Non-practicing Muslims who still identify with Islam
This article is about non-practicing Muslims who still identify with Islam. For Muslims not affiliating with a specific school or branch, seeNon-denominational Muslim.
Cultural Muslims, also known asnominal Muslims,[1]non-practicing Muslims ornon-observing Muslims,[2] are people who identify as Muslim but are not religious.[3] They may variously be non-observing, secular,irreligious,[4] or individuals who still identify with Islam due to belief, sprituality, family backgrounds, personal experiences, ethnic and national heritage, or the social and cultural environment in which they grew up.[4][5][6][7][8]
The concept is not always met with acceptance in Islamic communities.[22] Cultural Muslims may be classified askafir (non-believers) by many religiousfundamentalist Muslims.[23][24][25]
In Central Asia and in former communist countries, the term "cultural Muslim" came into use to describe those who wished their "Muslim" identity to be associated with certain national and ethnic rituals, rather than merely religious faith.[21]
Malise Ruthven (2000) discussed the terms "cultural Muslim" and "nominal Muslim" as follows:[26]
There is, however, a secondary meaning toMuslim which may shade into the first. A Muslim is one born to a Muslim father who takes on his or her parents' confessional identity without necessarily subscribing to the beliefs and practices associated with the faith, just as a Jew may describe him- or herself asJewish without observing the Tanakh or Halacha. In non-Muslim societies, such Muslims may subscribe to, and be vested with, secular identities. The Muslims of Bosnia, descendants of Slavs who converted to Islam under Ottoman rule, are not always noted for attendance at prayer, abstention from alcohol, and other social practices associated with believing Muslims in other parts of the world. They were officially designated asMuslims by nationality to distinguish them from Orthodox Serbs and Catholic Croats under the former Yugoslav communist regime. The labelMuslim indicates their ethnicity and group allegiance, but not necessarily their religious beliefs. In this limited context (which may apply to other Muslim minorities in Europe and Asia), there may be no contradiction between being Muslim and beingatheist oragnostic, just as there are Jewish atheists and Jewish agnostics. This secular definition of Muslim (sometimes the termscultural Muslim ornominal Muslim are used) is very far from being uncontested.
Scholar G. Hussein Rassool (2015) discussed the label "cultural Muslim" as follows:[4]
The label 'Cultural Muslim' is used in the literature to describe those Muslims who are religiously unobservant, secular or irreligious individuals who still identify with the Muslim culture due to family background, personal experiences, or the social and cultural environment in which they grew up.
A cultural Muslim internalizes the Islamic cultural tradition, or way of thinking, as aframe of reference. Cultural Muslims are diverse in terms of norms, values, political opinions, and religious views. They retain a shared "discourse or structure of feeling" related to shared history and memories.[27] The concept of acultural Muslim – someone who identifies as a Muslim yet is not religious – is not always met with acceptance in Islamic communities.[22]
Believer vs. non-believer and practicing vs. not-practicing
In non-Muslim majority countries, Muslims may identify themselves by distinguishing themselves as practicing vs. not-practicing and believer vs. non-believer.[28] Usually, ritual practicing ones are presumed to be believers, while non-practicing ones may be believers or non-believers.[a]
According toKia Abdullah, cultural Muslims are at the receiving end of criticism not only from Muslims but also from someprogressives, saying that cultural Muslim cherry-pick the best of both worlds without enough proactive contribution and commitment toliberalism.[113]
Bella Hadid: She shared during an interview withPorter that she is "proud to be aMuslim",[114][115] but also stated that she lives aspiritual lifestyle, and although her family was not religious, she grew up learning aboutJudaism and is interested inIslam. "I'm very spiritual, and I find that I connect with every religion," she explained. "There's that my-way-is-the-right-way thing in human nature, but for me it's not about my god or your god. I kind of just call on whoever is willing to be there for me."[116]
Ella Al-Shamahi: She specialises in the study ofNeanderthals. She is atrustee of the International Association for the Study ofArabia. As of 2025, she was describing herself as a "non-practising Muslim".[119]
Laila Rouass: She was raised Muslim but is now non-practising, although she calls the Islamic faith an important part of her identity.[125][unreliable source?]
Orhan Pamuk: He describes himself as a cultural Muslim who associates the historical and cultural identification with the religion, while not believing in a personal connection to God.[129]
Sajid Javid: While his family's heritage is Muslim, Javid himself is non-practicing,[130] but has remarked that he was 'the first Muslim Home Secretary to be invited (to theiftar)',[131] whereas his wife is a practicing Christian.[132]
Salman Khan: Khan identifies as both Muslim and Hindu, commenting that, "I'm Hindu and Muslim both. I'mBharatiya (an Indian)".[133] He explained, "My father is Muslim and my mother is Hindu".[134]
Fareed Zakaria: Zakaria is a self-described secular and non-practicing Muslim. He added: "My views on faith are complicated – somewhere betweendeism andagnosticism. I am completely secular in my outlook." His ex-wife is a Christian, and his three children have not been raised as Muslims.[136][137]
Hasan Piker: the nephew of Cenk Uygur Is a self-described, non-practicing Muslim. He has admitted to not observing religious practices.[138][139]
Shohreh Aghdashloo: despite being born a Muslim, she has stated that she has never practiced it.[141]
T-Pain: he was raised in a Muslim household, but he lacked interest in the religion. His wife is a Christian, but his three children follow both religions.[142]
O'Shea "Ice Cube" Jackson: he converted to Islam in the early 1990s after being introduced toNation of Islam though he denied membership to the group. Listening to his own conscience, he self-described as a "natural Muslim, 'cause it's just me and God. You know, going to the mosque, the ritual and the tradition, it's just not in me to do. So I don't do it."[144] He has also said that he thinks "religion is stupid" in part and explained, "I'm gonna live a long life, and I might change religions three or four times before I die. I'm on the Islam tip – but I'm on the Christian tip, too. I'm on the Buddhist tip as well. Everyone has something to offer to the world."[145]
^Ruthven, Malise (2012).Islam: A Very Short Introduction. Oxford University Press. p. 8.ISBN978-0-19-964287-8.
^Lederer, Gyorgy (2009), "Hungary", in Nielsen, Jorgen; Akgönül, Samim; Alibašic, Ahmet; Maréchal, Brigitte; Moe, Christian (eds.),Yearbook of Muslims in Europe, and in Iran Volume 1,BRILL Publishers, p. 13,ISBN978-90-474-2850-3
^Rahnema, Saeed (2009).Diaspora by Design. University of Toronto Press.ISBN978-1-4426-9258-9.This diversity is usually ignored, and in particular, the existence of a large number of secular and laic persons of Muslim cultural background is completely overlooked. These secular Muslims, identified on the basis of cultural origin ...
^abcRassool, G. Hussein (2015).Islamic Counselling: An Introduction to theory and practice. Routledge. p. 10.ISBN978-1-317-44125-0.The label 'Cultural Muslim' is used in the literature to describe those Muslims who are religiously unobservant, secular or irreligious individuals who still identify with the Muslim culture due to family background, personal experiences, or the social and cultural environment in which they grew up... For Cultural Muslim the declaration of faith is superficial and has no effect of their religious practices.
^Volkmann, Constanze (2018).Muslim Women in Austria and Germany Doing and Undoing Gender: Making Gender Differences and Hierarchies Relevant or Irrelevant. Springer. p. 9.ISBN978-3-658-23952-7.
^Alsultany, Evelyn (2021).Broken: The Failed Promise of Muslim Inclusion. New York University Press. p. 62.ISBN978-1-4985-6919-4.The nominal Muslim is someone who is born into a Muslim family and maybe raised Muslim, but who is not religious and identifies as a cultural or secular Muslim as opposed to a religious Muslim.
^William Kim, David (2017).Religious Encounters in Transcultural Society: Collision, Alteration, and Transmission. Lexington Books. p. 62.ISBN978-1-4985-6919-4.
^Rane, Halim (2018).Islam and Muslims in the West. Springer International Publishing. p. 34.ISBN978-3-319-92510-3.Saeed identifies "secular Muslims" as another trend among contempo- rary Western Muslims. ... Arguably a sub-branch of this approach are Saeed terms "cultural nominalists" (Saeed 2007, 401), whose "Muslim" identity is framed through a cultural lens rather than religious.
^abWarde, Ibrahim (2014).Islamic Finance in the Global Economy. Edinburgh University Press. pp. 15–19.ISBN978-0-7486-9647-5.
^abKhalid, Adeeb (2007).Islam After Communism: Religion and Politics in Central Asia. Los Angeles: University of California Press.ISBN978-0-520-24927-1.
^abcdB. Marrow, Helen (2021).The New Americans: A Guide to Immigration since 1965. Harvard University Press. pp. 527–533.ISBN978-0-674-04493-7.
^abRoyall, Frédéric (2016).From Silence to Protest: International Perspectives on Weakly Resourced Groups. Taylor & Francis. p. 105.ISBN978-1-317-13180-9.Muslim immigrants in Western Europe differ in terms of ethnic backgrounds, as well as in terms of religiosity. Research has shown that many religiously unobservant or even irreligious individuals nonetheless identify themselves as "Muslims" because of their family background, their personal attachments, their ethnic and group allegiance, or the social and cultural environment in which they were raised; they are categorized as "cultural" or "nominal" Muslims.
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^Ramadan, Tariq (2021).What I Believe. Oxford University Press. p. 8.ISBN978-0-19-973672-0.
^Jackson, Roy (2020).Muslim and Supermuslim: The Quest for the Perfect Being and Beyond. Springer Nature. p. 65.ISBN978-3-030-37093-0.
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^Burazeri, Genc; Goda, Artan; Kark, Jeremy D. (December 2008). "Religious observance and acute coronary syndrome in predominantly Muslim Albania: a population-based case-control study in Tirana".Annals of Epidemiology.18 (12):937–945.doi:10.1016/j.annepidem.2008.09.001.ISSN1873-2585.PMID19041593.
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^Danziger, Raphael (2008).Abd Al-Qadir and the Algerians: Resistance to the French and Internal Consolidation. Homes & Meier Publishers. p. 8.ISBN978-0-8419-0236-7.All contemporary observers agreed that the Berbers were only nominal Muslims as far as observance of the formal Islamic precepts was concerned. The degree of observance was only slightly higher among Arab nomads.
^Hosen, Nadirsyah (2018).Research Handbook on Islamic Law and Society. Edward Elgar Publishing. p. 35.ISBN978-1-78100-306-0.
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^Kucera, Joshua (20 September 2018)."Azerbaijani Shias gather for Ashura, under close watch from the state".Eurasianet. Retrieved1 May 2021.The majority of Azerbaijanis are Shia Muslims and, as elsewhere in the region, expressions of religion are on the rise following the collapse of the Soviet Union and its atheist ideology.
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^Al-Smadi, Fatima (15 October 2015)."Azerbaijan: Religious Pluralism and Challenges of Cultivating Identity".Al Jazeera. Retrieved1 May 2021.Although Azerbaijan is secular according to its constitution, Islam is an integral part of its cultural and social identity. Today Azerbaijan is experiencing the formation of a national secular identity in which religion will play a significant role.
^Reynolds, James (12 August 2012)."Why Azerbaijan is closer to Israel than Iran".BBC News. Retrieved1 May 2021.Israel and the secular government of Azerbaijan share the same goal: to check the spread of political Islam in general and Iran in particular.
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