Ismail Mohamed (Alexandria, 9 June 1983[1]) is an Egyptian atheist activist,[3] blogger and producer of The Black Ducks programme (برنامج البط الأسود Barnamaj al-Bati al'Aswad, or al-Bath as-Sawda for short[4]).
[1] His father didn't actively practice Islam, and although he lacked a college education, he had a passion for science and encouraged Ismail to read books and gather information online when the Internet emerged.
[1] Mohamed began studying the topic of apostasy in Islam when numerous online atheists were imprisoned following accusations of "insulting religion", which is subject to Egypt's anti-blasphemy law.
I read the history of Abrahamic religions.”[7] He also learnt the English language in 2012, which granted access to a lot more information such as the writings of Christopher Hitchens, Sam Harris, Richard Dawkins — as well as Egyptian secularist thinkers.
[7] In 2013,[8] Mohamed launched The Black Ducks programme, an online talk show which according to The New York Times seeks to "offer a space where agnostic and atheist Arabs can speak freely about their right to choose what they believe and resist coercion and misogyny from religious authorities.
"[6] Mohamed himself described the programme as "a show featuring interviews spanning the broad spectrum of Arab atheists and non-religious people from all over the Middle East and North Africa, providing a platform where they can speak freely without fear, sounding their demands for equal rights and demonstrating that they really do exist."
Every guest interviewed by Mohamed comes from across the Middle East, usually explaining why they left Islam and how they deal with their apostasy and atheism in everyday life in their respective societies.
[1][7] Ismail Mohamed made a breakthrough as the first outspoken atheist appearing on Egyptian television in November 2013,[8] being invited to discuss irreligion not long after posting his first Black Ducks video.
[7] In June 2015, when there were about 18 Arab atheist online talk shows, he was the only host who had not fled his country to seek asylum in the West, having produced about 160 episodes on Egyptian soil.
[1] During a February 2014 interview with BBC News journalist Hadya Alalawi in Alexandria, Mohamed said he and his fellow nonbelievers wanted to normalise atheism in Egypt instead of having to leave the country where his family and job are.
[11] Mohamed stated that he believes the El-Sisi administration is open to atheism, citing media reports of the president speaking in favour of atheists in a meeting with intellectuals in January 2015.
[1][14] During a June 2018 interview, Mohamed stated that Muslim-majority countries like Egypt are great places for conservative Muslim heterosexual men to live in, but bad for others, especially atheists and LGBT people: "No one can declare his atheism and remain in the same social and professional life.