1. Hicham Nostik born in 1976 in Taza, Morocco, is a Moroccan writer, podcaster and YouTuber, living in Canada, most known for his outspoken stance against Islam and religion in general, expressed through his books, podcasts and comedy videos, in Moroccan Arabic and Standard Arabic.
Hicham Nostik was first known by his YouTube username Kafer Maghribi.
Hicham Nostik stated that he purposefully used the term kafer, a pejorative term in Islamic countries, so that people would get used to it, and to the fact that infidels do live among them.
Hicham Nostik was born in Taza, grew up an orphan after losing both his parents at a young age, and was raised by his sister in Kenitra.
Hicham Nostik joined the Islamist Al Adl Wa Al Ihssane organization at a young age, then the Movement of Unicity and Reform, another Islamist organization in Morocco.
Hicham Nostik stayed in a mosque in Heidelberg since he could not afford to pay rent, and was radicalized due to his constant interaction with Muslim extremists and Mujahideen.
Hicham Nostik later left the mosque, and had to move around until he found an opportunity in Frankfurt, and enrolled in a Christian University.
Hicham Nostik believes that many Moroccans have been alienated from their Amazigh origins and culture, and taken over by Arabism and Islamism.
Hicham Nostik considers Islam and the Arab nationalist ideology as the causes of this "acculturation" or loss of identity in Morocco.
Hicham Nostik is himself of Rifian Amazigh descent, but does not speak Tarifit.
Hicham Nostik stated that he follows a philosophy he calls pragmatic nihilism, which is the topic of his most recent book.
All works of Hicham Nostik were originally written in Moroccan Darija, using Arabic characters.
Hicham Nostik previously announced that he will be working on a book about Christianity.
Hicham Nostik had several YouTube channels, first of which was Kafer Maghribi, which was closed due to massive reporting.
Hicham Nostik then created the channel Kafer Maghribi LIVE, renamed later as Hicham Nostik where he makes regular podcasts, comedy videos and discussions, and the channel Hiwarat Hicham, where he invites known and obscure personalities to discuss various topics, mostly related to religion and politics.
Hicham Nostik additionally produced music videos with atheistic themes, some of them subtitled or translated to other languages such as Arabic and English.
On his main YouTube channel Hicham Nostik, he has regular or semi-regular podcasts including Rukn al kafir, Hicham yjawbek, and hasad al usbuu.
Hicham Nostik received an offer to become a host at the Evangelical Christian channel Al Hayat TV, but he refused the role to keep his anonymity, among other reasons.
Hicham Nostik has been described as "the prophet of atheism" and as "one of the most influential Moroccan atheists" on Moroccan social media.
Hicham Nostik was the main subject of a research paper on atheism in Morocco, at Moulay Ismail University in Meknes, Morocco, stating that "Nostik speaks and writes in the Moroccan dialect to demystify Islam's sacred Arabic texts through 'subcultural modes of knowledge production'".
Hicham Nostik was subject of criticism, notably by Moroccan intellectual Driss Guenbouri who stated that "their [Nostik's and Hamed Abdel-Samad's] stance against Islam is not intellectual or rational, but rather pathological psychological".