“Criticism of Islam is inherently racist.” “You lot hate Muslims. Shame on you for further burdening people who are already oppressed and marginalized.”

We do not hate Muslims.  We are the children, sisters, brothers, and cousins of Muslims.  We are close friends with Muslims.  Many of us still participate in the Muslim community and dissimulate our controversial opinions.  Many of us still participate in Muslim festivities such as Eid and Chand Raat, enjoy Sufi poetry and music, and at times dress in clothing associated with Muslim societies.  We have left Islam not due to hatred of Muslims but out of conviction that the truth claims of Islam are false and that Islamic social morality has done great harm to human beings and animals, most especially Muslims themselves.

There is a great deal of racism and xenophobia in contemporary society and no little part of it is directed against Muslims.  Muslims have been subject to government surveillance, racial profiling, civil rights violations, even physical violence.  The irrationality and vileness of this abuse does not, however, render the claims of Islam true.  Nor does it excuse the human rights abuses, racism, sexism, and homophobia that Muslims have committed, often in the name of Islam.  Ex-Muslims have frequently been the most ill-served, experiencing both the racism and sexism of Western societies and the gynophobia, racism, and emotional and physical abuse that exist within many Muslim communities and homes.

Introduction

Apologetics - 1. systematic argumentative discourse in defense - Merriam-Webster Dictionary

Leaving Islam is not like letting your membership in a health club lapse.  It is not like deciding to sleep in on Sundays from now on.  It is an action with major repercussions ranging from prosecution and possible execution to domestic violence to complete social exile.  Besides these various ‘appeals to the stick’ to persuade people to stay within the fold of Islam, there has developed an entire industry of Muslim apologetics designed to still the doubts of the erstwhile faithful and refute Islam’s many critics. “Shaykh” Ahmed Deedat and his successor Zakir Naik have become the archetypal apologists for Islam (Da’ees or “Callers”) but nearly all important Muslim intellectuals have engaged with the genre at some point in their careers, including Zaid Shakir, Hamza Yusuf, Yusuf Estes, the ‘Ghazalians,’ Tariq Ramadan, and numerous others.

The majority of these arguments are specious.  They either turn on logical fallacies (overt or quite well disguised, depending on the author) or rely on extremely questionable evidence.  These arguments are widely repeated but relatively few in number, though some require detailed research for an authoritative refutation, the claims regarding the ‘scientific miracles’ of the Qur’an being an example of the latter.  While certain evangelical Christian web sites have made a speciality of countering Muslim apologetics, there is a need for a compendium of counter-apologetics in a secular humanistic vein, particularly one written from the perspective of and drawing on the experience of the ex-Muslim community.  This blog is intended to fill that void.  Each subsequent post will be dedicated to the refutation of a common Muslim apologetic tactic.  Certain especially fecund tactics will merit multiple posts.