Read our 2025 Annual Report!
I want to thank you for your support, whether you just became aware of our work or have been with us for years. This year, our work to advance our vision of normalizing dissent has reached new heights. We launched our second billboard campaign with a new companion website whyNOTislam.net, sparking global conversation and connecting thousands of questioning individuals with thoughtful and rational critique. We joined freethinkers across the country at California Freethought Day, hosted a global International Atheist Day livestream, and continued to engage with our supporters through our weekly publication, Dissent Dispatch.
Our Persecution Tracker continues to shed light on the dangers faced by apostates worldwide, while our new EXMNA website redesign has made our growing library of resources more accessible than ever. We produced new educational materials—including one-pagers on “Backsliding in Democracies” and “Islamophobia vs. Anti-Muslim Bigotry”—that we have shared in policy and media circles. We met with Congressional offices, including members of the Congressional Freethought Caucus, and had conversations with the New York Times, ACLU, FIRE, and PEN America, to promote the rights of religious dissenters and defend the freedom to critique ideas without fear.
Through our Asylum Support Program, we wrote letters of support for individuals fleeing persecution, collaborated with Ex-Muslims International (EXMI) on advocacy campaigns such as #FreeBetty, and held our annual Draw Muhammad Day contest, this year with multiple cash prize winners. We celebrated the milestone of owning and operating WikiIslam for 10 years, continuing our efforts of overhauling and translating the site. A focused, coordinated social media strategy brought us tens of thousands of new followers this year, and we plan to build on that momentum during December’s Ex-Muslim Awareness Month, where whyNOTislam will serve as the central unifying theme for hundreds of ex-Muslim activists, advocates and organizations.
Our advocacy also benefited from cooperation with like-minded organizations. We joined efforts with the Freedom From Religion Foundation’s Action Fund to press for the repeal of domestic blasphemy and apostasy laws, ensuring that America leads by example in defending freedom of conscience.
Of course, the path of freethought is not without resistance. Ex-Muslim content creators are routinely brigaded and mass-reported on social media, our websites have faced targeted denial-of-service attacks, and many users must rely on VPNs or mirror websites to evade censors and safely access our platforms—proof of how forbidden this knowledge remains. Yet these very obstacles affirm the urgency of our mission. The more censorship we face, the clearer it becomes that the world still needs spaces for honest dissent and open inquiry.
As we look ahead, I am inspired by what’s next: the continuing overhaul of WikiIslam, the continued expansion of whyNOTislam.net, and new partnerships that will elevate ex-Muslim voices to the global stage.
Together, we will keep carrying the torch of freethought forward—fearlessly, compassionately, and with unwavering commitment to the right of every human being to think and speak freely.
Thank you for your support,
Muhammad Syed
President
Ex-Muslims of North America