[Paleopsych] Muslim Freethinkers: Why I Am Not a Muslim

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Why I Am Not a Muslim
http://geocities.com/muslimfreethinkers/why_i_am_not_a_muslim.htm

[I have started reading the book and spoke of it to the local libertarian 
atheist, Dean Ahmed, and he denounced the book in no uncertain terms. I 
brought up the manifest contradictions in the Koran, and he angrily said 
there are no contradictions in the Koran but that the contradictions were 
in me. He did not like my attacking his non-existent god! Identity, once 
again, proves stronger than reason.]

                             A review of the book
                               By Dr. Ali Sina

    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 this day. What we
    call terrorism, to a Muslim is Jihad (holly war). The much-publicized
    fetwa against Rushdi is an example. Among other things we learn about
    Muhammad's preference for young girls (Ayesha was 9 years old when he
    consummated his "marriage" with her) rather at an advanced age and how
    he is unabashed to make Allah reveal Quranic verses to justify his
    lust for women and his sexual appetite.

    Warraq makes a thorough study of the totalitarian nature of Islam. He
    even goes as far as to compare the impact of monotheism on human
    rights versus polytheism and atheism.  For all those who still wonder
    why Muslims hate so much the west I recommend reading this book. There
    is a whole chapter dedicated to this subject.

    Winwoods Reade said; "A sincerely religious man is often an
    exceedingly bad man" This fact applies to no one more than to Muslims.
    Here is the proof:

     "When you meet the unbelievers, strike off their heads; then when you
    have made wide slaughter among them, carefully tie up the remaining
    captives."  (Quran47.4).

     "And when the sacred months are passed, kill those who join other
    gods with God [i.e. moshrekin.] wherever ye shall find them; and seize
    them, besiege them, and lay wait for them with every kind of ambush:
    but if they shall convert, and observe prayer, and pay the obligatory
    alms, then let them go their way, for God is Gracious,
    Merciful."(Quran 9:5)

    And as for Christians and Jews who rejected him he has this to say:

    "Make war upon such of those to whom the Scriptures have been given
    and believe not in God, or the last day, and who forbid not that which
    God and His Apostle have forbidden..."( Quran. 9:29)

    These are the injunctions of Muhammad's Gracious and Merciful God. How
    can a "good Muslim" disobey these explicit "divine" mandates? And how
    can one who observes them be a "good person"? This is the question
    that sincere Muslims must ask themselves. I am not insinuating that
    there are no good people amongst Muslims. Good and bad people are
    distributed in equal proportions in all nations. Yet in Islam good
    people are often forced to do bad things and go against their
    conscience. They often convince themselves that in this apparent
    injustice there must be a hidden wisdom that they do not understand
    and that God knows better. Many good people who claim to be Muslims
    are often ignorant of true Islam and dismiss the real orthodox Muslims
    as hard-liners and fundamentalists. But as Ibn Warraq in "Why I am not
    a Muslim" points out, unlike Christianity, Islam does not leave room
    for leniency and tolerance. Islam and fundamentalism are synonymous
    terms. You have to break the laws of Muhammad, just to keep your
    humanity and be good. No amount of intellectual acrobatics performed
    by Muslim apologists can justify the intolerant and ruthlessness of
    Muhammad's religion.

    "Why I Am Not A Muslim" is worth its weight in gold.  Warraq's book by
    far is the best source I found on Islam. He tells the truth and pays
    no lip service. The book's only flaw is that it is not translated into
    the language of people who are victims of Islam. I am sure that will
    be taken care of too.

    Islam was established through force and bloodshed. No argument, no
    reason, no logic was ever given but the blade of the sword. Masses
    were kept in ignorance. Muslims have no knowledge of Quran and are not
    aware of its naivete and inhumane character. Should they read Quran in
    their own language and understand it, they would be disappointed to
    see the book, far from being a "miracle", is a hoax; poorly written,
    full of errors and bereft of beauty.

    Islam has silenced all voices of reason throughout the history. But
    now is a different time. The Internet, although strictly censored in
    Islamic countries, is becoming accessible even to Muslims.
    Freethinkers can write and publish without the fear of persecution. I
    foresee that ere long, the same devout Muslims will turn their back,
    against their religion and will endeavor to liberate the rest of
    humanity from the claws of religion in general and Islam in
    particular.

    Warraq talks about "Arab Imperialism and Islamic Colonialism". He
    explains eloquently how through Islam, many civilized nations lost
    their identity, their dignity and humanity to bow in front of a savage
    god of a bunch of uncultured Arabs and follow the wimps of a fanatic
    and schizophrenic bloodthirsty madman of Arabia. Islam is the enemy of
    science, of freethinking, of reason and of human rights. It acts as a
    powerful break on the advancement of civilization. Warraq keenly
    points out that "Islamic Civilization" is a contradiction in terms.
    You can either be Islamic or civilized. In another place he argues
    that also "Islamic Philosophy" is a contradiction in terms, because
    philosophy was regarded as a "foreign science, which led to heresy,
    doubt, and total unbelief". Brilliant minds like Zacharia Razi and
    Avicena never believed in Islam and were attacked by Muslims.  More
    recent intellectuals and freethinkers don't fare better. For example
    Ali Dashti, the brilliant scholar and the author of "23 years"; a book
    written about Muhammad and his 23 years of prophetic life, was
    incarcerated while in his 80s during Khomeni's rule and died in
    prison. In Warraq's own words: "Thus we had the spectacle of periodic
    persecution of various group considered either doctrinally suspect or
    politically subversive; individuals (philosophers, poets, theologians,
    scientists, rationalists, dualists, freethinkers, and mystics) were
    imprisoned, tortured, crucified, mutilated, and hanged; their writings
    burned. Significantly, none of the heretical works of Ibn Rawandi, Ibn
    Warraq, Ibn al-Muqaffa, and al-Razi has survived. Other individuals
    are forced to flee from one ruler to another more tolerant ruler (e.g.
    al-Amidi). Some were exiled or banished (Averroes). Many were forced
    to disguise their true views and opinions by difficult or ambiguous
    language. Those who managed to get away with blasphemy were those
    protected by the powerful and influential."