Islamic beliefs about atheists?

Hi, I am Christian by culture, atheist by belief but respect and am interested in all faiths. I am trying to learn about Islam. I understand that Christians and Jews are respected and protected in Islamic teaching as they are felt to be partially on the right track because of the common history between the 3 faiths although they have gone the wrong way now. I cannot find any information about the teaching regarding atheism except some very old hell and damnation text similar to that in evangelical christianity. A modern Christian will reach out to an atheist while a modern Jew will be more likely to accept their atheism tho believe them to be wrong and unlikely to form a close friendship. What does Islam teach about this?