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Mustafa Akyol knows the problems with apostasy laws better than most. In 2017 the Turkish thinker was supposed to be a guest lecturer in Malaysia. Yet, when he finished his trip, he was approached by Malaysian government agents and detained for 18 hours on the order of agents of the Federal Territory Islamic Affairs Department. His lecture had run up against the Malaysian state's apostasy laws though he was formally charged with teaching religion without a permit.

Despite his ordeal, Akyol continues to speak well of the country and trivializes his experience in comparison with that of others in who face similar accusations in certain Muslim-majority countries.

Malaysian authorities were particularly incensed by his use of the Quranic phrase "la ikraha fiddin." The phrase, which can be translated as "there is no compulsion in religion," is often cited as an example of religious tolerance found within Islam's holiest text. Indeed, a reexamination of authoritative sources based on reason is at the heart of Akyol's new book: "Reopening Muslim Minds: A Return to Reason, Freedom, and Tolerance."

Akyol rose to international prominence on the strengths of his work as a columnist in his native Turkey, where he combined his interests in Sunni Islamic thought and classical liberalism. Today he is both a fellow of the Cato Institute in Washington, D.C., and a New York Times contributing opinion writer.

"This book, to some extent, grows out of disappointment with what happened in the Middle East over the past decade, including the failure of the Arab Spring, which saw an Islamic supremacist ideology gain prominence with groups like ISIS and at the same time an authoritarian retreatment such as in Egypt," Akyol told Religion News Service. "This was unfortunate for those of us concerned about freedom in the Muslim world but, I also realized, there was a growing ethical gap within some puritan tradition of Islam in particular and wanted to look deeper into the sources."

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