Re: Protesters attack author Nasreen…
Thiruvananthapuram: ‘Islam is history because we live in the 21st century now’, opined controversial exiled Bangladeshi writer Taslima Nasreen on Tuesday.
“The Islam religion and their scriptures are out of place and out of time. It still follows 7th century laws and is hopeless. The need of the hour is not reformation but revolution,” Taslima told reporters.
According to Nasreen, noted Kerala writer Kamala Surayya, who was Kamala Das before she converted to Islam, had now realised that she had made a mistake in converting to Islam. She had held a meeting with Surayya earlier.
“When I asked her if she regrets becoming a Muslim, she said ‘yes’. She has realised that Islam does not give equality,” said the writer.
http://www.ibnlive.com/news/islam-is-history-says-taslima/19373-3.html
Irshad Manji’s interview with Taslima Nasrin
IM: Liberal Muslims would say that there are plenty of other verses that treat women with dignity, and fundamentalists ignore those elements to suit their own agenda.
TN: Maybe liberal Muslims are morally decent, but they’re not following Islam honestly. Fundamentalists are. They’re following the “word of God,” and the orders of Prophet Muhammad exactly. So it’s not true that Islam is good for humanity. It’s not at all good. Islam completely denies human rights and treats women very badly.
IM: Even as a child, you asked the question, “Why should the Koran be in Arabic?” Tell me that story.
TN: Bengali Muslims read the Koran in Arabic because we are told that Allah says it is good to read the Koran in its original language. But very few people know the language and the real meaning of what they are reading. As a child, I was told that Allah knows everything. Well, everything means everything. So Allah should know Bengali, shouldn’t He? I was curious: How come I have to pray in Arabic? When I want to talk to Allah, why do I have to use somebody else’s language and not my own? My mother did not have any answers. She memorized the Koran because it is written in the hadiths that when you die, two angels will come and ask questions of the soul. The answers will have to be given in Arabic, otherwise your grave will squeeze you so hard. Why wouldn’t those angels know Bengali? It’s as if God has occupied the minds of Muslims, invaded them.
http://www.muslim-refusenik.com/news/Taslima_Interview.html
For freedom of expression - by Taslima Nasreen
November 12, 1999 - Taslima Nasreen took the floor during Commission V of UNESCO’s General Conference, as a delegate of the NGO “International Humanist and Ethical Union” (I.H.E.U.).
Here is the full text of Ms Nasreen’s declaration:
"I was threatened by the religious fundamentalists in my country Bangladesh. They have decreed a fatwa against me and set a price on my head. Not only that, I am a criminal according to the government of my country too. The government there has banned my book, and issued an arrest warrant against me for committing blasphemy. I was forced to leave my country. Since 6 years I have been living in exile.
I was born in a Muslim family, but I became an atheist. In course of my training in science, I developed the powers of observation, experiment, analysis, and reasoning. Without reasoning, I found, nothing should be accepted as fact. I have been fighting against injustice, unreason, and prejudice. I exposed the crimes of religion, particularly the injustice and oppression against women.