Hi Abdul-Rahman
Welcome to the forum. I used to be a sunni muslim but from Kashmiri origins. As an atheist I'm always keen to find out about how fellow ex-muslims made their journey towards atheism.
Hi Omaar, actually I've always taken religious essential beliefs for granted -as most believers do-. the family I grew up in wasn't the type that you'd call "religious", yes they were committed believers with the prayings and the fasting and all that, but for example i wasn't beaten in order to pray by the age of 10 ( as Muhammad suggested ).
I remember going to the "Friday prayer" with my dad until I was 14 or 15, the whole thing began to surface when I started to ask questions, and with the "religious mental restrains" aside ... the more I was exposed to information, the more it was clear to me, and this holds until this day.
So tell me what is the atheist scene like in Syria? Is it all hush hush?
Well, I wouldn't say it's all "hush hush" out here, as I said earlier ... yea I don't know any atheists in person ( I do know a couple of deists though ), but one wouldn't get their head chopped off over it ( thankfully! ), a couple of family members and all my close friends know where I stand.
Have you heard of Muhammad Al-Yaqoobi and Ramadhan Booti? They are both fairly popular "shaykhs" within the sunni community.
I'm not sure about Al-Yaqoobi, but I'm familiar with Al-Booti, what about them ?