Somali atheists in the diaspora are running a Facebook group to challenge their community's Islamic beliefs, but they often receive death threats, writes journalist Layla Mahmood.
"I am going to kill you. I am going to find you. I am going to cut your head off," was one of the threats that Ayaanle, a Canada-based Somali atheist, received.
"[But] that's kind of normal," the founder of the True Somali Freedom Page (TSFP) says sardonically as he talks about the death threats that clog his inbox.
The popular Facebook group, which has more than 80,000 members, is predominantly led by atheists, or "ex-Muslims", as they refer to themselves.
It was initially inspired to create a safe space for religious discussion and now promotes all forms of freedom for Somalis who feel marginalised by mainstream Somali culture.
Ejected from group
Around 2016, he stumbled across a Somali Facebook group that purported to be a space for free speech and debate.
"I got into a discussion about religion and everybody just erupted. They went ballistic. They made me feel like I killed someone."
He was swiftly removed from the group, a common experience for those who express contrary views in this kind of Somali forum.
'A space to be free'
Ayaanle then felt the only way forward was to create a new platform, with new rules.
"I wanted [the TSFP] to be a place where... people could be free to say whatever they liked."
A driving force for Ayaanle stemmed from his belief that contemporary Somali discussions about religion had become increasingly restrictive in the aftermath of Somalia's decades-long civil war.
"Islam is untouchable. You cannot criticise or say anything about Islam.
"Right now the young people are changing, they are a little more tolerant to debates and criticism.
"[But] many of those who grew up in Somalia and came to the West during and after the civil war accept the idea that if someone criticises Islam they should be killed. They really think it's something valid."
Hence the death threats that he has received.
"That's one of the things I want to put out there and what I have the page for - to show that Islam is not untouchable. It can be criticised, it can be debated and it can be talked about openly."
In Somalia and the breakaway state of Somaliland, blasphemy is a jailable offence, and the TSFP has set out to challenge this.
It campaigned and raised money for the academic Mahmoud Jama Ahmed-Hamdi. He was a university lecturer who was arrested for writing a Facebook post that questioned the validity of praying to God as a means of relieving the drought in 2019.
He served 10 months in prison before receiving a presidential pardon, but is still at risk from vigilante attacks. One prominent imam called for his execution.
The case demonstrates the complexity of how power operates in Somalia and Somaliland, with the line between religious leaders and government being significantly blurred.
Fear of exposure
Somalis have not only been using the group as a platform to debate, but, in some cases, as a means of survival.
Some of the most at-risk groups in Somalia who have put messages on the TSFP are Christians, atheists and LGBT individuals.
These are people who grapple with the constant fear of being exposed and are subjected to attacks and imprisonment.
One way that the TSFP helps is through raising money and the cash has bought plane tickets and helped with living expenses.
Source: bbc.com
