Ex-Muslims meet in London

A group of those who have had both the good sense and the courage to part company from the dreadful religion of Islam are gathering in London tomorrow for their first international conference.

Among the speakers will be the distinguished biologist and author of The God Delusion Richard Dawkins and the philosopher A C Grayling.

The Council of Ex-Muslims of Britain (CEMB) are calling the conference “Political Islam, Sharia Law and Civil Society”, and it coincides with International Day Against the Death Penalty.

This is a deliberate choice, because apostasy in Islam is punishable by death.

The conference is from 10 till 6 at Conway Hall in London, and speakers, as well as Dawkins and Grayling, include Maryam Namazie, spokesperson for the Council of Ex-Muslims of Britain; the journalist Johann Hari; Caspar Melville, editor of New Humanist; Taslima Nasreen; Terry Sanderson and Keith Porteous Wood of the National Secular Society; the journalst Joan Smith; Hanne Stinson of the British Humanist Association; and the author of Why I Am Not a Muslim Ibn Warraq.

But there are more, and the event includes a comedy act by Nick Doody; the work of a well-known artist; Fitna Remade, the film by Reza Moradi; and Breaking the Taboo by Patty Debonitas.

You can register from 9 a.m. tomorrow, so there’s still time to get a place – £10 for individuals, £40 for statutory organisations and £20 for voluntary-sector representatives.