Death threats will not silence woman Islam critic

- Those who accept my views do so quietly or in the privacy of their own thoughts. It is only the opponents who are loud.

The Threats Intimidate to Silence
About the efficiency of the fundamentalists' scare methods, the woman – who by the New York Times has been called Osama Bin Ladens worst nightmare – assesses that the strategy is only efficient on the surface. It generates fear in the hearts of the silent majority of Muslims who does not dare to speak up.

- Threats are definitely one of the reasons why many Muslims are afraid of publicly addressing their thoughts and doubts about Islam. But in the long run the efficiency of the scare methods will wear off, Irshad concludes.

- Though they might stop the public critique, they cannot change the fact that there are Muslims all over the world who have begun asking questions to the family, in the mosque as well as in other more or less private spheres. Beware, Irshad warns – with a thread of excitement in her voice - one shall not think that the critical questions have vanished completely just because they disappear from the public.

Despite the many threats to her life, Irshad seldom travels in the company of a bodyguard. She finds it hypocritical to live her life under protection for speaking her mind, when that is exactly what she wants her fellow Muslim co-religionists to do.

But Irshad also emphasizes that the difference between Muslims and other ideological groups is, that only Muslims lives death threats from their own kinsmen.

- Catholics can criticize the pope, feminists can criticize women, but Muslims cannot criticize Islam. That is evidence that Islam has no freedom in the religion, she says.

Man Makes Laws
In relation to this the Islamic states is most notably a problem, Irshad points out.

- The Quran might be given from Allah, but the Sharia is not, she points out and contunies:

- One should not handle religious laws as never-failing under the pretext of divinity.

As an example of a positive reversing trend, Irshad mentions Pakistan, where only recently 1300 imprisoned women convicted for premarital sex by Hudood – the most severe punishment in some Arabic countries – were released.

The release of the women in Pakistan leaves Irshad some hope that Islam is after all compatible with secularism as we know it from the West – as a recognition of the fact that man, not Allah, makes laws.

Secularism in Islam
Though Irshad requests more democracy and Western freedom in the Muslim world, she is generally pessimistic about future prospects for a separation of religion and politics in Islamic cultures.

- Secularism is not an Islamic tradition. A separation of religion and politics is regarded by many Muslims as a violation of Tawhiid, which insists that all of Allah's creations are one and shall not be separated. Therefore secularism has not been an influential factor in Islam, Irshad points out.
But she explanes further that the Quran – which otherwise speaks on all aspects of life – is remarkedly quite on what is the right kind of government. This exclusion cannot be incidental, she states, but must be intentional by Allah.

- The Quran gives us freedom to experiment with different forms of government – including secularism. And still, we have not experimented much with that in Islam, Irshad stresses.

Secularization is distinguished by faithfull people of many religions as an adverse development for societies. But it does not have to be so, Irshad argues.

- Secularization is solely unfavourable if it entails a loss of values. What we lack is a willingness to discuss in public which values are better. Some values are better that others, and that is what we need to clarify. Clarity in general gives us freedom to grow, she states.

Europe's Orthodox Secularism causes Discrimination of Muslims
The Muslim situations in the West are very different on the European and the North American continent respectively. Irshad Manji, who lives in Canada, reckons that in the future North America will set the pace for the rest of the world's Muslims regarding a more constructive integration process. According to Irshad this is the consequence of two conditions. First and most importantly, faith

- In the USA it is generally anticipated that everyone has a strong faith, and therefore no one can be discriminated against for being a faithful person. It is not so in Europe. Here Muslims are being treated as sort of second rank citizens, simply because they are faithful people. In Europe secularism has become sort of an orthodox belief that makes people sneer at religious men and women, Irshad states.

- Secondly there is a difference in perspective. In North America the future is more important than the past. It is not so in Europe. As an example the Canadian nationalization and national myth is not perceived as already completed. There is still room for enrolling people and religions into the myth. Therefore it is dynamic and not static and unchangeable, she says.

For the present purpose Irshad makes a reference to the American history, that unlike most European countries do not have the traditions and recollections of thousand of years to include. In the American context immigration dates back to the beginning of the country's history and concerns all inhabitants of the nation. The national myth – or the national identity – is therefore influenced by a distinctive feature of multiculturality that has characterized the North American continent since 1492, but which has only been part of the European reality through the past generation or so.

Reflection is a Gift from Allah
Irshad claims to be unshakeable in her faith in Allah, but says she is struggling with the Islamic practice.

- The Quran has three times as many urges to a life lived as a reflective human being than it puts demands on right and wrong behaviour, Irshad explains.

- One must not just read the Quran in extracts and single out the parts one wishes others to hear and live by. Allah has given us the freedom and talent to grow and evolve. All that does not grow, does not have respect for its creator, says Irshad.

- Man has his potential from his creator. And according to this reflective female Muslim we are being unfair towards Allah when we act like robots, because then we are not true to the potential that Allah has given us. Irshad's mission is therefore to make Muslims choose – even if they choose the conservative imams, as long as they do so well-considered and not automatically.

Muslims in the West has been given a gift
- 80 percent of all Muslims are not Arabs. They know not of Arabic and therefore cannot read and interpret the Quran for themselves, Irshad exemplifies.

To Irshad, who at the age of four came to Canada as a refugee, it is the opportunity to live out your potential that is the most significant of the Western values. The contrast to the dictatorial Uganda she fled from has made her a sturdy defender of Western values such as democracy and freedom of speech.

- In the West Muslims have received a gift – the freedom to do something, she says in a voice of eagerness. And it is her wish that Muslims will make use of that gift.

But apart from the lack of freedom, one of the primary problems Irshad sees in many Muslim cultures is illiteracy. Many people cannot read the Quran and must therefore rely on the imam's interpretations of Allah's will. Irshad emphasizes that islam is the worship of a creator. Not of imams, of Mekka or of anything other than Allah.

The Effect of a Controversial Book
One of the ways Irshad has chosen to use the gift of freedom was to write a book, The trouble with Islam today, which lists all of her controversial viewpoints and urges Muslims to reform Islam.

When Irshad was to publish the book – which she knew would stir an outrage – she found support in the encouraging words of a friend: "A book is worth more than a life. When a thought goes through a writers pen, that thought can be debated and it can even trigger violence. But the thought can never be unthought. That is any writers permanent gift to the world". The friend was Salman Rushdie.

The book has been translated into more than 15 languages. When no Arab publisher dared to release the book, Irshad herself – encouraged by some young people in the Middle East – had the book translated into Arabic and put on her website, for anyone interested to download.

- The virtual version is also safer to read than the physical book because the computer can be switched off if you do not want to be caught reading it, Irshad explains. Up to now more than 150.000 have downloaded the book that is accessible in Urdu, Farsi and Arabic.