Muslim intellectuals had long criticized their faith before Ibn Warraq

Evidence

In his tenth chapter, Ibn Warraq delivers another catalogue of Muslims—mystics, philosophers, and scientists—who have categorically denied the Quranic revelation. Then what is he doing in English that Muslim intellectuals have not done for centuries and continue to do today in Arabic, Persian, Turkish, or Urdu, with their own names proudly adorning their writing—and above all with an unfailing love for the people who share their destiny? Ibn Warraq is nothing more than a court jester, flailing his motley and bells to amuse his fantasies of the White House and the Pentagon. — Hamid Dabashi, Brown Skin, White Masks, 474 (#corroborates, via linked claim)

There is a point where audacity plunges into stupidity. Ibn Warraq spends the entirety of his first chapter, “The Rushdie Affair”, going through a catalogue of Muslim thinkers, from Ibn Kammunah in the thirteenth century to Ali Dashti in the twentieth—courageous intellectuals who challenged, ridiculed, mocked, and denigrated aspects of their own religion—only to conclude that while Christians have succeeded in challenging the doctrinal foundations of their faith, “Muslims have yet to take even this first step”. — Hamid Dabashi, Brown Skin, White Masks, 472 (#corroborates, via linked claim)

Alongside the mixture of autophobia and anonymity that gives Ibn Warraq an air of abstract authority—the voice of an omniscient narrator—is a case of self-delusional megalomania. Ibn Warraq has successfully marketed himself as the very first secular Muslim intellectual to dare question the tenets of the faith. — Hamid Dabashi, Brown Skin, White Masks, 437 (#complicates, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Muslim intellectual critique long predates and exceeds Islamophobic polemic. — Hamid Dabashi, Brown Skin, White Masks, 474; Ibn Warraq marketed himself as the first secular Muslim doubter of Islam — Hamid Dabashi, Brown Skin, White Masks, 437; Ibn Warraq’s catalogue of critics contradicts his claim no Muslim challenged doctrine — Hamid Dabashi, Brown Skin, White Masks, 472 (+2 more)

Broader Connections

• Muslim intellectual critique long predates and exceeds Islamophobic polemic. #corroborates (0.97) — Hamid Dabashi, Brown Skin, White Masks, 474
• Ibn Warraq’s catalogue of critics contradicts his claim no Muslim challenged doctrine #corroborates (0.92) — Hamid Dabashi, Brown Skin, White Masks, 472
• Ibn Warraq marketed himself as the first secular Muslim doubter of Islam #complicates (0.78) — Hamid Dabashi, Brown Skin, White Masks, 437