Many people take for granted the right to choose to leave the religion of their childhood. But not everybody has that choice, writes Samira Ahmed.

It sounds like a crime from a medieval history book. Apostasy is the decision to renounce a faith and/or convert to another religion.

It's not recorded in the Census, but the 2011 figures show the number of people in England and Wales who say they have no religion nearly doubled in the 10 years since 2001 to a quarter of the population.

In the same time the number of Muslims in England and Wales grew by 80% to 2.7 million.

And among some of Britain's urban Muslims - nearly half of whom were born in the UK and are under 24 - there's a belief that leaving Islam is a sin and can even be punished by death.

An investigation for the BBC has found evidence of young people suffering threats, intimidation, being ostracised by their communities and, in some cases, encountering serious physical abuse when they told their families they were no longer Muslims.

There are also local councils that seem to have little awareness of the issue or any policy on how to protect these vulnerable young people.

There are no official statistics on apostasy in British Islam, and only a few academic studies based on a tiny handful of individual cases.

My dad threatened to kill me by getting a knife and holding it against my neck and saying 'we might as well do it if you're going to bring this much shame to the family'
'Aylisha'

But growing numbers of ex-Muslims are sharing their experiences on online forums. Coming out as a non-believer at an age when young people of all backgrounds can rebel over relationships and cultural expectations means it's often hard to identify religion as a factor.

But whereas there is recognition of homophobia in the law for gay people, what happens to teenagers whose families reject their right to leave their religion?

Ayisha (not her real name) from Lancashire was just 14 when she began to question Islam after reading the Koran. She started rebelling over wearing the hijab, but eventually decided she wasn't a Muslim and the situation at home rapidly got worse.

"My dad threatened to kill me by getting a knife and holding it against my neck and saying: 'We might as well do it if you're going to bring this much shame to the family.'"

He used to beat her so badly that eventually she called the police and he was convicted of child cruelty. Ayisha hadn't anticipated the shock of being immediately cut off from her mother and siblings.

Now just 17 and studying for A-levels, she's been placed by the council under the guardianship of her boyfriend's father. It's hardly ideal, but she understands why. "They thought I wasn't at much risk and that was the end of it."

Aaliyah, 25, who also did not wish to be named, lives in South Yorkshire. She left Islam while at university and realised she couldn't move back home, where her parents had a marriage arranged for her and the fear of violence was very real.

"I know my family wouldn't hurt me, not my immediate family," she says, looking back. "But I haven't told my relatives. My dad's actually told me that if the wrong people found out then he doesn't know what's going to happen."

Aaliyah offers advice to other ex-Muslims on online forums and urges them to get financially independent before they tell their parents, so they can cope with being thrown out.

Like other ex-Muslims, she says the importance of being true to herself outweighs the very real loneliness of being disowned and the guilt placed on her.

"When I came out to my family my auntie told me my brothers and sisters wouldn't be able to get married because their honour would be tarnished. And it would all be my fault."

The fear is constant too. "I used to live in Bradford for a time and I'd be very quiet about it because there are Muslims everywhere. I still have this innate fear, it's hard to explain. You just want to keep quiet about it. It's just safe to stay quiet."

http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-34357047

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