- Ayaan Hirsi Ali
This individual dismissed Warraq's unique and important collection on apostasy in Islam, because Warraq (and by extension, all Muslim apostates) was (were), '... no longer in the game.' It was astonishing to hear such a glib assessment from a conservative intellectual and self-appointed doyen (subsequently, government-appointed) examining Islamic terrorism.
- Wafa Sultan
Wafa Sultan is a vocal critic of Islam.
- Walid Shoebat
Walid Shoebat is an American citizen, born to Palestinian father and American mother. By self definition, he is a former PLO terrorist. Shoebat came to public attention by becoming an ardent critic of Islam and supporter of Israel. He describes himself as a former member of the Palestine Liberation Organisation who took part in terrorist attacks against Israeli targets. He is the founder of the Walid Shoebat Foundation, …
- Ibn Warraq
Ibn Warraq is a bestselling author currently living in the United States. He is an outspoken critic of Islam who has written extensively on what he views as the oppressive nature of Islam and religion in general.
- Salman Rushdie
Sir Ahmed Salman Rushdie is a British-Indian novelist and essayist. He first achieved fame with his second novel, "Midnight's Children" (1981), which won the Booker Prize. Much of his early fiction is set at least partly on the Indian subcontinent. His style is often classified as magical realism, while a dominant theme of his work is the long, rich and often fraught story of the many connections, disruptions and migrations between the East and the West.
- Patrick Sookhdeo
Patrick Sookhdeo, is a British Anglican canon. He is also the director of the Institute for the Study of Islam and Christianity and of the Barnabas Fund. Sookhdeo is an outspoken spokesman for persecuted Christian minorities around the world. He has made many media appearances in Great Britain and is an advocate for human rights and freedom of religion. Sookhdeo, a former Muslim is considered an international authority on jihadist ideology, …
- Zachariah Anani
Zachariah Anani (also Zack or Zak) is a former Muslim Lebanese militia fighter. He would later convert to Christianity and seek refuge in Canada in 1996.
- Nonie Darwish
Nonie Darwish (born c. 1949) is an Arab-American writer and public speaker. She is the author of the book "Now they Call Me Infidel; Why I Renounced Jihad for America, Israel and the War on Terror". She is also a public speaker and founder of Arabs for Israel. The outspoken daughter of a "shahid" (martyr), Darwish attributes her father's death to "the Middle Eastern Islamic culture and the propaganda of hatred taught to children from birth".
- Lina Joy
Lina Joy is a Malay convert from Islam to Christianity. Born Azlina Jailani in 1964 in Malaysia to Muslim parents, she converted at age 26. In 1998, she was baptized, and applied to have her conversion legally recognized by the Malaysian courts. Though her change of name was recognized in 1999 and so noted on her identity card, her change of religion was not (since it is without the Mahkamah Syariah confirmation document); for this reason, …
- Taslima Nasrin
Taslima Nasrin, also known as Taslima Nasreen, (born 25 August 1962 in Mymensingh, Bangladesh) is a Bengali Bangladeshi physician, author, feminist human rights activist and secular humanist. She was awarded the Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought in 1994, and a Humanist Award (from the International Humanist and Ethical Union) in 1996. Since 1993, Nasrin has faced numerous death threats from Islamic fundamentalists.
- Mark A. Gabriel
Mark A. Gabriel, born 30 December, 1957, is a writer on Islamic affairs, who lives in the United States under what he describes as "religious asylum". He is the author of six books critical of Islam, including "Islam and the Jews: The Unfinished Battle" and "Journey into the Mind of an Islamic Terrorist".
- Daveed Gartenstein-Ross
Daveed Gartenstein-Ross Is a counter-terrorism expert and attorney living in Washington D.C. He was born in Ashland, Oregon to Jewish parents. He converted to Islam in his mid 20's because he was impressed by how religious his muslim friend was. He worked for the U.S. head of the Al Haramain Islamic Foundation, a Wahhabi charity that supported Al-Qaida. His job was to educate prisoners about what Al Haramain considered to be true Islam.
- Parvin Darabi
Dr. Parvin Darabi is an Iranian born American activist, writer and an internationally recognized defender of women’s rights. She studied at California State University Northridge, University of Southern California and Pepperdine University, and California Coast University. Parvin worked as an electronic systems engineer, program manager, company president, and engineering consultant until 1994. From 1985-1990 she owned and operated her own Company PT enterprises, …
- Wesley Snipes
Wesley Trent Snipes (born July 31, 1962) is an American actor, martial artist and film producer. He may be best known for his role as the vampire hunter in the "Blade" trilogy of movies. Snipes has starred in action-adventures, thrillers, comedies, and dramatic feature films opposite such actors as Robert De Niro and Sean Connery. On April 24, 2008, he was sentenced to three years in prison for three misdemeanor convictions for willful failure to file federal income tax returns.
- Matthew Ashimolowo
Matthew Ashimolowo (b 17 March 1952 in Nigeria) is the Senior Pastor of Kingsway International Christian Centre in London. Under his leadership membership of the church has grown from 300 adults to almost 8,000 in eight years. He is steering the church, commonly known as KICC, towards its vision of 25,000 members by the year 2010. His ministry is about to embark upon building a 10,000-seater arena in Rainham, London; this will be the first of its kind in Europe.
- Hussain Andaryas
Hussain Andaryas is a man from Afghanistan who converted from Islam to Christianity after nine years of research on both religions. He runs over 20 websites (in دری the Afghan Persian) that represent Afghan Christians around the world. He has a daily radio program in Afghanistan. He also has weekly TV programs Afghan Television on Mondays and Tuesdays through Hot-Bird 6.
- Afshin Ellian
Afshin Ellian (born 27 February, 1966 in Tehran, Iran) is a Dutch professor of law, philosopher, and poet. He's an expert in international criminal law.
- Mehdi Dibaj
Mehdi Dibaj (c. 1935 - June/July 1994) was an Iranian Christian convert from Islam, pastor and Christian martyr. Dibaj became a Christian as a young man and joined the Jama'at-e Rabbani Church, the Iranian branch of the Assemblies of God. After the 1979 Iranian revolution he encountered difficulties. In 1983 he was arrested and imprisoned without trial in Sari and systematically tortured.
- Kola Boof
Kola Boof (possibly 3 March 1972) is the pseudonym of an American author who claims Sudanese and Egyptian origin. She is best known for having claimed an involuntary relationship with Osama bin Laden that she says took place during 1996.
- Daniel Ali
Daniel Ali is an Iraqi Kurdish scholar and author, who grew up as a Muslim during the horrific ethnic cleansing in Saddam's Anfal campaigns; he lived through the gassings and chemical weapons attacks on thousands of Kurdish villages. He is the author of two books "Inside Islam: A Guide for Catholics" published in 2003, and "Out of Islam, Free at Last", published in 2007.
- Anwar Shaikh
Mohammad Anwar Shaikh (born June 1, 1928 as Haji Mohammad - November 25, 2006) was an Indian-born Pakistani author residing in Cardiff. He was born into a religious muslim family of Kashmiri ancestry in Gujrat, Punjab. His mother could recite a large part of the Qur'an from memory. During the violent days of the Partition of India in 1947 he, then filled with Islamic religious fervor, killed on one day two Sikhs, a father and his son.
- Carlos Menem
Carlos Saúl Menem was President of Argentina from July 8, 1989 to December 10, 1999 for the Justicialist Party (Peronist).
- Al-Ma'Arri
Abu al-Ala' Ahmed ibn Abd Allah ibn Sullaiman al-Tanookhy al-Ma'arri (Arabic: أبو العلاء أحمد بن عبد الله بن سليمان التنوخي المعري. December 26, 973 - May 10 or May 21, 1057) was a blind Arab philosopher poet and writer. Abul-'Ala lost his sight at the age of five.
- Raghib Ismail
Raghib Ramadian "Rocket" Ismail (b. November 18, 1969 in Elizabeth, New Jersey) is a former professional American football player, playing wide receiver at the University of Notre Dame and in both the Canadian Football League and National Football League. Nicknamed "The Rocket", Ismail stood only 5' 11"(questionable) tall but had strong hands and blazing speed on a football field, making him exceptionally dangerous both as a kick returner and as a receiver.
- Ghorban Tourani
Ghorban Dordi Tourani, was an Iranian convert to Christianity and a lay-minister. He lived and worked in Gonbad-e Qabus, Golestan province, Iran. Tourani, an Iranian Turkmen, was brought up as Sunni Muslim, but converted to the Christian faith in the mid 1990s during a stay in Turkmenistan. After his return to Iran he rapidly established a Christian ministry and a house church amongst his compatriots in his predominantly Islamic home town.
- Khalid Duran
Khalid Durán is a specialist in the history, sociology and politics of the Islamic world. He studied Middle Eastern languages and Islam in Bosnia and Morocco, and sociology and political science at the universities of Bonn and Berlin. In the 1970s, he worked at Pakistan's Islamic Research Institute and traveled extensively in the Middle East and South Asia. He has been a visiting professor at universities in Pakistan, Austria, Germany, Scandinavia and the United States, …
- Qadry Ismail
Qadry Rahmadan Ismail, nicknamed "the Missile", (born November 8, 1970 in Newark, New Jersey)is a former professional American football player. Ismail grew up in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania and attended Elmer L. Meyers High School. He then attended Syracuse University from 1989-1992 on a track & field and football scholarship. Some of his achievements while at Syracuse include 1991 All-American, All BIG-EAST First Team wide receiver and conference second-team kick returner.
- Younus Shaikh
Dr. Younus Shaikh is a Pakistani medical doctor, human rights activist, rationalist and free-thinker. In August 2001 he was imprisoned in Pakistan under sentence of death for blasphemy. Dr Shaikh was held in the Central Gaol in Rawalpindi pending the appeals to the High Court but there was no agreement for the appeal. In July 2002 the case was referred to a referee judge.
- Eldridge Cleaver
Eldridge Cleaver (August 31, 1935 - May 1, 1998) was an author and a prominent American civil rights leader who began as a dominant member of the Black Panther Party. Born in Wabbaseka, Arkansas, Cleaver's family moved to Phoenix and then to Los Angeles. As a teenager he was involved in petty crime, and in 1957 was convicted of assault with intent to murder. While in prison, he wrote a book of essays, "Soul on Ice", …
- Tunch Ilkin
Tunch Ilkin is a sports broadcaster and a former American football player. He currently serves as a television and radio analyst for the Pittsburgh Steelers. Born in Istanbul, Turkey, Ilkin's parents Mehmet and Ayten Ilkin emigrated to the United States when he was two years old and settled in the Chicago area. He attended Highland Park High School in Highland Park, Illinois where he won All Conference and All County honors as a football player.
- Akbar Gbaja-Biamila
Akbar Oluwakemi-Idowu Gbaja-Biamila (born May 6, 1979 in Los Angeles, California) is an American football linebacker who currently plays for the Miami Dolphins of the National Football League. He was originally signed by the Oakland Raiders as an undrafted free agent in 2003. He played collegiately at San Diego State University.
- Emily Ruete
Emily Ruete (1844-1924) was born in Zanzibar as Sayyida Salme, Princess of Zanzibar and Oman. She was a daughter of Sayyid Said bin Sultan Al-Busaid, Sultan of Zanzibar and Oman.
- Kabeer Gbaja-Biamila
Muhammed-Kabeer Olarewaju Gbaja-Biamila (born September 24, 1977 in Los Angeles, California) is an American Football defensive end of Nigerian descent who currently plays for the Green Bay Packers of the NFL.
- George Weah
George Manneh Oppong Ousman Weah (born October 1, 1966 in Monrovia) is a Liberian politician and former football forward. He spent 14 years of his professional football career playing for clubs in France, Italy, and England, winning titles in two of the three countries. In 1995, he was named FIFA World Player of the Year, European Footballer of the Year, and African Footballer of the Year. He is commonly regarded as one of the greatest African footballers of all time.
- Bahá'U'Lláh
Bahá'u'lláh (November 12, 1817 - May 29, 1892), born Mírzá usayn-`Alí, was the founder of the Bahá'í Faith. He claimed to fulfill the Bábí prophecy of "He whom God shall make manifest", but in a broader sense he also claimed to be the "supreme Manifestation of God"., referring to the fulfillment of the eschatological expectations of a prophetic cycle beginning with Adam, and including Abrahamic religions, as well as Zoroastrianism, …
- Ibn Al-Rawandi
Ibn al-Rawandi (3rd century AH, 9th century C.E.) was an early skeptic of Islam and religion in general within the Muslim world, became one of Islam's most notorious heretics for his denial of the phenomenon of prophecy. His most famous book to have survived from that time is the Kitab al-Zumurrud (The Book of the Emerald).
- Ruffa Gutierrez
Sharmaine Ruffa Rama Gutierrez-Bektaş, who is more popularly known simply as Ruffa Gutierrez (born June 24, 1974 in Manila, Philippines), is a Filipina actress, model and former beauty queen. She was Binibining Pilipinas-World 1993 and the Miss World 1993 Second Princess. She is the daughter of 1960s matinee idol Eddie Gutierrez and former actress Anabelle Rama and the older sister of identical twin actors Richard and Raymond Gutierrez.
- Mathieu Kérékou
Mathieu Kérékou, also known as Ahmed Kérékou, (born 2 September 1933) was President of Dahomey/Benin as military dictator from 1972 to 1991. He served again as President, elected democratically, from 1996 to 2001, and was then re-elected in a disputed election to serve 2001 to 2006. Kérékou converted to Islam in 1980. His beliefs prior to this are uncertain. Kérékou later rejected Islam and is now an Evangelical Christian.
- Alexander Bekovich-Cherkassky
Prince Alexander Bekovich-Cherkassky was a Russian officer of Circassian origin who led the first Russian military expedition into Central Asia.
- Abo Of Tiflis
Saint Abo of Tiflis, Abo Tbileli, or Habo Tbileli is a Christian martyr and the Patron Saint of the city of Tbilisi, Georgia. Arab by descent, he grew up Muslim in Baghdad. At the age of seventeen or eighteen, he found himself in Tbilisi, having followed Georgian Prince Nerses, the ruler of Kartli. Nerses, having been slandered before the Caliph, spent three years in confinement; freed by a new Caliph, he took Abo with him.