Virgins? What Virgins? ─ And Other Essays

"Ibn Warraq's new collection is charming, witty, erudite, diverse, intellectually magnificent, and is definitely the 'go-to' work for all questions about what the Koran really says and what Koranic critics have said that it says. The opening essay...is an original and autobiographical piece titled 'On Becoming English.' Here, Ibn Warraq reveals himself...as a serious and lifelong lover of British and European novels, paintings, poems, philosophical tracts, history, nature, architecture, and street life. Throughout, IBn Warraq reveals himself as a great lover of freedom, an opponent of totalitarianism and of fakery of all kinds, especially that wrought by the very influential Edward Said, here, you will find Ibn Warraq's prepared remarks when he debated Tariq Ramadan in a widely heralded public debate (Warraq won), his views on the Danish cartoon controversy-death threats to dissidents-and on whether Islam can or cannot be reformed. This deeply informative volume should be assigned reading in universities, both here and abroad."-Phyllis Chesler, PHD Author of Woman's Inhumanity to Woman and The Death of Feminism

"Ibn Warraq has done a signal service for all wishing to understand Islam and Muslims, their apologists and their critics, by collecting some of his most learned, literate, and compelling writings in a single sparkling volume."-Daniel Pipes Director, Middle East Forum

In this wide-ranging collection of insightful, controversial, and often witty essays, Ibn Warraq-the renowned author of Why I Am Not a Muslim-has created a representative selection of his best work on the Koran and various problems posed by the interaction of Islam with the West. The title comes from his now classic article, originally published in the London Guardian, on textual studies of the Koran that suggest, contrary to a longstanding Muslim belief about the afterlife, a harem of beautiful virgins may not be waiting for the faithful make departed in heaven.

This expansive collection includes articles that consider the totalitarian nature of contemporary political Islam and explore the potential for an "Islamic Reformation"; Koranic criticism excerpted from his books; and the best of Warraq's journalism, including a critique of reputed muslim reformer Tariq Ramadan, a defense of Western culture, an article about the Danish cartoons that provoked widespread Muslim outrage, and even a commentary on the naive politics of heavy metal musicians. For the many readers of his books who have long wondered about his background, the pseudonymous Warraq includes a personal sketch about his upbringing.

Ibn Warraq is the highly acclaimed author of Why I Am Not a Muslim, Virgins? What Virgins?, and Defending the West. He is also the editor of The Origins of the Koran, What the Koran Really Says, Leaving Islam, The Quest for the Historical Muhammad, and Which Koran?.