In any event, after leaving Islam I had to ask myself some big philosophical and existential questions about reality. The reason I am posting here (and plan on continuing to post here) is to get your thoughts, advice and insight in finding myself in this time/space continuum if you will.

Welcome! If I might give advice from someone who has given up religion and become ever more of a physical materialist and happy atheist....

Atheism can be not just a letting go of faith, but a finding of deeply satisfying and wonderful truths about the reality in which we live. It can involve feelings of vertigo at first, we we look at the astonishing depths of time and space after having lived in the shelter of the confines of religion. But you get used to it and the view is like nothing you can imagine.

We don't lose by rejecting faith; we gain, and we gain so very much. We gain self-respect, dignity and freedom. We throw off the shackles that we put on ourselves while enslaving ourselves to a divine tyrant. We allow ourselves to each live free of the tainted morality of holy books. We can stand as human individuals making our own future on this planet, and perhaps elsewhere too, and not as temporary residents of God's creation.