TEDxRainier - Lesley Hazleton

Lesley Hazleton explores the Quran and finds much that is quite different from what is reported in commonly cited accounts.

A psychologist by training and Middle East reporter by experience, British-born Lesley Hazleton has spent the last ten years exploring the vast and often terrifying arena in which politics and religion, past and present, intersect. Her most recent book, After the Prophet: the Epic Story of the Shia-Sunni Split, was a finalist for the 2010 PEN-USA nonfiction award.

She lived and worked in Jerusalem for thirteen years -- a city where politics and religion are at their most incendiary -- then moved to New York. She came to Seattle to get her pilot's license in 1992, saw the perfect houseboat, and stayed. By 1994, she'd flown away all of her savings, and has never regretted a single cent of it. Now her raft rides low in the water under the weight of research as she works on her next book, The First Muslim, a new look at the life of Muhammad.

Twitter: @accidentaltheo
Blog: http://accidentaltheologist.com/

Arabic translation: Amineh Ayyad.

TEDxRainier is an independently organized TED event held in Seattle Washington.

Category:

Nonprofits & Activism

Tags:

• tedx
• tedxrainier
• lesley
• hazleton
• islam
• philosophy
• seattle

[shinseijiro90]

Her voice is mesmerizing. She had me hooked with her first sentence.

[ISMASHYOUBRO]

@BitterTruth01 I appreciate the support, but remember, being civilized is equally as important. This sort of immaturity only contributes and adds to the negative attitudes people have with those who defend religion.

[miladmeah]

Quran 8:67 [Why your god can’t kill non-Muslims Himself? Why does he need Muslims to do his dirty work?]

Muslims are trapped in ignorance, living in misery & causing pain to others

Muslims are hindrance to the happiness of mankind.

Is it divine to KILL the unbelievers (Q9:123) يَٰٓأَيُّهَا لَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوا قَٰتِلُوا لَّذِينَ يَلُونَكُم مِّنَ لْكُفَّارِ وَلْيَجِدُوا فِيكُمْ غِلْظَةً

Why do you think it is wrong for the unbelievers to kill you first in self-defense?

Any Questions? @alisina.or g

[ISMASHYOUBRO]

@ISMASHYOUBRO why* we

[BitterTruth01]

@kmardes hahahah....listen skinking creepy creature....I know about my concepts.....I need not to hv ur endorsement.....hahahhahha....­.now knuckle head come up with something new....I m mood to play soccer with the soccer ball u called ur brain....hahahahah

[BitterTruth01]

@kmardes hey bugger what theory u talking about.....u creeping stinking creature you and ur rotten theories are jokes, which can make people laugh so do we...most of ur ugly rotten theories r like this 'these muslim killers tiyaoon tiyaoonn....huhuhu'......... :-) keep on going with ur entertainment program u bugger and keep on giving us the opportunity to kick ur stinking ass...........hahahah....come on whats new ??? hahahhahah

[BitterTruth01]

@ISMASHYOUBRO You know what, 'kmrades', is a poor crreping soul, unfortunately they dont hv ears to listen and brain to understand, all they have is venom....so these poor creatures need bashing.....SO Bro keep it om SMASHING the poor stinking creature like 'kmrades' over the period of time they become addict of getting their asses smacked....LETS Do it...........Keep up the good work ISMASHYOUBRO !!!! hats off :-)

[ISMASHYOUBRO]

@kmardes

'you have zero proof for your huge claims..'

I requested you to watch a lecture detailing the actual power and linguistic miracles of the Qur'an as evidence of Islams validity, but it's clear to me that you ignored that request. Don't bother continuing a conversation with me if you're not willing to learn and understand. If you're arguing merely for the sake of argument or resort to insulting me by calling me pathetic - as most atheists here tend to do - then please 'gtfo.'

[ISMASHYOUBRO]

@kmardes "of course, why would anyone ask 'why'?

your answers are so pathetic, and you are so self centered, i'm glad its out there for everyone to see."

I'm being direct with you. There are times one can ask 'why' and times where it's rather irrelevant. Asking 'why' God chose Arabic is no different then asking by we defecate from our rectums rather then our genitalia. It misses the point: the actual validity/invalidity of the texts/religion at hand.

[kmardes]

@ISMASHYOUBRO of course, why would anyone ask 'why'?

your answers are so pathetic, and you are so self centered, i'm glad its out there for everyone to see.

you have zero proof for your huge claims..

absolutely zero.

[ISMASHYOUBRO]

Yep, we don't really delve much further as to 'WHY' God chose Arabic over other languages. The Qur'an at one point actually addresses the people who brood over the language of the Qur'an. So did you bother searching for that lecture I recommended? Please explain how an illiterate man could formulate such an eloquent recitation whereby the Arabs upon instantly hearing the Qur'an would be stunned with awe, unaware of how such an ordinary/unlettered man could produce something so poetic.