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Two years ago, Syrian-born American psychiatrist and activist Dr. Wafa Sultan was forced to go into hiding after an Islamic scholar issued a fatwa (death threat) against her. Last week, she participated in a debate with Dr. Daniel Pipes at Shaarei Shomayim Synagogue and prefaced her remarks with, “I am used to debating with a Muslim imam, not with a dear friend like Dr. Pipes. The best part of our debate is, I know for sure at the end of this debate, he's not going to call me kaffir (unbeliever) or to issue a fatwa against my life.”
More than 800 people attended the debate, Moderate Islam: Western Ally or Western Myth, which was presented by the Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center for Holocaust Studies.
Dr. Pipes took the former position and Dr. Sultan the latter.
Dr. Pipes is director of the Middle East Forum. His web site, DanielPipes.org, is a respected source of information about Islam and the Middle East. His articles are published by newspapers around the world – including the Jewish Tribune – and he is the author of 12 books.
Dr. Pipes took the podium first and said, “Islam is not the enemy, terrorism is not the enemy, but a form of Islam – radical Islam, fundamental Islam, political Islam, totalitarian Islam, Islamism – [that] has its roots in the religion of Islam but is a particularly severe reading of it.”
He defined Islamists as Muslims who are working to enforce the application of Islamic religious law (Shari’a).
“Wherever you look, you see that this is the issue. It can be done through violence and it can be done through the system. Islamists are making inroads all over the world...by pushing, pushing, pushing the Shari’a. What we need to do is say no: we reject the Sharia. Unfortunately, that’s not what we’re doing.”
Dr. Pipes cited as an example Ontario's official recognition of polygamous marriages that were performed in countries where the practice is legal.
“It has major social implications and it’s taking place presumably without many people noticing.”
For Dr. Pipes, the only solution to the problem of radical Islam is for those in the West to support moderate Muslims.
“It’s incumbent upon us to help the moderates, those who want to integrate, who want to be patriotic citizens, who want to live under our system, our beliefs and customs, rather than according to the Shari’a.... We need to encourage them, we need to fund them. We need to help them, not the Islamists.”
Many English-speaking people first became aware of Dr. Wafa Sultan in 2006 when MEMRI.org posted a subtitled video of her fiery debate on Al Jazeera TV, but she had been writing about Islam in Arabic-language newspapers for several years.
Her new book, A God Who Hates, was published recently and she runs an Arabic-language web site that receives 400-600 emails per day.
Dr. Sultan took the stage after Dr. Pipes and began by quoting Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan, who said in 2007: “These descriptions are very ugly, it is offensive and an insult to our religion. There is no moderate or immoderate Islam. Islam is Islam and that’s it.”
Dr. Sultan asked, “So what is the essence of Islam? The underlying foundation of Islam is to rule the world and submit it under Islamic Shari’a.” She quoted from the Koran as proof.
She described the status of Christians and Jews as dhimmis (second-class citizens) in Islamic law.
“Now, you may ask, how has it been translated into action throughout Mohammed’s life? Mohammed killed every kaffir who would not submit. Mohammed repeatedly told Muslims to deceive kaffirs. Mohammed was a Jew-hater. Mohammed made Jews and Christians dhimmis. Mohammed’s last words, at his deathbed, were to curse the Jews and the Christians....
“Many in the West argue that these accounts should be viewed in the context of history, that life then was cruel and that the Bible is also rooted in violent stories.... While other religions have had their share of violent history, theirs are merely history stories that happened in the past. On the other hand, Islam is a doctrine codified in Shari’a law for Muslims to follow at all times.”
This topic was elaborated on during the Q&A session and drew a few outbursts from audience members.
When Dr. Pipes said that Jews in the 14th century fared better under Muslim rule than under Christendom, audience members could be heard muttering and one man said loudly, "So what?"
He said the Christian situation was, “much worse, much worse... And yet it changed. It led to terrible atrocities but it did change. If it can change in Christianity, which started on a much lower base, why can’t it change in Islam?”
A woman in the audience called out, “Will we wait 500 years, Dr. Pipes?”
He responded, “It could be 500 years; I don’t know how long it’ll take. But I’m not here to give you good news, I’m here to say there can be a change. It might be 500 years, it might be five years, I don’t know, but things can change.”
Asked, “What is the closest, best role model of the Islamic state?” Dr. Sultan drew laughter and applause when she replied, “I say France. I mean it, because a year ago I gave a speech in France and I thought I was in the Gaza Strip. Seventy-five per cent of my audience were Muslims, shouting and cursing and going crazy, so let’s hope France will be the best role model.”
In an interview with the Jewish Tribune, Dr. Sultan said Canadians must learn about and question what Muslims are being taught in their textbooks and schools, which she calls in her book the real “weapons of mass destruction” facing Western civilization.
“So my point is to ask, to challenge. Go here in Canada, inside any mosque, inside any Islamic school, you have every right to see what’s written, what they are teaching their students. And ask them. It’s a very simple way to do it but it’s a very effective way at the same time.... You have to know who’s living among you. You have to know who’s going to be your future generation. Muslim kids will be part of the future generation.”
She said her work now focuses on teaching people in Muslim countries a new way of interacting based on what she has learned from North American society.
“I practised medicine for nine years in Syria. Believe it or not, I learned how to say thank you when I came to America. For the first time. Because you have to thank Allah and Mohammed, nobody else. I learned how to say please, how to say excuse me.
“I have my own web site now because I feel like I created a vacuum in the Arab world by criticizing Islam. So now I’ve moved to a different stage of my life as a writer, which is to create a value system. To teach them how to say thank you, how to apologize. Because the Muslim is not allowed to apologize; he doesn’t make mistakes unless he doesn’t pray or he doesn’t do his Islamic duties.
“I’ve moved from the previous stage, which was showing what Islam really is; now I am in a stage where I am building a value system: not to lie, how to teach your children to be honest, how to tolerate each other.”
As she left the synagogue under tight security, the Jewish Tribune asked whether she was still in hiding, and Dr. Sultan replied, “I am, of course, of course. You know, it’s a way of life now. At least I’m living a life of my choice.” |
