A Muslim and Atheist Team up to Promote Freedom of Conscience

I was born in Pakistan, completed my medical school there and then moved to the United States for specialized medical training. I also moved to escape the horrid persecution my Islamic sect – the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community – faces back home. In America, I could enjoy all the freedoms I was denied under Pakistan’s law, most importantly the freedom of speech. I therefore set out to use social media to raise my voice for freedom of conscience world over – and specifically in the ‘Muslim world.’

During these years of vocal activism, I made a lot of friends and partners. I met Kile, for instance, through a mutual friend – Qasim Rashid. Kile is an atheist activist, who shares my passion for the promotion of universal freedom of conscience. We are both opposed to blasphemy laws, theocratic rule, apostasy laws, the persecution of religious minorities, and the belittlement of outsiders. We stand for freedom of speech, conscience, and the press. So while I am rallying in support of atheist bloggers who have been imprisoned in Egypt or Saudi Arabia, Kile is speaking against Pakistan’s Machiavellian second amendment that denies Ahmadi Muslims the right to self-identify.

We both believe that these seemingly peculiar ironies can be harnessed into genuine social change through the connection of our otherwise unrelated groups.

We therefore decided to start the group ‘Ahmadis and Atheists for Freedom of Conscience’ on Facebook. Our goal is to get Ahmadi Muslims and atheists together for dialogue and activism, and to create new friendships. Everyone is welcome to join and help us in this much-needed cause. This forum is also an opportunity for education. Even though Kile’s atheist comrades pride themselves on being versed in matters of religion, for instance, not many of them knew about the Ahmadiyya Muslim community. Even fewer knew about the community’s zealous advocacy of world peace and championing of universal freedom of conscience.

While Kile is inspired by the unflinching tenacity and hope that my community represents, I am inspired by him actively reaching out to theists to build bridges across the divide.

The group is not a forum for any theological discourse. Despite our common cause, Kile remains a proud atheist. He does not believe in a holy book, God, spirits, prophets, the afterlife, or much of what can be thought of as “Islamic.” He is also critical of circumcision and veiling. One thing we are not trying to do is cover up our differences. This is not an attempt to act as if deep, and radical disagreements don’t exist between our communities. Rather, in light of our various divergent beliefs, we are looking for ways to better the world around us. And to do this together is a testimony to the endless possibilities that a strange connection like ours can have.

A recent Pew study showed that Americans view atheists and Muslims least favorably, with only about 40% holding positive opinions of either group. Through this forum, we also try to demonstrate to the rest that we are not people to fear, but to love and work with, as we stand for the freedoms of all peoples. Another similar study demonstrated that most people who have negative opinions of atheists and Muslims have not met one in real life. So, here’s your chance.

We are inviting everyone – not just Ahmadi Muslims and atheists – to join us and let us build some novel unity between our untrusted, and often marginalized, groups, and take the fight for universal freedom of conscience a step further.

CO-AUTHORED with Kashif N. Chaudhry

Original piece at Huffington Post here.

Kashif N. Chaudhry is a physician, currently completing his Cardiovascular Medicine fellowship at Lahey Hospital & Medical Center in Massachusetts. Kashif writes for various American newspapers and Pakistani publications. His interests include Medicine, Pakistan affairs and Muslim-American community affairs. He has served as the Chairman of the Muslim Writers Guild of America and continues to work to avidly promote interfaith dialogue amongst American youth. He tweets @KashifMD.

Kile Jones holds a Masters of Theological Studies (M.T.S.) and a Masters of Sacred Theology (S.T.M.) from Boston University.  He is the founder of Claremont Journal of Religion and Interview an Atheist at Church Day.  Kile writes for Feminism and Religion and here at Emerging Voices.  He tweets @KileBJones.