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Public Arab Skeptics: The Definitive List

bjb said:
I'm not sure if Ghada Jamsir has declared herself to be a skeptic, but she sure seems like one.

By the way, people from Iran are not Arabs so you're leaving out a lot of candidates.
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you must have missed this?

Dave1001 said:
But I am interested in folks that come from muslim communities and have muslim parents, but choose to be skeptics. For example Indonesian, Pakistani, & Iranian skeptics.
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Dave1001 said:
I'm not sure if he counts. He certainly is anti-fundamentalist and pro-liberalism in governance, but he also seems to be more of a self-identified magical realist than a skeptic.
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"Magical realism" is a literary genre involving the introduction of magical elements into the real world, not the belief that magic is real.
 
Dr Adequate said:
"Magical realism" is a literary genre involving the introduction of magical elements into the real world, not the belief that magic is real.
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Yes, but I think magical realist writers often claim to have a magical realist view of the world as well. It's not clear to me that Rushdie doesn't have such a view.
 
Ibn Warraq is British, from a Pakistani backgorund. Ali Sina is an Iranian born American citizen.


You might want to try Here and look for the atheists.
 
Dr Adequate said:
Evidence?
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I don't have any nor time to look for it. Just a general impression. But if you have evidence that Rushdie is a skeptic rather than a magical realist in terms of his approach to ascertaining reality, please share it. It would be greatly appreciated.
 
Is this list primarily for Arab's that are skeptical of Islam, or for those that may be Muslims but challenge things like faith healers, psychics, astrologers, etc?
 
TriangleMan said:
Is this list primarily for Arab's that are skeptical of Islam, or for those that may be Muslims but challenge things like faith healers, psychics, astrologers, etc?
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No. Arabs that would be skeptical of all of the above. Also people from traditionally muslim ethnicities and communities, with primarily muslim ancestors, who are skeptical of all of the above.
 
So here's the list so far. Some on the list claim to be muslim, but in a Unitarian sort of way (Irshad Manji). Some may be magical realists (Salman Rushdie) and one is using a pseudonym (Ibn Warraq). The others seem to be solid Arab or from Islamic culture public skeptics. Any others to add to the list?

Irshad Manji
Wafa Sultan http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wafa_Sultan
Ali Sina http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ali_Sina
Ghada Jamsir
Ibn Warraq is British, from a Pakistani backgorund.
Salman Rushdie
 
At the Fifth World Skeptics Congress that I attended in 2004, there was a delegation from Egypt. I remember the names of two members, Mourad Whaba, and Mona Abousenna who gave short presentations. This was mainly about the enormous difficulties facing skeptics in that part of the world. To quote my report in SkepticReport.com:
After this bleak picture, the Egyptian delegation reported how skepticists are religiously persecuted in the Muslim World. Even claims that have nothing to do with religion are out of bounds, because religious activists want to focus on religious issues. The female member, Mona Abousenna, was fired from one university job, because she had chaired a meeting of global trends in literature. In the religious mind, only Islam can be global!
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I think it is extremely couragious for anybody from a muslim country to stand up and "confess" to be a skeptic!
 
Dave1001 said:
I'm not sure if he counts. He certainly is anti-fundamentalist and pro-liberalism in governance, but he also seems to be more of a self-identified magical realist than a skeptic.
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He is a self proclaimed atheist and writes with a startling amount of clarity and insight.

I would need verifiable sources of his personal quotes before I could accept that he believes in the fairies at the bottom of the garden (say).
 
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