23 February 2017

Imtiaz Shams from Ilford received death threats after renouncing Islam and wants to reach out to others like him with his support group Faith to Faithless

A MAN who received death threats after renouncing his faith wants to reach out to other people like him.

Imtiaz Shams grew up in a Muslim family in Ilford in the late 1990s and early 2000s, going to school in Hainault and Seven Kings.

The 28-year-old says he was “very religious” as a youngster, always reading books about Islam and going to the mosque.

But as he approached his twenties, Mr Shams started to question things.

He said: “Every Muslim has questions about their faith when they they’re growing up, and that’s totally fine.

“But as I got older and my critical thinking developed, I started to doubt whether the answers I was getting really made sense anymore.”

Despite having doubts, Mr Shams did not actually consider leaving his faith until several years later.

He said: “Even though I wanted to leave, I had absolutely no idea how. [East London and West Essex Guardian] Read more