What Does It Mean to Be a ‘Secular Muslim’?

Many are familiar with the concept of “secular Jews,” people who choose to identify as Jewish despite being non-practicing, agnostic, or even atheist, because they see Judaism as a culture or ethnicity and not just as a religion. Almost a quarter of American Jews fall into this category, according to a recent Pew Research Center survey.  

But is there such a thing as “secular Muslims”? Or is it meaningless to map this concept onto Islam? On this question, Europeans disagree—and, in Italy, that theoretical disagreement comes with concrete consequences.

Two Italian Somali women, the anthropologist and former politician Maryan Ismail and the engineer and immigrant rights activist Layla Yusuf, founded the Movement of Secular Muslims on April 5. The group may not yet count many members, but it already enjoys a high profile: The co-founders presented it in a speech to members of parliament and journalists in the Lower House of the Italian Parliament, and they had the support of former Foreign Minister Giulio