Almost a year ago, far-right accelationist and ex-Muslim activist Taleb Al-Abdulmohsen carried out an attack in Magdeburg. A year later, Abdulmohsen's ideology has not declined but it has only grown: ex-Muslimhood paired with Muslim hatred, approached not from an intersectional perspective but from divide-and-rule rhetoric. We have learnt nothing as a society and we keep falling for the same lies that have plagued us for centuries.
Abdulmohsen's observation that Western asylum policy is inhumane is most definitely true, but the claim that this is because the extremely Muslim-hating West supposedly has Islamisation as its goal and specifically hates ex-Muslims is far from the truth. It is sad that due to the belief in these falsehoods innocent people had to die.
While it is true that Western asylum policy is highly hostile towards ex-Muslim refugees and asylum seekers, it is not because they are ex-Muslims, it is due to racism combined with capitalism. Refugees are simply not profitable to the ruling class, except as a tool to spark anger and divide people, but there is no economic incentive to guarantee people's basic and fundamental human rights to safety and thus, in the eye of the capitalist, no incentive at all. Queer refugees from the US of A also get treated inhumanely by the system. Of course racism and anti-Muslim rhetoric may also be contributing factors in the mistreatment of certain asylum seekers.
These signs of dehumanisation are now more relevant than yesteryear. For example, the Dutch Immigration and Naturalisation Service (IND) recently determined that the Taliban regime in Afghanistan doesn't pose a clear and definitive threat to Afghan women who fled Taliban persecution. This is policy not of humanity, but one of a blatant disregard of human rights. But as opposed to what Abdulmohsen would claim, this is not a policy caused by a need of the Netherlands to promote Islam, these poor (often Muslim) women are simply not profitable for a political and economic system built upon exploitation and a disregard for life.
From this axiom, Abdulmohsen's ideology is not incidental, it is carefully crafted by the ruling class to protect and expand its own power. Ex-Muslims are used as tools to further a right-wing political agenda which puts profit over people. Divide-and-conquer tactics have been used since antiquity, throughout history imperialists have either used existing conflicts or have fabricated lies in order to put people against one another. The one that pertains ex-Muslims is the conflict between Muslims and apostates, as part of a bigger "secular/Christian/judeo-Christian West vs religious/Muslim Middle East" narrative.
But now, newer ideological developments, which do not fall into the trap of division have been formulated. In Kurdistan the democratic modernity and it's governing aspect democratic confederalism have been formulated as a paradigm in which different peoples, ethnic and religious groups can exist without domination by one of these groups. In the West, the concept of intersectionality is taking root, which formulates that the struggles that exist do not do so in isolation, but are intertwined.
It is this understanding that will lead the future, Abdulmohsen will be left in the dustbin of history. True ex-Muslim liberation can only be achieved by emancipation without punching down on others. When we liberate ourselves from the shackles that Islamic religious dogma has placed upon us, let us be free from Western Imperialist poisoning of the mind as well and let us not punch down on the many Muslims which are not the enemy.
When climate injustice hits Pakistan in one of the most devastaing natural disasters it doesn't just Muslims, it hits ex-Muslims. When the zionist entity bombs Gaza, occupies the West Bank and displaces and murders Palestinians in droves, it doesn't just hit Muslims, it hits ex-Muslims. By appealing to the Imperialistic narratives we are doing nothing but shooting ourselves in our own foot.
The continuation of the far-right fascistic tendencies are not the only harm in this, one year after the Magdeburg attacks, many ex-Muslims are still in denial. Denial about the true intent and ideological background of Abdulmohsen. It is nothing but the same old adage as the no-true-Scotsman, which we are usually very keen to point out when Muslims deny that religiously motivated terrorist attacks by Muslims are done by Muslims. Yet, we keep circling around the idea that Abdulmohsen was not a murtad, despite his long-standing activity as an ex-Muslim activist and his prominence within the ex-Muslim ecosystem.