Ayaan Hirsi Ali At Yale
[guest post by Dana]
In a followup to last night’s post, Ayaan Hirsi Ali spoke before an audience of more than 300 people at Yale. Apparently there were no major interruptions during her speech. She presented her personal history and background of growing up in Somalia before addressing modern Islam and the need for reform:
During her speech, Hirsi Ali reiterated her views on the religion in which she was raised, focusing on her childhood and adolescence in a Muslim community in Somalia. She said she believes her experiences are relevant to the current state of Islam, which she described as violent, intolerant and in need of reform.
…
Hirsi Ali added that this “indoctrination” is at the source of radical Islam and leads to intolerance and violence. Therefore, she said, in order to fight the symptoms of radical Islam, the “core creed” of Islam — the Qur’an and hadith — must be reformed. Hirsi Ali called on Muslims to listen to their consciences and stand up to Allah, rather than bending to his will.
She also addressed the West’s response to radical groups:
Hirsi Ali repeated many times that the western world acts with “restraint” when dealing with conflicts of Islamic terrorism and radical groups.
“The clash is there, but what we follow up with is restraint. And restraint is what we’ve been showing for the last 30 years,” Hirsi Ali said to the audience.
Although she said she did not blame U.S. President Barack Obama for his reservations in handling situations such as the current rise of ISIS, she also spoke in favor of perceiving her former religion as “one Islam” whose core creed involves complete submission to Allah, the Islamic god that she previously deemed “fire-breathing.”
Turning the tables, she pointedly addressed the Muslim Student Association which had written a letter protesting her appearance:
Hirsi Ali directly addressed the MSA during her speech, asking why the organization took the time and resources to “silence the reformers and dissidents of Islam,” including herself, rather than fighting against the violence, intolerance and indoctrination Hirsi Ali associates with Islam.
“MSA students of Yale, you live at a time when Muslims are at a crossroads,” she said. “The Muslim world is on fire and those fanning the fire are using more creed. With every atrocity [they underscore] your commitment to Allah … Will you submit passively or actively, or will you finally stand up to Allah?”
Hirsi Ali also responded to the MSA’s critique of her lack of academic credentials by saying that even scholars with substantial credentials who have criticized Islam have been “bullied into silence.”
Courage seems to be in awfully short supply on university campuses these days. Hopefully some in the audience found themselves inspired to honestly examine their preconceived notions and views.
–Dana
Hello.
Dana (4dbf62) — 9/16/2014 @ 6:25 amI don’t think the “Standing up to Allah” will resonate with the people that need to hear her message.
DejectedHead (9b0c64) — 9/16/2014 @ 6:37 amWhy do people take the time to silence reformers and dissidents? Here we call them homophobes and misogynists and racists, there they call them infidels, in past they were called kulaks, hooligans, or bad elements. Can’t we all just get along?
ErisGuy (9e86c1) — 9/16/2014 @ 6:42 am” short supply ”
Congruent with the crush of incoming freshmen. Universities are still proceeding with their five-year ‘Jump Forward’ plans. Cutting departments, hiring administrators, buying out staff, contracting out basic services like cleaning, blowing the union budget every August on a makeover, …
Meanwhile they’ve begun to notice losses in returning upperclassmen as no one can get the classes they half to have.
A hard rain’s gonna fall.
gary gulrud (46ca75) — 9/16/2014 @ 6:45 amI guess Code Pink is on the floor of Congress protesting our virtual war against ISIS.
There will be a cage match following time, Westboro Church versus Code Pik. No line no pay for view.
gary gulrud (46ca75) — 9/16/2014 @ 8:07 amWhy make this a bigger fight than it needs to be?
The problem is the bottom line, not how they reach it. Preachers must stop suppporting murder, that’s all. They don’t need to repudiate the Koran or the hadith.
Sammy Finkelman (e4c3a1) — 9/16/2014 @ 8:48 amHirsi Ali called on Muslims to listen to their consciences and stand up to Allah, rather than bending to his will.
Wouldn’t it be better to say, they should listen to their consciences, and not to what other people tell them is the will of Allah?
Sammy Finkelman (e4c3a1) — 9/16/2014 @ 8:51 amGreetings:
Once again, islam is the millstone. It’s nothing more than the globalization of 7th Century A.D. (if i may) predatory Arab tribal culture under a thin veneer of religion. And if your plan doesn’t include constraining, undermining, or eradicating Islam, you don’t have a plan. What you have is a hope.
11B40 (6abb5c) — 9/16/2014 @ 9:04 am7. The entire OT thru Kings I & II is Yaweh versus other gods and idols.
Allah isn’t any longer the Arabic word for ‘god as you understand him’. Some similarity exists with Ba’al, but the latter may well have intended some good, in a weak moment.
gary gulrud (46ca75) — 9/16/2014 @ 9:14 amgary @4 – In your list you forgot crushing teh rape culture or losing federal funding.
daleyrocks (bf33e9) — 9/16/2014 @ 9:47 amthe important thing is this Ali lady has now set a precedent to where mildly controversial speakers can speak at trashy american ivy league universities even if fascist whores like Sharon Kugler don’t like it
this is what passes for a win in America anymore
happyfeet (a785d5) — 9/16/2014 @ 9:55 amShut up, happyfeet.
nk (dbc370) — 9/16/2014 @ 10:24 amdon’t be rude it’s not nice and plus in this context it’s ironic
America’s ivy league schools are woefully trashy and inarguably fascist and incredibly over-priced and I still think the Ali lady would’ve been better off leaving this fascist “Yale” place off her itinerary in favor of places what attract students and faculty that don’t go in for all this inane drama
happyfeet (a785d5) — 9/16/2014 @ 10:46 am. . . I still think the Ali lady would’ve been better off leaving this fascist “Yale” place off her itinerary in favor of places what attract students and faculty that don’t go in for all this inane drama.
That would be Hillsdale College, the service academies, and where exactly else, Mr. Feet? Personally, I love the idea of someone standing in front of these totalitarian leftist bastions of groupthink and telling them to go pound sand.
JVW (638245) — 9/16/2014 @ 10:49 ami was thinking more of like community colleges
I heart community colleges
but that’s a lot cause it’s the only thing left of higher education in failmerica left to heart
happyfeet (a785d5) — 9/16/2014 @ 10:52 ambut that’s a lot cause it’s the only thing left of higher education in failmerica left to heart
I don’t know. Here in California the community college leadership appears to be the junior varsity of the leftist groupthink mindset. Sure, it’s on a less expensive scale, but it is still the training ground for the future bureaucratic totalitarians. And too much of the community college curriculum out here is a rehash of the stuff that students should have learned in order to get their high school diploma. I want to heart community colleges too, but not when they pretend to be the minor league version of our bloated and stupid state institutions.
JVW (638245) — 9/16/2014 @ 11:04 amI’m not being rude. I’m telling you. Don’t call good women whores. Save it for the ones you know.
nk (dbc370) — 9/16/2014 @ 11:12 amok but good womens are the ones what robustly support not just the letter of the ideal of freedom of speech but the spirit of it as well, and given the parlous state of freedoms in America
people like this chaplain at yale have a special responsibility to lead, and Sharon failed to do so
it was her fascist impulse to demand that she be allowed to recontextualize Ali’s address such that the message of the event was more to her liking
whether this makes her a whore or not is debatable
but for my money she can suck it
happyfeet (a785d5) — 9/16/2014 @ 11:17 amYou can learn to weld at a community college. Then go to the Bakken oil fields and start at $80k/yr (with overtime). Yaleys say, “Ooh, ick. North Dakota! Oil! Yuk.” I say, “Yeah, but you’re on the fast track to a six figure salary.”
As opposed to Yale, where you get a degree the Deconstruction of Patriarchal Mythology in Disney Cartoons, then go to Manhattan and occupy it so as to protest for a $15/hr job at McDonald’s.
(Want to make $15/hr at McDonald’s but too good to work in the oil fields? Go to North Dakota or West Texas anyway and get a job at McDonald’s. Mickey D’s can’t keep anybody from leaving for the oil fields at less than $15/hr. If you went to Yale and got a degree in Transgendered Frisbee you could be just the no-load they’re working for since you’d never ruin your mani-pedi by taking an outside job).
Maybe if they taught welding or woodshop at Yale, it would be a better place.
Steve57 (e9e6e7) — 9/16/2014 @ 12:38 pm*…just the no-load they’re
Steve57 (e9e6e7) — 9/16/2014 @ 12:40 pmworkinglooking for…welders need to hear this Ali lady’s message for so they can weld stuff with well-rounded aplomb
happyfeet (a785d5) — 9/16/2014 @ 12:47 pm(Want to make $15/hr at McDonald’s but too good to work in the oil fields? Go to North Dakota or West Texas anyway and get a job at McDonald’s. Mickey D’s can’t keep anybody from leaving for the oil fields at less than $15/hr. If you went to Yale and got a degree in Transgendered Frisbee you could be just the no-load they’re working for since you’d never ruin your mani-pedi by taking an outside job).
But meat = murder.
JVW (638245) — 9/16/2014 @ 12:59 pmIt also has come out that the woman leading the Yale MSA protest has a connection to Hamas:
askeptic (efcf22) — 9/16/2014 @ 1:04 pmIt seems her father is a known Hamas supporter in the US.
Plus in New Haven they got this pizza place the hipsters go that someone took me to bout three years ago and ordered bacon and clam pizza with no sauce. I will not be returning. He loved it.
daleyrocks (bf33e9) — 9/16/2014 @ 1:22 pmthat sound really good actually what did they do for cheese?
happyfeet (a785d5) — 9/16/2014 @ 1:29 pmThis is not true. And it’s another area where Muslims have a huge blind spot. They are thoroughly indoctrinated and are convinced that Islam is strictly monotheistic. In fact, it is polytheistic.
http://quran.com/3/31
Now, keep in mind this “revelation” is coming out of Muhammad’s mouth. And Muhammad is “revealing” that Allah commands the Muslims to love and follow him if they love Allah.
Muslims accuse Christians of committing shirq (polytheism) because of they are Trinitarians. But Muslims also worship more than one god, since they place Muhammad on an equal plane with Allah. The above is just a small sample verses of the Quran that do so.
http://www.sunnah.com/bukhari/88
Got that? The greatest sin is to join others in worship with Allah. And then Muhammad proceeds to do precisely that by making himself an equal partner with Allah. If you love Muhammad then you love Allah. If you obey Muhammad then you obey Allah. Apparently Allah can’t forgive sins by his lonesome. Allah can not/will not forgive your sins unless you go through Muhammad. If he asks on your behalf, then everything is cool. If not, you’re going to h3ll. I mentioned the doctrine of abrogation on an earlier comment thread.
As you can see, it’s generally understood that Allah abrogates an earlier revelation with a later revelation. But I can find at least one example of Muhammad abrogating a verse of the Quran (remember, the Quran is the eternal, uncreated word of Allah inscribed on a tablet in heaven since before Allah created the universe) on his own authority in the Sunnah (more on the Sunnah later).
The practice of Islam is 75% obeying Muhammad. That may even be overstating the importance of obeying Allah given the fact that Shariah is almost entirely dependent on the Sunnah (which forms the major portion of Islam’s holy texts) of Muhammad. The Quran is full of commandments to be a Muslim, but it doesn’t tell anyone how to be a Muslim. It tells Muslims that they are following Allah if they are following Muhammad. To learn how to follow Muhammad you have to obey his example as set out in the sirah, his biography, and the hadiths, reports of Muhammad’s sayings, acts, as well as things he silently approved of since they were said and done in his presence and he didn’t object (the Sunnah, the “well trodden path” of Muhammad is comprised of the sirah and the hadiths together).
In fact, Muhammad is venerated as the perfect moral being and Muslims are commanded to imitate him in every way. This is why they grow beards, dress like it’s still the 7th century, and marry child brides. They even go to the bathroom like him (seriously, that’s in the Sunnah). This is deeply weird. Christians believe Jesus was God incarnate, but we don’t dress or go to the bathroom or part our hair like him.
This is why I say Islam is really a Jim Jones style personality cult rather than a religion. And of course Muhammad has been dead for about 1400 years, but the obedience Muslims owe Muhammad passed first to the Caliph, then later when the Caliphate fragmented to other religious/temporal leaders. Muslims owe the same unquestioning obedience to those men that the first Muslims owed to Muhammad.
Muslims, even former Muslims like Ayaan Hirsi Ali, don’t see that because it’s part of the air that they breath. But it’s important to understand that Muslims’ primary allegiance isn’t given to Allah. In a “know your enemy” sort of way.
Steve57 (e9e6e7) — 9/16/2014 @ 1:34 pmMozzarella
daleyrocks (bf33e9) — 9/16/2014 @ 1:35 pmoh.
that’s not very exciting
happyfeet (a785d5) — 9/16/2014 @ 1:38 pmNeither are hipsters. Irritating, maybe.
It sounds like that pizza would have been irritating. And expensive.
Steve57 (e9e6e7) — 9/16/2014 @ 1:40 pm24. Plus in New Haven they got this pizza place the hipsters go that someone took me to bout three years ago and ordered bacon and clam pizza with no sauce.
The legendary Frank Pepe’s Pizzeria. Ordered the White Clam Pizza (originated by Frank in the 1920’s) once in a hundred visits. Never went back in that pool again. But their red sauce pizza is incomparable. Family owned for nearly ninety years. Cold Bud longneck and sausage pie served on the dented tin pan isn’t very hip but is, in fact, close to heaven.
Birdbath (3be0e2) — 9/16/2014 @ 3:07 pmFinally found the link I was looking for about the leader of the Yale MSA protest.
askeptic (efcf22) — 9/16/2014 @ 3:20 pmIt was over at Powerline, and went to a column written by NRO’s Andrew McCarthy.
A key point:
“…Esam Omeish, a Democrat who was forced to resign from a state-government immigration panel after the emergence of videos showing his praise for “the jihad way” against Israel. Abrar Omeish is the daughter of Esam Omeish…”
a white clam pizza is better than an ebola-tainted stick in the eye that’s for sure
happyfeet (a785d5) — 9/16/2014 @ 3:21 pmI tried to go to Frank Pepe’s when I was in New Haven a few years ago, but the line at about 5:00 pm was already about 50 people outside the door. I imagine it must be great.
JVW (638245) — 9/16/2014 @ 3:29 pmIts funny conservatives who believe the left should be censored see house un-american activities committee black listing are always complaining when they get censored! Dr samuel johnson said it best over 200 years ago when boswell asked him what he thought of the american revolution . “I observe those who scream the loudest about freedom and liberty are the slave holding southerners!” some things never change.
mr.gop (9326bd) — 9/16/2014 @ 3:44 pmbut some other things change a LOT Mr. mr.gop for example america’s prospects under Barack Obama
what a pitiful little country I don’t even know what to tell you
sell sell
happyfeet (a785d5) — 9/16/2014 @ 3:47 pmIts funny conservatives who believe the left should be censored see house un-american activities committee black listing are always complaining when they get censored!
McCarthyism! Free Alger Hiss! The Rosenbergs are innocent!
Thanks for the drive-by stupidity, mr.gop.
JVW (638245) — 9/16/2014 @ 3:54 pmA Perry wannabe.
askeptic (efcf22) — 9/16/2014 @ 4:08 pmMr. GOP apparently can’t distinguish between espionage, sedition, selling out your country on one hand, and being politically incorrect on the other. That’s cute, now run along back home little one, the grownups are having a discussion.
Ms. Ali is a bit like Christopher Hitchens – someone who has turned against religion. I don’t agree with her insistence on rejecting faith, but she has every right to speak, and her story is the tale of a REAL war on women. Seriously, the left should be celebrating her.
OmegaPaladin (f4a293) — 9/16/2014 @ 9:17 pmif someone cutted off my clitoris i might be less religious than I was prior
but as far as I know Ms. Ali is intact down there
so
she should be thanking God in His Heaven
every. day.
and twice on Sundays
happyfeet (a785d5) — 9/16/2014 @ 9:28 pmActually, to stop promoting murder in the name of Islam would be repudiating the Koran and Hadith since they promote murder of those who are not Islamic.
Tanny O'Haley (f5a155) — 9/17/2014 @ 7:02 amTypical feets.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/09/15/ayaan-hirsi-ali-yale_n_5824828.html
Screw the evidence. You’ll believe what you want to believe, eh.
I mean, she’s only most famous for a memoir in which she lets the world know she’s not intact down there.
Steve57 (e9e6e7) — 9/17/2014 @ 7:25 amMr. O’Haley is right.
http://www.sunnah.com/bukhari/56
Steve57 (e9e6e7) — 9/17/2014 @ 7:41 am