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Portuguese“To cure the disease, you first need to call it by the name. This has not yet happened with radical Islam because of political correctness. Israel seems to be the only community where people get it,” says Raheel Raza.
Muslim human rights activist, Raheel Raza, was recently in Jerusalem to present her new documentary, “By the Numbers: The Untold Story of Muslim Opinions and Demographics.”
“To cure the disease, you first need to call it by the name. This has not yet happened with radical Islam because of political correctness. Israel seems to be the only community where people get it,” said Raza in a talk organized by the International Legal Forum on Tuesday night last week.
Her new documentary is based on the results of Pew Research Institute polls that study beliefs and opinions among Muslims all over the world. Raza, who narrates the film, points to Pew Research polls that show the majority of the world’s Muslims, 53 percent, want Shariah law to be the official law of their countries. About 39 percent of world’s Muslims – 365 million people – believe that honour killing may be a justified punishment for a woman who had extra-marital sex. Around 27 percent, 237 million people, believe that apostates should be executed.
Other figures from the polls show that 42 percent of French Muslims and 35 percent of British Muslims aged 18-29 believe suicide bombings against non-Muslims can be justified.
The Western world does not realize the danger posed by these figures, believes Raza.
“Our society has evolved to the point where we can have a civilized debate about anything, except maybe the most important issue of our time – the rise of radical Islam,” she said.
Raza said she wants not only to raise awareness about radical Islam in the Western world, but also to communicate to Muslims the ideas of love and peace inherent in Koran. “Islam needs to be taken to the 21st century. Thus, the concept of armed jihad was perhaps appropriate in the 7thcentury, but today it has to be denounced by our religion.”
“We need to differentiate between the spiritual message of Koran and radical Islam which is about politics, not about God,” she said.
With a crisp sense of humor, Raheel Raza mentioned that she receives threats for her activity, including death threats, “not really often – maybe once a week.”
Raza herself was born in Pakistan and moved with her family to Canada in 1989. She has been advocating for gender equality, women’s rights and interfaith dialogue for more than 20 years and has written two books about the dangers posed by radical Islam. She is also the President of the Council for Muslims Facing Tomorrow.
“The Jewish community, especially Israeli Jews, is I think the only community that gets the point,” Raza said.
By: TPS News
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