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Arab-American writer slams Islamic violence
By: LILA HANFT, Staff Reporter
Dr. Wafa Sultan, a relatively unknown Syrian-American psychiatrist, has attracted international attention by rattling the cages of Islamic fundamentalism in a February 21 interview that aired in Arabic on Al-Jezeera TV.
Raised in a traditional Muslim family, Sultan became disillusioned with the violence of Islam as a young adult, reports John M. Broder in The New York Times (March 11). As a medical student in Syria, she witnessed the classroom assassination of a professor by members of the Muslim Brotherhood.
Sultan kept her anger and dismay at bay until she immigrated to the U.S. and was able to express opinions in writing, first for herself and then for the Islamic reform website Annaged (Arabic for “the critic”), Broder reports. Her essays are critical of the Muslim clergy, holy warriors and politicians who, she says, have distorted the Koran’s teachings for centuries.
The essays on Annaged prompted Arab-language Al-Jezeera TV to invite Sultan to a live debate with Egyptian cleric Ibrahim Al-Khouli last July. In that encounter, Sultan condemned the religious teachings that encourage young Muslims to commit suicide in the name of God.
A second appearance on Al-Jezeera in February brought Sultan to the attention of the English-speaking world after Jewish Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI) put an English transcript and subtitled video of the interview on its website. It has since been viewed over a million times, according to MEMRI.
In this interview, Sultan raised eyebrows by comparing the Muslim response to adversity unfavorably to the Jewish response. While Muslims have wallowed in self-pity and violence, Sultan says, “the Jews have come from the tragedy and forced the world to respect them, with their knowledge, not with their terror; with their work, not with their crying and yelling.”
Sultan argued that terrorism in today’s world does not result from a clash of competing religions or cultures. Rather, the situation is a battle between eras, between modern enlightenment and reactionary barbarism. Putting the matter bluntly, Sultan says that as long as Islam is synonymous with violence, it is destined to lose the battle.
“Only the Muslims defend their beliefs by burning down churches, killing people and destroying embassies,” Sultan said.
Sultan has drawn praise from Islamic reformers for expressing out loud, and to a wide audience, opinions that many Muslims fear to express even in private, reports Broder. Jews and other non-Muslims have been particularly enthusiastic about her ideas and her willingness to speak out.
Sultan has also been condemned by clerics around the Muslim world. She has received death threats against herself and her family. She has even been accused by more moderate Muslims of intentionally pandering to the anti-Islamic prejudices of Christians and Jews, reports Teresa Watanabe, staff writer for the Los Angeles Times (March 13).
In the debate with Al-Khouli, Sultan described herself as “a secular human being (who) does not believe in the supernatural” but who “respects others’ rights to believe in it.”
“Brother, you can believe in stones, as long as you don’t throw them at me.”
lhanft@cjn.org
Raised in a traditional Muslim family, Sultan became disillusioned with the violence of Islam as a young adult, reports John M. Broder in The New York Times (March 11). As a medical student in Syria, she witnessed the classroom assassination of a professor by members of the Muslim Brotherhood.
Sultan kept her anger and dismay at bay until she immigrated to the U.S. and was able to express opinions in writing, first for herself and then for the Islamic reform website Annaged (Arabic for “the critic”), Broder reports. Her essays are critical of the Muslim clergy, holy warriors and politicians who, she says, have distorted the Koran’s teachings for centuries.
The essays on Annaged prompted Arab-language Al-Jezeera TV to invite Sultan to a live debate with Egyptian cleric Ibrahim Al-Khouli last July. In that encounter, Sultan condemned the religious teachings that encourage young Muslims to commit suicide in the name of God.
A second appearance on Al-Jezeera in February brought Sultan to the attention of the English-speaking world after Jewish Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI) put an English transcript and subtitled video of the interview on its website. It has since been viewed over a million times, according to MEMRI.
In this interview, Sultan raised eyebrows by comparing the Muslim response to adversity unfavorably to the Jewish response. While Muslims have wallowed in self-pity and violence, Sultan says, “the Jews have come from the tragedy and forced the world to respect them, with their knowledge, not with their terror; with their work, not with their crying and yelling.”
Sultan argued that terrorism in today’s world does not result from a clash of competing religions or cultures. Rather, the situation is a battle between eras, between modern enlightenment and reactionary barbarism. Putting the matter bluntly, Sultan says that as long as Islam is synonymous with violence, it is destined to lose the battle.
“Only the Muslims defend their beliefs by burning down churches, killing people and destroying embassies,” Sultan said.
Sultan has drawn praise from Islamic reformers for expressing out loud, and to a wide audience, opinions that many Muslims fear to express even in private, reports Broder. Jews and other non-Muslims have been particularly enthusiastic about her ideas and her willingness to speak out.
Sultan has also been condemned by clerics around the Muslim world. She has received death threats against herself and her family. She has even been accused by more moderate Muslims of intentionally pandering to the anti-Islamic prejudices of Christians and Jews, reports Teresa Watanabe, staff writer for the Los Angeles Times (March 13).
In the debate with Al-Khouli, Sultan described herself as “a secular human being (who) does not believe in the supernatural” but who “respects others’ rights to believe in it.”
“Brother, you can believe in stones, as long as you don’t throw them at me.”
lhanft@cjn.org
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