Ibn Warraq

Who is Ibn Warraq?

Ibn Warraq 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 and a senior research fellow at the Center for Inquiry, focusing on Quranic criticism. 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" 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 is the author of seven books, including Why I Am Not a Muslim, The Origins of the Koran, The Quest for the Historical Muhammad, What the Koran Really Says: Language, Text and Commentary and Defending the West: A Critique of Edward Said's Orientalism. 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.