I definitely don't disagree with you, and in an ideal world I would tell them in an instant, but at least for the foreseeable future, I don't know how feasible it would be to tell my parents. My parents are NOT moderate - to them, islam is literally their whole life. Add to that the fact that my mom is sick, and would likely die from a heart attack on the spot if I were to ever tell her, lol.
Perhaps the only solution is to move away and minimize contact with my parents? Sigh...
Yeah Mohamed, it's tough when one's parents are strict. Mine are too, and I didn't think there would be anyway for me to ever tell them, but they found out anyway. They didn't and haven't taken it well,
You only tell your parents when you're ready. I don't believe that anyone should have to tell their parents until they are ready, as to me when it comes to really strict muslim parents, the social suicide, the disowning, the pain that goes with it, is incredible, and not something that anyone can tell another person to do.
As for lying to one's kids, I don't think it's a good idea, nor is forcing children into living a lie, unless of course one is living somewhere like Saudi or the ilk where lying would save one's life.
snip snip, Mohamed and Noha have read the bulk of this post, so am going to snip it now to leave just the beginning and end of it.
You do what you feel comfortable with, but I don't recommend teaching your kids to lie about who they are, or forcing them to practice what they don't want to. As for pretending to be muslim, it's not black and white, it's a tricky issue, and very painful whether you pretend for the rest of your life or end up telling them.