Joram Van Klaveren is known in the Netherlands as a former lawmaker in the Party of Freedom which was led by Dutch anti-Islam populist Geert Wilders. And like Mr. Wilders, Mr. Van Klaveren was fiercely critical of the Islamic faith — so much so that he had planned to write a book about his anti-Islamic convictions but during the research period, something odd happened. He realized he had more in common with Islam than he originally thought.
Van Klaveren, who was brought up Protestant, tells the Daily Mail: “I looked at the Bible on my bookshelf, on the table were books about the Prophet Muhammad. The prior years I had a big aversion to Islam. When you then have to conclude that you were wrong, it is not a fun moment. But while searching for God I always felt a certain unease. And that slowly disappeared. It felt a bit like coming home in a religious way.”
Mohamed Ben Hammouch, chairman of the book’s publishing house, says “With this book, we hope to contribute to getting rid of the many misconceptions about Islam and prevent polarization in our society.”
