|
2006-05-12
|
|
Sultan Renews Isl=
am
Critique — in English Psychiatrist, wri=
ter
and activist Dr. Wafa Sultan, a Syrian expatr=
iate
and “American-by-choice,” has become one of the most famous
Muslim heretics in modern times. And she did it in a thoroughly modern wa=
y condeming Islam during two television apperances,
the most recent on Feb. 21, on Arab television network al-Jazeera.
In her televised
comments, in Arabic, she called the “clash” between Islam and=
the
West “a clash between civilization and backwardness, between the
civilized and the primitive, between barbarity and rationality.” Last week, in Los
Angeles, she spoke in a public forum for the first time in English, at an
appearance hosted by the conservative-leaning Center for the Study of Pop=
ular
Culture. “I have los=
t hope
for Islam and I think it’s the duty of all thinkers to be blunt and
straightforward to change the minds of Muslims,” she said confident=
ly,
flanked by two bodyguards, to a receptive audience of about 150 at the Time magazine cou=
nted
Sultan, 47, as among the world’s 100 most influential people for
pioneering public criticism of Islam by Muslims. That she is a woman makes
her voice almost unique in the Muslim world, which she characterizes as
routinely suppressing women. This outspokenness has resulted in frequent
death threats against Sultan, who lives in a suburb of Los Angeles. Some
Muslims reformers, on the other hand, have praised her. The daughter of d=
evout
Muslims, Sultan first began to question Islam as a medical student at the
University of Aleppo, where she witnessed members of the radical Muslim
Brotherhood political group shoot dead her professor while shouting
“Allah is great.” She and her husband immigrated to the United
States in 1989. She describes her mission as educating the world about wh=
at
she calls the dangers of Islam and fostering an intellectual rebellion am=
ong
“oppressed” and “brainwashed” Muslims. “There is no
moderate Islam at all because Islam is different from any other
religion,” Sultan said. “They believe the Quran
is the absolute word of God and we’re not supposed to play with it =
or
change it.” In addition, she =
said,
in Islam religion and politics are intertwined, making state enforcement =
of
Islam a religious goal among devout Muslims in any country. Islam, she sa=
id,
“shouldn’t be classified as just a religion but a policy which
applies its teachings violently.” Sultan didn’=
;t
reserve her criticism for Islam alone. She faulted President George W. Bu=
sh
for referring to Islam as a religion of peace. She said that America has =
the
responsibility and right to lead the ideological change that needs to occ=
ur
among Muslims, to liberate them, but through “books — not only
tanks.” “We donR=
17;t
only need [Donald] Rumsfeld, but we need Dr. =
Phil
and Oprah,” she remarked, to applause and laughter. She’s worki=
ng on
her third book, “The Escaped Prisoner: When God Is a Monster,”
which, she said, will examine the ideology of Islam from a scientific
perspective. Tammy Bruce, femi=
nist
and conservative radio host on KABC, moderated the question-and-answer pe=
riod
at the May 3 event. The subject of Israel and its future in West Bank cam=
e up
in a question. “The proble=
m is
not the land,” she said, “it’s deeply rooted in the hat=
red
[of the Jews] in the Islamic teachings.” — Orit
Arfa, Contributing Writer Click below to re=
ad Wafa Sultan’s criticism of Islamic extremism:=
http://www.jewishjournal.com/home/preview.php?id=3D15533 |
|
©
2004 The Jewish Journal |
![](3D"Sultan-Renews-Islam-critique_files/image001.jpg")