This is your friendly neighborhood ex-Muslim Abdullah Sameer. I am here to tell you how my life has improved after leaving Islam. I made a short video for EXMNA on how I am awesome without Allah that could fit into a tweet, but in this piece I would like to offer more details and really dig into how wonderful life is without this merciful yet not so merciful God in my life.
You see, to me this hits really close to home. My life has improved exponentially After leaving Islam. Leaving Islam was like leaving a dark cave. When I left Islam I experienced a sort of mental relief, like a weight has been lifted off my shoulders.
No more guilt and fretting and worrying about some God in the sky that will get angry if you say or do the wrong thing. Wrong in quotation marks. No more cognitive dissonance trying to balance Islamic teachings versus what feels right to me. No more trying to make sense out of nonsense.
When I was a Muslim I was constantly evaluating everything against Islam. This book says so and so, what does Islam say? Is it compatible with its teachings? Can I accept this or do I have to discard it? Do I have to feel guilty about reading this? I can now read whatever book I want.
I can pick up The Selfish Gene which beautifully explains evolutionary stable strategies or read A Short History of Nearly Everything that explains how we humans over history gradually improved a model of our world and how scientific discovery clicked in so beautifully together. I need not worry about whether its against Islam to learn such things. Whether it will corrupt my Imani or misguide me about real science, not this Adam and Eve nonsense, but our real human history.
Islam is full of ludicrous beliefs, but I didn’t want to admit that as a Muslim. A funny example: If someone asked me if I believed in ghosts I would say I only believe in Islamic jinns because they are real. Ghosts aren’t real, but angels and buraq, heaven and hell, Gog and Magog, Allah’s throne on Water, Satan, shooting stars that chase the devil, Ants that talk to each other, Animals going on a boat together, Moses splitting the sea and so on are all real. None of this is real. It’s all made up fables and I can finally admit that and it sits well in my mind.
Much better than trying to reconcile a God that was incredibly involved and then all of a sudden completely absent.
I save so much time too. I don’t have to wake up and do useless Akbar or prayer anymore but I now meditate. And let me tell you, the difference between the Namaz and meditating is night and day. Meditation can change your life. Namaz is just an annoying ritual that was used to make Muslims obedient to Muhammad and read his poetry AKA the Quran as much as possible.
Financially, life has improved dramatically. I am no longer encumbered by the Islamic ban on interest. And one of the first thing I did when I left Islam was to buy a home. My own home for my family. And if I die, my life insurance policy, also haram…ensures that the house is paid off and that they will never want for anything. Isn’t this a million times better than what I had before? Renting month to month and no real stability for my family.
No more worrying about your kids getting corrupted by the public school system and forking out thousands of dollars for Islamic school. And yes, my kids still say wallahi (I swear to god)
Travelling has become so much easier too. The little things are so much easier. We don’t need to eat Halal meat. We can eat wherever and whatever we want. Tried bacon? How about Sangria? Not a huge fan but worth trying once!
We don’t have to find a place to do wudu and then find a place to pray every few hours. Not to mention no more awkward washing of the feet at the sink in the office anymore. No more wasted hours on Quran memorizing or reading 7th century nonsense that does not apply in today’s world. No more trying to make sense out of a hadith that never made sense like kill the black dog or drink in three gulps or sleep on your right side or put the fly in your drink if it falls in.
The things that people think that people think you leave Islam for like drinking alcohol, drugs and sex with multiple women don’t feature in my life. The things that matter to me are what I choose on my own accord. I am the master of my own life. I took my life back from Muhammad.
I am no longer a slave to his desires and his wishes and neither am I a slave to my own desires. I choose to live my life according to what would make me successful in the long term. That means I am no slave to my desires but I put energy into my health and to exercise and to spend time with my family, spending time doing things that I enjoy. I watch TV, I make videos , I read books. Although I haven’t read anything in a while now since the lockdown.
If you ask my friends, people like Abdullah Gondal, Harris Sultan, Veedu Vidz, they will tell you the same. Life couldn’t be better. We aren’t missing a thing. Actually, there is a thing. I do miss a few small things. Because I invested so much into Islam all my friends all my friends were Muslims. So I am starting again to make new friends and to start a new life post Islam. It’s not easy especially if you leave Islam when you are older. So I do miss some of that. But it’s nothing specific to Islam. It’s just my life choices and how I decided to live.
I have made so many friends now including other ex-Muslims and the occasional rare Muslim friend. And I can say I am happy without that form of community. Not to mention, that same community includes friends of 10+ years who wouldn’t help me move homes simply because I write about Islam. So they still prioritize their God over people in their lives. I don’t want anything to do with that. That is how I can say I am awesome without Allah.
If you liked this article, consider supporting me. I’ll add you to my special mailing list, you’ll get early access to my videos and my eternal gratitude. Remember, guiding someone away from Islam is better than 10 red camels. You can quote me on that hadith.