Whereas the West views many Middle Eastern countries as medieval, Akyol said, Middle Eastern countries view the West as exploitative and hypocritical. He said the best way for Western countries to promote secularization in Middle Eastern countries is to remain principled and set an example through their actions. The West does not think of Middle […]
Hugh Fitzgerald: “Islamic Modernist” Mustafa Akyol Betrays More of His Worldview Than He Likely Intended (Part 3)
Akyol paints a picture of progress, steady but very slow, in encouraging change in Islam. But in fact, there has been backsliding in the very place where a secular Muslim society had been taken the farthest: Kemalist Turkey. Erdogan turns out to be the anti-Ataturk, he and his aides appearing proudly with their hijabbed wives […]
Hugh Fitzgerald: “Islamic Modernist” Mustafa Akyol Betrays More of His Worldview Than He Likely Intended (Part 2)
Since this point in history, however, Akyol said the Islamic world has begun to fall behind in the development of human rights. The implication here is that the Islamic world was at one time equal to, or perhaps even superior to, the West in its recognition of human rights. When was this ever the case? […]
Hugh Fitzgerald: “Islamic Modernist” Mustafa Akyol Betrays More of His Worldview Than He Likely Intended (Part 1)
The instructive and revealing piece was published about ten weeks ago, but with Mustafa Akyol again spreading his deceptions around Christmastime, it is worth recalling: “Lecture explores religious freedom in Islam,” by Thomas Murphy, The Observer, October 24, 2018: Mustafa Akyol, a senior fellow at the Cato Institute’s Center for Global Liberty and Prosperity and […]
Hugh Fitzgerald: A Few Questions for Shahid Shafi
These questions should ideally be addressed to Dr. Shahid Shafi at a public hearing, in the most courteous, non-confrontational, we-just-want-to-clarify-a-few-things manner — not that, given his pattern thus far, he is likely to answer them. Here are some questions that come to mind: 1. Dr. Shafi, in saying your five daily prayers, you — and […]
Hugh Fitzgerald: Shahid Shafi’s Texas Morality Tale
The media line, which has nothing to do with reality, goes like this: some Know-Nothings — Texans and Republicans (need we say more?), the kind of people whom the Southern Poverty Law Center will denounce in a New York minute — are at it again, calling into question a fine fellow and all-round nice guy, […]
Tariq Ramadan: The Lowdown On His Downloads
The brief story from Al-Arabiya gives us the lowdown on his downloads: “Police find 776 pornographic photos on Islamic scholar Tariq Ramadan’s laptops,” Al Arabiya, December 2, 2018: In the latest scandal to hit Islamic scholar Tariq Ramadan, 776 pornographic photos – including some purportedly of the women currently suing him on sexual and rape […]
Tariq Ramadan: The Foul Fiend’s Foul Past (Part Three)
On September 16, another shoe dropped. A Swiss woman (and a Muslim), not one of his former students, had accused Ramadan in April of rape and assault. After five months of investigation, a Geneva prosecutor considered the complaint to be sufficiently serious to open another, criminal, investigation against Ramadan in early September, the Tribune de […]
Tariq Ramadan: The Foul Fiend’s Foul Past (Part Two)
A second Muslim woman in Paris also accused Ramadan of raping her in a hotel room in 2009. The unnamed 42-year-old, who is reported to have disability in her legs, said that the professor had subjected her to a terrifying and violent sexual assault. The French edition of Vanity Fair magazine, whose staff met the […]
Tariq Ramadan: The Foul Fiend’s Foul Past (Part One)
Yesterday I discussed the new report on Tariq Ramadan, the “towering intellect” and “leading Islamic scholar,” that has just been released by the Swiss authorities. It details his life as a high school teacher in Geneva and serial seducer of his underage Swiss students, among whom four came forward months ago to accuse him of […]