On Dr. Wafa Sultan

I chose to write this after reading Barbara J. Stock’s “Exposing the Lies of Islam” which was featured in The Conservative Voice. Clearly Barbara lacks knowledge of the basic fundamentals of Islam, dismissing it as “violent” simply by falling for those she thinks represent it; terrorists. Dr. Wafa makes some good points when discussing the need for advancement, but her main argument remains: Islam is a religion by criminals, for criminals. In an interview by Tammy Bruce (libertarian author and political commentator) she said the following:

I have lost hope for Islam and I think it is the duty of all free speakers to help in the effort to enlighten the Muslims. Islam should not be considered a religion, but a political ideology that applies its policy violently.

Jews commit crimes. Christians commit crimes. Muslims commit crimes. This is because violence is a trait within humans, not a trait inspired or promoted by a certain religion. The only difference here is that the mujahideens, who are Muslim “freedom fighters” otherwise referred to as “Islamic terrorists,” use the shield of religion to hide behind their atrocious crimes against humanity.

Dr. Wafa shamelessly claims that Islam separates Muslims from non-Muslims, and our main goal in life is to either rid this world of non-Muslims or forcibly convert them, preferably through the sword. Her assumption is incorrect. Consider this Surrah which is directly from the Koran:

2:62 – “Verily they that believe and those of Jewry and the Christians and those Sabaeans, whoso believes in God and the Last Day, and do what is right, their rewards await them with their Lord, and fear shall not come upon them, neither shall they be grieved.”

The above is further proof of the fact that Islam DOES accept Jews and Christians. It is also proof of the fact that Islam doesn’t preach contempt for non-Muslims. Christians aren’t our enemies. We never denied the existence or miracles of Jesus Christ, and there’s an entire Surrah dedicated to the Virgin Mary, which praises her in a way no other religion has. Judaism and Christianity play a huge role in Islam. They’ve played a huge role in the Middle East as a whole. The Ka’ba itself goes back to Jewish beliefs and traditions. Arab pagans described Judaism as just another way of expressing similar beliefs.

For example, despite Yemen’s reputation of being one of the strictest and most oppressed Islamic countries in the world, it used to be one the biggest centers of Christian beliefs in the 5th and 6th century C.E, with its capital holding the biggest church in the Arabian peninsula, competing for religious importance with the Ka’ba just a country away. Its rich history is often overlooked; very rarely do we see the inclusion of this fact in Arabic history books. Many Muslim scholars still deny the fact that Christianity has had a strong influence on Islam, its evolution, and its historical existence in current day Muslim states.

Judaism and Christianity should be more respected within Muslim cultures, but just like the West generally has a warped interpretation of Islam thanks to the messages communicated through certain mediums, we haven’t really shed the light on the followers of these religions either. Some books taught to school children here are truly misleading. However, to our credit, freedom of religion is allowed within many Muslim communities. There are churches, bible schools, and missionaries in Bahrain just like there are Arab-Jews who aren’t discriminated against because of their beliefs. To attack these people for religious reasons wouldn’t be “Islamic.” The Koran is our final authority, meaning we shouldn’t rely on Imams to tell us what’s “haram” and what isn’t. We have God’s words to go by, not anyone else’s mindless rules.

If Dr. Wafa applies her theory of “competitiveness” to religion, then she should be the first one to understand the need for some Muslims to expand Islam. However, the Muslims who do it through violence are brainwashed, brainless, and will go to Islam’s definition of “Hell,” because they are doing exactly what the Koran gave them reason not to do. Allah gives us the right to defend, not the right to kill without a logical purpose.

I respect Dr. Wafa. I find her intelligent and courageous. I like her arguments regarding the clash of civilizations, but not when she blames Islam for it. Islam does have problems, but only because of its misconceptions and misrepresentations in Arabic schools and the Arab media. I have no idea why Al Jazeera chose the Algerian and Egyptian clerics to try and refute her arguments. They should have chosen moderate and understanding scholars. I do not respect people who pass themselves off as Imams or experts of this religion yet criticize everything (from clothing to music) pretending that it directly relates to what’s included in the Koran. I am an Arab-Muslim and I value my beliefs, but they have been stepped on by the same people who claim to know this religion inside out.

I had many doubts as a child because of the inconveniences I had in my life as a Muslim, but after a lot of reading and learning, I realized that it’s not Islam. It’s the Muslim culture, which misuses and intentionally misinterprets the Sharia laws for the sake of their own power and social control. I lived in the Gulf for the duration of my life. I’ve been to Saudi Arabia countless times, and yet the most devout and open-minded Muslims are the ones with more freedoms in their societies. The ones I’ve seen practice Islam correctly are often the foreign converts to this religion.

If Arabs are intelligent, they will allow this woman to preach her beliefs and opinions publicly. Students need to hear this. We need to have more controversial opinions to either argue against or relate to in order to find what we truly believe in, and we NEED people like Dr. Wafa who will guarantee our intellectual independence and freedom of choice/speech. I don’t agree with most of what she says and I think she lacks a lot of knowledge about Islam and especially its history and connection with Judaism (Jews have committed atrocious acts in the past – consider what happened in Jerusalem in 1099, and that’s just one of countless examples throughout many centuries). One of her arguments was that it’s the Muslims who blow themselves up in cafes, not the Jews. I find that irrelevant. There is obvious bias there. What about the Israeli-Jews who use machinery and advanced ammunition against the Muslim-Palestinians? What about the American-Christians who use rockets and missiles against the defenseless civilians in Iraq? It’s people against people. It’s politics. Religion has very little to do with it.

I don’t deny that Dr. Wafa’s arguments are strong and I believe that our knowledge will be stronger if we took her words into consideration. I watched her appearance on Al Jazeera with fellow Muslims, and they gasped and cursed and it made me realize something I’ve been trying to hide for years. I realized how narrow-minded our societies train us to be through poor education and misinformation. We can’t write freely. We can’t speak freely. We can’t engage in a proper intellectual discourse without death threats and name-calling, and yet we claim to be striving for the best. This is not a problem caused by Islam. This is a problem caused by our education systems and our ascetic media laws. This is a problem caused by the misrepresentation of this otherwise accepting religion within our cultures. It’s the fault of political regimes, perhaps the nations following it, but certainly not our fault as followers of Islam.

I’m not ashamed to be an Arab, I’m not ashamed to be a Muslim. I’m ashamed of the downfall of my civilization. And Dr. Wafa is precisely who we need to stop us from falling deeper into the abyss, no matter how ill-informed she is. The more tolerant we are of bitter criticism the better we will understand and be aware of the world around us, and as a result, the better actions we’ll take instead of using these “terrorist” methods as if it’s the sword of Islam. Unfortunately the more people like Barbara Stock choose to blame religion instead of blaming the people responsible as independent human beings, the more offended some Muslims will be, and the more they’ll want to defend it through the worst means possible.

Another argument of her revolves around Islam being a sexist religion, I mean “ideology.” Islam has huge respect for women. Muslim countries had female doctors before it was even thought of as being acceptable in today’s most developed countries. Moreover, Islam is a religion promoting equality, and where women do come off badly, it’s the political regimes of the country that are influencing it. Religious texts certainly don’t justify it, but men within the Muslim culture enforce it.

Dr. Wafa’s biggest argument is that Islam is holding back development. The first battery found is an ancient jar made in Saudi Arabia, which is lined with Zinc and contained citric acid. It was invented by the Muslim world and used for electroplating. 900 years before both the battery and electroplating were “invented” and used by the Western world. Muslims also made numerous contributions to science, philosophy, and math. Arabic and Islamic literature existed before English existed as a language, but this isn’t a competition. You achieve things as a human, not as a Muslim, Christian, Jew, et al. If your civilization is not growing it’s because of the lack of opportunities given to you by the political regimes and leadership you’re under. When Iraq was still the educational centre of the world, Islam was still the official religion. Meaning Islam has nothing against education and advancement. God speaks highly of both of these things, this much is apparent throughout the Koran.

The goal of Islam is to reward its followers in the afterlife, not to take over the world. But with all of Dr. Wafa’s arguments regarding that, how is the invasion of Iraq and the implantation of democracy not an expansionistic outlook? Christianity has an incredibly expansionist outlook; ever hear of missionaries? Plenty of Muslims treat women well and are very acceptant of minorities. Look at how big America is. That land was forcibly taken from a native people who were butchered. I’m not denying the horrendous and unethical regimes of a number of countries in the Middle East, but she has totally fallen for the very worst edge of all exaggerated reporting. It’s not the tellytubby-like utopia some would paint it as either. In some countries, human rights abuses are common, but it’s nothing isolated to the Middle East- the same goes on in South America and many countries in Africa. The problem is NOT Islam.

She shouldn’t even bring up ‘rape rooms’ in the Muslim world. Ever heard of rape rooms in Catholic churches, where children are molested by Priests? This does not represent the entire Catholic Church, does it?

Furthermore, she has a typical American centric view. America’s democracy is not the best democracy ever. The Greek democracy was a thousand times better. It had a thousand times more freedoms. The American Constitution by its very nature takes away rights based on Christian moralizing. America wasn’t even supposed to be a democracy. America is first and foremost a republic. It was always supposed to be a republic. It’s a matter of semantics whether people regard a republic a form of democracy or a form of another political system. Many people don’t define it as a democracy. The founding fathers knew that pure democracy is mob rule.

Barbara isn’t wrong by saying that Dr. Wafa is an audacious woman, but she’s wrong in backing her up without really knowing the facts of her argument. The “life-changing event” that Dr. Wafa went through was a personal experience not directly related to Islam in any way. She was traumatized by what Barbra notes in the following excerpt:

Masked gunmen entered her classroom and as they shouted, “God is Great!” they riddled her professor’s body with bullets. It was that day that she began to question Islam and its claim that it is a religion of peace.

If I slap her across the face while yelling “in the name of the Pope!” will she criticize the Roman Catholic Church too and blame the Pope for half of the violence caused in this world?

It’s so easy to sit back and claim that Dr. Wafa’s allegations are undeniable, especially if you don’t even speak the language of the Koran or are interested in its teachings. Her arguments are deniable because there are quotes from the Koran that specifically refute it. Research its interpretations from the right sources. Ask moderate Muslims about it. Don’t just write these things merely because it gives you the chance to attack a religion.

Give those 1.3 billion Muslims freedom of religion, and then see how many Muslims there are in the world!

Contradictory. You believe in freedom of religion yet you believe people should not be Muslims and actively advocate apostasy. That’s like saying give women the freedom to wear whatever they want and then ripping off their hijabs in the name of this “freedom” which you supposedly preach.

In conclusion, you’ll be surprised as to how many Imams, clerics, and terrorists are damned to Hell because of the ways they chose to follow Islam. I just wish you fought for the betterment of your country, somehow, instead of taking this route. If you’re all for freedom of religion, then shut up and let people choose without your emotionally biased interference.

And don’t worry, you are not being censored in the Arab world. Al Jazeera aired your videos as did other channels, some refuted your arguments and others left the audience come to their own conclusions. Don’t complain about censorship when the entire Arab world knows who you are by now, and don’t complain about death threats either. Even Muslim bloggers get these by certain extremists, it doesn’t make you and your misguided generalizations important.

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