Why I Am Not a Muslim

by Ibn Warraq

Book Overview

First published in 1995, Why I Am Not A Muslim is Ibn Warraq's personal statement of the reasons for his departure from Islam. The book, a critical look at the origins and theology of Islam, has been... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0879759844
• ISBN13: 9780879759841
• Release Date: January 1995
• Publisher: Prometheus Books
• Length: 402 Pages
• Weight: 1.70 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.4" x 6.6" x 9.3"

Customer Reviews

Site review not book - Ordered a hardcover and received a softcover

I normally love this site for purchasing research materials such as this book from Ibn Warraq, but much prefer to get hardcover so they survive my backpack. This is my 3rd book of his and I expect it will be as informative as the other 2 and provide excellent reference material for years to come. My 2 star rating is for the site sending me a soft cover instead of a hardcover.

Well-informed, timely and nuanced

Despite what some reviewers have said I found this book to be quite moderate and conservative. The author clearly knows his materials, has thought his thesis through, and doesn't make cheap shots or take short-cuts. His acknowledgement of the high achievements of Islamic civilisation, as in the areas of science and poetry (just to name a couple, he could have added architecture and other outstanding accomplishments but that would just repeat points he has already made) reveal a good appreciation of the strengths of Islamic culture. But oh, someone had to say it; Islamic law, the treatment of women, and inherent extremism (again just a few examples among many) fall woefully short of what other great civilisations attained and ill-equip Muslims for dealing with the modern world with its secularism, rationalism, and egalitarianism. I was just left with a great sadness after completing the book.

Why I Am No Longer A Muslim

The two idiots below, socalled "Former Christian" and "Good Hates Xtians Too" are great examples of the hatred and closed-mindedness of the Muslim Man. Not only are they obtuse but they definitely didn't read this book. They attack Christianity as if Warraq is some sort of Christian propagandist. Well, Warraq is a secular humanist, one who finds the belief systems of Christianity and all religions as based upon myths. So to attack Christians for what Ibn Warraq writes merely shows that one is an idiot. I too was born into a Muslim family, I'm Iranian and as far as I'm concerned I no longer want a thing to do with Islam, Muhammad, Ali or Hossein. Warraq exposes the Arabic/Islamic imperialism and cultural rape of my people and others (e.g. North Africans, Egyptians, Indians, etc.). If anything I intend to further study and better understand the religion of my ancestors, Zoroastrianism. This is occuring more often with Iranian yuoth. We are sick to death and disgusted by this Bedouin Arab cult!

A Humanist Confronts Islam

If you reject any criticism of Islam out of hand as blasphemy, then plainly a book of this title is not intended for you. If you regard the Koran as the unalterable word of God, this book may even enrage you. But the blasphemy and rage lies only in the heart of the beholder and certainly not in the careful, conscientiously researched pages of this book. This book is that rare read, a work of breathtaking scholarship by an insider which is also a riveting iconoclastic page-turner. Ibn Warraq knows his history and can cite his sources. His scope-from North Africa to Malaysia and prehistory to the present- is nothing short of stunning for an author too modest to call himself a scholar. It is a mark of his book's worth that those raising the strongest objections so often attack Ibn Warraq the pseudonymous author - and not his actual writings -too much of what he has quoted here comes straight from the Koran and Haddiths. (Muslims believe the former to be the literal dictation by their Prophet Mohammed of divine revelations-and the latter to be the sayings of the prophet collected after his death.) "A review by a former Muslim, May 13, 2002" offers an excellent summary of this book's contents. A central thesis of this book is that the Koran and Haddiths may be-and indeed should be-looked at critically as historical not divine documents. As shocking as that will be for many believers in the Muslim world, it is a standard historicist technique which has been accepted and applied fruitfully in Christian theology for nearly two centuries. What may prove equally shocking for non-Muslims unfamiliar with Islam is just how much of the literal texts concern brutalities which may be inflicteded on non-Muslims-with death to be meted out to those who resist, and onerous taxation, physical humiliation and severe religious restrictions to be inflicted on those who submit but do not convert. Though it is certainly true that many Muslims have practiced more tolerant and spiritual interpretations of jihad, the position of non-Muslims in most Muslim lands even today remains distinctly unenviable. It is certainly not blasphemous to record the actual history of Arab colonization, as Ibn Warraq does, beginning with Mohammed's 27 military campaigns. Far from victims, the Muslims were much more often the victimizers in a ferocious colonization effort which eventually subjugated most of the civilized world, and lasted far longer than the European colonial period. To mention just one example, defeated Albanians, Armenians and Greeks were periodically compelled to hand over one in five of their children to the invaders, children who were in turn raised as Muslim troops to further oppress their peoples. Incredibly, this oppression endured for centuries and "periodically" eventually came to mean annually! The historian's concern isn't whether Muslims who do bad things are "true Muslims" or practice the "true Islam." His concern is to examine the roots of su

A review by a former Muslim

In Why I Am Not A Muslim, Ibn Warraq, exposes the bitter truth about Islam without sugarcoating it. He is learned and his book is well documented. 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 Verses because it was not "politically correct". Warraq talks about the brutal treatments of all those who fell under the domination of Islam, from the time of Muhammad to the present days. He talks about the minorities, philosophers, women and slaves in Islam. Jews were massacred and exiled by Muhammad in Medina and Kheibar; their belongings were distributed among the "believers", their women and children taken as slaves. This heinous act of barbarism was repeated time and again throughout history with Christians, Zoroastrians, Hindus, and in recent years with Ahmedies, Baha'is and other minorities in Pakistan, Iran, Iraq, India, Syria and everywhere Islam reined.Warraq talks about the origin of Islam, its pagan background and the influence of Judaism, Christianity and Zoroastrianism on Muhammad. He talks about the origin of Allah in Arab culture, about the early days of Muhammad as a preacher and his rivalry with another storyteller "Al Nadir" and his revenge against him. Warraq traces back the origin of many Islamic rituals to Arab superstitions and Muhammad's strange belief in jinns, demons and other shadowy beings. He also describes how Muhammad rehashed the biblical nonsense about creation, Noah's Ark, birth of Christ etc. while misunderstanding a lot of it, like confusing Mary the mother of Christ with Miriam sister of Aaron, or the Christian belief in Trinity. You will learn about Muhammad's bizarre view of cosmology, science, history, and medicine. (He prescribed drinking the urine of camel as a remedy against stomachache!).Then you will learn about Muhammad's metamorphosis from preacher to despot. How his call for tolerance, when he was still in Mecca and weak changed to the cry of killing and looting when he became powerful in Medina. You will learn how Muhammad encouraged his handful of followers to attack the caravans, kill the men, rape the women and bring the booty (20% for himself) to please Allah, while assuring them that if they are killed their rewards will be young boys, rivers of wine, and many hurries in the other world. All what Warraq says is backed by Quran and Ahadith.The reader becomes familiar with Muhammad's favorite way of eliminating his opponents, namely assassination. Asma Bint Marwan a poetess who wrote against the prophet was assassinated by his order in the middle of the night while nursing her infant. Her five small children where forced to convert to Islam. Muhammad's hit list also included Ka'b Ibn al-Ashraf and Abu Rafi who spoke against him and had to be taken out traitorously. This policy was adopted by Muslims throughout the history and is being practiced up to th