An Open Letter to Mr. Idris Tawfiq 

By Truth Seeker. 

2007/08/16

Dear Mr. Idris Tawfiq: 

Greetings. Unfortunately, I cannot introduce myself with my name because, being a former Muslim, I am supposed to be killed according to Islamic law.  

I first learnt about you on YouTube. Following that, I have been reading Ali Sina's letters to you. Ali is a very modest person who is really seeking the truth. On the forum, he admits that you may know something he does not know, and therefore you must be given the benefit of the doubt.  

I strongly believe you should engage in an exchange with Ali Sina. Not long ago, I was going through periods of confusion and doubt over Islam. I found no rational proof for its validity, and the more I learnt about Muhammad's atrocities, the more ashamed I felt for being a Muslim. I was so desperate, I begged a well-known Muslim scholar to debate Ali Sina after he brushed Ali off (as you have done). You can read my letter to Professor Palazzi here. 

Today, I am a proud apostate of Islam. I had the guts to look in the mirror, admit my faith has faults, and leave it. It was not an easy process at all and I shall not bore you with the details at the moment. My point here is that there are hundreds and thousands of doubting Muslims who visit FaithFreedom. I was one of them. Had Dr. Palazzi not ignored my pleas to debate Ali, and had he decided to do his part for Islam by defending it logically, I may not have left it.  

But hey, let's say I'm one of those who are, according to Quran 2:18, "deaf, dumb, and blind" What about all the other Muslims who visit this site? Muslims are not independent thinkers. They need scholars to defend their religion for them. Each time I try to debate with a Muslim, they tell me they are not scholars and they will need to consult their local imam. I doubt all these Muslims are also as "deaf, dumb, and blind," as I may be in your view. Why not debate Ali Sina, show him for the fool he supposedly is, and get all the thawab and hasanat for saving all those doubting Muslims who visit this Web site? Why was it easy for you to convince yourself to convert to Islam while it is difficult to express these convincing thoughts in a few lines?  

Let us say Mr. Sina is an attention seeker. He is tired with his cat ignoring him when it is not hungry, so the poor man just spends his days on the Internet chasing harmless Muslim scholars just so he can get the attention he craves. Unfortunately, he has caught the attention of more than six million visitors. So, I am not saying debate him to give him the satisfaction of attention. Debate him for the sake of Islam and Muslims. Trust me, I was a Muslim and I was pulling my nails out with frustration over how no scholar could defeat him. It is because Dr. Palazzi ignored me that I realized I had to investigate Islam on my own, and I reached my own conclusions about it. I suggest, then, that you start debating Ali. Otherwise, many other Muslims will study Islam on their own, misunderstand it, and leave it like I did. Now I am a soldier against Islam. I have turned into an ally for humanity. Can you imagine how upset Allah will be with Dr. Palazzi for ignoring my request to debate Ali?  

Okay, don't debate him for my sake. Do it for Allah. It is he who said in Quran 2:159: 

"Surely those who conceal the clear proofs and the guidance that We revealed after We made it clear in the Book for men, these it is whom Allah shall curse, and those who curse shall curse them (too)."  

This was revealed to the Jews of Medina who were supposedly in denial over what their books say on Muhammad's prophethood. Do you want to be cursed with those Jews on the Day of Judgment, Mr. Idris? Do you want me to curse you as well, as we both go to hell? Do you want me to tell Allah on the Day of Judgment, "I asked scholars like Idris Tawfiq and Abdul Hadi Palazzi to guide me, and they both ignored my requests for hidaya, so please punish them O Allah for not guiding me to You!"? 

I was born a Muslim. I was raised in a Muslim family who labelled me as a Muslim against my will. I was raised in a closed environment that convinced me Islam was the true religion. It was when I moved to the West when I learned to study Islam objectively. I am not to be blamed for being Muslim during my childhood. I was just a child and my parents brainwashed me because they wanted what they perceived to be the best for me. When I questioned my faith then, people got angry at me and told me not to think too much. They said I should read the Quran more instead of asking questions. So I have valid excuses for being a Muslim then.  

But what about you? You tasted freedom and you decided to spit on it and become a Muslim. Why? What is your excuse? If there is a God, he will punish you for misusing your brain in this manner. Why are you following such a dangerous cult? As a Muslim, I saw how fellow Muslims simply loved to show off white men and priests who converted to Islam. One example is Yusuf Estes. Muslims adored listening to his sermons simply because he boosts their faiths. They sit in front of the screen smugly and tell each other, "Masha Allah, this man proves Islam is the deen of haqq (true religion). He was a priest and he now converted!" Many of those who watch him are extremists. It is people like you and Mr. Estes who bolster their faith and so they are willing to die for Allah, taking away with them innocent civilians.  

Approximately one year ago, an article appeared about you on the Irish Times. It paints a flowery story about your conversion to Islam. (Just as how the Islamic press in Egypt provides flowery stories of Mark Gabriel's conversion to Christianity, eh?) Let me make a few remarks on the article for your reading pleasure.  

You said about your visit to Egypt , "It began to sow the seeds of Islam within me. It was the first time I had spoken to, or even met, Muslims. I saw that they weren't sabre-rattling fanatics, they were just ordinary people. More than that, they were very gentle people and faith-filled in a way I had never seen before." 

I am not surprised at all that they tried to portray Islam to you in a positive light. Let me tell you a story that happened in my high school classroom. One of my best friends was an Arab Christian and one day he wanted to attend my Islamic Studies class. My teacher was a learned scholar from Egypt . Excited to see a Christian interested in Islam, he declared to my good friend, "If you are a Christian, then you are guaranteed paradise in Islam!" My friend was shocked, but above that he was happy and very impressed with Islam for its supposed mercy.  

I instantly objected to the teacher that what he said was false. He winked at me while my friend was not looking and kept telling him how Christians will go to paradise.  

Now that is clearly a falsehood. According to Allah, Islam is the only accepted religion. Sample verses from the Quran include:  

"And (as to) those who disbelieve in and reject My communications, they are the inmates of the fire, in it they shall abide." Quran 2:39 

"And whoever desires a religion other than Islam, it shall not be accepted from him, and in the hereafter he shall be one of the losers." Quran 3:85 

"They say: Allah has taken a son (to Himself)!... Say: Those who forge a lie against Allah shall not be successful. (It is only) a provision in this world, then to Us shall be their return; then We shall make them taste severe punishment because they disbelieved. " Quran 10:68-70 

I later asked my instructor why he lied to my friend. He told me, "I am trying to make him love Islam". Indeed Mr. Idris, deception is a part of Islam, and you fell for that deception. Shiites consider taqiyya integral to their faith. Counterterrorism officials acknowledge that it applies for Sunni Muslims waging jihad against the West: 

One of the doctrines that emerges out of the Salafist school is ''Taqiyyeh,'' Arabic for a process of concealment of true beliefs to confuse the enemy. Understanding Taqiyyeh, Ranstorp says, is at the heart of understanding why law enforcement has not fully laid bare the European staging area for the Sept. 11 attacks.  

So does Muhammad : "War is deceit". 

You say you saw normal, tolerant individuals in Islamic Egypt. Nothing like what those xenophobes from CNN and Fox News show the ignorant masses. Oh la la! How evil the white man can be. 

Tell me, did you feel the 'love' of Islam in Egypt despite the religious intolerance its Muslim inhabitants display for religious minorities? Did you learn about Copts being arrested for merely inviting Muslims to Christianity? Did you feel the 'love' Egyptian Muslims displayed to you as they forbade Coptic Christian children from completing their education unless they convert to Islam against their will? Did you feel that the evil West misrepresented Islam when they reported Muslims in Egypt attacking churches? When an apostate blamed Islam for this, he was sentenced to four years in prison in Egypt . Is that the Islamic tolerance you are representing? Did you know that the Bah�'� Faith is not recognized in Egypt thanks to Islamic tolerance? 

The article also refers to your meeting with Yusuf Islam as 'pivotal' to your conversion. Did you ask Yusuf Islam what he thought should be done with Salman Rushdie for his book, The Satanic Verses? If he were too foolish to forget his taqiyya, he would have told you exactly what he said on public television: That he wished to burn him in a fire (instead of merely burning his effigy, which was what happened). 

While your friend Yusuf and others prayed, you asked yourself, "Who am I trying to fool?" Indeed, who? 

To distinguish between Christianity and Islam, you said that unlike Christianity, in Islam, "The whole thing revolves around Allah".  

Unfortunately that is not the case. Islam is an overgrown cult that was based on loving and adoring Muhammad. To be a Muslim, you must emulate Muhammad and consider him an "excellent exemplar of conduct" (Quran 33:21) Muhammad said that no one is a true believer unless he loves him more than anyone else.  

Allah was merely Muhammad's sock puppet who conveniently revealed verses for him when he needed it. Muhammad got permission to burn the trees of the Banu Nadir Jews from Allah (Quran 59:5). In Chapter 66, he got permission to sleep with Mariya the Coptic slave after he promised Hafsa bint Omar that he will not. (Hafsa was upset that Muhammad tricked her out of the house so he can sleep with Mariya on her bed). When he wanted to marry his cousin, who was then his daughter-in-law, Allah conveniently told him it's okay to do so in Quran 33:37. 

You also said you "have learned and come to understand" that Muhammad is God's messenger. Good! So you should have no trouble explaining to us how you reached such an understanding. Come on Mr Tawfiq. Show us the light. You like doing da'wa, don't you? You've got your audience here. Your da'wa to other Muslims is not as necessary. Muslims are already Muslims. As long as they say the shahada, they are guaranteed heaven. Your bigger thawab lies with us kafirs, apostates, and doubting Muslims. 

You also said in the article that, "Islam is beautiful, sweet and gentle." Could you please then show me the beauty in these verses?  

Quran 8:55 : Surely the vilest of animals in Allah's sight are those who disbelieve

Quran 48:29 : Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah, and those with him are firm of heart against the unbelievers, compassionate among themselves

Quran 9:30 : And the Jews say: Uzair is the son of Allah; and the Christians say: The Messiah is the son of Allah�may Allah destroy them; how they are turned away!

Quran 8:12 : I will cast terror into the hearts of those who disbelieve. Therefore strike off their heads and strike off every fingertip of them

Quran 9:123 : O you who believe! Fight those of the unbelievers who are near to you and let them find in you hardness

Quran 9:29 : Fight those who do not believe in Allah, nor in the latter day, nor do they prohibit what Allah and His Messenger have prohibited, nor follow the religion of truth, out of those who have been given the Book, until they pay the tax in acknowledgment of superiority and they are in a state of subjection.

Quran 5:33 - The punishment of those who wage war against Allah and His messenger and strive to make mischief in the land is only this, that they should be murdered or crucified or their hands and their feet should be cut off on opposite sides or they should be imprisoned; this shall be as a disgrace for them in this world, and in the hereafter they shall have a grievous chastisement  

After expressing your Leftist self-hatred for your Judeo-Christian roots by claiming that questioning Muslims' loyalty to Britain is racist, the article then says that you prefer to "go with whatever the sheikhs of Al Azhar approve".  

I then look forward to seeing you having clothed sex with your spouse, drinking breast milk from your female colleagues, and considering drinking from Muhammad's pee as a blessing. Or are these things your peaceful friends from Al-Azhar forgot to mention to you? 

The article also shows that you are on the way to becoming a very good Muslim. You are now a "Yes, terrorism is bad, BUT�" Muslim. You said, "In a situation where Muslims are under attack and some lash out, I can see why they do it. I'm not approving it, but I can see why they do it." (Bold my emphasis). 

Enough with putting your head in the sand Mr. Tawfiq. If  a simple-minded person like myself can see the filth in this victim-mentality cult, then so can you. Stop feeling guilty for your Judeo-Christian heritage. The West is a great society that has brought wonderful things to humanity, including science, technology, medicine, human rights, and philosophy. I am an Arab and I am telling you: Stop thinking that every 9/11 is somehow the white man's fault. Learn the truth about Islam. Debate with Dr. Sina before you become a mockery. His letters to you are already on the first page of Google when someone searches for your name. Do not think you can get away with hiding from the truth.  

You also said that, "Islam is too much to be proud of." Proud of what? Muhammad raping a 9-year old? Muhammad raiding caravans? Muhammad's sexual lusts and marrying his daughter-in-law? His taking female captives as war booty? Muhammad's intolerance toward non-believers? Muhammad's deathbed orders to expel the Pagans from the Arabian Peninsula ? His assassination of critics like the poet Kab bin Ashraf, the mother Asma bint Marwan, and the centenarian Abu Afak? Muhammad's orders to "fight against the people until they testify that none has the right to be worshipped but Allah and that Muhammad is Allah's Apostle"? 

You will go down in history for voluntarily following this joke of a religion. I suggest you at least debate Ali Sina. This would show that you have sincere reasons to convert. Why else would you take the time to make da'wa to everyone but Dr. Sina? 

Remember, don't debate him for the sake of bigoted, racist* Islamophobes like myself. Do it for the sake of sincere Muslims who want to hear Islam defend herself. 

Sincerely, 

Truth Seeker

(* What race is Islam exactly?)   

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