Monday, January 29, 2007

Ayaan Hirsi Ali on ABC


The incomparable Somali migrant and former Dutch MP Ayaan Hirsi Ali, interviewed with Kerry O'Brien on ABC's 'The 7.30 Report' on Friday.
She makes two key points.

i) Islam is not about loving life and pursuing happiness

Life is not valued as much as in the Western liberal societies, where life and the freedom of the individual are separate ends in themselves. In Islam, life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness are things that you can pursue when you go to heaven, but you have to die first because life on earth is just a passage

ii) Don't confuse Islam with Muslims

I think we should make a distinction between Muslims and Islam. Muslims are individuals and they are varied. Islam as a doctrine, as a body of ideas, as a belief, means submission to the will of Allah ... You will find that some accept democracy and appreciate it, some who do not, and you will find others who are out to destroy it.

Read the rest here