About the Book
What if no one's watching?
What if when we're dead
We are just dead?
What if it's just us down here?
What if God is just an idea
Someone put in your head?
- Ani DiFranco
'A book that destroys the cliche of the atheist as joyless rationalist and shows the humanity, love, and concern that often lies behind godless thinking.'
'Like many bright and curious children before and since, kind teachers, books and school provided the young Alom Shaha with a ladder out of inner city poverty and an escape from his abusive, feckless father. But The Young Atheist's Handbook is no anti-Muslim misery memoir. Rather its strength is the way he explores his life and faith scientifically, through a series of thought experiments. From its taboo busting opening, when, in a simple experiment he eats pork for the first time, Alom Shaha's rational exploration of the corrosive power of religious indoctrination is refreshingly down to earth, heartfelt and deeply moving. It combines a raw personal story of his Bangladeshi Muslim background with the understated and carefully researched honesty of a scientist seeking the truth, and of a teacher wanting to free young minds. An inspiring and brave book that speaks for thousands who dare not admit their atheism.'
'Alom Shaha's The Young Atheist's Handbook is moving, heartwarming, and thoughtful ... Many today are despairing, grappling with doubt, or fearful for their lives for wanting to leave Islam and religion. Apostasy is still punishable by death in a number of countries worldwide. Alom's honest journey of why and how he has freed himself from religion's hold will be essential reading for many of them, and it will surely empower and inspire.'
"More than just a great handbook, this is an honest and often very moving story about valuing truth over hope, even in the face of grief."
'Insightful, conversational, intelligent, enlightening, intimate, and just plain eye-opening. Shaha opens his life, his heart, and his mind to us in a compelling journey towards unbelief.'
'Frisbee your skullcap, grill up a bacon sandwich, and enjoy The Young Atheist's Handbook.'
'Alom Shaha has shrugged off the shackles of poverty, racism, and, most of all, religious superstition, to begin to fulfil his potential as a human being. In this wise, compassionate, honest, and often heartbreaking book, he tells of his remarkable journey from a tough inner-city council estate to the rejection of the Islamic beliefs of his Bangladeshi immigrant community. It took a lot of guts to "come out" as a nonbeliever, but Shaha did it to show others who harbour severe doubts about their faith that they are not alone. This is an important and courageous book that needed to be written.'
'Alom's circumstances will be shared by many young people from Muslim backgrounds growing up today. His personal account of his own experiences will be an indispensable source of comfort for them, and a movingly written insight for any reader.'
- Adam Rutherford, science broadcaster
The Young Atheist's Handbook is a book for anyone who thinks about what they should believe, and how they should live their life. It may outrage some, disgust others, but I hope it will inspire and help many more to make up their own minds.
I grew up in a strict Bangladeshi Muslim community in South-East London in the 1970s and 80s. I was expected to go to mosque regularly and recite passages in Arabic from the Quran, without being told what they meant. I spent my teenage years juggling two utterly different worlds: my chaotic, sometimes funny, sometimes tragic family life on a council estate, and that of a student at a privileged private school set amongst the idyllic green playing fields of Dulwich.
In the years since I realized I neither had nor wanted faith in the religious sense, I've spent a lot of time trying to understand the world and how to develop my own moral and ethical compass. The Young Atheist's Handbook is the result of that thinking.
The roots of my beliefs are based not in the religion of my birth but in the science I learned at school and the books I devoured at home. I was lucky to find a way to think for myself about how the world works, about God and faith and doubt, and how to live my life in the best possible way without necessarily being tied down to what my parents, priests or teachers might have told me to believe.
The book is made up of a series of "lessons", which explore religion in the context of knowledge from science and philosophy, as well as ideas from the greatest minds in history. Along the way, I'll tell the story of how I came to question the beliefs that were handed down to me by my parents, how I encountered the ideas that I now hold dear and how I came to define myself as an atheist. Combining factual content with a personal narrative, I've created a handbook for others who, like me, may need the facts and the ideas - and the courage - to break free from the beliefs they have simply inherited, and to decide for themselves what they believe and who they want to be.
The Young Atheist's Handbook will be published at the end of February 2012 in Australia by the lovely people at Scribe Publications and then in the UK in July by Biteback Publishing. It will also be available in a Turkish edition later in 2012. Rights for the US and Canada and other international territories are still available. For any further information, drop me a line or contact my agent Catherine Clarke at the Felicity Bryan Literary Agency.
Check back for updates on the book's progress and for sample chapters.
I love you x
Hi Alom,
Good to see you're still in business! This could be a real moneyspinner: required reading for RE syllabi?
Be interested to skim a few chapters!
Mark
Wow! I was already looking forward to reading this because you are, obviously, quite brilliant and lovely and someone whose opinion I really respect. But, now that some really amazingly cool people have said just how much they have enjoyed and appreciated reading it, I am going to pester you mercilessly until I get a copy.
You know that shape you see out of the corner of your eye sometimes but when you turn around it's gone? That'll be me, pestering you, until I get my copy.
But seriously, this looks amazing. I hope Australia is ready for The Shaha and his pretty turquoise & gold companion. Your baby is beautiful & I can't wait to meet her.
Hi Alom
I want to congratulate you on your journey.
I am really looking forward to the book coming to the UK.
Can I ask, is this going to be available on Kindle?
Many thanks
Lindsey
Thanks Lindsey,
The book will definitely be available on Kindle, yes.
Hi Alom,
I have not read your book but I still attended your event at
Avid Reader, Brisbane - West End – the invitation in the local
Afternoon paper; Mx was sufficiently kind for me to accepted .
I am a believer with Jesus Christ being my God but I am strong enough
in my faith and my belief to enjoy your event. While at the event, I have even
managed to ask a couple of questions regard not being able to stay longer after the
conclusion for singing and more informal talks due to parental responsibilities.
I have just noticed that your interview is going to be played on 19th March on the ABC national
and thought that you might spend more time answering arguing the whole idea of atheism. You might remember my question that I try to recall now. I was asking what is the scientifically based evidence of you not believing God, not stopping at just saying that you do not belief – or that you do not have faith in God. With the other question related to the fact of President of United States reading Publically Psalm at the ann. 9/11 attack.
I would like to think that the matter of God is far more complex that we can imaging but your book certainly brings this into more open public space. I would also dare to think that as a Scientist you would like to explore the other option of Living God or at least something what I refer to as the Reality of God- the secular reality of God.
I provided you with my name and the some more information about me you might find at this on my facebook pages;
Waldemar J. Szydlowski
Dear Waldemar,
Thnaks for taking the time to write. I remember you from the event at the Avid Reader bookshop and I'm sorry I failed to answer your question - I didn't understand it at the time, and I'm not sure if I do now.
If you're asking me what is the scientific evidence for the non-existence of god, then I can only tell you that it is not possible to use science to prove the non-existence of something, it is a philosophical and scientific dead-end.
I agree with you that the matter of god is complex and I hope I have expressed that in my book.
Thank you for your willingness to engage with someone like me - I really admire and appreciate it.
Best wishes,
Alom
Alom
Ive just caught part of your interview on ABC radio and now very much look forward to getting a copy of your book to read. Congratulations on publishing and I hope you enjoy this next phase.
best wishes
Jane.
Thanks Jane. Hope you like the book.
Dear Alom
I heard you with Philip Adams in Perth tonight. I also caught snaches in the car last week when you were on ABC radio. I would just like to welcome you to Autralia and to thank you for writing your delightful book. It is what young people have needed for a long time in order to see that one does not have to be a believer. I wish something like it had been available when I was a kid.
I am looking forward very much to hearing you and seeing you speak live in Melbourne at the convention.
Again, congratutulations on your book. I have a couple of nephews I'll be passing it onto.
(No, I'll buy them each a new copy)
Cheers
Rob
Hi Rob, thanks for getting in touch and for your kind words about my work. Sadly, I'm not attending the Atheist Convention in Melbourne but hope to return to Australia at some time in the near future. I hope your nephews like the book too.
Alom
Now, you have humbled me saying these words:
“Thank you for your willingness to engage with someone like me - I really admire and appreciate it” –
And just updating, ..
Yesterday at my College Saint Frances Theological College I had a Most Wonderful Lecture by Michael Hardin an author of books The Jesus Driven Life co-editor Peace Be With You , Stricken by God; here is his website,
http://www.preachingpeace.org/
..great speaker –
just the other side of the same coin –
God –
and No God, ..
Best Greetings and Regards,
I hope you are all well,
so I wish for you.
Waldemar
Hello, Alom:) I am enjoying your book and have reached P 65 where you imagine C S Lewis 'a bit of a racist'. Having enjoyed all his books and books about his life over 50 or so years, I very much doubt this. Please treat yourself to A.N. Wilson's superb biography of C S Lewis, and then see how you feel:) Thank you for your book. Sincerely, Lesley.
Hi Leslie,
Thanks for taking the time to write. I'm glad you like the book and hope my comment about C.S. Lewis hasn't discouraged you from reading the rest. Like you, I enjoyed the Narnia Chronicles and went on to read a number of his other works including "Surprised by Joy", Mere Christianity" and "The Screwtape Letters". I'll take a look at Wilson's biography - thank you for the recommendation.
Hi Alom
I wanted to thank you for telling your story.
Thank you is not enough for expressing the gratitude I feel. How much I can relate to your story is ridiculous.It is like reading what I have been feeling, the questions I have always been asking and still does, written in a book by someone from across the world.
I was also brought up in a strict Muslim family and I am still struggling with my belief and restraints of my family. I am still asking lots and lots of question (since i just recently feel comfortable to voice it out) and I still have a long way to go. Buying your book and commenting here is somewhat like the baby step of bringing home the bacon for me ( but not quite there yet).
I am from Malaysia but currently living in Australia away from my family (my grand getaway) and I just recently found out and bought your book. It is such a shame I haven't found the book earlier and met you when you were here last month in Brisbane.
Again, I want to say thank you a million times. I would still need to find the courage to make my parents read the book because the book has provided me a way to tell them how I have been feeling.
Many thanks,
Izzati
Hi Izzati,
Thank you for taking the time and trouble to leave a comment. "It is like reading what I have been feeling" is the kind of thing that makes me glad to have written the book.
Best of luck with everything.
Alom
Alom, thank you for writing this book. I have to admit, I wept while reading about your experiences of your mother's death and your brother's illness. Your comments are insightful and I appreciate your honesty in qualifying that the book is not an atheist manifesto, but about your own experiences. I am certain they are stories shared by many of your readers.
I'm an old atheist, Alom (it's called being an assimilated Jew, but that's nonsense). I've got my very intelligent, doubting and questioning 16 yr old granddaughter living with me, and yours is the perfect book to give her. I'm working my way through Spinoza, but she's not there yet. I'll try to get back to you and tell you what she says about your book.
Thank you for taking the time and trouble to leave a message, it's a great way to start my Saturday knowing that someone like you thinks my book is worth sharing with the young people in your life. I really hope your granddaughter likes it and I would love to know what she thinks once she's read it. Have a great weekend.