to earn a doctorate degree from the famous Al-Azhar University and was given a teaching position. I had several friends and students in my classes who were active in jihad. Personally I preferred to focus on the peaceful side of Islam, but I was unable to ignore the violent side I saw in the Quran and Islamic history. This inner struggle ultimately led me to question the basis of my faith, for which I was arrested and tortured by the Egyptian secret police. Another important part of my story is that