Former Muslims Address Islam on
Capitol Hill
Human Events .com
by Alicia M. Cohn
10/01/2009
The Muslim call to prayer was heard on Capitol Hill Friday, Sept.
25 at the “Day of Islamic Unity” in Washington, D.C., but the day before,
former Muslims announced that they do not feel safe announcing they have left
the faith, even in the United States.
According to Nonie Darwish, author of
“Now They Call Me Infidel” and one of the founding members of new organization
Former Muslims United, there are thousands of apostate Muslims “in hiding”
across the U.S. Darwish also said that the number of Muslims leaving Islam
is increasing because there is a new generation of Muslim Americans “who are
revolting against their parents’ radical Islamist views.”
Darwish’s appearance came the day before the “Islam on Capitol Hill” event which – though touted as expecting a
crowd of 50,000 or more – was only attended by about 3,000. Darwish
said that the launch of Former Muslims United was not planned to coincide with
the event. “They have the right to gather and express their views, and we have
the right to gather and express our views,” she said.
The views expressed by Hassan Abdellah, an organizer for the
prayer event, included praise for President Obama. He told the crowd at one
point, "Don’t be afraid to be Muslim in
Darwish called it “a little outrageous”
for Muslims to claim victim-hood. “I lived as a Muslim in
In stark contrast, Darwish and the other former Muslim members who spoke on Thursday,
Sept. 24 at the launch of Former Muslims United said that they are the ones
with a reason to be afraid. “We’re scared for our lives,” said Darwish. “We
live in
Part of the mission of Former Muslims
United is educating the public, media and government about the threat Islamic law
poses to former Muslims. “There isn’t another group that actually demands the murder
of anybody who wants to leave,” she said, adding that Islam is like the mafia.
“At least the mafia, you walked in. Islam, you’re born into it.”
She used the case of
17-year-old convert Fathima Rifqa Bary as an example. Bary, whose case remains
under investigation in
“I don’t understand how anybody cannot believe this girl,” said Darwish. “Even
if her father and mother are the nicest people in the world … her parents are
under a lot of pressure from the Muslim community to do something. She has
crossed the line.”
Darwish believes that former Muslims need legislation that would make them a
protected group. “This is a national threat, but it affects us personally.
People like me, and others, who left the Middle East, came to
Former Muslims United members, including Darwish and fellow apostates and
activists Mohammad Asghar, Amil Imani, Wafa Sultan and Ibn Warraq, also sent a
“Freedom Pledge to over 50 Muslim leaders asking them to repudiate the Islamic
law that requires the execution of apostates who have left Islam,” according to
the press release dated September 23. That same date, they also delivered
letters asking for investigation into “possible hate crimes and civil rights
violations against apostates from Islam” to Gerald Reynolds, chairman of the
U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, and Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr.
“We [apostates] have to come from behind the rock, and from behind the
tree, and say ‘enough is enough,’” Darwish announced at the launch event.
“There’s strength in numbers, and … that’s why I formed this group.”