Ali Rizvi’s memoir, The Atheist Muslim, provides a first-hand look at the struggle of an Islamic being non-believer in a world where anti-Muslim sentiment still runs rampant.

From the publisher’s summary:

In much of the Muslim world, religion is the central foundation upon which family, community, morality, and identity are built. The inextricable embedment of religion in Muslim culture has forced a new generation of non-believing Muslims to face the heavy costs of abandoning their parents’ religion: disowned by their families, marginalized from their communities, imprisoned, or even sentenced to death by their governments.

Struggling to reconcile the Muslim society he was living in as a scientist and physician and the religion he was being raised in, Ali A. Rizvi eventually loses his faith. Discovering that he is not alone, he moves to North America and promises to use his new freedom of speech to represent the voices that are usually quashed before reaching the mainstream media—the Atheist Muslim.

In The Atheist Muslim, we follow Rizvi as he finds himself caught between two narrative voices he cannot relate to: extreme Islam and anti-Muslim bigotry in a post-9/11 world. The Atheist Muslim recounts the journey that allows Rizvi to criticize Islam—as one should be able to criticize any set of ideas—without demonizing his entire people. Emotionally and intellectually compelling, his personal story outlines the challenges of modern Islam and the factors that could help lead it toward a substantive, progressive reformation.

One of my book clubs recently read this book, and we were fortunate to have Rizvi Skype into our meeting. It was a treat to dialog with him, and he was very gracious in spending about an hour speaking with our group.

Overall, I liked the book. The deconversion story isn’t all that different from a Muslim perspective than a Christian perspective. However, in theocratic countries where apostasy is punishable by death, renouncing Islam has more extreme potential repercussions than many people walking away from their Christian faith.

Rizvi’s journey, however, will likely resonate with anyone who has turned away from the faith of their upbringing. The questions, the inability to reconcile a cruel god with a god of love, the question of evil, all will feel familiar to anyone who has questioned their faith and determined themselves a non-believer.

The tone of the book is conversational, and it is an easy, well-paced read. I listened to the audiobook, and it was well-narrated. The only part that I thought was a little tedious was the part on fetal development.

What the book made me think about is the courage of people in deeply religious communities who are true to themselves when they leave their faith. It’s a hard thing to do. Relationships can be severed. And in some countries, people can be killed for it. But for most people, I’d wager the peace they feel at being true to themselves makes them happier in the long run.