Joram van Klaveren: The Book That Reversed Its Purpose
Joram van Klaveren did not begin his research wanting to draw closer to Islam. A former Dutch MP for the Freedom party, he had helped shape rhetoric that sought to ban mosques, the Qur’an and Islamic schools. Raised in a devout Protestant family, he left the party in 2014 when he believed its message was shifting from religious criticism towards ethnic targeting.
After leaving politics, he set out to write a book that would give his former positions a theoretical foundation. Yet his commitment to factual accuracy confronted him with evidence that did not fit his earlier picture. New questions emerged, so he contacted Muslim scholars, among them Abdal Hakim Murad. He expected to be ignored because of his political past; instead, Murad replied at length, recommended books and directed him to other scholars.
Van Klaveren already had doubts about Christian doctrines including the Trinity, Christ’s sacrifice and original sin. His investigation of Islam therefore became a search for God. The prophethood of Muhammad was the final obstacle he identified. He studied the Prophet’s life and character for months until, he said, he became convinced that Muhammad was truly God’s messenger.
On 26 October 2018, Van Klaveren pronounced the shahada at his publisher’s home, as recounted in his NRC interview. He also described accepting Muhammad’s prophethood after believing in one God, and a night when some old aversion remained before disappearing the next morning, when he told his wife and mother. His Islam became public on 4 February 2019; the project of refutation became Apostate, the book explaining his journey. [V4, V2, V1]
Reversing his earlier message carried a cost. In a later interview, he said he received more than 2,000 death threats, some directed at his wife and children. Asked about his past, he said he felt ashamed of what he had said. His subsequent work sought to counter misconceptions he had helped create: he joined a foundation introducing people to Islam and later helped establish a centre aimed at promoting empathy.
In 2024, he recalled his bookshelf collapsing and his eye falling on a translated Quranic passage about blindness of the heart, which he connected with his own condition. Studying the Prophet’s life and character had occupied him for months; in his earlier account, he described that study as removing his last objection to prophethood. [V2, V3]
His practical advice to new Muslims was to bring their family along in the journey so the shock would not be too great, to preserve close relationships and to move slowly. He also urged Muslims to answer misconceptions through conduct, education and clear institutions, not argument alone.
His story shows how a project begun to refute a faith can change its author when he allows the evidence to revise his premises. It also suggests that acknowledging error is not completed by a new declaration alone; it brings responsibility for the effects of one’s earlier words. [V2, V3]
Sources
- NOS — 2019 announcement and direct Dutch interviews
- The Muslim Vibe — detailed first-person interview, 26 January 2021
- The Guardian — independent follow-up interview, 4 April 2024
- NPO Radio 1 — contemporaneous review of his developing views, 8 February 2019
- NRC · Sheila Kamerman / Hanina Ajarai · 2019-02-04