Question : What is the Islamic stance about Atheists ?

[UndertheOcean]

Are Atheists accepted in Muslim society ?
Can they openly and freely declare what they are ?
Is it possible for a person born a Muslim to renounce Islam and declare himself atheist without being ostracized ?

What does the Koran say ? and what is the attitude between regular Muslims (not Imams) about this subject.

Thnaks

[UndertheOcean]

1. no takers?

?

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

2. Here's a verse and commentary that may help.

that I found:
The Meaning of the Glorious Qur'an -Abdullah Yusuf Ali-

Surah 10: Yunus verse 99
If it had been the Lord's Will,
They would all have believed--
All who are on earth!
Wilt thou then compel mankind,
Against their will, to believe?

The notes on this verse say in part:
...In the actual world as it is, man has been endowed with various faculties and capacites, so that he should stive and explore, and bring himself into harmony with Allah's Will. Hence Faith becomes a moral achievement, and to resist Faith becomes a sin. As a complementary proposition, men of Faith must not be impatient or angry if they have to contend against Unfaith, and most important of all, they must guard against the temptation of of forcing Faith, ie, imposting it on others by physical compulsion, or any other forms of compulsion such as social pressure, or inducements held out by wealth or potiions, or other adventitious advantages. Forced faith is no faith. They should strive spiritually and let Allah's Plan work as He wills.

[UndertheOcean]

4. Thanks! I gather you are a Sufi (from previous post)...

Sufi is my favorite form of Islam , sometimes I think of becoming a sufi just from reading the great Sufi poets... but I don't expect they would accept an atheist into their midst.

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

6. Come come whoever you are

I've never seen anyone who comes to a Sufi gathering questioned as to what their views on religion or spirituality were.

[Hatalles]

3. Yes, yes, and yes.

Tariq Ali and As'ad Abu Khalil are two atheists that are greatly admired by Muslims; so yes, in general, I don't believe declaring yourself an atheist will get you purged from Muslim society. Of course, you will have some Muslims who want nothing to do with atheists... but that can be said about people of any faith. Personally, some of my closest friends and greatest teachers are atheists.

[UndertheOcean]

5. Thank you!

I'll google those names , can you give other examples ?

[Name removed]

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[UndertheOcean]

8. Thanks !

better late than never!

[Name removed]

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[Cobalt Violet]

10. n/t

[SemiCharmedQuark]

11. Has that author ever read the Bible?

Or heard of abortion clinic bombings? Threats against science departments? I think the defense that "Well, I don't talk about Christians because Christians don't do bad things BECAUSE of their religion" is pretty lame. All you need to disprove that is about ten seconds of Googling "Matthew Shepherd".