The young Turks rejecting Islam

[New World Explorer]

Merve teaches religion to elementary school children in Turkey. She used to be a radical believer of Islam.

"Until recently, I would not even shake hands with men," she tells me in an Istanbul cafe. "But now I do not know whether there is a God or not, and I really do not care."

One day, Merve's life changed when, after waking up very depressed, she cried for hours and decided to pray.

As she prayed, she realised to her shock that she doubted God's existence. "I thought I would either go crazy or kill myself," she says. "The next day I realised I had lost my faith."

She is not alone. One professor has been quoted as saying that more than a dozen female students wearing headscarves have come up to him to declare they are atheists in the past year or so.

 

Bekir, theology student

Until recently I was a sympathiser of radical groups such as the Islamic State or Al Qaeda. Today, I am an atheist. I initially wanted to find some logic in Islam, but I could not. Then I started questioning God too.

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-43981745