Leaving Religion in Bangladesh

Bangladesh has a majority Sunni Muslim population that is generally moderate by South Asian standards, with a long history of Sufi influence and a constitutional commitment to secularism (despite Islam being the state religion). What makes the Bangladeshi ex-Muslim exit particularly dangerous is not the law, which does not criminalize apostasy as such, but the targeted killings of secular bloggers and ex-Muslims by extremist groups during the mid-2010s, which made being a publicly known atheist or ex-Muslim writer a documented mortal risk.

The everyday exit is usually a private one. Many Bangladeshi ex-Muslims function as PIMOs in their families, especially around Ramadan and Eid, and come out gradually if at all. The diaspora communities in the UK and US are larger and more visible than the ex-Muslim community inside Bangladesh, and many Bangladeshi readers will find more peers in the diaspora than at home.

The pillar page on Islam was written with safety as the first concern and applies directly. The page on telling your family in stages also matters, as does the page on the double life and the long timeline.