...says Wafa Sultan.

This article was from yesterday's LA Times in our local "California" section.  I had heard of Wafa Sultan because of MEMRI.org's video interview on Al Jazeera TV. http://www.memritv.org/search.asp?ACT=S9&P1=1050

If you just want to read the translation: http://memri.org/bin/articles.cgi?Page=archives&Area=sd&ID=SP110706 

Read and see what you think.  At the very least, she can be added to that growing list of ballsy women within the Moderate Islam Movement, or whatever they may call it.

Susan

Islam Fatally Flawed, Says Voice From Corona via Al Jazeera
Wafa Sultan, who tells a tale of terror from Syria, draws lots of Western media attention but not as much from Muslims.
 By Teresa Watanabe
 Times Staff Writer

 March 13, 2006

 She's no longer a Muslim, has never connected with progressive Islamic groups and does not know the writings of Islam's most respected voices of reform.

 So why is Wafa Sultan, a 47-year-old Southern California woman, suddenly in the news as a fresh voice of reason and reform about Islam?

 In a blunt interview on Al Jazeera television last month, Sultan harshly criticized Islam as violent and unfavorably compared Muslims with Jews. In remarks Sunday at her Corona home, Sultan, who said she left the faith after witnessing an act of religious extremism, went even further, saying Islam was beyond repair with teachings that exhorted Muslims to kill non-Muslims, subjugate women and disregard human rights.

"I don't believe you can reform Islam," Sultan said. Saying Islamic scriptures are riddled with violence, misogyny and other extremist ideas, she declared, "Once you try to fix it, you're going to break it."

Sultan's Al Jazeera remarks have been widely circulated by such groups as the Middle East Media Research Institute, a Washington-based translation service founded by a former Israeli colonel, and the American Jewish Congress. She made the New York Times front page and is being plied with interview requests from CNN, Fox, "Good Morning America" and public radio. Her e-mail in-box is filled with messages from well-wishers around the world — mostly non-Muslims — praising her "courage," offering donations and pitching proposals to make a documentary about her life.

"This woman, at great personal risk, has decided to come forward not only in English but also in Arabic to discuss what's wrong with Islam and the Muslim world," said Allyson Rowen Taylor of the American Jewish Congress, which has invited her to visit Israel. "She blames the mullahs and clerics for distorting the teachings of the Koran for 14 centuries and speaks about the anger and despair of fellow Muslims."

But the flurry of interest among non-Muslims contrasts oddly with the near silence among Muslims themselves, many of whom say she is a largely unknown figure not causing any particular stir.

 "I haven't come across any indication that people are discussing her," said Abdulaziz Sachedina, a University of Virginia Islamic studies professor who was blacklisted eight years ago by Iraqi Ayatollah Ali Sistani for his reformist ideas that women were equal to men and all Abrahamic faiths were equally respectable. "Cyberspace is almost silent."

He said he first heard of her a few weeks ago, when the American Jewish Congress sent him an e-mail with a link to her Al Jazeera interview, which was translated from Arabic into English by the Middle East Media Research Institute. Sachedina said he agreed with some of her remarks, including her criticism that too many Muslim rulers fail to protect human rights. But he objected to what he called her "vilification" of the entire tradition.

Other Muslims questioned why groups outside the faith were so avidly promoting a non-Muslim to criticize Islam, a practice that has occurred before and is a sore spot in the Islamic community, particularly since many respected Muslims also advocate change.

"Reform is alive and well within Islam, but it will only happen by those from within Islam and not those who hate Islam," said Hussam Ayloush, who heads the Southern California chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations.

Some Muslims, however, have embraced at least part of Sultan's message. Ani Zonneveld of the Progressive Muslim Union in Los Angeles, who has been fighting to gain wider acceptance of female musicians in Islam, said she put the link to Sultan's Al Jazeera interview on her personal website, under the title "Wafa Sultan Rocks!" But Zonneveld said Sultan's critiques were not new. Plenty of practicing Muslims, including Zonneveld, have been outspoken in criticizing the way some Muslims interpret their tradition's teachings on women, human rights and interfaith relations, she said.

Sultan herself says she's making a difference. In her interview Sunday, she said growing numbers of Muslims were getting in touch with her to discuss her views. That's a sign, she believes, that she is causing them to rethink their tradition.

"I am trying to push them to doubt their teachings," she said. "My message is effective, and it's doing the job I want it to."

A Syrian native, Sultan said she walked away from the faith of her family 27 years ago, when she witnessed the murder of her professor by members of the Muslim Brotherhood, an extremist organization then battling the Syrian government. She said the men burst into her classroom at the University of Aleppo in northern Syria, where she was a medical student, and gunned him down, screaming, "Allah is great!"

"That was the turning point of my life," she said. "I was traumatized. I lost faith in God — or their God — and started to question every single teaching of ours."

She said that, a decade later, after practicing medicine in Syria, she and her husband moved to the United States, where she initially worked as a cashier and studied English at Cal State Long Beach. Today, the couple have three children. Her husband, David, runs an automotive smog-check station. She said she is waiting for acceptance into a residency program before she can be fully certified to practice psychiatry here.

But Sultan said her prime passion has always been speaking out about Islam, something she finally had the freedom to do after arriving in the United States. She began writing regular columns for a local Arabic-language newspaper. Five years ago, she began contributing to a website,  http://www.annaqed.com , after the Arabic reference to "the critic."

The Sept. 11 terrorist attacks brought her critiques new audiences. Last year, she began appearing on Al Jazeera, the world's most popular Arabic-language television network. Her appearance last month, however, attracted particular attention because she praised Jews for working hard to rebuild their community after the Holocaust, favorably comparing it to violent reactions by Muslims to their plights, whether in response to satirical Danish cartoons or subjugation in the Palestinian territories.

She said she has received death threats and been accused by Muslims of pandering to Christians and Jews with her critiques of Islam.

But Sultan insists that her motives are pure. "I am not against Muslim people," she said. "They are my people. I am just trying to change their mentality and their behavior."

 

     
“Half a truth is often a great lie.”

Ben Franklin

It's been said by smarter people than me that Islam hasn't yet gone through the intellectual/humanistic revolution that Christianity and Judaism have.  At the back of my mind I've supposed that this revolution was still to come for Islam, and that maybe the turbulence within it now was a birthing pain of sorts.  But perhaps the same kinds of revolutions don't happen over and over again, and my expectation is just a facile assumption...

If Islam is evolving at an accelerated pace, there's no guarantee that a leavening sense of compromise is part of the package.  I suppose from a dialectic point of view, the opposite is what's required (and inevitable).  What Islam revolutionizes into will probably not be what most observers had anticipated.

Either way, I plan to submerge my intellect in a steady stream of movies and videogames from now on, so that hopefully I won't be compelled to give any further consideration to geopolitics and international relations.

Full respect to this ballsy woman. I think she's very brave indeed.

Honestly though, I just can't see Islam reforming itself. if there is a progressive movement it would seem to be less active now than at any point in my lifetime. I remember growing up in the 1970s, my cousins in Iran (or Persia as it was known then) enjoyed a very modern, liberal upbringing. I can't remember any of my cousins being religious, let alone actually seeing a woman wearing a burkha in Tehran. Infact, according to my uncle, he grew up in a mostly secular society under the former Shah - where Islam seemed to sit quite happily alongside Christianity, Zoroastrianism and other, more ancient Persian traditions. That was way back in the 1970's and boy how far have things regressed ever since? Iran has exchanged one corrupt leader who favoured the West, for a whole hierachy of corrupt mullahs and imans who seem intent on returning to the dark ages with stonings, public floggings and the like. Corruption is endemic at almost all levels of local and central government and well, you know the rest.

x-ray
if your back's against the wall, turn around and write on it...

A little off subject but not way off -- but have any of you read the Persepolis graphic novels? I read the first two and I believe there is now a third.

Point is, the author grew up in one such Persian home as you seem to describe, Ray. Born in 1970, she describes being a schoolgirl during the Revolution and the day the girls had to start wearing a veil to school. Pretty funny segment on how the children adjusted to the "new" style. Eventually she is sent to Europe and spends time during the Iran-Iraq war growing into a teenager. Then she returns to Iran. And now she lives in Paris!

Iran is a singular and unique place -- how Iran goes will be pivotal in how the Middle East goes. EVENTUALLY. It's always seemed to me that its combined recent history of revolution and theocracy along with educated (lots and lots of 'em too!) young people bodes poorly for the mullahs and the devolved Ahmadinejad. But we shall see. This one won't take centuries to sort itself out, I don't think. Oh, and did I leave out the oil factor? And the internet access?

Whither Islam in the mix?

I agree with Jamie that the old saw about Islam not having completed its development quirks (or however its expressed) is a pretty inadequate explanation.

But with the vocal female apostates such as Ayaan Ali Hirsi and Wafa Sultan and others like the Canadian writer, Irshad Manji, who are trying to stay within the faith -- something's bound to give. Then you have the recently MURDERED Al Aribya journalist, Atwar Bahjat, who was half Suni-half Shiite, but totally shot to death moments after covering the story of the bombed Golden Mosque. I'm grimly optimistic but not for the short term. I have a feeling that the faith will have to morph into something very very removed from its present worldwide state in order to survive and in order for the rest of us to live our lives in what is traditionally described as "peace."

I've heard that Salman Rushdie's latest novel on Kashmir does a fine job of describing the intractibility factor. Shalimar the Clown. Anyone read it?

Susan

     
“Half a truth is often a great lie.”

Ben Franklin

Guess no one's read either book but I hope some of you do!

Here's an article which I think may belong on this thread. A conundrum out of Afghanistan. Karzai will be in a difficult position here. If he "makes an example" of Rahman and allows the execution, Karzai will be attacked (one would hope at least) by international human rights organizations and Western countriees. If he allows one man to live as an apostate and to defy sharia, how will the courts and the Afghani people react? Furthermore what might message might be sent to other in-the-closet Christians if this man is exonerated? What is the middle road in this situation? Is there one???

However it goes, chalk another one up on the Great Big Massive Cajones column for this brave man! 

Afghan Man Faces Execution After Converting to Christianity
By Benjamin Sand
Kabul
18 March 2006


An Afghan man who recently admitted he converted to Christianity faces the death penalty under the country's strict Islamic legal system. The trial is a critical test of Afghanistan's new constitution and democratic government.

The case is attracting widespread attention in Afghanistan, where local media are closely monitoring the landmark proceedings.

Abdul Rahman, 40, was arrested last month, accused of converting to Christianity.

Under Afghanistan's new constitution, minority religious rights are protected but Muslims are still subject to strict Islamic laws.

And so, officially, Muslim-born Rahman is charged with rejecting Islam and not for practicing Christianity.

Appearing in court earlier this week Rahman insisted he should not be considered an infidel, but admitted he is a Christian.

He says he still believes in the almighty Allah, but cannot say for sure who God really is. "I am," he says, "a Christian and I believe in Jesus Christ."

Rahman reportedly converted more than 16 years ago after spending time working in Germany.

Officials say his family, who remain observant Muslims, turned him over to the authorities.

On Thursday the prosecution told the court Rahman has rejected numerous offers to embrace Islam.

Prosecuting attorney Abdul Wasi told the judge that the punishment should fit the crime.

He says Rahman is a traitor to Islam and is like a cancer inside Afghanistan. Under Islamic law and under the Afghan constitution, he says, the defendant should be executed.

The court has ordered a delay in the proceedings to give Rahman time to hire an attorney.

Under Afghan law, once a verdict is given, the case can be appealed twice to higher courts.

This is the first case in which the defendant has admitted to converting and is refusing to back down, even while facing the death penalty.

If convicted, the case could ultimately force President Hamid Karzai's direct intervention.

The president would have to sign the papers authorizing Rahman's execution, a move that could jeopardize Mr. Karzai's standing with human rights groups and Western governments.

So far, President Karzai has not commented on the case.

But political analysts here in Kabul say he will be under significant pressure from the country's hard-line religious groups to make an example of Rahman.

     
“Half a truth is often a great lie.”

Ben Franklin

This thread is well titled. This fatality issue as exemplified by this case is step one in any moderation of Islam. Seems crazy that such a case is for real in 2006. I suppose hope springs eternal for progress in the changing of Islam.  The rule of Sharia law has got to go. This case shows what true seperation of church and state can be. I understand why folks think Islam cannot be moderated.

I wouldn't expect much from the international peace groups here . Islamists usually get a pass from these groups. Any reaction by the groups will be perfunctory and fleeting and half hearted. It's all about panties being used to "torture" folks at Guantanamo with them.  IMO. We shall see.

I'm currently reading a litle book written in the early 1900s (I think it was about 1920), in which the author (a minister) is writing about the problems of Islam. It was written specifically written to help convert Muslims to Christianity (so keep that in mind), but it's interesting to read this book discussing some of the same things that we've discussed here, but before political correctness and before 9/11. It takes a long hard gaze at the life of Muhammed and how his visions came to be, and the difficulties he had "pushing" his new religion into the Arab world (who pretty much believed in idol worship at the time).

According to the author, Muhammed originally said that his way was the correct way but that people could choose between his religion or Christianity or Judaism or any other, and that wasn't a big deal. It was very much a personal choice - much like how Christianity and Judaism view religion - but that Islam was the most purest form. But as Muhammed came across more and more oppoisition, he said that Mihael or Gabriel (forget which archangel) told him that it was time to start demainding that peopl convert to the "truth" or be killed.

I haven't picked up for a week, but it's been an interested read thus far.  

Jordan .

We are after all people of the book and the God of Abraham. All recognizing Gabriel ( my son's name ). That idea that Gabriel would suggest killing any who refuse Islam flies in the face of all else recounted about the Archangel. Atheists would say Mohammed had eaten something that disagreed with him and came up with that vision if the account is true. And they could be right. Of course our Atheist friends would chalk up all the religious story to hallucination, again I suppose they could be right, although I don't think so. Notice I say atheist friends and I am sincere as are most Christians and Jews regarding those who don't ascribe . No call for persecution, discrmination, let alone death to non beleivers.

I suppose it comes down to Rodney King and his heartfelt question " Can't we all just get along? " Notice Hindis and Buddists and Taoists don't call for death to nonbeleivers. Seems it is only fundy Islamists. And that is the first and most agregious tenant of the Islamists. The US forefathers knew religious law and civil law don't mix. Hopefully enlightened Muslim leaders will express the same idea. I wish I could bet on it.

The way I understand it is this -- Jesus and Moses were prophets like Mohammed. BUT, Mohammed got the TRUE word directly from God. He wasn't just scribbling thoughts divinely inspired. These words came directly from God's lips to Mohammed's ears, so to speak. And then they were transcribed.

Hence the lack of wiggle room when it comes to "interpretation." God said it and that's that. You can't go saying, that's not exactly what God meant.

Since there is that pesky bit about God's law being preeminent over civil law (man's law) as part and parcel of Islam, the notion of Sharia is rather inescapable.

Had Mohammed not died when he did, perhaps things would have been clarified a bit more. But instead following his demise, the split within Islam, between the Mecca and Medina groups, commenced almost immediately and here we are today.

Yes, there the Koran describes "people of the book" as Christians or Jews who are supposed to be tolerated.  Once they pay their humiliation tax.  A Syrian Christian I met not long ago told me that the poorest people succumbed to Islam since they couldn't afford the extra tax money.  In their case, it was the sword or the word and most went with the word.  Centuries later you have widespread Islam but not a lot of co-existing People of the Book living among them.  Hmmmm... 

In 1772 a Muslim scholar in Cairo was asked how Jews and Christians should be  treated. The answer is found in this selection, issued four years before the American  Declaration of Independence. This answer is not law, but only the opinion of a  conservative Muslim. The opinion is in Arabic. 

Bada bing...Father Guido Sarducci's 1-minute Islam 101! Class adjourned!

Susan

     
“Half a truth is often a great lie.”

Ben Franklin

Susan - that's a fair description (your first paragraph) of how Moses, Jesus and Muhammed is viewed. There's another caveat and that is that scribes with their own agenda changed the Scriptures making them more impure. Thus Muhammed was given the law to set straight what the Jews and Christians had distorted. The thing that's always bothered me is that if Muslims view the same people that Jews and Christians view as prophets, then why the huge hatred? It's not like Jews vs Christians in which one side says a guy is a prophet/Son of God and the other does not. Muslims actually admit that were prophets, which then seems to lend some credibility to Jews and Christian beliefs except that in this case these groups are demonized maybe even moreso than any other infidel. Of course, I know the reason, but I think it's ironic that Islam holds both men up as great prophets and yet declare that their followers should be killed for not converting to Islam.

Jordan .

You've said it before, Jordan, and I think it's true. It's too bad we don't have any Muslim members to make this dialogue more meaningful. I'd be interested in that take even though it seems that it's tough to pin down with accuracy given the many clerics with just about as many opinions.

Here's another fatal flaw. It's bad enough to read about in Pakistan but even more so when in European countries such as Germany.

Susan

Thousands of Pakistani women face charges under Islamic laws

Islamabad: Nearly 80 percent of the more than 6,000 women and girls on trial in Pakistan are facing charges under the controversial "Hudood" Islamic laws that mainly deal with crimes of adultery and rape, said a human rights report published on Monday.

The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) report also noted an increase in the killings of women in the name of honour, Daily Times reported. Most such killings targetted women and girls who contracted marriages against family's will.

Human rights and civil-society organisations are demanding repeal of the "Hudood" laws that were introduced by late military dictator Zia-ul-Haq in 1979, to gain support of Muslim clerics for his rule.

President General Pervez Musharraf, who seized power in a military coup in October 1999, has called on religious scholars to review the strict Islamic laws that are considered highly discriminatory against women.

The report quoted the findings of the government's National Commission on Status of Women, which said that 50 percent of the inmates of a government-run shelter house for women, called "Darul Amin", were implicated under "Hudood" laws.

The commission has suggested repeal of the laws, while the hardline Islamists, including the six-party politico-religious alliance of Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal, strongly oppose any change.

The HRCP has accused policemen of frequently violating the legal restrictions on keeping women overnight at police stations, saying that young girls are held in various jails despite a ban on holding them alongside adult criminals.

International organisations estimate that up to 90 percent of Pakistani women face domestic abuse. HRCP data showed that 96 cases of women suffering from severe burns had been reported between November 2004 and August 2005.

Similarly, 538 women and young girls were reported kidnapped during the same period.

The HRCP also found that 311 female suicide cases and 299 attempted suicides were reported in 2005.

Maybe these will help Abdul Rahman :

Petition for Abdul :(you can forget the "giveaways" at the end )

http://www.petitionspot.com/petitions/Rahman

and/or Embassy of Afganistan :    Ambassador Said T. Jawad
                                                                 Embassy of Afghanistan
                                                                 2341 Wyoming Avenue, NW
                                                                Washington, DC 20008
                                                            info@embassyofafghanistan.org

Well then, Gavin, I suppose it's time again for you to post one of your progressive college term papers on "The Many Deceits of Evil Christianity" (with footnotes). It's been awhile, you know.

Is Wafa Sultan, the author of the title "Islam Fatally Flawed" some ignoramus who knows nothing of Islam in your glorious informed opinion? If you had read more carefully, you'd have noticed that this discussion took place on Al Jazeera, not the 700 Club. But then your glib predictable retorts might not fit so well, had you greater reading comprehension.

Always a pleasure to read your thoughtful enlightening posts with their persuasive (and progressive) arguments. Always good to know their are forces of TRUTH out there for us poor souls so lacking in that which Gavin possesses in spades.

Susan

PS Poll time: Who watches the 700 Club???? I wouldn't know where to find it! Anybody?

I've a sneaky feeling Gavin may be the only one around here who does. Gotta keep a watchful eye on the grave threat of Christianity that is taking over the USA, huh?

Did something just disappear into thin air?  Swept up in the rapture?  Wha' happened.  I dreamed I read something that I responded to and then suddenly... poof!  It vanished.   

     
“Half a truth is often a great lie.”

Ben Franklin

Yes, wha happened? I'm waiting for the progressive defense of Extremist Sharia law, the Taliban and Fundy Islamists. What a joke.

Although one must admit that calling the Right Wing the "Wrong Wing " is pregnant with the most clever political satire I 've ever heard.

Have you considered the possibility that Gavin was summarily deleted for his cutting edge progressive views by some malevolent fascist force, Raymond?  I'm not naming annnnnnnny names, but you in-house fundies know who you are. 

It's an outrage I tell you! 

Susan 

     
“Half a truth is often a great lie.”

Ben Franklin

Incidentally, it looks like the way Afghanistan is going to get away with not executing the guy who converted to Christianity is by proclaiming him insane. The part of me that's still 16 years old and reading Bertrand Russell books is laughing my ass off.

For the record and before anyone accuses of doing something bad against Gavin - Gavin's post (and new usernames) were deleted because Gavin keeps signing up under different users and posting under those users.

For all the times I've had to read Gavin's College Essay Du Jour either complaining about the evils of Christianity or the evils of Conservatives or Republicans, it's hilarious to see him complain about this thread. In fact, I bet some of Gavin's own anti-Christian posts could be titled "Christianity Fatally Flawed." Wasn't the Christmas-Jesus'-birth-story basically that anyway? But as always, Gavin is the only one who has the truth.

Jordan .

Tom Tomorrow is hilarious! I don't think the bird is right though.  It's not that we men in suits and ties believe that the birds want sharia law.  It is rather that we feel they underestimate the threat of Islamism and overestimate the threat of Bushism.

Now, back on topic.  More of that 700 Club Christian "wrong-winger" type discussing the Fatal Flaws of Islam.  You may watch the video or read the following transcript.  It's from Dubai.  Remember Dubai???  Pretty interesting type of Arabic Charlie Rose show but promising that such discussions are televised. All things considered, this is but one seed, but I hope it and others like it are tenderly nurtured. 

Susan 

March 22, 2006     No.1121

    Renowned Syrian Poet "Adonis": The Arabs are Extinct, Like the Sumerians, Greeks, and Pharaohs; If the Arabs are So Inept They Cannot Be Democratic, External Intervention Will Not Make Them So

The poet Ali Ahmad Sa'id (b. 1930), known by his pseudonym "Adonis," a 2005 candidate for the Nobel Prize for Literature, left his native Syria for Lebanon in the 1950s following six months' imprisonment for political activity. In 1973, he received his Ph.D. from St. JosephUniversity in Beirut; in 1985, he settled in Paris, where he now works as a writer and literary critic. Among other occupations, he has edited the modernist magazine Mawaqif (Viewpoints), and translated some of the great French poets into Arabic.

The following are excerpts from an interview with Syrian poet "Adonis," aired on Dubai TV on March 11, 2006.

TO VIEW THIS CLIP: http://www.memritv.org/search.asp?ACT=S9&P1=1076.

Adonis: "Words are treated as a crime today. Throughout history, there has never been anything similar to what's happening today in our Arab society - when you say a word, it is like committing a crime."

Interviewer: "True."

Adonis: "Words and opinions are treated as a crime. This is inconceivable."

Interviewer: "You can be arrested for writing an article."

Adonis: "That's one example."

[...]

"In the Koran itself, it says that Allah listened to his first enemy, Satan, and Satan refused to obey him. I believe that Allah was capable of wiping out Satan, yet He listened to Satan's refusal to obey Him.

"At the very least, we demand that Muslims today listen to people with different opinions."

[...]

Interviewer: "How do you view the plan for democracy, the 'Greater Middle East' plan?"

Adonis: "First of all, I oppose any external intervention in Arab affairs. If the Arabs are so inept that they cannot be democratic by themselves, they can never be democratic through the intervention of others.

"If we want to be democratic, we must be so by ourselves. But the preconditions for democracy do not exist in Arab society, and cannot exist unless religion is reexamined in a new and accurate way, and unless religion becomes a personal and spiritual experience, which must be respected.

"On the other hand, all issues pertaining to civil and human affairs must be left up to the law and to the people themselves."

Interviewer: "Mr. Adonis, how do you view the democracy in Palestine, which brought Hamas to power?"

Adonis: "I support it, but I oppose the establishment of any state on the basis of religion, even if it's done by Hamas."

Interviewer: "Even if it liberates Palestine?"

Adonis: "Yes, because in such a case, it would be my duty to fight this religious state."

[…]

Interviewer: "What are the reasons for growing glorification of dictatorships - sometimes in the name of pan-Arabism, and other times in the name of rejecting foreigners? The glorification comes even from the elites, as can be seen, for example, in the Saddam Hussein trial, and in all the people who support him."

Adonis: "This phenomenon is very dangerous, and I believe it has to do with the concept of 'oneness,' which is reflected - in practical or political terms - in the concept of the hero, the savior, or the leader. This concept offers an inner sense of security to people who are afraid of freedom. Some human beings are afraid of freedom."

Interviewer: "Because it is synonymous with anarchy?"

Adonis: "No, because being free is a great burden. It is by no means easy."

Interviewer: "You've got to have a boss..."

Adonis: "When you are free, you have to face reality, the world in its entirety. You have to deal with the world's problems, with everything..."

Interviewer: "With all the issues..."

Adonis: "On the other hand, if we are slaves, we can be content and not have to deal with anything. Just as Allah solves all our problems, the dictator will solve all our problems."

[...]

"I don't understand what is happening in Arab society today. I don't know how to interpret this situation, except by making the following hypothesis: When I look at the Arab world, with all its resources, the capacities of Arab individuals, especially abroad - you will find among them great philosophers, scientists, engineers, and doctors. In other words, the Arab individual is no less smart, no less a genius, than anyone else in the world. He can excel - but only outside his society. I have nothing against the individuals - only against the institutions and the regimes.

"If I look at the Arabs, with all their resources and great capacities, and I compare what they have achieved over the past century with what others have achieved in that period, I would have to say that we Arabs are in a phase of extinction, in the sense that we have no creative presence in the world."

Interviewer: "Are we on the brink of extinction, or are we already extinct?"

Adonis: "We have become extinct. We have the quantity. We have the masses of people, but a people becomes extinct when it no longer has a creative capacity, and the capacity to change its world."

[...]

"The great Sumerians became extinct, the great Greeks became extinct, and the Pharaohs became extinct. The clearest sign of this extinction is when we intellectuals continue to think in the context of this extinction."

Interviewer: "That is very dangerous."

Adonis: "That is our real intellectual crisis. We are facing a new world with ideas that no longer exist, and in a context that is obsolete. We must sever ourselves completely from that context, on all levels, and think of a new Arab identity, a new culture, and a new Arab society."

[...]

"Imagine that Arab societies had no Western influence. What would be left? The Muslims must..."

Interviewer: "What would be left?"

Adonis: "Nothing. Nothing would be left except for the mosque, the church, and commerce, of course."

[...]

"The Muslims today - forgive me for saying this - with their accepted interpretation [of the religious text], are the first to destroy Islam, whereas those who criticize the Muslims - the non-believers, the infidels, as they call them - are the ones who perceive in Islam the vitality that could adapt it to life. These infidels serve Islam better than the believers."
 

     
“Half a truth is often a great lie.”

Ben Franklin

Can GDC please come back ? If he stops the subtrefuge of sneaky multiple identities, can he return? We do need his enlightened, logical input.

Perhaps the multiple personna are an indication of dissociative personality. Is it fair to hold that involutary quirk against him ? 

(Serious Note:I am not making fun of dissociative disorders in and of themselves - they are a real medical concern.)

Jordan .

It's looking like Rahman is between a rock and a hard place. Even if the government "allows" him be an out-of-the-closet Christian, the people may tear him limb from limb like Mel Gibson in Braveheart sans CGI effects! This article claims that Afghanis are 99% Muslim. That makes for 1% "other" who must be watching this case very closely.

     
“Half a truth is often a great lie.”

Ben Franklin

Yes, the good news keeps coming too! One man whose family turned him in for being a Christian is allowed to walk away from a death penalty because there was "insufficient evidence" (his "confession" beingn insufficent) to prove the capital crime of leaving Islam for Christianity!

Elsewhere in the Muslim world, a Frenchman "reverts" to Islam in spite of the possible reprecussions for his religious choices.

I have to look up this term "revert" and its relation to Islam. is it just another way of saying "convert" or does "revert" have greater meaning. Such as returning to the truth and not simply making one choice or another. I'll find out.

Susan

French Coach Troussier Reverts to Islam

RABAT, March 24, 2006 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies)

"I want to keep my feelings for myself," said Troussier.

Famed French soccer coach Philippe Troussier and his wife Dominique have reverted to Islam in the Moroccan capital where they live, sources close to the couple confirmed Thursday, March 23.

"Troussier is no longer Philippe, he has taken the name Omar and his wife is no longer Dominique but Amina," the French-Moroccan daily L'Opinion reported Thursday.

A source close to the couple confirmed the reversion to Agence France-Presse (AFP), adding that the ceremony took place last Friday.

The widely-travelled Troussier, 51, is former coach of the Moroccan national team and French club Marseille.

He also had spells in charge of South Africa, Nigeria, Ivory Coast, Burkina Faso, Qatar and Japan, whom he guided to the second round of the 2002 World Cup.

"Wonderful Surprise"

L'Opinion hailed the reversion as "a magnificent and wonderful surprise."

"Welcome Omar and Amina to the Kingdom of the All Powerful, the Kingdom of the Truth," it wrote.

"As Muslims we are happy to see such a strong and well recognized personality as Philippe Troussier become part of this religion of peace and tolerance."

The newspaper added that when contacted Troussier said he "did not want to elaborate too much on the subject."

"I want to keep my feelings for myself," Troussier was quoted as saying, adding: "as you see things evolve ..."

The Moroccan Evening newspaper reported that the couple have adopted two local girls Selma and Mariam.

Thousands of French revert to Islam every year in France, but not all of them declare their new faith outright, fearing discrimination at home or work and a stereotypical view that reverts tilt towards extremism, according to recent studies and surveys.

Anelka, who played for Paris Saint-Germain, Arsenal, Real Madrid, Liverpool and Manchester City, eventually had to leave for the Turkish league after increasing harassment.

Some imams in France have ruled that it was permissible for new reverts to conceal their faith if they feared rejection from family members and colleagues or security harassment.

Many Arabs and Muslims were even forced to change their names and hide their roots to spare themselves police and employers' discrimination.

A Sorbonne research released earlier in the year by the French Observatory Against Racism found that Arab names and dark complexion represent an obstacle to jobseekers.

France is home to some six to seven million Muslims, the largest Muslim minority in Europe.

     
“Half a truth is often a great lie.”

Ben Franklin