Podcasts Culture Point of Inquiry Ali Rizvi: Islam and Identity for an Atheist Muslim

Ali Rizvi: Islam and Identity for an Atheist Muslim

Published: July 18, 2016, 7:02 p.m.

\xa0

Religions have always gone through transitions over time. Not only do the faiths themselves evolve, but the role they play in day-to-day life adapts to fit the needs of a given culture. As the youngest Abrahamic religion on the market, all eyes are on Islam, as a debate rages as to whether there is any chance of reform or secularization within a religion that is so deeply woven into the fabric of the Muslim world.

Ali Rizvi is a Pakistani-Canadian writer, physician, and author of the new book Atheist Muslim: A Journey from Religion to Reason. Rizvi is one of many Muslims who assert that while they have lost their religion, they haven\u2019t lost their Muslim identity. Rizvi considers Islam to be a religion with a set of ideas that are fair game to be criticized, but he also sees Muslims as distinct, as a culture of which Islam is not a mandatory component. After losing his faith while studying as a scientist and physician, Rizvi continued to participate and identify with many of the cultural aspects of being Muslim. He found that he wasn\u2019t alone in his feelings, and predicts that today\u2019s young Muslims will be the start of the transition toward secularism for Muslims around world. \xa0