Nonreligious Arabs Protest Online to Declare #WeAreHere – The Media Line

Organizers aim to normalize diverse views on faith[Cairo] A loosely organized group of Arabic speakers “la Deeni” (“of no religion”) kicked off its first online protest Tuesday under the hashtags #WeAreHere and #22Feb22. The idea for the protest began on the Clubhouse audio chat room app and grew to include many social media platforms.The activists declared Tuesday the International Day of Nonreligious Arabic Speakers.“La Deeni is a term that unites many who do not believe in any [organized] religion, for example, the atheist, the agnostic, and the deist, who believes that there is a first cause for this universe without believing in any religion, in addition to other categories,” one of the organizers explained to The Media Line.This is the first year of this protest. Organizers aim to normalize diverse religious views and count the number of those who have moved away from organized religion in the region. They raised more than $6,000 from 148 individuals on GoFundMe to support the movement.Amna Nosseir, a professor of Islamic thought and philosophy at Al-Azhar University in Cairo, says there are 4 million La Deeni in Egypt.The organizers, who prefer to remain anonymous to protect their security, explained to The Media Line that…
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