Ibn Warraq

Founder of the Institute for the Secularisation of Islamic Society

Ibn Warraq studied philosophy and Arabic at the University of Edinburgh before moving to France to open an Indian restaurant. He began his career as a writer in the 1990s when he joined the Free Inquiry Magazine. Since then he has become well known as a critic of Islam and has written several books on the subject, including Why I am Not a Muslim (1995), and What the Koran Really Says: Language, Text and Commentary (2002). He also contributes to the Guardian and the Wall Street Journal and has addressed distinguished governing bodies all over the world, including the United Nations in Geneva, on the subject of apostasy.

In 1998, Warraq founded the Institute for the Secularisation of Islamic Society, a division of the Centre for Inquiry (of which Warraq is a research fellow) that advocates rationalism, secularism, and democracy within Islamic Society. Warraq was also a prominent figure in the release of the St Petersburg Declaration, which advises governments to reject all forms of non-secular government. Until 2007, he chose to remain anonymous, but has since chosen to participate in public debates, including those chaired by Intelligence Squared.