NYT: Women in the World interview
Hiris Ali is interviewed for the New York Time Women in the World section. On the book:
I didn’t publish this book so that people would all agree with its contents, but I think it’s going to shift the discussion with both Muslims and non-Muslims, shift the discussion away from where we’re stuck—“Is this Islamic, or is this not Islamic?”—to “Let’s agree that it is Islam,” which is what the reformers do. They’re saying we have problems. And then the next and most urgent question is: “If it’s Islamic, what do we do about it?”
In 2010, I suggested that if you are a good Muslim with a good conscience, go and look for a better God, and I think that was juvenile of me. I shouldn’t have said that, and it just doesn’t work that way for all. But in 2015, I think the perception might be surprising again. I think there’ll be more support within Islam than last time.
On her call to change Islam:
Every single individual in the history of Islam who has proposed meaningful change has been dismissed as a heretic. Mainly silenced. Banished, killed, threatened. One of the points that I discuss is the obligation that every Muslim must command what is right and forbid what is wrong. Innovating the Faith is seen as heretical. But that doesn’t mean that it cannot be changed. If you have a large, meaningful enough crowd who adopt the heresy, then you have reform of Islam.
Daily Show interview
Hirsi Ali is interviewed by Stewart on The Daily Show:
Talk of reformation in Islam has been underway for a while, Yes, there is a great deal of violence in the name of Islam, but there is a emerging and incredibly imporat minority of reformers who are risking their lives to get this change done. And I stand with them. I hope you stand with them.
‘Enormously in love’ with Ferguson
Hirsi Ali speaks about their relationship for the first time in upmarket Dutch women’s magazine Libelle.
Recently I have found new love – Niall Ferguson. He is a British historian and TV presenter. It is a complicated love affair. I am enormously in love with him. It is the best feeling in the world. I would love to become a mum soon. I have turned 40 and I hope it is still possible for me to have a baby. But he is involved in divorce proceedings and there are children involved. We are also both travelling a lot for our jobs. We have to put in a lot of effort to make sure we see each other. I am happier than ever. I feel so much better in my life after all the things I have gone through.