Ibn Warraq
Ibn Warraq, M.A. (Arabic, Persian, Art History, University of Edinburgh, 1969; B.A., Philosophy, University of London, 1978), is the pen name of an author most famous for his criticism of Islam. He is the founder of the Institute for the Secularisation of Islamic Society (ISIS) and is formerly a senior research fellow at the Center for Inquiry, focusing on Quranic criticism. Warraq is currently the Vice-President of the World Encounter Institute. Warraq's commentary on Islam is considered by some to be overly polemical and revisionist, while others praise it as well-researched.
Warraq gathered world notice through his historiographies of the early centuries of the Islamic timeline and has published works which question mainstream conceptions of the period. The pen name "Ibn Warraq" (Arabic: ابن وراق, most literally "son of a papermaker") is used due to his concerns for his personal safety; Warraq stated, "I had fear to become the second Salman Rushdie." It is a name that has been adopted by dissident authors throughout the history of Islam. The name refers to 9th century skeptical scholar Muhammad al Warraq. Warraq adopted the pseudonym in 1995 when he completed his first book, entitled Why I Am Not a Muslim.
He addressed the United Nations "Victims of Jihad" conference organized by the International Humanist and Ethical Union, alongside such speakers as Bat Ye'or, Ayaan Hirsi Ali, and Simon Deng.
“I wish more people would belabor the obvious, and more often.”
“As Luxenberg's work has only recently been published we must await its scholarly assessment before we can pass any judgements. But if his analysis is correct then suicide bombers, or rather prospective martyrs, would do well to abandon their culture of death, and instead concentrate on getting laid 72 times in this world, unless of course they would really prefer chilled or white raisins, according to their taste, in the next.”