A MAN who received death threats after renouncing his faith wants to reach out to other people like him.

Imtiaz Shams grew up in a Muslim family in Ilford in the late 1990s and early 2000s, going to school in Hainault and Seven Kings.

The 28-year-old says he was “very religious” as a youngster, always reading books about Islam and going to the mosque.

But as he approached his twenties, Mr Shams started to question things.

He said: “Every Muslim has questions about their faith when they they’re growing up, and that’s totally fine.

“But as I got older and my critical thinking developed, I started to doubt whether the answers I was getting really made sense anymore.”

Despite having doubts, Mr Shams did not actually consider leaving his faith until several years later.

He said: “Even though I wanted to leave, I had absolutely no idea how.

“I didn’t know anyone who had left Islam, I didn’t even know it was something people did.

“But in reality, lots of people feel the same as I did, they’re just not out to their families and the community.

“A lot of non-Muslims aren’t out because they think it’s not worth the abuse they’d face.”

He added: “I’ve had two death threats in the past three months – but it’s not just extreme stuff like that, it’s how people’s interactions with you change too.

“They ignore you, try to keep their children away from you, and then it’s having to come out to everyone all the time.

“If you’re in the barbers and it’s Ramadan and you’re not fasting, but you’ve got a name like Mohammed, what do you say? And what does he say back to you?”

After setting up countless support groups for ex-religious people under a fake name online, Mr Shams finally told his family and friends the truth four years ago.

Posting about it on Facebook, he received several abusive messages.

He said: “Non-Muslims didn’t really understand the stigma attached to what I was saying.

“But a few Muslims I’d known growing up got pretty nasty, especially when they realised they couldn’t change my mind.

“My family found it very difficult, but they accept it now, which gives me a lot of hope.”

In 2015 Mr Shams and his friend Aliyah Saleem set up an organisation called Faith to Faithless.

Now part of registered charity the British Humanist Association, the group offers support to anyone leaving any religion, and seeks to raise awareness of the issue in communities and the media.

Mr Shams said: “Faith is all about family and community, but if you decide to leave that faith, you can end up incredibly isolated.

“We never let anyone come out on their own, because it’s so much harder, and makes you an easy target.

“We want to work together with local people who are going through this.

“Because families can change their minds, it just takes a lot of time and effort.

“And one day community leaders will have to accept us too, because the reality is, we do exist.”

To find out more about Faith to Faithless, see the website or email community@faithtofaithless.com