Quotes from Ayaan Hirsi Ali

1. Have faith in the one God, Allah, and Muhammad, His Prophet; 2. Pray five times a day; 3. Fast during the day for the entire ninth month of Ramadan; 4. Provide charity; 5. Make a pilgrimage to Mecca at least once in a lifetime, if possible.

I may no longer submit." It is possible to free oneself—to adapt one's faith, to examine it critically, and to think about the degree to which that faith is itself at the root of oppression.

People in the West... have learned not to examine the religions or cultures of minorities too critically for fear of being call racist.

Fiecare valoare islamica ce mi se insuflase ma invatase ca eu sa fiu ultima in lista prioritatilor. Viata pe pamant este un test si, daca reusesti sa nu-ti acorzi importanta in viata asta, il servesti pe Allah; si astfel vei avea intaietate in viata de apoi. Cu cat iti suprimai mai mult dorintele, cu atat mai virtuos deveneai. Dar Johanna, Ellen si toti ceilalti din Olanda pareau sa creada ca era firesc sa-ti cauti fericirea pe pamant, aici si acum.

You have to deal with the world as it is and not as you want it to be

A Muslim girl does not make her own decisions or seek control. She is trained to be docile. If you are a Muslim girl, you disappear, until there is almost no you inside you. In Islam, becoming an individual is not a necessary development; many people, especially women, never develop a clear individual will. You submit: that is the literal meaning of the word islam: submission. The goal is to become quiet inside, so that you never raise your eyes, not even inside your

Mainstream Islamic jurisprudence continues to hold that the sword verses (9:5 and also 9:29) have "abrogated, canceled, and replaced" those verses that call for "tolerance, compassion, and peace."32

Before the Brotherhood came, you could see everyone's arms and legs. We never used to notice. But now that woman are covering so much, all I can think about is those round calves and silky arms and the hair, smelling of coconut. I never used to think about a neck before, but ooh, a neck is so sexy now.

In every way, to read these books of Western history was sinning. Even the history of how modern states formed confronted me with the contradictions of my belief in Allah. The European separation of God's world from the state was itself haram. The Quran says there can be no government without God; the Quran is Allah's book of laws for the conduct of worldly affairs. In

leading Muslim clerics (the ulema) have come to the consensus that Islam is more than a mere religion, but rather the one and only comprehensive system that embraces, explains, integrates, and dictates all aspects of human life: personal, cultural, political, as well as religious. In short, Islam handles everything.

In short, taken together, commanding right and forbidding wrong are very effective means of silencing dissent. They act as a grassroots system of religious vigilantism. And their most zealous enforcers find in these words an excuse not just to command and to forbid but also to threaten, to beat, and to kill.

is foolish to insist, as our leaders habitually do, that the violent acts of radical Islamists can be divorced from the religious ideals that inspire them. Instead we must acknowledge that they are driven by a political ideology, an ideology embedded in Islam itself, in the holy book of the Qur'an as well as the life and teachings of the Prophet Muhammad contained in the hadith. Let me make my point in the simplest possible terms: Islam is not a religion of peace.

For today, it seems, speaking the truth about Islam is a crime. "Hate speech" is the modern term for heresy.

You obey, and you serve Allah—that is the test. If you submit to God's will on earth, you will attain bliss in the Hereafter. The rule is strict and pure. My doubts severely diminished my chances for eternal bliss, but I found that I couldn't ignore them. I had to resolve this. *

The shameful thing is that this campaign is effective in the West. Western liberals now seem to collude against critical thought and debate. I never cease to be amazed by the fact that non-Muslims who consider themselves liberals—including feminists and advocates of gay rights—are so readily persuaded by these crass means to take the Islamists' side against Muslim and non-Muslim critics.

In no other modern religion is dissent still a crime, punishable by death.

When I assert that Islam is not a religion of peace I do not mean that Islamic belief makes Muslims naturally violent. This is manifestly not the case: there are many millions of peaceful Muslims in the world. What I do say is that the call to violence and the justification for it are explicitly stated in the sacred texts of Islam.

in response to a US interviewer who mocked her appreciation of relative US freedoms) I read Alexis de Tocqueville, and I read about democracy, and I lived in countries that had no democracies, that had no founding fathers, so I don't find myself in the same luxury as you do. You grew up in freedom, and you can spit on freedom, because you do not know what it is not to have freedom.

Let me make my point in the simplest possible terms: Islam is not a religion of peace.

There is in fact no good reason al-Ghazali and his ilk should have the last word in defining Islam. Muslims around the world cannot go on claiming that "true" Islam has somehow been "hijacked" by a group of extremists. Instead they must acknowledge that inducements to violence lie at the root of their own most sacred texts, and take responsibility for actively redefining their faith.

There are sincere and reputable people on both sides. They disagree, but their disagreement has not undone Christianity. And neither side is blowing anyone else up over it. Week in and week out, rabbis, ministers, and priests do not stand before their congregations, preaching about the world to come and exhorting them to seek martyrdom as a fast track to heaven.

Abeh would always protest, and quote the Quran: "Paradise is at the feet of your mother!" But when we looked down at them, our mother's bare feet were cracked from washing the floor every day, and Abeh's were clad in expensive Italian leather shoes.

it was through a process of repeated blasphemy that Christians and Jews evolved and grew into modernity. That is what art did. That is what science did. And yes, that is what irreverent satire did. The

I said, "Allah wouldn't test us on whether we condemn somebody who became pregnant outside of marriage; He would test us on our hospitality and charity.