Frequently Asked Questions

What gives you the right to say what you're saying?

1. Article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights: "Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion."
2. Quran 4, 135: "Believers, conduct yourselves with justice and bear true witness before God, even though it be against yourselves, your parents, or your family." And if that's not enough for you, try Quran 13, 11: "God does not change the condition of a people until they change what is in themselves." Both passages are calls to heed our individual consciences, no matter who's offended.

Did someone pay you to write this book?

Yes, a publisher.

What are you doing with the royalties?

Building schools in Africa and offering scholarships to promising students. And, oh yeah, buying hazelnut coffee (several sugars).

Are you really a Muslim?

Yes. Faith is secure enough to handle questions. Faith never needs to be threatened by questions. Dogma, on the other hand, does. I'm a faithful Muslim, not a dogmatic one.

Are you Ismaili?

No, but I stand shoulder-to-shoulder with my Ismaili sisters and brothers who seek to restore reason and humanity to the practise of Islam.

Some suspect you're an agent of the Israeli Mossad and in the pocket of the Zionists. Are you?

First of all, I'm on UNPAID leave from the Mossad. As for the Zionists, you know, shekels don't buy nearly as much these days as you'd think. On a more rational note, I've been fighting for religious reform since the age of eight. Was I a Zionist puppet back then, too?

Where's the scholarship to back up your claims?

In the Sources and Notes section of this website.

How do you get your hair that way?

With the help of Suave moulding putty ($2.99 a container; no need for anything more expensive). As for my haircut, I get it done at Hair by Nature in Toronto.

Other Frequently Asked Questions have been amply addressed in my book and/or in the letters archive of this website. These questions include:

• Shouldn't we be talking about the the trouble with Muslims instead of Islam?
• Aren't there problems with all religions?
• Doesn't the timing of your book cast doubt on your motives?
• Aren't you lashing out at Islam because of your father's violence?
• How can you question that the Quran is the unaltered word of Allah?
• Why don't you ditch Islam - and religion - altogether?
• Are you a Western wannabe?
• Why don't you tell us what sect you're from?
• What can non-Muslims do to support the liberal reformation of Islam?