Muhammed Syed was born in the United States of America and grew up in Pakistan . As a child he had a love for the sciences — mostly Astronomy — and was a big fan of '' Star Wars '' and '' Star Trek '' . He came from a well educated background as both his parents had PhDs and describes his upbringing as " relatively liberal " from which his mother was particularly open minded . He further explained his experiences growing up in a 2016 interview with '' The Humanist '' : " My family is relatively pro-science . I was a Muslim who understood and accepted evolution . " His understanding of evolution came mostly from the book '' Cosmos '' by Carl Sagan , which did not make him question his faith directly but set him on a path to secularism . He moved back to the United States in 2001 , a few months before the September 11 attacks . He later became a software engineer
September 11 attacks
September 11 attacks
Muhammad Syed