Irshad Manji

Irshad Manji - one of the most notorious 'muslim' right now.  I dont want to tell you about her books that have been banned by JAKIM while our goverment had been claimed as 'coward and treats the citizens as children for the banning of the book'.  You may read it yourself at  irshad's book review , and her speech or discussion, you may search it at you- tube. There is a lot of source for her  opinion, which she call herself a reformist - " Im not a moderate muslim, im a reformist "

She has gone through many death treats and recently had been attacked at yogyakarta when she launched her book there. and many more NGO's had object and disagree with her ideology about islam. Her first book "the trouble with islam today " and "Allah, Liberty and Love" had produced a wave of controvertional, which make a lot of people against her on their speech, writings and demos.

The other side of irhad manji, (I want you to read these.. about herstory (from her blog))

"1968, Irshad was born in Uganda to parents of Indian and Egyptian descent. From 1971-73, the military dictator, General Idi Amin, expelled thousands of “Asian” families, including Irshad’s. As political refugees, they settled near Vancouver, Canada.

Irshad grew up attending two types of schools: the secular public school from Monday through Friday and, for several hours every Saturday, the Islamic religious school or madressa. While excelling in the public school environment, Irshad got kicked out of the madressa at age 14 for asking too many questions.

At the University of British Columbia, she majored in the history of ideas – earning the Governor General’s Medal for top humanities graduate.

Throughout those years, and to this day, Irshad studies Islam in the belief that what she received at the madressa was not education but indoctrination. As Irshad explains, “education unleashes the permission to think; indoctrination quashes it.” Hence the passion that Irshad feels for renewing Islam’s own tradition of ijtihad, or creative thinking. "

From herstory, we know that her education and experiences had lead her to this field of research. Im not backing her or agree with her opinion and her "ijtihad". How come im agreeing someone who claimed herself a lesbian and allow marriage between religions? im just utter the idea of how is the exact way to against her. For me, the best way to knelt her down by debating with her and give her the best answer from the eyes of islam. 

This is some of her critics in "the problems with islam today" (im just copying it since I can't read the book)

According to her, “Far from being perfect, the Koran is so profoundly at war with itself that Muslims who ‘live by the book’ have no choice but to choose what to emphasize and what to downplay. (…) What if it’s not a completely God-authored book? What if it’s riddled with human biases? (…) Having been hastily approved, what if the ‘perfect’ version was less than perfect? It stands to reason that the Koran has imperfections. The rapidity of Arab empire-building would have crystallized priorities, making religion a servant of colonization and not the other way around. Might some verses of the Koran have been manipulated to meet political timetables and goals?”

Manji says that “I do not pray in the conventional Muslim way. I did that until my mid-twenties but I realised that this was nothing more than an insignificant ritual. And finally, I refuse to do the pilgrimage to Mecca as long as Mecca excludes Jews and Christians for being on its soil. I don’t need to be religious in order to feel very comfortable to be a Muslim.”

According to her, “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.” She later expands this timeline, claiming that “Between the 8th and 14th centuries, Muslim civilization led the world in innovation precisely because it let all manner of outsiders in — despite the threats they posed to order. The result? Several hundred years of creativity in agriculture, astronomy, chemistry, medicine, commerce, math, even fashion. It’s when the empire became insular to ‘protect’ itself that the motivation to remain robust, and the talent to do so, disappeared.”

On pages 160 – 162 of her book, Manji writes that: “September 11 is a searing reminder of what can happen when we hive ourselves off from the problems of ‘others,’ the lesson being that good global citizenship has colossal benefits for domestic security. Regardless of whether Westerners want to accept this fact, Westerners have to accept it. And we have to accept it now because Arab Muslims are experiencing a baby boom. (…) Whoever denies these kids economic and civic participation will incite a degree of chaos capable of convulsing much of the planet. The Arab baby boom is as much the West’s problem as it is the Middle East’s. (…) Why wait until millions more Muslims show up at Australian, German, and North American checkpoints? Isn’t it a basic matter of security that Muslims heading to these places arrive already knowing that Islam can be observed in ways that complement pluralism rather than suffocate it? (…) the West can’t advance without immigrants. (…) In short, the West needs Muslims.”

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Im just listing out her controversial opinion... hope we'll find the solution.