Leaving Islam: Apostates Speak Out

Features

• Cover Type: Hard Cover with 472 pages
• Published by: Prometheus Books May 2003
• Written in: English
• ISBN 10 Number: 1591020689
• ISBN 13 Number: 978-1591020684
• Book Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.5 x 1.4 inches
• Weighs: 1.7 pounds

Product Review
"probably the first book of its kindtestimonies from former Muslims about their estrangement from the Islamic faith." -- New York Review of Books, April 29, 2004

"Leaving Islam's stories make eye-opening reading." -- Boston Globe

Product Description
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.

Reader Reviews
Ibn Warraq, who has several Fatwas issued against him by Islamist clerics has bravely sallied forth to explicate the tenuous status of former Muslims who for a variety of reasons have abandoned the faith. These apostates are under the threat of death given the clerical rulings in Islam. Some of the testifiers have been brave enough to use their real names! Most prominent among these testimonials is the clear evidence of the lack of basic human rights as allegedly guaranteed under the UN Declaration of Human Rights circa 1948. Muslim countries have signed the UN declaration but consider the act as religiously correct dissimultude-taqqiya in Arabic. Among the more stunning revelations among the testimonials is the genocide wreaked on the Bengalis by the Islamic Paki overlords in the early 70's of the last century. An estimated 3.5 million Bengalis were slaughtered in this religious Jihad. Some of you may be old enough to remember the plaintive Beatles tune: Bengladesh. This genocide cries out the certification before the World Court and prosecution of some of the organizers of this heinous event. Testimonials of former Muslim women, brave enough to reveal their actual identity, clearly indicate the second class status in violation of the UN declaration of human rights. Former converts to Islam who are included in these testimonials have given witness to the lack of basic human rights and the atavistic male domination prevalent in Muslim cricles and countries. Overall, Ibn Warraq-his nom de guerre, has given us a powerful insight into the fundamental failings of the islamic faith to build reform from within and protect basic human rights. It is no wonder several Fatwas demanding his death have been issued. He's very religiously incorrect, but courageous. His works deserve a wide readership in a western world ignorant of the fundamentals of the islamic faith.