Ibn Warraq
Ibn Warraq describes himself as a 'leading figure in Koranic criticism' and has written eight 'pioneering' books on Islam and Koranic criticism', including Why I am not a Muslim, (1995). [1]
He has been a senior fellow at the Westminster Institute since 2011 according to his own website.
Contents
Activities
- March 2006, Warraq signed MANIFESTO: Together facing the new totalitarianism, a manifesto against 'Islamic totalitarianism' that gained wide publicity and for which he and the other 11 signatories, including Salman Rushdie, Caroline Fourest, Maryam Namazie, Taslima Nasreen, and Ayaan Hirsi Ali received death threats. [2]
- Attended 2006 conference celebrating murdered Pim Fortuyn’s political party, Lijst Pim Fortuyn, where according to Douglas Murray:
- "The organisers had assembled nearly all the writers most critical of Islam’s current manifestation in the West. The American scholars Daniel Pipes and Robert Spencer were present, as were the Egyptian-Jewish exile and scholar of dhimmitude, Bat Ye’or, and the great Muslim apostate Ibn Warraq."[3]
- On 24 February 2009 attended meeting alongside anti-Muslim Dutch MP Geert Wilders with the Wall Street Journal editorial board. [4]
- In 2007 published 'a critical study of the thought of Edward Said, Defending the West. Warraq's biog touts the verdict of this study by Paul Berman, author of Terror and Liberalism, who 'described' it as 'a glorious work of scholarship, and it is going to contribute mightily to modernising the way we think about Western civilization and the rest of the world'. [1]
- Defended 'Western values' in a public debate with Tariq Ramadan in London in 2007, and in his subsequent book, Why the West is best, (Encounter Books, NY, 2011).
Publications
Warraq’s latest books are Christmas in the Koran (2014) andSir Walter Scott’s Crusades and other fantasies (2013), which contains 'a passionate defence of Israel'.
Other titles are The Origins of the Koran, 1998, The Quest for the Historical Muhammad, 2000. What the Koran Really Says, 2002, Leaving Islam. Apostates Speak Out, 2003, Virgins? What Virgins? And Other Essays, 2010; Which Koran?, 2011, Koranic Allusions, 2013, and
His op-ed pieces have appeared in the Wall Street Journal in America and The Guardian
Affiliations
- International Free Press Society board of advisers. He was awarded the '2008: The Free Press Society [Denmark] [ Trykkefrihedsprisen 2008 til Ibn Warraq] awarded to intellectuals who have “fearlessly and indefatigably defended free speech”.
- New English Review
- Former Muslims United
- Phyllis Chesler
- One Law for All - No to Sharia conference at the House of Lords December, 2008.
Notes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Ibn Warraq bio, personal website, last accessed 20 March 2016
- ↑ Prochoix.org
- ↑ Douglas Murray, We should fear Holland’s silence Islamists are stifling debate in what was Europe’s freest country, The Sunday Times, February 26, 2006.
- ↑ Baron Bodissey, The Doctrine of Moral Equivalence, The Gates of Vienna, 2 March 2009.
