Bravo Zayn Malik for standing up for what you believe in – although I do feel a little sorry for your Muslim fans

If we are to move towards a world where the secular voice is heard and not overridden, Malik should now be invited to do a ‘Thought for the Day’ on Radio 4

It shouldn’t be considered brave to leave Islam but for many it really is (AFP/Getty)

Religious to-ing and fro-ing in the music world continues: while a couple of weeks ago Islam gained a follower in Sinéad O’Connor, it appears to have lost superstar singing Yorkshireman Zayn Malik. In an interview with Vogue the Bradford-born 25-year-old said he no longer identifies with any particular religion.

“I don’t believe you need to eat a certain meat that’s been prayed over a certain way, I don’t believe you need to read a prayer in a certain language five times a day. I don’t believe any of it. I just believe if you’re a good person everything is going to go right for you.”

It’s par for the course, perhaps, given the way Islamophobia has politicised people’s faith, that this matter has become the stuff of sensation and headlines.

Were he divorcing from a Christian church, well, there would be fewer tweets commending his bravery or, alternatively, ones along the lines of: “I WILL NEVER LISTEN TO YOUR MUSIC AGAIN BECAUSE YOU’VE LET ME DOWN.”

Among the many who look to him as a role model, those who are Muslim may understandably feel a loss – you cannot get more mainstream than where he is and he is a thousand miles from the fanatics who tend to be Islam’s key avatars, at least so far as the press is concerned.

I totally understand that for many young Muslims, seeing a young, good looking, cool and famous Muslim popstar out there made them feel represented in a positive light, far away from the awful headlines and the casual Islamophobia of commentators.

To have him reject the very thing which made them bound to him and look up to him, I understand, might be a blow. They should take heart that he is still a Brit of Asian heritage in a career where he is a trailblazer. And in any case, Mo Farah is not running away from his religion – and boy can he run.

Malik too can count his lucky stars: were he a popstar in Shia-fundamentalist Iran, he’d be locked up and very probably executed as an apostate who has succumbed to western arrogance.

The singer told Vogue that while there were mosque visits as a child, his parents always made it clear that as an adult it would be his prerogative to worship, or not, as he pleases.

Nonetheless, he has still been pilloried and insulted online by those who regard the spiritual journey he sees himself on as a betrayal of theirs.

Malik will have known exactly what reaction he would get from these quarters. He could have stayed quiet. But he decided to share.

Let’s face it, he hardly cut a devout figure – his tattoos alone are enough to raise eyebrows in the Islamic context.

Malik is known to smoke and drink and party – he and his girlfriend Gigi Hadid keep readers glued to glossies. Even I ogle when I’m meant to be working.

It shouldn’t be considered brave to leave Islam but for many it really is. During my three-year tenure as president of Humanists UK – I am being succeeded by the wonderful scientist Alice Roberts – I got to learn of the work of a brilliant charity called Faith to Faithless. Founded by former Muslims Imtiaz Shams and Aliyah Saleem the organisation supports those who have left a religion, gives them a platform to speak out against discrimination they might be facing from their community and helps them through the loneliness and fear they might face.

Malik was emphatic about not wanting to represent something he did not believe in. He detailed practices within the faith that he had to admit to himself meant nothing to him and he wanted his fans to know where he stood, knowing that some of them would be upset by this. This honest and steadfast refusal to appease by someone with such a high profile really is a big deal.

If we are to move towards a world where the secular voice is heard and not overridden or cowed by religious ones, Malik should be invited to do a Thought for the Day on Radio 4.

His honesty may have disappointed the very religious, but perhaps he will have given a little hope to others across religions, who feel they are living with a faith they no longer connect with.