Although many moderate political and religious leaders of one of the World's oldest religions have said this line, it is surprising that one can find the same being written by a Woman from this supposedly conservative religious community.
Muslim woman seeks radical Islamic reform
Lesbian intellectual draws fire after criticising religion in her book and urging others to join her TORONTO - As a Muslim, Ms Irshad Manji never eats pork, never drinks alcohol and reads the Quran regularly.
Otherwise she is Osama bin Laden's worst nightmare.
At 35, Ms Manji - a lesbian intellectual with spiky hair, a sharp tongue and a rapid-fire delivery - is a Canadian television journalist who admires Israel and applauds the US overthrow of Saddam Hussein.
More than that, she has issued a searing critique of her religion in a new book, The Trouble With Islam (Random House Canada), calling for radical change.
While every religion has its fundamentalists, she notes, 'only in Islam is literalism in the mainstream', a recipe for generating hatreds that can spawn suicide bombers.
There are other Islamic liberals who say the Sept 11, 2001, attackers did more than hijack four planes: They hijacked an entire religion.
Ms Manji, whose family left Uganda after Idi Amin expelled Indians, goes much further, saying that Islam has deep-rooted problems with Jews, women, slavery and authoritarianism that go back centuries.
Her goal is a thoroughly liberal reform, started by Muslims living in the West. 'If ever there was a moment for an Islamic reformation, it's now,' she argues in her book.
'If we're sincere about fighting the asphyxiating despotism' that Al-Qaeda seeks to spread, she adds, 'we can't be afraid to ask: What if the Quran isn't perfect? What if it's not a completely God- authored book? What if it's riddled with human biases?'
As a long-time broadcaster and public affairs talk-show host on Canadian television, Ms Manji has a ready platform for her ideas.
These ideas have already set off a searching debate. In the first weeks after the publication of her book, she has made front-page news across Canada and received immediate attention in Germany, where the book was also released.
In the next few months the book will reach the United States (St Martin's Press), Australia, other parts of Europe and most probably Israel.
The book has also provoked death threats.
She takes no chances.
A hefty bodyguard stands on the porch of her Toronto home, and she has put bullet-proof glass in some windows.
She insists that her house not be described in detail to avoid giving a hint of where she lives.
Her central call is for Muslims to join her in critical thinking.
'If Mohamed Atta, who was well educated in Germany, had grown up with questions rather than just glib answers,' she said, 'maybe then he would have stepped back before immolating himself and committing mass murder' on Sept 11 in the attacks that he helped organise.
As much as anything, she emphasises, her thirst is for inquiry, something she says she admires in Israeli society.
The goal is to 'create conversations where they have never occurred before'.
The Islam she desires, she says, is akin to the one that flourished in the 10th to 13th centuries when dissent flourished, 'poets caricatured religion with court approval' and Jews and Muslims lived together peacefully and cross-fertilised their cultures.
The immediate reply to Ms Manji's book is as fiery as her own high-octane critique.
'The book title should be The Trouble With Irshad Manji,' said Canadian Islamic Congress president Mohamed Elmasry, dismissing her as a 'media darling'.
'She calls herself a good Muslim even though she is a lesbian and a feminist,' he added. 'She will have a shadow over her interpretation.' -- New York Times
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