Why Would I Leave Islam? by Nancy Shehata

Nancy Shehat's beautiful blog post discusses some of the issues that reverts to Islam face (actually which all Muslims can face) and why she would make the choice to stay with or leave Islam:

Fast forward eighteen years and here I am, older, maybe wiser, maybe not, married for twelve years with five kids, living in suburbia and trying to help others have a bit of an easier time traveling the path I and so many other reverts have trod.  I’ve been through the many phases of Islam.  The “SuperConvertitis” phase, where I tried to out Islam everyone else.  The burnout phase, where I just wanted to not think about Islam at all, the barely doing the minimum phase where only guilt and fear of Hellfire kept me going, and the phase I’m in now.  It’s kind of a comfortable phase.  I’m steadfast in  my faith, I know where my weaknesses are and I don’t beat myself up for them anymore, and I try to maximize my strong points.  I’m not a “haraam alaik-er” and I’m not so easygoing that I’ll simply smile and nod if I see a Muslim eating a ham sandwich and drinking a beer outside the masjid on Friday.  I think I’ve found my niche as a Muslim and it is in writing and trying to be an uplifting presence – not a role model, I’m not good enough for that – for my brothers and sisters in Islam.  I also make it a point to occasionally poke the hornet’s nest of problems in the Ummah so that people realize that we have to be more proactive in living and teaching Islam.  I’m not Super Muslimah, and I’m okay with that.

I just read on one of my Facebook groups that one of our sisters has left Islam, and it got me to thinking.  Here I am, Muslim for eighteen years, well settled in my faith, knowledgeable to a degree, not prone to histrionics.  What could motivate a person, once guided, to abandon the faith?  What could make me consider leaving Islam, even for a moment?

Read the original post and her answer to the questions she asks here.