Leaving Islam

by Warraq, Ibn

• ISBN13: 9781591020684
• ISBN10: 1591020689
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2003-05-01
• Publisher: Prometheus Books

Summary

In Islam apostasy is still viewed as an almost unthinkable act, and in orthodox circles it is considered a crime punishable by death. Renowned scholar of Islamic Studies Bernard Lewis described the seriousness of leaving the Islamic faith in the following dire terms: "Apostasy was a crime as well as a sin, and the apostate was damned both in this world and the next. His crime was treason -- desertion and betrayal of the community to which he belonged, and to which he owed loyalty; his life and property were forfeit. He was a dead limb to be excised." Defying the death penalty applicable to all apostates in Islam, the ex-Muslims who are here represented feel it is their duty to speak up against their former faith, to tell the truth about the fastest growing religion in the world. These former Muslims, from all parts of the Islamic world, recount how they slowly came to realise that the religion into which they were born was not only a sham but a dangerous cult.

Author Biography

Ibn Warraq is the author of Why I Am Not a Muslim and the editor of What the Koran Really Says, The Quest for the Historical Muhammad, and The Origins of the Koran

Table of Contents

Preface	11	(15)
PART 1: THEORY AND PRACTICE OF APOSTASY IN ISLAM
Apostasy	15	(24)
Early History of Apostasy in Islam: Zindiqs, Atheists, Dualists, Mystics, and Freethinkers	39	(12)
Al-Rawandi and Al-Razi	51	(8)
Sufism, or Islamic Mysticism and the Rejection of Islam	59	(4)
Abu `I-`Ala' Ahmad b. `Abd Allah b. Sulayman al-Ma`arri	63	(10)
The Poet of Doubt: `Umar Khayyam: Medieval and Modern Iranian Freethought	73	(16)
Apostates of Islam I: Converts to Christianity	89	(12)
Apostates of Islam II: Converts to Hinduism, Humanism, Deism, Atheism, and Agnosticism	101	(8)
Apostasy, Human Rights, and Islam	109	(6)
PART 2: TESTIMONIES SUBMITTED TO THE ISIS WEB SITE
Introduction	115	(2)
Ibn Warraq
Testimonies from the ISIS Web Site	117	(18)
PART 3: TESTIMONIES OF BORN MUSLIMS: MURTADD FITRI
Introduction: The Allah That Failed	135	(2)
Ibn Warraq
Why I Left Islam: My Passage From Faith to Enlightenment	137	(22)
Ali Sina
A Journal of My Escape from the Hell of Islam	159	(22)
Sheraz Malik
Islamic Terrorism and the Genocide in Bangladesh	181	(22)
Abul Kasem
An Iranian Girlhood and Islamic Barbarism	203	(10)
Parvin Darabi
Leaving Islam and Living Islam	213	(12)
Azam Kamguian
Thinking for Oneself	225	(2)
Faisal Muhammad
A Rationalist Look at Islam	227	(12)
Husain Ahmed
Floods, Droughts, Islam, and Other Natural Calamities	239	(12)
Syed K. Mirza
Liberation from Muhammadan Ideology	251	(4)
Shoaib Nasir
A View from the Far East	255	(6)
Shah Ismail
An Accidental Critic	261	(16)
Taner Edis
On Being a Woman in Pakistan	277	(2)
Qayyum
The Lifting of the Veil of Blind Faith	279	(6)
Sophia
Autobiography of a Dissident	285	(8)
Anwar Shaikh
Now I Am Guided	293	(8)
Muhammad bin Abdulla
The Wind Blowing through My Hair	301	(2)
Nadia
A Philosopher's Rejection of Islam	303	(12)
Irfan Khawaja
My Malaise A Malaysian Ex-Muslim (Malaysia)	315	(4)
A Nightmare in Tunisia	319	(14)
Samia Labidi
An Atheist from Andhra Pradesh	333	(6)
Azad
PART 4: TESTIMONIES OF WESTERN CONVERTS: MURTADD MILLI
From Submitter to Mulhid	339	(14)
Denis Giron
A Spanish Testament: My Experience As a Muslim	353	(8)
Rene
``Forget What Is and Is Not Islam''	361	(4)
Michael Muhammad Knight
I Married a Muslim	365	(4)
Faiza
Dark Comedy	369	(22)
Ben Hoja
APPENDICES
A. Islam on Trial: The Textual Evidence	391	(1)
Muhammad and His Companions	391	(9)
``Out of Context''	400	(5)
The Koran	405	(9)
Jihad	414	(11)
Anwar Shaikh and the Inconsistencies of the Koran	425	(6)
B. Ex-Muslims of the World Unite!	431	(1)
ISIS: Institute for the Secularisation of Islamic Society	431	(2)
Faith Freedom International	433	(3)
Advocates of Article 18	436	(1)
Apostates of Islam	436	(3)
C. The Council for Secular Humanism	439	(2)
D. A List of Web Sites Critical of Islam	441	(26)
E. Bibliography of Books Critical of Islam	467