al-Ma'arri

While his critical poetry led detractors and early Western scholars to characterize him as a deist, freethinker, or one of the "foremost atheists" of his time, this categorization is highly disputed by other scholars and by Al-Ma'arri's own subsequent writings. In his self-defensive treatise Zajr al-Nabeh, al-Ma'arri explicitly affirmed his orthodox Islamic faith - including his belief in the Day of Judgment - and sought refuge in God from claims that his poetry was proof of atheism. In these texts, he clarified that his verses were not a rejection of Islam itself, but rather harsh critiques directed at the corruption of religious scholars, hypocritical practices, and the theological ignorance of his contemporaries.