Saif Rahman - The Islamist Delusion - From Islamist to Cultural Muslim Humanist

Testimonials

The beginning, middle & end are awesome.

-- Richard Cook

This made me feel good today.. an uplifting read - and for those silent people its important to acknowledge writings like Saifs and others - as i believe it makes a difference for them to continue their great work. Keep up the good work the silent majority are listening.

-- Maz786

Nice one Saif- your humourous hadith stories were one of the things that helped me most when I was a wet-behind-the-ears and your book is filled with knowledgable awesomeness.

-- EDKant

The reason I love this book is that it compiles all the flaws of Islam all into one book I must say, it is incredible. Keep up the good work Saif. "

-- Sef Sheek

I had a lot of doubts but what really pushed me off of my seat was this wonderful book written by Saif Rahman. His situation was very similar to mine. And after reading it all my doubts washed away.

-- Abdus Kalim

I recommend reading Rahmans book. A totally unpredictable offering. And plenty of investigative reason - a good list of material. He quotes from authentic Islamic sources.

-- Martin Lincoln

Wow, thats all really well expressed. Im glad you took the time to write all of that. I will use some of the questions you have outlined and I've already higlighted the parts for for this purpose.

- -MFP

I'm an Objectivist who reads a lot about islam. In fact, I read your book and loved it. It was very on point. It's probably one of the best books i've ever read on islam hands down. Keep up the good work.

-- Zack Ewing

I must applaud you on the work there - its a great resource that I have used as a source of reference, or if I want the low down on certain practices without the usual apologetics twist on the web, or anti-Islamic rhetoric without any sources.

--Katy Metcalfe

I do wish to thank you as one of the few special people who ultimately help ed me determine that religion & most definitely Islam is not for me. Thank you for writing such powerful in depth and insightful story. You inspired me to write my own.

-- Nabeela Ahmad

The Islamist Delusion
From Islamist to Cultural Muslim Humanist

b y

Saif Rahman

2004-2012
ISBN-10: 1481294369 ISBN-13: 978-1481294362

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Published by CreateSpace
Also available in print

This book is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. Except as provided by the Copyright Act, this book may not be re-sold, reproduced or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient.

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An insider's look at behind-the-scenes Islam. Written by a prominent anti-Islamist activist over the course of 8 years detailing his reasons for leaving Islam & becoming an agnostic humanist. A comprehensive and objective study for Muslims seeking a fair & balanced analysis of traditionalist Islam ; and for non-Muslims interested in gaining rarely found insight.

Saif Rahman is a Strategic consultant & Founder of HMCA (Humanist & Cultural Muslim Assoc). All funds donated to support related humanitarian causes.

A single question kickstarts the journey for this book.

My Muslim cousin came to stay with us in the UK when he was over on holiday from Pakistan. I knew his stay would prove contentious as previously he had told me that as a Muslim I had to believe in all of it as it stood, otherwise simply had to admit I was no longer a Muslim. This time I was prepared for the inevitable question of Why? I had subsequently left Islam. Sure enough it soon came and started the ball-rolling till 4 a.m. as he attempted to refute each one of my contentions, but this time to no avail.

The following day , prior to boarding his flight back to Pakistan, he made me promise one thing. As he was well connected, he asked me to put all my arguments together so he could take them in writing to a learned scholar of Islam. I did so, and looking forward to his response I also copied in all my siblings. After waiting 3 months my brother received a phone call from my cousin saying that he hadnt forgotten and was still working on the reply. Its been 8 years, and I never did hear back from him.

Non etheless it was an invigorating exercise. Over the course of these subsequent years I became an ex-muslim activist and the original letter (contained in next chapter) was used as a skeletal working document which I regularly updated with new findings. A comprehensive Scribd online blog was borne. It was heartening to see it climb to 49,000 views and being powerful enough to influence many of its Muslim readers to leave Islam.

To connect with a wider audience , I developed the blog for use in visual media and from it spawned my ex-muslim Confession YouTube series. It flourished as it climbed to half-a-million hits and my group which grew to 7,500 members, but along with its success so did the harassment. My more vocal presence was paralleled with increasing resistance, reaching up to 139 death threats to date.
Undeterred this spurred me on to make the blog ever more mainstream, and the original Letter-Blog-YouTube Series finally matured into the Book you see before you today..

(You can read more about this author online by seeing his RaheelQ interview)

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FROM A LETTER TO MY RELIGIOUS COUSIN

As mentioned, here is a copy of part of the original letter I forwarded to him:

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Hi [his name]

As requested, please find my thoughts about Islam that have led me to my present conclusions. As you are aware, leaving Islam was not a simple process that just happened to me overnight. It involved a great deal of carefully considered thought and was more of a gradual development over time.

I have tried to be concise, but this letter might not be as short as you might have hoped as it turned into quite a cathartic exercise in the end. I dont really want to get involved in a debate regarding the merits of Islam, as I personally feel I have gone full circle and have reached a comfortable and robust conclusion with my thoughts. However, given its contentious nature, should you wish to reply I promise to read it. I dont expect you to agree with me, but I hope at least it goes in part to demonstrate there are 2 sides to every story. All I ask of you is that you read this without any precursory prejudice.

When I was in my teens, I had a lot of questions and there were things in the religion that sat uncomfortably with me. As you know I regularly fasted, used to pray 5 times a day, even kept a tally on the wall for the kaza prayers I had missed in case I forgot to do them later. All in all I tried my best to remain a good Muslim.

However I could never rid myself of my doubts.

I wanted to be convinced by Islam on its own virtues without any precursory prejudice . I felt bad and alone, as I had never come across a Muslim apostate before; there had to be something evil and wrong with me. I kept quiet and became insular and with great sadness, the more I looked into Islam, the greater my doubts grew.

I thought about this for a long period, as I did not want to disappoint my parents, and more to the point , Allah, by accepting such a reality. But I also felt that just because my parents and previous generations before them may have felt an innate ancestral obligation to follow the religion this did not necessarily have to be the same way with me. After all, they were brought up in a different time, place and situation.