Muslim commentators such as alsharestani have acknowledged that the prophet transferred to islam the beliefs and practices of the heathen or pagan arabs, especially into the ceremonies of the pilgrimage to mecca. Ibn warraq is on much stronger ground, in my view, when he attacks apologists for islam, including many who are or. Apostates speak out, published by prometheus books. In why i am not a muslim, ibn warraq, exposes the bitter truth about islam without sugarcoating it. For those who still think and, alas, there remain many that islamic terrorism has emerged only in the last forty years or so, the. Ibn warraq editor islam has worldwide influence, and even in the united states is experiencing a period of unprecedented growth. He is the founder of the institute for the secularisation of islamic society and used to be a. Ibn warraq has provided a valuable collection of some of the most important critical studies of the koran over the past century. Ibn warraq is the pseudonym of someone born and brought up a muslim but who as an adult finds that rationality means more to him than islam.
Ibn warraq is the highly acclaimed author of why i am not a muslim, virgins. He is also the editor of the origins of the koran, what the koran really says, leaving islam, the quest for the historical muhammad, and which koran. Warraq examines all aspects of islam from origins to present day in painstaking detail. Nonie darwish, as well as the works of muslimturnedagnostic ibn warraq, particularly, why i am not a muslim and leaving islam. He has been involved in the efforts of secular humanists in the west and elsewhere to bring secular values to the world. Why i am not a muslim, a book written by ibn warraq, is a critique of islam and the quran. Ibn warraq is a courageous writer on islam and a passionate defender of reason who continues to struggle on behalf of reason with a culture that seems to be at odds with. He is the founder of the institute for the secularisation of islamic society and used to be a senior research fellow at the center for inquiry, focusing on quranic criticism.
I28 1995 297dc20 956342 cip printed in the united states of america on acidfree paper. In the west abandoning ones religion apostasy can be a difficult. Where rushdie offered an elusive critique of islam in an airy tale of magical realism, ibn warraq brings a scholarly sledgehammer to the task of demolishing islam. Growing up in pakistan, ibn warraq learned to read the koran in arabic without understanding.
Classic essays on islams holy book, edited by ibn warraq prometheus books. His experience revealed to him that the muslims of india had been cheated in the name of islam and its projected principles of equality, free will and. Why the west is best my response to tariq ramadan city. He is the founder of the institute for the secularisation of islamic society isis and is formerly a senior research fellow at the center for inquiry, focusing on quranic criticism. The prophet always claimed islam s affiliation with the great religions of the jews, christians, and others. We, in the west in general, and the united states in particular, have witnessed over the last twenty years a slow erosio. Said and the unsaid, daniel martin varisco, university of washington press, 2008, 501 pp. Immediately after 911, many journalists in the united states and europe came out with several glib generalisations that i found, and still find, irritating, and furthermore, i am very skeptical of the claims contained in them. Everyday low prices and free delivery on eligible orders.
Ibn warraq is the penname of the author whose parents emigrated from india to pakistan as a result of the partition. He lashes out at the western intellectuals who instead of condemning the assassination order of a savage man like khomeini against salman rushdi, chose to criticize rushdi for his book the satanic. Ophelia benson growing up in pakistan, ibn warraq learned to read the koran in arabic without understanding a word of it a common experience for thousands of muslim children. Why i am not a muslim download ebook pdf, epub, tuebl, mobi.
Buy leaving islam by ibn warraq from waterstones today. The title of the book is a homage to bertrand russells essay, why i am not a christian, in which russell criticizes the. Why i am not a muslim book by ibn warraq thriftbooks. Grappling with a book like why i am not a muslim may not only make islam more tolerantit could make it stronger. Ibn warraq of the free thought society presents why i am not a muslim. Editortranslator ibn warraq a pen name wrote in the preface to this 2003 book, all the testimonies here are witnesses to the authors courage, for a free discussion of islam remains rare and dangerous, certainly in the islamic world and even in our politically correct times in the west. This dissertation generally raised two main issues, namely the historical background behind the emergence of destructivecritlcism thoughts and epistemological construction on destructivecriticism thoughts developed. Perhaps if ibn warraq were to approach his apostasy from that position. Ibn warraq is a pakistanienglish scholar who has written extensively on the history, literature, theology, culture and politics of islam, and on many other topics. Despite ibn warraqs claims to the contrary, islam is more than capable of withstanding criticism from individuals as well as from other religious or civilizational traditions. Warraq talked about the book he edited, leaving islam.
Read why the west is best a muslim apostates defense of liberal democracy by ibn warraq available from rakuten kobo. The ultimate ibn warraq collection common sense atheism. It contains a collection of critical studies of the quran written over the past two centuries by historians and scholars of the middle east. Ibn warraq is the author, most recently, of the islam in islamic terrorism. In one of his early works the traditionalist writer frithjof schuon makes an acute observation about the mentality of muslims.
The stereotypic image of the muslim holy warrior with a sword in one hand and the koran in the other would only be plausible if he was left handed, since no devout muslim should or would touch a koran with his left hand which. A muslim apostates defense of liberal democracy encounter books, december 2011 carries on the defense of the west started in defending the west. Ibn warraq s the islam in islamic terrorism is a brilliant series of reported echoes down the corridors of islam, where the same complaints about bid a, the same insistence on regulating every area of a believer s life, the same refusal to allow freedom of religion or thought, the same duties of violent jihad and commanding right and forbidding. Ibn warraq, a convert from fundamentalist islam, explains passionately and vividly why islam, not just islamists, needs to be feared by muslims and nonmuslims alike.
Such an act, especially for an author of muslim birth, is so incendiary that the author must write under a. I have collected everything significant i could find of his online, and put it all in one big zip file for you to download. He was brought up in pakistan, which was supposed to be an islamic republic. Honor killing and islam ibn warraq a new book documents the spread of a vicious practice into the west.
A critique of edward saids orientalism by ibn warraq, prometheus books, 2007, 500 pp. Why the west is best ebook by ibn warraq rakuten kobo. Apostates speak out by ibn warraq, ibn warraq isbn. I am a fellow at the westminster institute, fairfax, virginia, usa, a senior fellow at the london center for policy research, and a contributing editor to the new english. Its sacred book, the koran, is the subject of voluminous commentary, yet it rarely receives the kind of objective critical scrutiny that has been applied to the texts of the bible for over a century. He helps his readers to understand using documentation of unarguable facts why islam is not the benevolent, peaceable and nonviolent religion the media, plus islamic imams. I have often argued that one of the redemptive graces of western civilization is self. Download it once and read it on your kindle device, pc, phones or tablets. December 8, 2009 we do not know whether hitler is going to found a new islam. A salutary shock from robert spencer, by ibn warraq, townhall, july 11, 2018. When the courtauld institute in london announced that they would be holding a. Warraq, a former muslim who now lives in ohio, examines the major principles of the worlds second largest religion, presenting a less than flattering picture of the faith and its followers. It is the most comprehensive book on the subject of islam and the fate of the modern world that i have read.
Apostates speak out is a 2003 book, authored and edited by exmuslim and secularist ibn warraq, that researches and documents cases of apostasy in islam. Ibn warraq in his academic career had thrown many issues criticism of islam which he considered destructive of civilization. Classic essays on islams holy book, is a 1998 book edited by ibn warraq. Ibn warraq is the pen name of an anonymous author critical of islam. Leaving islam apostates speak out ibn warraq, islam. I have collected everything significant i could find of his.
It was first published by prometheus books in the united states in 1995. The unequal treatment of women, the oppression of nonmuslims, the mingling of religious and state power, the disdain for freedom of opinion. Ibn warraq is the pen name of an author most famous for his criticism of islam. Warraq has written historiographies of the early centuries of the islamic timeline and has. The book is a collection of classical essays, some translated for the first time, that provide commentary on the traditions and language of the koran, discussing its grammatical and logical discontinuities, its syriac and hebrew foreign vocabulary, and its possible. It also contains a collection of essays by exmuslims recounting their own experience in leaving the islamic religion.
Why i am not a muslim is the most detailed dissection of the scourge that is the killer cult. Apostates speak out by ibn warraq, prometheus books, 2003, 471 pp. Warraq is the vicepresident of the world encounter institute. They can quote the most important sources in islam, the quran and the sunnah, on all these standpoints. Ibn warraq is one of the most intelligent and important critics of islam living today.