"The day I decided to declare my atheism and discuss it publicly was the end of an era of my life. Some of my friends from the pre-atheism-declaration era won't accept me any more. I now have problems with my family: threats etc. In the post-atheism era I live in new towns, with new friends, a new feeling of freedom. It's a new, challenging life. You feel good that you are being yourself, but at the same time sometimes miss some advantages of the past.

"I am a humanist, and an atheist. I like the idea of being someone who can challenge their situation in order to overcome their problems, without being guided by some supernatural being, or secular leaders. I care about all humans, but I care most about those those who try to challenge and overcome their circumstances. This is exactly what many young atheists are starting to do in the Arab and Islamic world today.

"To be an atheist in a very religious society is more than rejecting the idea of God. It's a powerful political position, because in theocratic countries, being an atheist means no longer accepting the religious laws and cultural norms of your society. You see that those laws go against the basic principles of individual freedom and human rights, and this is dangerous. Any advocacy of freedom of thought will be censored. This applies to anyone who is simply an atheist. But the tax gets higher if you are also an activist. I had to leave Morocco because it was no longer safe to express my ideas from there.

"Now I can talk freely. I can write about my atheism in articles, even a novel in Arabic about my story. I have spoken at the United Nations. But I don't forget that people must pretend to believe. In any society where freedom of choice is not granted, and people do not accept the idea that we are all different and we should not be copies of each other, you will find lots of people who pretend to be what they are not. As a humanist, I believe that freedom of thought is the heart of all freedoms."