Arabs Without God Quotes

“The irony of this is that while believers and non-believers are on opposite sides where religious ideas are concerned they may also find themselves on the same side in the struggle for freedom of belief.”
― Brian Whitaker, Arabs Without God: Atheism and freedom of belief in the Middle East

“One day, her husband slapped her face. When she complained to her father, he told her God gave husbands the right to beat their wives as stated in the verse of Al-Nisa’ sura.[152] Then she began to wonder how God could give the right to a husband to abandon and beat his wife … How could that be when Islam forbids beating animals? Are women inferior to animals?”
― Brian Whitaker, Arabs Without God: Atheism and freedom of belief in the Middle East

“Islam has strong social
aspects based around the concept of ummah – the community of believers –
and expressions of individualism or nonconformity tend to be frowned
upon. Members are expected to pull together and behave (at least in public)
in ways that uphold its Islamic ethos. Thus, when someone breaks away
from established norms – especially if they do so publicly – they are liable
to be seen as damaging communal solidarity”
― Brian Whitaker, Arabs Without God: Atheism and freedom of belief in the Middle East

“Trying to suppress atheistic thought on the internet does
nothing to address the causes of people’s religious doubts and may actually
increase their curiosity. People would not be seeking out this material
unless they felt it had some relevance to their own situation and attempts at
censorship imply a fear that religion cannot win the argument on evidence
and reasoning alone.”
― Brian Whitaker, Arabs Without God: Atheism and freedom of belief in the Middle East

“The main problem, according to Nasser al-Sarami, Head of Media at alArabiya TV channel, lies with “traditional attitudes” and an “inability to
address the demands of modern times and younger generations and to
become open to new ideas instead of resorting to repression and blaming
freedom of expression for atheism”:”
― Brian Whitaker, Arabs Without God: Atheism and freedom of belief in the Middle East