Ibn Warraq at the Former Muslims United press conference

Jihad Watch

Some of the remarks by Ibn Warraq at the Former Muslims United press conference.

I was shocked when Salman Rushdie had the death fatwa put on his head, and intellectuals such as Germaine Greer attacked him. They were more concerned about the delicate sensibilities of Muslims. Then in 1995 I wrote Why I Am Not A Muslim, and then in 2003 a book called Leaving Islam: Apostates Speak Out.Arthur Koestler: We ex-communists are the only ones on your side who know what it is all about. Groucho Marx (inspired): I refuse to belong to a religion that will not not have me as a member.

Article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights of 1948 guarantees freedom to change one's religion or belief. The clause about freedom of religion was added at the urging of the delegate from Lebanon, Charles Malik. Lebanon especially objected to the Islamic law regarding apostasy, but many Islamic countries objected to the freedom of religion clause. It warned about missionary efforts devoted to converting the populations of the East.

If you deny any of the tenets of Islam, you're an apostate. The Ahmadiyyas deny that Muhammad was the last prophet. Zia al-Haq declared they were not Muslims, and ever since then they have been persecuted in Pakistan.

Saudi Arabia and Egypt tried in the 1960s to suppress the clause of the Universal Declaration guaranteeing freedom of religion. They agreed to a compromise wording suggested by Brazil. In 1981 Muslim states reiterated the death penalty for apostasy. The Universal Islamic Declaration of Human Rights is understandably vague about the freedom of religion. Islamic human rights schemes are not universal, since they introduce a specific religious perspective into the human rights sphere. They restrict the rights of women, non-Muslims, and apostates.

Human rights organizations should protect the rights of those whose opinions are unorthodox and those who have left a religion.