Maryam Namazie on Islam, Sharia law, secularism, and women's rights

[staffsgt7]

bull shit. It isn't ALL religions - it is islam. Atheists caused tens of millions of deaths in the 20th century and some atheist countries are still killing and starving their own. It has been a Judeo-Christian socieity that she has lived in. moslems do NOT give atheists an option of 2nd class citizens - it is either be a moslem or die. 'islamism' is just a pc word - she doesn't have a clue as to what jihad is - either stealth or violence - and ALL forms are to take over.

[ganerexpert]

who the hell she is and why the hell she is talkin about sharia law and everything without having no knowledge of islam?

[ashburnhouse]

Amazing:-))))))))

[Mikeybetts]

@bcbk93

but the enemy to secularism and the ally to islamism is political correctness, and europe has falen to islam because of it's political correctness.

[halflifeproductionz]

I can't believe the growing islamofascist movements all over the world. They're using the right of free speech to spread an idea of islamic totalitarianism to muslims are non-muslims in the streets, universities, neighbourhoods and anywhere they can get their message to. I think this is a fail world when people want to run back to the ideals of the 7th century and absolutely no way for that idea known as peace. fuck the world, fuck everyone!

[moother888]

if religion built two big skyscrapers i would fly my secular plane into them

[bushmandread]

Am I actually supposed to believe that the real agenda here is NOT to advance atheisim? I adamantly oppose Islam, but this proposition of "secularism" is a pure ruse.

[GLOKD]

@bushmandread The point of secularism is that it doesn't give anyone an advantage. Not sure how that can be warped to mean 'an advance of atheism'. Not that I oppose advancing atheism - but this movement manifests itself in, for example, the teaching of evolution over creationism; the equal marital rights of gay couples; the right for women to choose abortion. Such advocacy is aimed at directly confronting theism & furthering an atheistic worldview - secularism is about equality of all beliefs.

[sensur1]

@bushmandread

I think you read a tad too much into it. Secularism guarantees that every citizen have equal rights under the law which does not favour any religious group before another, therefore every citizen can practice its belief or non-belief without fear of harassment or persecution. This does not promote atheism just is it does not promote any other belief.

If you think that view is threatening i just have assume that you would gladly like to see your religion dominate over the others..?

[MASKEDiranian]

Maryam Namazie, Because of you I have just become an Ex-Muslim, and I am so proud. thank you for saving my life! I will become a voice of you where ever I go. I promise you this.

[faithify1]

This 7th century religion gave women the right to work (as did Khadijah the Prophet's wife), vote, keep their own wealth and inherit. Rights that took England the next 1300 years to acquire- I do not believe that we need Namazie who seems to know so little about the religion as a defender of human rights. Her view of the world seems to be largely informed by the tabloid press and the socio-political failings of Iran.

[TurboDally]

@faithify1

"This 7th century religion gave women the right to work... vote, keep their own wealth and inherit"

Is this the same religion that values the womans testimony as half that of a mans, and inherits half of what a man would?

"Namazie who seems to know so little about the religion as a defender of human rights"

Penalty for apostasy= death, prohibition of people of other religions to preach, the whole concept of hell also being morally retarded.

[coffeemachtspass]

Excellent presentation. It cuts right to the heart of the matter.

[CWJohnson1990]

Religion is the death of reason, Islam murderers the humanity of mankind

[sunnahproduction]

vaghan migham, adame khar tar nadidam...ie i have never seen more stupid woman... any religous who believes secularism is good is enough stupid.. because secularism means a world without LAWS OF GOD...

[TurboDally]

@sunnahproduction

Wrong, again, the stupid one is YOU. Secularism doesn't mean "without god", it means neutrality regarding religion- and also remember, it is possible to believe in a God but reject religions. Secularism was something that many deists (believers in God but saw religion as fraud- e.g. Islam and Christianity) aspired to.

Also, when you mean "laws of God", you mean "laws of my manmade accepted sky daddy", how about laws of "gods" from polytheists, or other monotheists? Eh? Lulz.

[sunnahproduction]

@TurboDally here we go, another moron who believes that 19 men did 911, the holocaust is real and that we come from monkeys or bacteria or whatever these ignorant people believes..

Trust me it doenst matter what i write to you. u are blinded! total blinded and i swear by everything i have that you will only understand when u are getting ur punishment in ur grave... just wait and let time decide! until then just ZIP it and i have the right to believe she is ignorant and a fool

[MASKEDiranian]

@sunnahproduction hahaha your username is already suggesting your biased thoughts, please think with your brain rather than your emotions mate, it's no crime if you think based on evidence, and all the legitimate evidences show that human kind has lived on for atleast the last 100,000 years. yet you are blinded by your religion, I remember myself when I was so indulged by Islam as I was a believer, but thanks to people like Maryam Namazi and Christopher Hitchens who helped me see the real light.

[sunnahproduction]

@MASKEDiranian plz iranian have never understood real islam.. and i know cause i am iranian.

the shism was forced upon iranians in 1500 by a Azeri turkish shah safavidans. and yes you are from a monkey but my linage goes back to Adam whom peace and blessings be upon!

i follow the sunnah(the way) of the beloved Prophet! i dont believe u dont know about islam exept from those haters and western tv have teached you. but u cant blame anyone exept on urself on Judgement Day.. just wait ..we will see

[GharibiNaser]

@sunnahproduction you are living proof of hatred a religion can bring on!! you hate everyone who don't believe in your religion, that's what religion does, it doesn't bring people together but brings inequality and hatred between people. you keep fighting to promote this ideology you have faith in, and you can't wait to be rewarded on the judgement day for all the hard work you're doing. look what religion has done to you, you are obviously an Islam fanatic to dishonor your race(Persian)

[sunnahproduction]

@GharibiNaser badbakhte bichare.. what a ignorant fool you are.. a very very disturbing person you are!! Did i ever mention that i hate anyone???? i dont care about you or that fool who speaks..if you wanna take the highway to hell then plz do soo.. i dont care about you... and you are such a PARADOX, you are the one who is full of hate.. you are the one who cant stand religion when u know 5 billion people have their religions... and like i said all terrorists and murderers have been ateists

[uknichu]

@sunnahproduction animals like u need 2 b put down...

[sunnahproduction]

@uknichu saw that u are 34 years old from india...shouldnt u go and feed some rats and monkeys?

[uknichu]

@sunnahproduction we feed rats n monkeys like u every day.

[sunnahproduction]

@uknichu u are killing me with your jokes..but still u people are insane to worship the rats and monkeys...how in hell should i debate with someone who have that background..isnt that enough evidence on that your brain is damaged? Now plz get lost...i have all right to think this woman is lunitic and morron. stop following me..

[sunnahproduction]

@GharibiNaser delam basat misose! 62 years old have put ur entire life on music and art. you have not understand the meaning of life, nor do u have any respect for your parents. Come to Islam, take the straight way instead if these people whos only wish is to decieve you. trust me, i can prove anything for you that Islam is 100% correct and very simple. Worship only God alone. race, background, skills, will not help me on Judgement day. what will help me is manners, faith, actions and good deeds

[KingObould]

@sunnahproduction I love it when Muslims like you think that they are calm and loving but preaches hell at the same time. There is no hell. The idea of hell is so stupid and childish only fools believe it. I wish there is some sort of after life, so idiots like you could see how stupid you were in life. Religion is a joke and Islam is the most laughable part of that joke. I hope you don't brainwash your children with this crap.

[sunnahproduction]

@KingObould u have ur beliefe and i got mine and i didnt preach, i explaned because i felt sorry for the old man. ask 2 billion people what will happen to you when u are in your grave...and if you think that 2 billion people are stupid then fine,, all of them will say you will get the punishment fo the grave and u will get punished in the hellfire. just give it some 30-40 years and i swear that the entire planet will become Islamic.. and the world will accept Islam. simple as that..

[KingObould]

@sunnahproduction You are even more deluded than I thought. Free thinkers doesn't like religion, especially not Islam. 30-40 years... Remember that if you still live then. You swear and I guess your god will punish you for swearing on something untrue. Yes people who believe in hellfire are stupid, no matter how many they are. I can tell by your post that you know everything you need to know. How arrogant.

[sunnahproduction]

@KingObould what a waste of time and life you are..

[janaveronikazahra]

for you is clear for me she is blah blah even trying to look more like scientist - just like that

[Petrander]

@janaveronikazahra Logical argumentation is not really one of your strong points, is it?

[janaveronikazahra]

@Petrander

really I am lazy to discuss this, anyway - there is big gap between secularism and islam - it will never come to agreement, only way is to accept and respect. The dictate of liberalism is only for atheists and liberals, it is terror for religious people on the other hand. Just like that.

She wants to fight with something she has no idea about.

[Petrander]

@janaveronikazahra Look, if you want to be left alone with your delusions, fine with me. But if you start engaging the intellectual world and criticizing people you can expect some heat back, 's all. Just like that.

[janaveronikazahra]

@Petrander

well, if someone is not religious and fights agains religion, it seem to me barbaric, I will not loose with this woman any minute any more

[Petrander]

@janaveronikazahra

There is no excuse for your intellectual laziness. The greatest threat to mankind is that there are way too many people not the fcuk thinking about what they really stand for and why. People like Maryam Namazie are not fighting against people being religious, they are criticizing the enablers and promotors of religiously inspired ignorance, repression and intolerance. That is the real barbarity in this world.

[EnjoiningKnowlege]

@Petrander Certainly, if that was what she was truly doing, than more power to her. The only problem is that she doesn't really understand Shariah Law very well, nor does she look at the other side of the coin: how much Islam and the Muslims have contributed to the world. Let's not forget who pulled Europe out of the Dark Ages and initiated their Renaissance. Let's also not forget that had the Muslims not preserved and safe-guarded the Greek texts, the West would not have them today.

[Petrander]

@EnjoiningKnowlege If that was really so, then the Renaissance would also have happened in the islamic world. Obviously, the Europeans pulled themselves up and haven't yet been surpassed since. Ever wondered what caused the decline of the islamic civilization? That was religious orthodoxy (al-Ghazali)! That's right! The same orthodoxy that Maryam is fighting against! So you should really be thankfui for people like her for standing up for reason and protecting the future of our civilization!

[EnjoiningKnowlege]

@Petrander Your ignorance of the history of Europe and the Golden Age of Islam is startling. The Europeans were lost in the Dark Ages as the Church repressed any sort of scientific progress, while the Muslims were at the height of progress. You make a number of incredible claims such as Al-Ghazali and religious orthodoxy somehow being responsible for the decline? How can this be so when the sources of Islam enjoin enlightenment and reflection?

[EnjoiningKnowlege]

@EnjoiningKnowlege The Prophet commanded Muslims to go as far as China to seek knowledge, the Qur'an continuously enjoins reflection: "Do they not reflect within themselves?" or "In the Creation of the Heavens and the Earth, in the alternation of the night and day...Signs for a people who reflect." Ibn Sina's (a devout Muslim, physician, and philosopher) Cannon of Medicine and Encyclopedia of Philosophy was used throughout European Universities for centuries and had a direct impact.

[EnjoiningKnowlege]

@EnjoiningKnowlege In fact, Islamic scholars made great efforts to preserve, safe-guard, translate, and summarize the vast number of Greek and Hellenic works, so they became accessible to Europe. In fact, the Muslims also expanded on these works tremendously. Western scholars even traveled to Muslim Spain so as to receive an education. Why do you think Greek philosophy died in Europe at the time? This was because it stressed deductive reasoning, which threatened the Church. Learn your history!

[Petrander]

@EnjoiningKnowlege I know history better than you think, and it sounds like better than you. You have just proven my point. In Europe, religious orthodoxy killed progress and the growth of scientific knowledge, as you described. In the Islamic world, the exact same thing happened in the 11th century, because of a culture of rejection of reason emerged, with Al-Ghazali as main proponent. Why don't you read a little more on what he meant and what his influence was before you start lecturing me.

[Petrander]

@EnjoiningKnowlege Yes, and it was the upcoming religious orthodoxy as established by the influential Hamid Al-Ghazali, that kept the Islamic world from undergoing its own Renaissance. It was the rejection of reason in favour of religious orthodoxy and the rejection of the openness to other civilizations that the islamic had held during the previous centuries that caused the downfall of its civilization.

[Petrander]

@EnjoiningKnowlege You have quite some nerve accusing me of ignorance, while you yourself neglect to explain why the Renaissance didn't occur in the Islamic world, despite being ahead of Europe for 3 whole centuries. In fact, when Europe went up, the Islamic civilization was already into a deep decline, even though they had first hand knowledge of ancient Greek sources and discoveries from many other faraway civilization. This decline correlates with the advance of muslim religious orthodoxy.

[EnjoiningKnowlege]

@Petrander Calling an ignorant person out on ignorance doesn't require any nerves of steel - just some basic respect for the truth ;). As usual, everything you say is a complete misrepresentation of history. First of all, start mentioning specific dates, because very important events correlated with these dates. You're statements are very vague because you aren't mention timelines. Secondly, by religious orthodoxy, you are referring to the Ash'ari school of theology, and Imam Al-Ghazzali's [cont

[EnjoiningKnowlege]

@EnjoiningKnowlege influence as a prominent Ash'ari thinker. You completely misrepresent the Ash'ari position by saying "religious orthodoxy" led to a decline in scientific development. The Ash'aris themselves said that they were never opposed to scientific advancement. They were opposed to the SPECULATIVE philosophy and theology that the Mutazillah school engaged in. In fact, Imam Al-Ghazzali refuted these philosophers USING REASON AND LOGIC, not by SUPPRESSING IT like the Church did [cont

[EnjoiningKnowlege]

@EnjoiningKnowlege It was traditionally thought that Islamic science began to decline from the 12th - 13th centuries. However, recent scholarship has "come to question this traditional picture of decline, pointing to continued astronomical activity as a sign of a continuing and creative scientific tradition through to the 16th century, of which the work of Ibn al-Shatir (1304–1375) in Damascus is considered the most noteworthy example." The same is true for other Islamic Sciences like medicine

[EnjoiningKnowlege]

@EnjoiningKnowlege which was exemplified by Ibn al-Nafis and Serafeddin Sabuncuoglu, and the social sciences, exemplified by Ibn Khaldun's Muqaddimah (1370), which itself points out that science was declining in Iraq, al-Andalus and Maghreb but continuing to flourish in Persia, Syria and Egypt. Also, just as you have falsely propagated, another reason often put forth is due to the conflicts between the Ash'ari and Mu'tazili schools, with Ghazzali's "Incoherence of the Philosophers" at the front.

[EnjoiningKnowlege]

@EnjoiningKnowlege However, as I've said: 1) Ghazzali relied heavily on LOGIC and REASON, whereas the Church was in opposition to these, 2) the Ash'aris NEVER denounced science, but they scrutinized speculative theology and philosophy (which ARE irrational as the premises involved can NEVER be ascertained), 3) some of the GREATEST Muslim scientists such as Ibn Al-Haytham (Alhazen) who pioneered the SCIENTIFIC METHOD were Ash'aris along with Biruni, Ibn al-Nafis and Ibn Khaldun, [cont

[EnjoiningKnowlege]

@EnjoiningKnowlege and 4) you COMPLETELY ignore the DRASTIC influence the conflicts "between the Sunni and Shia Muslims, and invasions by Crusaders and Mongols on Islamic lands between the 11th and 13th centuries, especially the Mongol invasions of the 13th century." The Mongols destroyed Muslim libraries, observatories, hospitals, and universities, culminating in the destruction of Baghdad, the Abbasid capital and intellectual centre, in 1258, which marked the end of the Islamic Golden Age.

[EnjoiningKnowlege]

@EnjoiningKnowlege Now certainly, following these centuries, there were some "traditionalist" attitudes which felt that these constant wars were a punishment from God, and this created an atmosphere which made it harder for Islamic science to be as successful. However, you should refer to Ibn Khaldun's famous model of Asabiyyah (the rise and fall of civilizations) which is the foundation for the disruption of the cycle of equity. It goes to show that political and economic reasons were to blame.

[EnjoiningKnowlege]

@EnjoiningKnowlege These political factors also involved sectarian disputes, and also the rise of mysticism correlated with the decline of education amongst Muslims. I find it very amusing that a person who claims to be educated in history, completely ignored all of these other important factors, and completely misrepresented the Ash'ari position (indirectly of course, by reference to Al-Ghazzali who you seem to know NOTHING about). This is why I need to lecture you - so you can learn :).

[EnjoiningKnowlege]

@EnjoiningKnowlege In fact, to this day - the Ash'aris are constantly having to scrutinize the newly emerging "Wahhabi" movement which is what rejects reason and logic, and commits anthropomorphism. When the Asharis respond relying on reason and logic, which of course we ground in the Qur'an and Sunnah of the Prophet Muhammad, it is THEY who accuse US of relying on corrupt "Greek Philosophy" or "Kalam". Ghazzali was the pinnacle of reason in HARMONY with Islam.

[Petrander]

@EnjoiningKnowlege All right, you do you seem to know a lot of historical facts that you are able ramble out in a long string of comments to get it all out, which is a bit abnormal here on YouTube. But don't criticize me for oversimplifying matters when I at least am trying to get responses to fit in a few comments of max 500 chars. So you don't really have a proper base to judge how ignorant I really am, with these short comments. Obviously you are prejudiced to start with. [to be continued]

[Petrander]

@EnjoiningKnowlege Now you can mention a lot of events that coincided with the decline of Islamic civilization in an attempt to find alternative explanations than those related to religious orthodoxy. However, correlation does not necessarily imply causation. You would still have to provide external, independent evidence for causation. To start with, I would agree with you that the crusades were 1 of the first things that caused the Islamic civilization to start turning inwards. [to be cont]

[Petrander]

@EnjoiningKnowlege Other incursions following that, e.g. from the mongols would have strengthened this tendency. But that is also exactly my point! And I am also willing to accept that the Mongol sacking of Baghdad and the destruction of its library and killing of its scholars was an enormous blow. But if the cause of the Islamic Golden Age somehow is based on the religion itself, as you claim, rather than a free & secular culture, as I claim, then it would have recovered again. But it didn't.

[Petrander]

@EnjoiningKnowlege Now more on Ghazali, arguably the most influential muslim philosopher and the other Asharis: You can CLAIM they used reason and advanced the scientific method, but merely claiming something does not make it true. Judging from the RESULTS, the scientific initiative declined to never again recover ever since Ghazali's works. Logic is only valid as long it is restrained by empirical facts. E.g. Ghazali thought that angels cause stuff to burn rather than fire itself. Scientific?

[Petrander]

@EnjoiningKnowlege At the same time that Ghazali rejected the ancient Greek philosophers and every muslim scholar who used their ideas, these very same thinkers were embraced by the Europeans. What happened after that was that Europe entered its Renaissance and the Islam civilization declined. Coincidence? I think not. In fact, a very clear line can be drawn from the ideas of ancient Greek and earlier muslim philosophers up to the Enlightenment. Religion does hamper science; not promote it.

[MASKEDiranian]

@janaveronikazahra ... "only way is to accept and respect"? i feel sorry for you as you have chosen the easy path and leave the rest of mankind fighting for equality... and i'm sure you think you will rewarded for this support of yours in the second world. I hope you see the light one day too as I did when I became an Ex-Muslim. I used to think just like you.

[janaveronikazahra]

@MASKEDiranian

well it is not your concern if I will be rewarder or not, and I feel sorry for you too.

[janaveronikazahra]

OMG this woman does not know what she is saying

[gavhof]

@janaveronikazahra what are you blabbering about. this women is amazingly articulate and puts her point across as well as anyone could. i'll also add is a beacon of light in these times.

[cutes22]

This lady has nailed it.

[Textra1]

@cutes22

Indeed. She is quite brilliant.