Starr Forum: Heretic: Why Islam Needs a Reformation Now
Tuesday, September 15, 2015
Starr Forum: Heretic: Why Islam Needs a Reformation Now
A conversation with Ayaan Hirsi Ali
About the Speaker:
A distinguished political leader and relentless champion of free speech and women’s rights, Ayaan Hirsi Ali is one of today’s most admired and controversial public figures. She will be coming to MIT to discuss her latest book: Heretic: Why Islam Needs a Reformation Now (published March 2015). Hirsi Ali has been honored as one of TIME Magazine’s “100 Most Influential People”, a Glamour Magazine Hero and as Reader’s Digest’s European of the Year. Praised as “required reading for everyone everywhere,” her memoir Infidel illustrates how a determined woman can impact much more history than just her own. Currently, Hirsi Ali is a fellow with the Future of Diplomacy Project at the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs at Harvard University.
Joining the conversation will be John Tirman, the executive director and a principal research scientist at MIT’s Center for International Studies. A prolific writer, his most recent book is Dream Chasers: Immigration and the American Backlash (published March 2015).
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Incredible poise, eloquence and courage.
People that are religious I have little respect for. They are born into a religion are as such brain washed.
Religion (I went to a catholic school) can be good for morals, but bullshit like covering your hair isn't what I want for the western country I live in.
No one in the Uk has been prosecuted for FGM because the police don't want the hassle. Although it's not a Muslim issue in full, it's an issue that western countries are allowing behaviour for a group of people based on cultural/religion/Xenophobia issues.
she is a BITCH !
interesting that she mentioned the bloggers in Saudi and Bangladesh , its awful that in 21th Century things like that is happening.
such a brilliant person!
Stupid woman, Reformist .. How !??? Bible and other books changed with in years but HOLY QURAN integrated with in few years on BOOK of QURAN as well in millions of Muslims MEMORY, then passed more then 1400 years !!!, Yes interpretation can be little different but the sent lattes SUPER UNIQUE !!!!!! , for that got Millions of School, scholars and so on. but sorry for those few men as well women .. can get quick clap from their promoters but no way .. feeling pity for those as well their promoters 'Crazy, mad are being happy and joyful with their own' .. what normal's can do .. let them 🙂
what a bunch of haters.. hirsi is courageous. these are left wing punks who are growing up to be haters and killers.
Who is paying your money to fight against Islam
Your little knowledge made you an atheist lady! We need to reform our brain not almighty's word. Hopefully someday you'll find the right path.
Everytime i watch Ayaan she inspires,me by her honesty, braveness and courage to speak truth…n d audience being from MIT..they still don't ACCEPT WHAT IS TRUE…
I have only one answer to your stupid arrogance
In the name of Allah , Most Gracious , Most Merciful
The unfaithful
(1) Say, " O disbelievers ! (2) I do not worship what you worship . (3) And you will not worship what I worship. (4) I do not worship what you worship . (5) Nor do you worship that which I worship. (6) To you your religion , and unto me my religion. "
then , if it please you before you defend the usa , dear writer , reminded you that when Americans wrote : No dogs and black at the entrance of the cafes in saudi arabia your father had the same rights as white
MIT's Center for International Studies…..hmmmm….the students = the audience ???
If so, this talk event has shown how stupid they are !!!! The worst & lowest level of intelligence ever !!! ))
YOUNG AMERICANS need to be more respectful of a MUSLIM WOMAN who grew up in a MUSLIM COUNTRY…there is a different LIFE EXPERIENCE when there is a separation of Church and state….THAT is the difference and spoiled American Muslim kids don't get that important distinction…..FREEDOM…..
If you can't understand "that category of Muslims"….I will help you…she is talking about the ones you get in line at airports ALL OVER THE WORLD for…..she is talking about the ones we spend HALF OUR BUDGET TO DEFEAT….
Ayaan was fierce in there while keeping her composure. So much hate by the audience. Regarding the guy who said he was more American than anyone in there. It is frightening that he is unable to answer the question. It goes to show the mentality.
To the very pretty Muslim lady with the first question (speech).. please, do go to Iran, Somalia, Pakistan etc. and try to live there for a few years under sharia. Please.. be honest. You want to follow Muhammed. Then go to the countries that really see him as a role model. You enjoy the rights of freedom and egalitarian rights in a country like America based on Judeo-Christian values. Muhammed was not a good man.. please be honest. You are a woman. How can you belong to a ideology whose founder was a ruthless killer, a polygamist, a person who slept with children and had sex slaves. How? Dont equate your american values with the values of the quran and haditth.
The women in hijab is just giving lecture. She is not asking question.
It is impossible to reform the un reformable.
One cool lady—The fact that she needs constant protection says it all about Islam.
What a bunch of morons, posing questions.
MIT accepts stupid students with a good grade and a boring prof? Poor Ayaan Hirsi
WE CANT N BE KIND TO THEM THEY DONT KNOW THAT WORDS… LOOK …. WATCH THEM THEY ARE UNCIVILIZED AND EVIL
WHAT WE NEED IS NOT ONLY REFORMATION…. IT WOULD TAKE DECADES AND DECADES TO REALY REFORM THE MUSLIM ISLAM PEOPLE… WE NEED MUCH STRONGER THAN THAT… RIGHT NOW THEY ARE KILLING US.. AND WE CANT JUST TOLIRATE THEM..WE HAVE TO ACT…. ONE CLOSED THE MOSQUE AND SCHOOLS.. THATS THE ROOT AND CENTER OF EARLY TEACHING OF THE EVIL QU RAN….DEPORT THOSE THAT ACTING AGAINST THE LAW. WE HAVE TO HAVE A SPECIAL LAW FOR THEM OR ESPECIAL C OURT
Are all the students in the callege Muslims?
At 14:13, Aayaan relates the story of the Syrian refugees going into Germany embracing the country with cris of Germany, Germany, and she predicts if US brought in a bunch of Syrians theyd all be singing USA, USA, etc. Her story is told in the context of Americas need to guarantee muslim girls living in the USA freedom from misogynystic treatment by their families. In fact she ends up making the point that if we admit Syrians, and by extension, any muslims, we need to have a period with them where we really deeply grill them on the necessity to embrace all human rights values. And hence, let them know that if they abuse their daughters, theyre going to be punished. Her tale suggests to me that she might be viewing things a bit oddly, as if we feel we are somehow obligated to admit anyone, even suffering people, who dont have a really deep commitment to our way of life, especially to the core values that underlie our foundational documents, the human rights clauses in the Declaration, the rights endorsed in Constitution and amendments. It should be very basic in the admission process of anybody, already, that they get this, and embrace it deeply. We should not think that there are no options for refugees. We really have no obligation to take in any of them, and especially no one from a group with a track record of misogynistic abuse of the women and girls.
About people who yell USA USA, etc. I have very clear vision in my mind of clips featuring lots of people yelling USA USA within the first 4 weeks of our militarys invasion of Iraq. . . . . sure do . . . .
This life is very short – she has no authority as a true religious scholar and has fallen into the trap that common people fall into, that is "This is the only life". Unfortunately lack of awareness at a deeper spiritual level is the mindset of intellectuals. Even a simple peasant tilling soil knows it is not he that makes the seed sprout. 17:85 AND THEY will ask thee about [the nature of] divine inspiration. [101] Say: "This inspiration [comes] at my Sustainer's behest; and [you cannot understand its nature, O men, since] you have been granted very little of [real] knowledge."
"[…]KKKK[…]KK"
"K…K…K"
that black teacher was a ass!!!!
Why is this bitch still allowed to speak? She is a racist Islamphobe neocon free-market capitalist Jew lover.
look who is talking. that woman is a scammer because she lied to win asylum back in 1992 in Netherlands according to the daily Dutch newspaper De Volkskrant she lied and misled Dutch authorities. She confessed to the VVD when she joined it that she had lied in order to win refugee status there. one of the lies was an alleged arranged marriage etc. lot of politicians urged her to leave the Dutch parliament then. once you lied you would lose any credibility.
"I'm from Boston and I don't kill people! Got you!"
Ayan- Im just curious to know who are the "We" and who are the "Them"?
felicitation mademoiselle
In my opinion ,any set of thoughts/ideas or value system need to change or progress in accordance with present time in order to improve. Otherwise, it becomes out of date.or obsolete.
While I think all reasonable people can agree that the barbaric ideology known as Islam needs reform. I sincerely doubt Islam can be reformed. There is nothing in any of their teachings that are remotely like the teachings of Jesus Christ. This is to say there is no sermon on the mount, nothing about love your neighbor as yourself or pray for your enemies. So, on what foundation would Islam be reformed?
Muslims need to understand that the teaching of Muhammad is what inspires the masses of killings all over the world. Ayaan has goodness in heart and knows the religion well, not only from an academic perspective, but she was brought up following the doctrine. Once she opened her mind and realised A equals B, Islam is unfair, barbaric in parts, anti women and non believers she made a stance and decided to educate the muslins who still believe in the guy Muhammad. Although it is painful, having to accept all that you believed in your entire life is in some ways wrong, unholy, flawed and unjust… its time reform.
The black guy said we've had bad people before, why not now again? Leave these rapist murdering bastards alone! I'd watch him. The short red head guy was the only one smart/brave enough to face the issue.
The nice young man doesn't know much about the Koran and that may be common and a large part of the problem.
It's like ya I know gays/dissenters of that religion are being murdered, women are being raped and sold into slavery, but what about my fragile feelings while you're trying to save them???
The interviewer is a pompous, sluggish , egotisitcal, posturing bore. A yawn a minute, you need a sharp blade to engage ayan. Not a slow coach, who mumbles mushy questions and chews his pen. Is this the best MIT has to offer.
islam is not a problem, except if you take its worst tenets seriously, and then it's a global catastrophe. However we need to go back to the crusades, and to the roots of its antagonism. Its meme. The usa also needs to realize it can't monster the middle east, or the rest of the world with its bellicose technology either. The usa is no longer perceived as great, as ayan says. She is behind the times of punishment licence opinion here. Just snuggling up to her new privilege. As she deserves. A very brave woman who clarifies mohammeds pace in history, as less than a holy man, but a butcher in fact.
very brave …
I wish there were more like her..
I used to hate her but not anymore. I hated her past but she has moved me now. Truth shall prevail!
Ms.Ayaan Hirsi Ali is a living prove that dream for Millions peoples and the whole world that even in fact that she born and came from less deployment countries with education under education system of Ethiopia, and Kenya countries but can be complete & study such as Leiden University, obtaining an MSc degree in political science in 2000 by herself alone & courage. In 2003, aged 33, Hirsi Ali became a prominent candidate in the parliamentary election campaign and She won her seat. During as a PM 2006 Holland's controversial immigration minister, Rita Verdonk the rising star of future prime minister for next election using Ayaan Hirsi Ali as a show case and In 2006 May, Holland's controversial immigration minister, Rita Verdonk threatened to strip Hirsi Ali of her citizenship for applying under a false name when she first arrived in the country in 1992. Hirsi Ali resigned, but after an international outcry, parliament ordered Verdonk to reconsider her decision On June 27, 2006 Holland's controversial immigration minister, Rita Verdonk informed parliament of her decision to allow MP Ayaan Hirsi Ali to keep her Dutch passport Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende is expected to tender his Cabinet's resignation to Queen Beatrix Friday — a move that will ultimately lead to new elections. His government collapsed amid infighting on Thursday, after a failed attempt to strip former lawmaker Ayaan Hirsi Ali — the country's best known critic of Islam — of her citizenship This is to show how passive power of Ms. Ayaan Hirisi Ali can be even dose not defend much as her right & position. It is Holland great lost for Holland parliament such as Ms. Ayaan Hirsi Ali to USA. According Dutch newspaper De Volkskrant, Hirsi Ali has accepted a post at the American Enterprise Institute, a conservative Washington-based think tank. It is possible future MP in USA parliament or best for America in parliament. She might bridge between US and EU for good of the world. Now a day she is Citizenship of United States and Netherlands.
The second proved passive power of Ms. Ayaan Hirisi Ali can be can see Mr. Frederick M. Lawrence- President of Brandeis University In 2014 April withdrew an invitation for an honorary degree to Ayaan Hirsi Ali. This was criticized. And but we can understand that he announced his resignation on January 30, 2015, and it took effect on July 1 of that year. These shows again how passive power of Ms. Ayaan Hirisi Ali can be even dose not defend much as her right & position. We can see how American Muslim Lawyers and associations, Muslim Students Association(MSA), Ibrahim Hooper, a spokesman for the Council on American-Islamic Relations, the nation's largest Muslim advocacy group and notably the Council of American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), protested against Ms. Ayaan Hirsi Ali being honored in this way. Any way last she got appears on campus for speech 15 Sep 2014 at Brandeis University and Mr. Frederick M. Lawrence- President of Brandeis University resignation on January 30, 2015. It is shown the Muslim Lawyers & Doctorates are using American Freedom to destroy American Freedom. The fallen victim is Mr. Frederick M. Lawrence- President of Brandeis University who done work in Brandeis University who withdrew an invitation for an honorary degree to Ayaan Hirsi Ali as a one mistake.
Excellent! I hope the entire Muslim world could see this.
thanks for the upload, this really helped answer questions i had and this woman is awesome, very straight forward w/facts and speaks without emotion.
Islam does not need a reformation, it needs an enlightenment. What we are experiencing right now, that backward, literal interpretation of Islam is a reformation. A reformation is about revisiting the roots and basic tenets of religion, enlightenment is about the role of ideas, ideologies and religion within civil society.
It's better for her to teach the ignorant, rather then those who already understand what she is saying. I want more people to get her perspective.