Having been born into Islam as an Indian-Bengali woman, I really struggled as a child to connect the beliefs I was expected to have with logic, and really struggled to wrap my head around the religion, especially in a modern context.
My curiosity and questions were met with gas lighting, suggestions of prayer and being fully shut down, leaving me with little to no information on what the real Islam was.
Once I was a teenager, I was forced into wearing hijab, heavily restricted from speaking to or being friends with men, LGBTQ people (I'm bisexual) and leaving the house, which pushed me to then take the time to research and engage in Islam. With everything I read, and watched and was told, I was driven even further from Islam, and only realised truly that I was Agnostic / Atheist when I was around 16.
Islam caused me a multitude of issues, but what I struggled with most was the distance that it put between myself and people I loved.
Through CEMB, I want to be able to find real life community, and help people to learn more about Fundamental Islam with an objective view instead of only through the lens offered by Sheikhs, Imams and Muslims who engage in propaganda that makes the religion seem "feminist" and applicable to modern life. I still support many Islamic causes such as charities and the Palestinian Plight, but I feel that our safety as Ex Muslims is too volatile to not work for a better future for those who are considered Kaffir or Apostates.