by Khaled Hammad
A Journey Through Hell Fire
Part 1 is here. Part 2 is here. Part 3 is here. Part 4 is here. Part 5 is here. Part 6 is here. Part 7 is here. Part 8 is here. Part 9 is here. Part 10 is here.
Part 11 is here. Part 12 is here.
There is also a poem by Khaled.
Part 13 is here. Part 14 is here. Part 15 is here. Part 16 is here. Part 17 is here.Part 18 is here.
Breaking free from Islam Between Halal and Haram
Chapter 19: “A Parallel Revolution and a War”
With the Egyptian revolution, a new generation had become very vocal about their rights. With that, there was a strong atheism movement that had spread all over the Arab world, including Saudi Arabia, the very home of Islam. They were on YouTube talking about everything I had learned about Islam from my readings, Father Zakaria, and before that, from my friend Ahmed Saleh. It was refreshing, to say the least. However, I felt a bit of shame that I could not come out and do the same. They needed support, and I could have done that. However, the loss would have been more than I could bear. I would lose my family, I would be the Egyptian police’s favourite guest before I even came out of the airport, and my family would suffer adverse consequences from their neighbours. Whoever wanted to help, I decided just to watch and bear the shame.
However, looking at where these people are in life right now. Many were lucky enough to leave Egypt after suffering from the authority and their neighbours and co. The rest have been silenced or are in prison. Egyptians who participated in the movement while living abroad are mostly known to the authorities and would not find it easy to visit, something that I might well be subject to after writing these lines.
My life after that was mostly the same. I started to find enjoyment in learning about science. I was binging on materials from Richard Dawkins, Lawrence Kraus and the late Christopher Hitchens. I learnt a lot from them and decided to get another degree in a science subject until the war in Gaza broke out in October 2023, when I found myself subscribing to Atheism UK and starting to write my biography.
[To be Continued]
