according to its own claim also by the International League of non-religious and atheists, Bund für Geistesfreiheit München, as well as Humanistischer Pressedienst.

Goals

On 28 February 2007, the Central Council of Ex-Muslims published details of the association's goals in a press conference at the Bundespressekonferenz in Berlin. Comparable goals are aspired by the initiative "Secular Islam" of Islam critic

Ibn Warraq Ibn Warraq is the pen name of an anonymous author critical of Islam. He is the founder of the Institute for the Secularisation of Islamic Society and used to be a senior research fellow at the Center for Inquiry, focusing on Quranic criticis ...

, who belongs to the signers of the MANIFESTO: Together facing the new totalitarianism and has published a book called ''Leaving Islam. Apostates speak out''. The Council has stated its goals: #"Start the campaign ''We've Given It Up!'', which may be an allusion to an earlier feminist campaign under the slogan ''We have aborted!''. The goal of the campaign is to convey ideas of Enlightenment to Islam. The Council wants to highlight the difficulties of leaving the Islamic faith and help those who are interested in doing so to leave Islam." #"Convince the German government not to perceive all immigrants from Islamic countries as Muslims. The Council criticizes the fact that these immigrants are considered to be Muslims regardless of their actual beliefs. Mina Ahadi denounces the German Islam Conference which was initiated by the German government in the summer of 2006 for making this association." #"Convince the German government to stop dealing with political Muslim organizations such as the Central Council of Muslims in Germany (ZMD) or

Milli Görüs ''Milli'' (symbol m) is a unit prefix in the metric system denoting a factor of one thousandth (10−3). Proposed in 1793, and adopted in 1795, the prefix comes from the Latin , meaning ''one thousand'' (the Latin plural is ). Since 1960, the pre ...

. According to the Council, these organizations are inherently against human rights, anti-secular, and are anti-integrationist and should not be seen as an appropriate contact for the Muslim community by the German government."

The Council's criticism of Islam

Arzu Toker stated in an interview that she considers

Sharia Sharia (; ar, شريعة, sharīʿa ) is a body of religious law that forms a part of the Islamic tradition. It is derived from the religious precepts of Islam and is based on the sacred scriptures of Islam, particularly the Quran and the H ...

, Islamic law, as unacceptable and contradicting to both human rights and the values of the German constitution. According to Toker, Islam is anti-woman as it humiliates women and turns them into servants of the men. It is also anti-man, because it reduces men to breeding animals controlled by their urges. She also said that she does not distinguish between Islam and fundamentalism since according to her, "Islam is inherently radical". The Council is also critical of

umbrella organization An umbrella organization is an association of (often related, industry-specific) institutions who work together formally to coordinate activities and/or pool resources. In business, political, and other environments, it provides resources and ofte ...

s in Germany, which they say represent only political Islam and not most of the Muslims in Germany, and accuses them of being responsible for the appalling conditions under which many Muslims in Germany live. In different interviews Ahadi has stated that it was not possible to reform Islam, that she is critical of all religions and not only of Islam, but that she does not want to abolish religion.Abdo Al-Mikhlafy
Islam Can't Be Reformed, Says Founder of Ex-Muslim Group
, '' DW'', 3 March 2007 The Council would like to live in peaceful and tolerant coexistence with Muslims in Germany. In 2008 and 2013, the Council and the Giordano Bruno Foundation co-hosted the Kritische Islamkonferenz. The first aimed to stimulate the growth of the newly established ex-Muslim movement in Europe, the second was mostly intended to forge alliances between ex-Muslims and progressive/reformist Muslims against Islamism and xenophobia in Germany.

Council of Ex-Muslims of Britain

The Council of Ex-Muslims of Britain is the British branch of the organization, representing former

s who fear for their lives because they have renounced

Islam Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic Monotheism#Islam, monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God in Islam, God (or ...

.Jonathan Petre
New group for those who renounce Islam
, ''

The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally. It was fo ...

'', 21 June 2007 It was launched in

Westminster Westminster is an area of Central London, part of the wider City of Westminster. The area, which extends from the River Thames to Oxford Street, has many visitor attractions and historic landmarks, including the Palace of Westminster, Bu ...

on 22 June 2007, and is led by

Maryam Namazie Maryam Namazie ( fa, مریم نمازی; born 1966) is a British-Iranian secularist, communist and human rights activist, commentator, and broadcaster. Early life Most of her early work focused on refugee rights, especially in Sudan, Turkey, ...

, who was awarded ''

Secularist of the Year Secularist of the Year, also known as the Irwin Prize, is an award presented annually by the National Secular Society in "recognition of an individual or an organisation considered to have made an outstanding contribution to the secularist movement. ...

'' in 2005 and has faced death threats. The activists of the organization, many of whom are Iranian exiles, support the freedom to criticize religion and the end to what they call "religious intimidation and threats."Tom Heneghan
"Ex-Muslim" group launches in Britain
, ''

Reuters Reuters ( ) is a news agency owned by Thomson Reuters Corporation. It employs around 2,500 journalists and 600 photojournalists in about 200 locations worldwide. Reuters is one of the largest news agencies in the world. The agency was estab ...

'', 20 June 2007 The CEMB in its

manifesto A manifesto is a published declaration of the intentions, motives, or views of the issuer, be it an individual, group, political party or government. A manifesto usually accepts a previously published opinion or public consensus or promotes a ...

states that it does not desire to be represented by regressive Islamic organizations and "Muslim community leaders". It says that by coming forward in public, it represents countless other apostates who fear coming out in public due to death threats. They take a "stand for reason, universal rights and values, and secularism". The Council in its manifesto also demands several things such as freedom to criticize religion, separation of religion from the state and the "protection of children from manipulation and abuse by religion and religious institutions".

References

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External links