SHARIAsource Editor Katarzyna Sidło’s article in the Marburg Journal of Religion discusses a 2013 study of Jordanians who had converted out of Islam. In Sidło words, “Due to the religious and cultural taboo surrounding apostasy, those who left Islam are notoriously difficult to access in a systematic way and constitute what is known in social research as a ‘hidden’ or ‘hard-to-reach’ population.”
“‘Coming Out’ or ‘Staying in the Closet’–Deconversion Narratives of Muslim Apostates in Jordan”
Using an online survey to recruit participants, the research aimed to: (a) explore the community of apostates from Islam in Jordan, (b) understand the rationale behind their decision to disaffiliate from Islam, and (c) analyze their narratives of deconversion. In addition, the article examines the changes that occurred in participants’ lives as a result of their apostasy and the degree of secrecy about their decision.
The article is available on the author’s Academia.edu profile here.