Being an Atheist Parent: Let Them Choose

I’ve been thinking about this a lot lately. How would I, an ex-Muslim atheist, want to raise my children? Like most Pakistani atheists, I am married to a Muslim spouse who is very sensitive about my atheism.

It goes without saying that I will not be able to keep pretenses about Islam with my children. That would be unauthentic and wrong. Perhaps it would make sense to let my children be indoctrinated with Islam. If nothing else, they would be better adjusted, socially. However, I need to earn my sleep at night and indoctrinating my own children with a known falsehood would be morally problematic for me.

I have therefore come to an agreement with my spouse: She will guide and advise them as she prefers, as Muslims, and I will not contradict her messages to them, until they are at least of an age where they can judge for themselves. Then it will be up to them whether to debate me to death, or see the light.

My duty would be to instill an innate sense of skepticism, an appetite for objective inquiry. I am positive, that Islam itself, with its teachings and its history, will do the rest!

This blog is back

It has been a long while since I last posted here. I stopped mainly because of too many things happening in my personal life, and then I sort of forgot about it. Then I checked this blog’s email today and I’m blown away by the number of people urging me to stay on and write. My life has gotten busier over the last couple of years, so while I can’t promise to write regularly, I do promise to keep it updated as much as I can.

Islam: The Religion of Peace

“What really hurt Muslims about this issue is how this newspaper has presented Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, is a stereotyping of Muslims as well as the religion of Islam, that Islam is a religion of terrorism, a religion of violence and so forth,” – says Imam Mohamed Magid, an American Muslim leader.

Sometimes, a picture is worth more than a thousand words:

February 03 protests in London.