List of former Muslims

Former Muslims or ex-Muslims are people who were Muslims, but subsequently left Islam.

Although their numbers have increased, ex-Muslims still face ostracism or retaliation from their families and communities due to beliefs about apostasy in Islam.

[1] In 23 countries apostasy is a punishable crime and in 13 of those it carries the death penalty.

[2] These were mostly people who were followers of the Bahá'u'lláh at the time he founded the Baháʼí Faith.

Media related to Former Muslims at Wikimedia Commons

Atatürk , founder of the Republic of Turkey
Mina Ahadi , founder of the Central Council of Ex-Muslims
Javed Akhtar , noted Indian writer and lyricist
Sarah Haider , cofounder of Ex-Muslims of North America
Ismail Kadare , noted Albanian writer
Maryam Namazie , cofounder of the Council of Ex-Muslims of Britain
Armin Navabi , founder of Atheist Republic , about leaving Islam
Salman Rushdie , author of The Satanic Verses [ 33 ]
U.S. actor Wesley Snipes converted from Christianity to Islam in 1978, but left in 1988. [ 110 ]
Zayn Malik , English singer-songwriter
Kenneth Hsien-yung Pai – Chinese American writer of Hui descent
Harilal Gandhi converted to Islam, adopted the name "Abdullah Gandhi", but later converted to Hinduism . [ 126 ]
Happy Salma , Indonesian actress, writer, model, converted to Hinduism , became princess and member of the Lordship of Ubud after marriage. [ 127 ] [ 128 ]
Mishkín-Qalam was a prominent Bahá'í and one of the nineteen Apostles of Bahá'u'lláh, as well as a famous calligrapher of 19th century Persia. [ 154 ] : 270–271
Albertus Soegijapranata , a National Hero of Indonesia , was the first native Indonesian Roman Catholic bishop in Indonesia . [ 165 ]
Born into a Muslim Batak family, Indonesian Prime Minister Amir Sjarifuddin converted to Christianity in 1931. He was one of the Indonesian Republic's first leaders. [ 169 ]
Argentine president Carlos Menem converted to Roman Catholicism due to his political aspirations. [ 183 ]
Italian journalist Magdi Allam converted to Roman Catholicism during the Vatican's 2008 Easter vigil service presided over by Pope Benedict XVI , [ 258 ] but left the church in 2013.
Al Qaeda terrorist Ramzi Yousef claims to have embraced Christianity while in ADX Florence Supermax prison. However, the prison staff do not believe Yousef's conversion is sincere. [ 307 ] [ 308 ]
Albanian monarch Skanderbeg converted from Roman Catholicism to Islam but reverted to Roman Catholicism later in life upon his return in Albania.
Mughal emperor Akbar proclaimed that no single religion possessed the absolute truth. This inspired him to create the Din-i Ilahi in 1581. [ 346 ]