The Story
Writer and Activist Shares Her Views on Radical Islam
The Sadler Center was the home to writer, public speaker, and the founder of the Arabs for Israel Nonie Darwish when she gave a lecture hosted by AMP and Collegiate Conservatives. The author of two books, including the controversial Now They Call Me Infidel: Why I Renounced Jihad for America, Israel, and the War on Terror, Darwish used her platform to present her critical views of the attitudes of many Muslim nations towards Israel and human rights.
She began her lecture by recounting the details of her harsh childhood in Gaza. A significant point in her life was the day when Mustafa Hafez, her father and the head of Egyptian Central Intelligence, was assassinated by the Israeli Defense Forces. Darwish blames her father’s death on the intense anti-Semitic sentiment that was taught and accepted in many Islamic countries. She believes that the acceptance of such hate is what makes terrorism allowable to many in the Islamic world.
“We learned hate, revenge, retaliation,” said Darwish. “Peace was never discussed.”
To illustrate her point, Darwish showed the audience clips from recent news programs in Egypt and other Islamic nations which presented intense anti-Semitic discussion. One common theme amongst these clips was the linking of the hatred of the Jewish people to the Islamic religion. These statements included the assertion that it is part a Muslim’s obligation to his faith to show resentment towards the Jewish people.
“This kind of education has to go hand-in-hand with the jihad commandment,” said Darwish.
She continued by beginning her critique against the Sharia, the religious code that Muslims uphold. Darwish made it clear to the audience that she intended to criticize the legal aspects of Islam rather than the religion itself.
“When it’s mandatory [to follow Sharia] it becomes a part of the state and it’s no longer personal, which forces it to be criticized,” said Darwish, “because the political realm is meant to be criticized.”
She presented several Sharia laws written down by 12th century Islamic scholars which illustrate the more oppressive aspects of interpretations of Sharia. Many of these dealt with the oppression of women, such as the statement that it is acceptable for a husband to beat a “rebellious wife” and that “honor killings” of girls or women who have been “adulterous” is allowable.
Other statements from this text were highly discriminatory towards non-Muslims, making it acceptable for Apostates or non-Muslims who do not conform to certain laws to be murdered on the street. Another aspect of this interpretation of Sharia that Darwish found disturbing was the fact that the jihad, which is interpreted by some to mean “war against non-Muslims” rather than its original meaning of “striving in the way of Allah,” is seen as an obligation of both the heads of Muslim states and of all people of the Islamic faith. She believes such a view only serves to instigate further terrorism.
“I just wish a Muslim leader…would state that this hadith [narrations originating from the prophet Mohammad] no longer deals with the Jews of today,” said Darwish.
Darwish concluded her lecture by stating that Arab Americans and Muslims around the world have an obligation to use their free speech in order to help quell the hate speech towards Jews as well as the following of what she sees as archaic practices.
“We Arab Americans have a great opportunity to speak freely with the safety of our freedoms,” said Darwish. “Human rights are not negotiable, not even in the name of God.”
Following the lecture portion of the evening, the floor was open to questions from the audience. A large percentage of the audience used this opportunity to disagree vehemently with the entirety of her presentation. Points brought up by the audience members included that Darwish neglected to mention the differences between Fiqh, which refers to interpretations made by scholars, and Sharia, which refers to the principles that lie behind the Fiqh, indicating that there is no single code of Sharia “laws” that all Muslims are forced to follow. One student from Jordan made a point of mentioning that Jordan and many other Islamic countries are doing their best to get rid of honor killings and other violent practices which are used by vigilantes in the name of “Sharia.”
Darwish retaliated by stating that the fact that such cruelty can be carried out in the name of Sharia indicates a problem in the practice of upholding Sharia. This failed to convince the opposition, however, as many audience members either left before the event was concluded or continued to debate with Darwish until the event was forced to be closed.