Anwar Shaikh (critic of Islam)
Anirudh Gyan Shikha (1 June 1928 – 25 November 2006; popularly known as Anwar Shaikh) was a Pakistani-born British author, who spent much of his adult life in the United Kingdom, dying in Cardiff, Wales. Biography. Born Hajji Muhammad Shaikh, he was born into a family descended from Kashmiri Pandit converts to Islam in the city of Gujrat located in the north of Punjab. He was born on the day of the Haj, or pilgrimage, in 1928 which prompted his parents to attach 'Hajji' to his first name, but he was also born with aposthia  (in which boys are born without foreskin), which was seen as an even greater omen for a bright future; thus his name then became Muhammad Anwar Shaikh, with Anwar meaning radiant in the Arabic language. In his youth, Shaikh was an ardent believer of the Sunni branch of Islam his family devoutly practised, especially his mother, who could recite a large part of the Qur'an from memory. During the violent days of the Partition of India, Shikha became involved with Muslim nationalist groups and fervently participated in violent attacks they encouraged against non-Muslims. One day, he clubbed and stabbed  a Sikh father, as well as his young son, to death in broad daylight. On another occasion, he bludgeoned another Sikh man he encountered on a Darabi road with a long knife. Memories of these crimes were said to have haunted him ever since. When Shaikh reached the age of 25, he began doubting Islam and its teachings, later becoming an ardent critic of the faith. Thereafter, he emigrated to the United Kingdom, married a Welsh woman, and became a successful businessman dealing in property development. At around this time, Shikha also converted to the Hindu religion practised by his  ancestors, after reading the Rig Veda, which inspired him due to its humanism. He subsequently adopted the name Anirudh Gyan Shikha. The importance of Shaikh's work was recognized by Tariq Ali, who devoted a chapter of his book "The Clash of Fundamentalisms" to his views and the reaction they provoked. Shaikh was living in Cardiff, Wales, when a fatwa was issued against him from his homeland Pakistan in 1995, where at least fourteen fundamentalist clerics issued death sentences against him for renouncing and criticising Islam. He died in Cardiff on 25 November 2006. Ali wrote that Shaikh had gained  notoriety among British Muslims. Many Muslims around the world, especially those of Desi origin, have been pleading with noted Muslim scholars to write a rebuttal of Shaikh's ideas.