The Apostates: When Muslims Leave Islam

• Published in: Sociology of religion 2015, Vol.76 (4), p.484-485
• Main Author: Zuckerman, Phil
• Format: Review
• Language: English
• Subjects: Apostasy; Islam; Muslims; Religion; Religions; Religious beliefs; Sociology; Values; Women; Zuckerman, Phil
• ISSN: 1069-4404; 1759-8818
• DOI: 10.1093/socrel/srv052

The book's three greatest strengths are: (1) the author allows the apostates to speak for themselves, so we get to read-often in their own words- about their personal struggles, family ordeals, existential angst, life experiences, values, opinions, worldviews, etc., (2) the author provides on-going, in-depth, nuanced, and insightful analysis of the process of exiting Islam, so that the personal stories of apostasy are well examined, couched in appropriate scholarly context, and made sociologically relevant, and finally (3) the focus is on contemporary men and women living in the West ( primarily Britain and Canada) who have rejected Islam-a fascinating, understudied population, to be sure. Yet, as soon as his informants begin explaining "how" they came to reject Islam, they quickly and inevitably resort to "why" explanations, such as the barbarity of certain passages in the Qur'an, the implausibility of the existence of God, the immorality of the possibility of God creating Hell, unease with the treatment of women, and more. [...]I wondered if Cottee ever pondered, struggled with, or simply ignored the major wall that I came up against while researching for my own book on apostasy: the limits of sociological analysis when attempting to understand why people lose their faith and reject the religion of their family and friends.