And a Woman Shall Lead Us

[msmcghee]

From a great blog by Ed Brayton at Dispatches from the Culture Wars:

I've written many times of the need for moderate Muslims to take a stand against their reactionary brethren, and the need to support mass movements toward reform in the Islamic world. One of the key voices for reformation today is that of Irshad Manji. Born in Idi Amin's Uganda, Manji's family fled to Canada where she grew up. She is the author of The Trouble with Islam: A Muslim's Call for Reform in Her Faith, a book that declares unequivocally:

"Not solely because of September 11, but more urgently because of it, we've got to end Islam's totalitarianism, particularly the gross human-rights violations against women and religious minorities. If ever there was a moment for an Islamic reformation, it's now."

Salman Rushdie has said in interviews that reform in the Muslim world will most likely be led by women, who understand the problem of Islam better than anyone else. With the rise of Manji, Ayaan Hirsi Ali in the Netherlands, Azar Nafisi in Iran and now the US, Asra Nomani in India and now the US, and Asma Jehangir in Pakistan (among many others), this is proving prophetic. Their personal stories are immense, as is their courage. For speaking out against the barbarism of so much of the faith they were born into, they have each faced death threats, fatwas and assassination attempts.

Complete post at: http://scienceblogs.com/dispatches/2006/08/and_a_woman_shall_lead_us.php#more

It's definitely worth a read.