Ibn Warraq, a name meaning son of a scribe, a reference to the medieval Islamic scholar Mohammad al Warraq , and with strong schismatic connotations from early Islamic history, is the pseudonym of a Muslim apostate writer and teacher currently living in Ohio. Among the few personal details known about his life is that he was born in 1946 in Rajkot, India to Indian-Muslim parents who soon emigrated to Pakistan, and that he studied at the University of Edinburgh under the Orientalist scholar Montgomery Watt .

Ibn Warraq has written several books, some of which are more scholarly and gather together critical research on such topics as the origins of the Qur'an and the life of Muhammad. Some of his books are polemical and strongly inveigh against Islam. There is much in his writings that contradict orthodox Muslim belief. Ibn Warraq promotes secular humanist values among Muslims.

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What of the rise of the critical method in Germany in the nineteenth century, and its application to the study of the Bible and religion in general? When biblical scholars say that Jonah never existed or that Moses did not write the Pentateuch, then, implicitly, the veracity of the Koran is called into question."—"Doubt, a History: The Great Doubters and Their Legacy of Innovation from Socrates and Jesus to Thomas Jefferson and Emily Dickinson" page 477.

Works of Ibn Warraq

• Leaving Islam: Apostates Speak Out, edited by Ibn Warraq, Prometheus Books , 2003, hardcover, 320 pages, ISBN 1591020689
• What the Koran Really Says: Language, Text, and Commentary, edited and translated by, Ibn Warraq, Prometheus Books, 2002, 600 pages, ISBN 157392945X
• Quest for the Historical Muhammed, edited and translated by Ibn Warraq, Prometheus Books, 2000, hardcover, 554 pages, ISBN 1573927872
• Origins of the Koran: Classic Essays on Islam's Holy Book, edited by Ibn Warraq, Prometheus Books, 1998, hardcover, 420 pages, ISBN 157392198X
• Why I Am Not a Muslim, Ibn Warraq, foreword by R. Joseph Hoffmann, Prometheus Books, 1995, hardcover, 428 pages, ISBN 0879759844

External links

• Institute for the Secularisation of Islamic Society http://www.secularislam.org
• Boston Globe: Losing His Religion http://www.boston.com/news/globe/ideas/articles/2003/08/17/losing_his_religion_b
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• Trends and Flaws in Some Anti-Muslim Writing as Exemplified by Ibn Warraq http://www.city-net.com/~alimhaq/text/warraq.htm Jeremiah D. McAuliffe, Jr., Ph.D.