Del.icio.us
Digg
Reddit
Facebook
StumbleUpon
TwitThis
"A Torch of Light"
Sultan's cell phone was ringing from the time she and David left the station. Soon, death threats were clogging her answering machine. Her name began appearing in Arab newspapers and, ominously, on radical websites. "I was leading a quiet, peaceful life," she recalls, "and suddenly it was totally different."It was Wafa Sultan's second appearance on Al Jazeera, last February, that brought her worldwide notoriety. This time, she debated Dr. Ibrahim Al-Khouli, an Egyptian cleric, and once again gave no quarter. "The clash we are witnessing around the world is not a clash of religions or a clash of civilizations," she declared. "It is a clash between two opposites, between two eras. It is a clash between a mentality that belongs to the Middle Ages and another that belongs to the 21st century." To Al-Khouli, she added, "You can believe in stones, brother, as long as you don't throw them at me."
At one point, Al-Khouli proclaimed that Sultan was blaspheming against Islam and the Prophet Mohammed. After the interview aired, Syrian clerics denounced Sultan as an infidel. The death threats mounted.
To many others around the world, though, she boldly spoke the truth. A video clip of the interview, posted by an American think tank, zipped around cyberspace, reportedly receiving six million hits in the space of about four months. E-mails came pouring in to Sultan, many expressing profound gratitude. "Please, Dr. Sultan, don't fear anyone," read one from an Egyptian Christian. "You are a torch of light and a ray of hope." A Lebanese woman living in Canada wrote, "I have been fighting this fight since I was old enough to understand what was worth fighting for. You make me so proud to be a Middle Eastern woman."
The New York Times called Wafa Sultan an "international sensation." Before long, she was giving talks on Muslim extremism at universities, and participating in conferences on Islam in Washington, D.C., and throughout Europe. This past May, Time magazine named her one of the 100 most influential people in the world.
Earlier this summer, Wafa said she was "in hiding" with her family due to threats she still receives daily. Most are via the Internet. "I will be your killer," reads one e-mail. Another message, left on her answering machine, said, "Oh, you are still alive? Wait and see." Fiercely protective of her children, Wafa tries to shield her youngest daughter from the menacing messages, though the girl is aware of them.
Wafa has also paid a price within the Muslim community in Los Angeles. Before she became a known activist, she had a busy social life with other Middle Eastern women. Today, few of her old friends remain. "They begged me to stop," she explains of the women in her circle. Some feared for her life; others reviled her message. Wafa summarizes their reaction this way: "You can't make any change, so why are you risking your life?"
Her answer is that she is uniquely positioned to reform the culture she came from. She is educated, a gifted writer, a captivating speaker and -- unusual for a Muslim reformer -- a woman. Most crucially, she has the courage to say things that others are thinking but won't express.
To be sure, Wafa doesn't please all of Islam's would-be reformers. Some feel her brash style is counterproductive. Others challenge her interpretation of Islam. But Wafa makes it clear she isn't about to stop agitating. She is now focused on a book she's writing, titled The Escaped Prisoner: When Allah Is a Monster. Asked if she will soften her stance to appeal to a broader audience, she replies, "Not under any circumstances." After half a lifetime trapped in silence, she has found her voice.
8 Warming Soup Recipes
Video: Expired Foods in Your Supermarket
4 Ways to Strengthen Your Immune System
Joke: The burial service for the elderly woman climaxed with…
Advertisement 
