[5] Speakers ranged from former believers to devout reformers,[3] including Ibn Warraq (the pen name of an ex-Muslim author known for criticism of Islam), Tawfik Hamid (an ex-jihadist, now in hiding), Afshin Ellian (an Iranian refugee under police protection), Irshad Manji (a self-described "radical traditionalist"), Ayaan Hirsi Ali (a former member of the Dutch Parliament), and Hasan Mahmud (director of Shariah at the Muslim Canadian Congress).
[10] Michael Ledeen of the politically conservative American magazine National Review, who attended the summit, described the participants as ex-Muslims and believers, adding, "I think it is no longer possible for people to say there are no reformist (or "moderate") Muslims.
"[11] Arnold Trebach, a professor emeritus of American University's Department of Justice, Law and Society, also mentioned the summit in the Washington Times as "a tiny spark of hope and reason," saying that all must try to protect the lives of the speakers.
[12] On the same weekend as the summit, the south Florida office of the Council on American–Islamic Relations (CAIR), a Muslim advocacy group, met in Fort Lauderdale.
Attendees of the two meetings denounced each other; Ahmed Bedier, who serves as CAIR's Tampa chapter's executive director, dismissed the summit speakers as "atheists and non-Muslims" hostile to Islam.
"[15] Wafa Sultan, who participated in the last panel discussion, accepted an award from the Center for Inquiry, saying that she believed there was no such thing as moderate Islam, a view shared by some, but not all, of the attendees.