Muslims head for the exits

Many in the West are concerned with the rise of Islamism and radical Islamic terrorism. The concern is legitimate, as Islamic extremism is often loud and consequential on the world stage. However, there is an aspect of Islam about which we rarely talk. It isn’t an exaggeration to say that the Muslim community currently is experiencing a crisis of apostasy. In many places, the abandonment of faith among Muslims is reaching avalanche levels, and Muslim clerics are worried.

In an important article on the status of Islam in Iran, a senior Shiite scholar warned that the religion is weakening in his country, stating that “around 50,000 of Iran’s 75,000 mosques are closed, showing the declining numbers of Iranians attending.”

Is this cleric’s view significant? Yes, without a doubt. Not only is Iran the most important Shiite country in the Muslim world, but this cleric is the liaison between the Iranian Islamic president and the country’s Islamic seminaries. In fact, he is “a member of the Assembly of Experts—a deliberative body empowered to appoint the Supreme Leader,” the article reports. Thus, one of the elite Shiite leaders in the most prestigious Shiite country is worried about the status of Islam in Iran.

But if mosques are closing in Iran, why should we take notice?

Islam as a religious system isn’t individualistic—it is built on communal worship and congregational gatherings in mosques. If mosques are closing, it is a clear indicator of a decrease of religiosity in the land. Iran is a major Islamic religious hub—considered a sacred land, to which about 15% of Muslims worldwide yearn. If Islam is weakening in Iran, then there is a real crisis in the faith.

But the words of the Iranian cleric are not a total surprise.

Consider a recent academic study on Iran: In September 2020, a study highlighted Iran’s religious decline and demonstrated that currently only 40 percent of Iranians identify as Muslim. This is shocking because Iran claims to be 99.5 percent Muslim. If this study reflects the reality on the ground, then Iran is no longer a Muslim-majority country.

It turns out that the more a nation implements Islam by the letter, the more likely its Muslims will abandon the faith.

Undoubtedly, the case in Iran has something to do with how the regime justifies brutal dictatorship with Islamic claims, as evidenced in the latest political unrest after the murder of Mahsa Amini. At the same time, Iran isn’t alone in seeing apostasy from Islam.

What about the Arab world, the heartland of Islam? There, too, is an avalanche of apostasy.

On June 24, 2019, The Guardian reported on research—conducted by a group based at Princeton University—emphasizing that Arab Muslims are abandoning Islam in unprecedented numbers. The research contrasts the numbers of “non-religious” people between roughly 2014 and 2019. The numbers went from 11 percent to 18 percent.

This is huge, because the Arab world is the stronghold of Islam. Additionally, the timeframe of the study is important, as it reflects the aftermath of the rise of the militant Islamist group ISIS. It appears that many Muslims began to question Islam after witnessing how ISIS justified its actions through religious texts. This Guardian report is echoed in another study from 2015—also after the emergence of ISIS—that showed a spread of unbelief in the Arab Muslim world.

Thus, the case of Iran and the Arab world suggests that the literal application of Islam is at least among the reasons that drive Muslims away from the religion.

But the apostasy crisis in Islam isn’t only in the Muslim nations. Many Muslims in the West are also abandoning the faith.

In September 2019, The Telegraph (London) asked, “Why are young Muslims leaving Islam?” The article shows that young “educated” Muslims are questioning Islam’s teachings, resulting in waves of young Muslims quitting the faith due to “crises of unbelief.” It appears that the internet and social media opened the gate wide for Muslims to question aspects of their religion—a technology that wasn’t available just a few decades ago.

What about the United States? In January 2018, a Pew Research study showed that the number of American converts to Islam is almost equal to the number of those who abandoned the faith. There is virtually no growth in the number of Muslims. This study also concluded that about 25 percent of adult Muslims raised in the United States no longer identified as Muslims.

What should the Church do?

This apostasy crisis shows a huge religious dissatisfaction among many Muslims. This is a great moment for the Church to pray for Muslim seekers to encounter the Lord Jesus Christ. Christians must seize the opportunity and proclaim the Good News of Jesus locally and globally. Preach the Word and reach the world!