Mini-Documentaries
Apostates are hiding no longer, and we at Ex-Muslims of North America are telling their stories.
Life Beyond Faith
Life Beyond Faith is EXMNA’s mini-documentary series that centers the real lives of ex-Muslims after leaving religion. Through a wide range of experiences, from coercion and loss to resilience and rebuilding, the films highlight the careful reflection behind these journeys while challenging common misconceptions about why people leave the faith.
Why we produced life beyond faith
Episodes
Omar: Ex-Muslim, LGBTQ, Defiant
Omar tells his story of growing up as a gay ex-Muslim in a country where both homosexuality and apostasy can be met by death.
Jamal: Family, Conditional Love, and Leaving Islam
What does it mean to lose faith within the context of an American Somali family? Jamal talks about his loss of faith as a teenager and how his family reacted to his apostasy.
Obaid: How weak is your God?
Born in India and raised in Canada, Obaid began questioning faith at a young age.
Sarra: I Will Not Be Erased by Islam
Sarra began to doubt her faith when she discovered philosophy and began studying history and logic. By the age of 21, she no longer considered herself a believer.
Hina: Islam and Shaming Women
Having resided in Pakistan and Indonesia in her youth (the two largest Muslim countries in the world), Hina has experienced the religious hypocrisy plaguing the Muslim world first-hand.
Stephanie: The Price a Mother Paid for Leaving Islam
A Canadian woman who converted to Islam in her late-teens, Stephanie married a Libyan Muslim man, and gave birth to two daughters.
Ghada: Saudi Women are Not Worth Any Less
Raised in Saudi as a hijabi, Ghada shares her story going from a believing woman to a life happy and free without God.
Lawan: Between Two Narratives – Kurdish and Ex-Muslim
Growing up in Dubai and studying Islam for 12 years, Lawan (now an atheist) shares his thoughts on leaving the faith and forming a sense of identity as a minority within a minority.
Huda: Leaving Islam as a Family
Huda and her parents speak about their journey away from Islam—how it has affected their lives and family bonds.
Syed Rizvi: Sixty Years as an Ex-Muslim
An ex-Muslim for more than sixty years, Syed Rizvi’s path to non-belief is a story as old as the partition of India.
Mahad: Kidnapped for Allah
A gay, ex-Muslim Somali man describes his escape from a conversion therapy camp in Kenya with the help of local atheists and Ex-Muslims of North America.
Hiba: Hijab and the Illusion of Choice
Hiba grew up in Lebanon under strict Shia Hezbollah culture where family honor and sexual purity was paramount. She speaks about growing up in a strict patriarchal context and her journey to gain her freedom.
Lina & Hazar: A Story of Family, Faith and #Pride
How can we reconcile faith and a sexual identity it deems “deviant”?
Obaid: Life Beyond Faith
Born in India and raised in Canada, Obaid began questioning faith at a young age.