It’s surprising, but this trend has strengthened over the last decade: the number of atheists or atheists in Islamic countries has increased significantly. What’s the reason?
Although perhaps only preliminary, several studies reveal that there is an upward trend in the number of people turning to atheism in the Middle East or Islamic countries such as Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Turkey, Iran, Morocco, and several others.
In 2014, Cairo’s Al-Azhar University conducted a poll. As a result, as many as 10.7 million people from Egypt’s 87 million population claim to be atheists. This data is reinforced by the Egyptian Court report in the same year, revealing thousands of women filed for divorce from their husbands. The reason, their husband, was an atheist. When the husband is not Muslim, a Muslim woman can file for her husband’s divorce in Egypt.
The same trend is also happening in Saudi Arabia. Based on the results of research by WIN-Gallup International in 2012, it’s known that around 19 per cent of the total population of Saudi Arabia admits not to be involved in religious practices, and another five per cent are atheists. Thus, as many as one million citizens of Saudi Arabia claim to be atheists, and nearly six million people are not religious.
Meanwhile, in Turkey, based on a survey by the socio-political research institute Konda, the atheist population has tripled in the last ten years. In Iraq, the virtual world is filled with atheistic social media accounts, and their followers reach tens of thousands. Also, in Iran. In this land of mullahs, as reported by the Statistical Center of Iran in 2011, about 0.3 per cent of the total population associate themselves as non-believers. They have their institution or network, whose followers are also increasing.
Atheism also hit some other Middle Eastern countries. The results of a survey released by the Dar Al-Ifta Institute in 2014, the upward trend of autism also occurred in Morocco, Tunisia, Jordan, Sudan, Syria, Libya, and Yemen. Moreover, this trend is predicted to continue to strengthen in the upcoming years. At least, based on research on the growth of major religions in the Middle East and North Africa conducted by the PEW Research Center, it is stated that the number of atheists in the Middle East in 2010 is estimated at around 2.1 million people and is expected to grow to about 3.2 million people in 2050.
Cause of Atheism
In the past century, especially in Western countries or developed countries, atheism has developed because religion is considered unable to answer the challenges of the times or compete with advances in science and technology. However, in today’s century, atheism proliferates in Muslim countries in the Middle East and surrounding areas seems to be caused by different things.
Based on a survey conducted by several research institutes and mass media, the shift of people to atheism is mainly triggered by the massive coverage of the war, murder, violence, atrocities, rape, hate speech, hoaxes carried out for and in the name of religion. This was also revealed in an article entitled “The Arab Spring and the Coming Crisis of Faith”, written by Tamer Fouad in 2012.
This fact indicates that radicalism has become a bad “promotion” for Islamic symbols. And, atheism becomes a form of “protest” from Muslims in general against the tidal wave of radicalism in the Middle East and other Islamic countries. When a particular group monopolizes the truth and imposes a single truth by force in the name of religion, many people secretly turn in another direction: atheism. And that’s what happened after that wave of religious radicalism.
Although atheism was first defined as an understanding that does not believe in the existence of God, in the phenomenon that appears in the Middle East or Islamic countries, it is interpreted in various ways. Some don’t believe in God. However, some do so by giving up their religion (Islam) and choosing not to be religious—even though they may still believe in the existence of God. Some interpret it as “ignorant” of spiritual matters. In other words, if being religious means being radical, then it’s better not to.
Atheism in Indonesia
How about in Indonesia? As is the case in the Middle East region, it must be admitted that there has been a tidal wave of religious radicalism in Indonesia in the last two decades. So many indicators to call it that.
For example, groups of single truth-claimers emerged and forced them on other groups using violence. There are takfiri groups full of hate speech. There is a tendency for religious formalism in public spaces where everything must be “sharia” – from Pesantren to sharia massage beaches. Some movements want to change ideology and change the shape of the state. Public dissent emerged in the name of religion.
The question is, will the tidal wave of religious radicalism in Indonesia end like the Middle East? At least give rise to the atheism movement? Whether or not there is a shift from theism to atheism driven by religious radicalism in Indonesia requires in-depth research. Maybe there is; we don’t know for sure.
For sure, Indonesia is indeed more fortunate than Islamic countries in the Middle East because it still has a strong fortress. One of them is that the tradition of Pesantren in Indonesia is still solid, and it is still difficult for religious radicalism movements to penetrate —although some have been influenced or affiliated with the religious radicalism movement.
But, even so, religious radicalism can also be a bad “promotion” for Islamic symbols in Indonesia. So, secretly, people began to wonder: does religion have to be like that? Does being a good Muslim have to be radical? If that’s true, don’t be surprised if suddenly many Indonesians are atheists