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Ayaan Hirsi Ali is a Dutch-American feminist filmmaker and political writer. She is author of several books, the latest of which is Heretic: Why Islam Needs a Reformation Now. She[…]

Hirsi Ali puts her faith in the young Muslims who are open to Western ideas.

I’m optimistic about the fact that there are several individuals – by far not the majority – who have been in touch with the west, with Asia, with other non-Islamic cultures, and who realize that there’s a lot that we have to learn. My optimism is that that group will be influential enough to make the reforms and the changes necessary in that part of the world. Second observation is you cannot change if you do not accept that there is something to change; that there’s something imperfect. So that dogma, that everything in Islam, and the moral framework that the Prophet Mohammed left for us is perfect, and that there is nothing to change in that; that is being challenged. And because of that challenge, a natural reaction is one of defending it with all the fanaticism in the group and the community. That can lead to bloodshed. Recorded on: 8/15/07


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