Frasi di Irshad Manji

„Dopo che fui cacciata da scuola, ho imparato da sola sull'islam molto più di tutti quei musulmani che frequentano le scuole. Se più musulmani lo facessero, riflettessero da soli, la nostra religione sarebbe molto diversa. Ho notato che molti giovani lo desiderano. Quando parlo alle università, gli studenti poi vengono da me. «Aiutaci», dicono. «Abbiamo bisogno d'aria in questa religione soffocante.»“

—  Irshad Manji

Origine: Citato in Ayaan Hirsi Ali, Non sottomessa, traduzione di Asia Lamberti, Einaudi, 2005. ISBN 88-06-17650-1

„In teoria l'islam è una religione meravigliosamente tollerante. Il problema è che questa religione meravigliosamente tollerante è piegata sotto il giogo dell'imperialismo culturale arabo, che costringe le donne a rinunciare al loro individualismo per l'onore della famiglia, diventando così una proprietà comune. A una ragazza violentata vengono inflitti centottanta colpi di frusta per aver avuto rapporti sessuali prima del matrimonio. È contro questo che dobbiamo batterci.“

—  Irshad Manji

ibidem

„Non ci sono mai stati genitori che abbiano diseredato la figlia perché non voleva farsi ingrandire il seno. Se non voleva essere infibulata o data in sposa a un uomo invece sì. Il fatto più grave è che questa paura di discriminare spinge le donne musulmane in un abisso ancora più profondo. A chi facciamo un favore, non parlandone? Non voler essere razzisti è segno di egoismo.“

—  Irshad Manji

ibidem

„La maggioranza di noi non è musulmana perché ci pensa, ma perché ci nasce. Siamo musulmani, punto e basta.“

—  Irshad Manji

Origine: Quando abbiamo smesso di pensare?, p. 22

„Solo le società libere permettono agli individui di reinventarsi e alle religioni di evolvere.“

—  Irshad Manji

Origine: Quando abbiamo smesso di pensare?, p. 11

„I've read the scholarship that explains these verses 'in their context', and I think there's a fancy dance of evasion going on.“

—  Irshad Manji, libro The Trouble with Islam Today

Origine: The Trouble with Islam Today (2005), p. 48

„Islam was not always so close minded. During the 'Golden age' – between the 9th and 11th century – there existed a tradition of critical thinking in the Muslim world.<!“

—  Irshad Manji

„The Koran says nothing about the proper form of government. If the Koran is a document approved by God, either in whole or in part, that silence is deliberate, and if that silence is deliberate that must mean that we have room to manoeuvre, to innovate and to experiment with the different forms of government. So in theory Islam is compatible with the separation of religion and state.“

—  Irshad Manji

„The Koran says that everything God created is 'excellent' and that nothing that God has created is 'in vain'. If the creator did not wish to create me, a lesbian, then why didn't he create somebody else in my place? And given how explicit the Koran is that God has deliberately designed the world's breathtaking multiplicity, I wonder how my critics can justify their utter condemnation of homosexuality. You know what? I'm not seeking their approval. I don't care if they accept me as a lesbian. I don't care because they are not the arbiters of my life.“

—  Irshad Manji

„In Islam's golden age, so much progress was made that it became the basis of the European Renaissance. We Muslims have to change ourselves, that's the main difference. We can't keep blaming America or Israel for our misery.“

—  Irshad Manji

Süddeutsche Zeitung http://www.signandsight.com/intodaysfeuilletons/1346.html May 16, 2007

„Most Muslims treat the Quran as a document to imitate rather than interpret, suffocating our capacity to think for ourselves.“

—  Irshad Manji, libro The Trouble with Islam Today

Origine: The Trouble with Islam Today (2005), Ch. 2: Seventy Virgins?

„Our global responsibility now is not to determine who owns what identity, but to convey to future generations what we all owe each other.“

—  Irshad Manji, libro The Trouble with Islam Today

Origine: The Trouble with Islam Today (2005), p. 203

„Many Muslim women will not consider themselves as inferior but wear a veil because they feel as dignified human beings. Because they want to protect themselves against staring and judging by men. If women are so dignified, why is it the burden of women to cover up, in order to protect themselves from the stares of men? Why can't be accepted from men to control their own instincts or animal behaviour? This is a question that I have never heard a satisfactory answer from a Muslim women.“

—  Irshad Manji

Muslims need critical thinking - Irshad Manji http://www.ifeminists.net/introduction/editorials/2004/0818verhofstadt.html August 18, 2004 (interview by Dirk Verhofstadt)

„It is time for those who love liberal democracy to join hands with Islam's reformists. Here is a clue to who's who: Moderate Muslims denounce violence committed in the name of Islam but insist that religion has nothing to do with it; reformist Muslims, by contrast, not only deplore Islamist violence but admit that our religion is used to incite it.“

—  Irshad Manji

Irshad Manji: Islam Needs Reformists, Not 'Moderates' http://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052748703992704576305412360432744 The Wall Street Journal (7 May 2011)