Why We Left Islam: Former Muslims Speak Out »

Susan Crimp is a respected journalist and author specializing in Middle East affairs.

Joel Richardson is an expert in Jewish and Islamic theology.

He was about to convert to Islam but pleaded, "I fear I am about to make the biggest mistake of my life. Please give me one solid reason not to convert."
This desperate cry for help from a visitor to an interfaith website inspired Susan Crimp and Joel Richardson to find that reason. Instead of one, they found many, put forward by former Muslims who dared to speak out about the oppressive religion that held them in thrall.

Collected here are the powerful and brutally honest personal testimonies of men and women who have left Islam - at the risk of death. What compelled these individuals to free themselves from Islam's tyrannical grip, how did they do it, and at what cost? Why We Left Islam provides the shocking, disturbing answers.

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The penalty for renouncing Islam is death, which makes the stories in Why We Left Islam -- and the lives behind them -- all the more remarkable.

Contained in these brutally honest personal accounts written by former Muslims is an urgent truth that the mainstream media and cowed politicians won't admit -- that far from being "a religion of peace," Islam is instead barbaric and repressive, a nightmare for those living under it and those seeking to confront it.

Here are some of the voices from Why We Left Islam...

"I still remember my sister's black eyes; she stared at the sky while she was dug into the ground. She was wrapped in white sheets and her hands were tied to her body. She was buried up to her waist. The rabid mob circled her with stones in their hands and started throwing them at her while the roars of 'Allah-u-Akbar' added to their frenzy..." -- Yagmur

"As a Muslimman, the fact that my mother had only given birth to three girls made him really angry. He beat my mother very badly and the doctors were forced to remove her womb...When she awoke, my father was kind enough to tell her that he was divorcing her now that she could no longer have children, and being a man he needed a son." -- Shara

"The Koran is full of verses that teach the killing of unbelievers and how Allah would torture them after they die. There are no lessons on morality, justice, honesty or love..." -- Ali

These shocking, real-life stories from those who have escaped the Muslim yoke make Why We Left Islam a powerful communique -- and a warning -- to the West.