Leaving Islam: Apostates Speak Out

✍ Scribed by Ibn Warraq

• Publisher: Prometheus Books
• Year: 2003
• Tongue: English
• Leaves: 1510
• Category: Library

✦ Synopsis

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 realize that the religion into which they were born was not only a sham but also a dangerous cult.

✦ Table of Contents

Cover......Page 1
Contents......Page 8
Preface......Page 17
1. Apostasy......Page 23
2. Early History of Apostasy in Islam: Zindlqs, Atheists, Dualists, Mystics, and Freethinkers......Page 105
3. AI-Rawandi and Al-Razi......Page 146
4. Sufism, or Islamic Mysticism and the Rejection of Islam......Page 169
5. Abu M^Ala' Ahmad b. cAbd Allah b. Sulayman al-Macarri......Page 181
6. The Poet of Doubt: cUmar Khayyam: Medieval and Modern Iranian Freethought......Page 209
7. Apostates of Islam I: Converts to Christianity......Page 257
8. Apostates of Islam II: Converts to Hinduism, Humanism, Deism, Atheism, and Agnosticism......Page 300
9. Apostasy, Human Rights, and Islam......Page 327
PART 2: TESTIMONIES SUBMITTED TO THE ISIS WEB SITE......Page 338
10. Introduction Ibn Warraq......Page 339
11. Testimonies from the ISIS Web Site......Page 344
PART 3: TESTIMONIES OF BORN MUSLIMS: MURTADD FITRI......Page 398
12. Introduction: The Allah That Failed Ibn Warraq......Page 399
13. Why I Left Islam: My Passage From Faith to Enlightenment AH Sina (Iran)......Page 406
14. A Journal of My Escape from the Hell of Islam Sheraz Malik (Pakistan)......Page 480
15. Islamic Terrorism and the Genocide in Bangladesh Abul Kasem (Bangladesh)......Page 557
16. An Iranian Girlhood and Islamic Barbarism Parvin Darabi (Iran)......Page 636
17. Leaving Islam and Living Islam Azam Kamguian (Iran)......Page 670
18. Thinking for Oneself Faisal Muhammad (Pakistan)......Page 707
19. A Rationalist Look at Islam Husain Ahmed (Pakistan)......Page 712
20. Floods, Droughts, Islam, and Other Natural Calamities Syed K. Mirza (Bangladesh)......Page 757
21 . Liberation from Muhammadan Ideology Shoaib Nasir (Pakistan)......Page 800
22. A View from the Far East Shah Ismail (Far East)......Page 814
23. An Accidental Critic Toner Edis (Turkey)......Page 830
24. On Being a Woman in Pakistan Qayyum (Pakistan)......Page 882
25. The Lifting of the Veil of Blind Faith Sophia (Pakistan)......Page 887
26. Autobiography of a Dissident Anwar Shaikh (Pakistan)......Page 905
27. Now I Am Guided Muhammad bin Abdulla (Bangladesh)......Page 930
28. The Wind Blowing through My Hair Nadia (Morocco)......Page 951
29. A Philosopher's Rejection of Islam Irfan Khawaja (Pakistan)......Page 956
30. My Malaise A Malaysian Ex-Muslim (Malaysia)......Page 996
31 . A Nightmare in Tunisia Samia Labidi (Tunisia)......Page 1007
32. An Atheist from Andhra Pradesh Az.ad (India)......Page 1058
33. From Submitter to Mulhid Denis Giron (United States)......Page 1070
34. A Spanish Testament: My Experience As a Muslim Rene (Spain)......Page 1119
35. "Forget What Is and Is Not Islam" Michael Muhammad Knight (United States)......Page 1145
36. I Married a Muslim Faiza (United States)......Page 1154
31. Dark Comedy Ben Hoja (United States)......Page 1168
A. Islam on Trial: The Textual Evidence......Page 1239
Muhammad and His Companions......Page 1240
"Out of Context"......Page 1271
The Koran......Page 1289
Jihad......Page 1323
Anwar Shaikh and the Inconsistencies of the Koran......Page 1362
B. Ex-Muslims of the World Unite!......Page 1377
ISIS: Institute for the Secularisation of Islamic Society......Page 1378
Faith Freedom International Advocates of Article 18......Page 1384
Apostates of Islam......Page 1398
C. The Council for Secular Humanism......Page 1402
D. A List of Web Sites Critical of Islam......Page 1408
E. Bibliography of Books Critical of Islam......Page 1491
Back cover......Page 1510