Thank you, Irshad, for thoughtful and well-balanced writings. Islam deserves a balanced approach, and a healthy intellectual debate.

Coen van Wyk, Pretoria, South Africa

fair enough little of your comments are correct and do comply with the teachings of the holy prophet and the holy family of the prophet (ahlul bayt) and the quran.BUT you being a lesbain is a discrace becuase you call yourself a muslim. it is forbiden and is easy to find references on this.infact the holy quran says very clearly on this and the punishement is one of the harshest. if you call your self a lesbain muslim, you have made it up meaning making your own religion meaning creating Irshad Manji's religion and not the holy prophet mohammed (s) of Allah(s). This life is a passing and the next life is where we could prospere, the day of judgement will reveal all but then its too late. Anyway before that we will enter the grave and receive punishment there before any of this for our sins. How can you promote your self being a lesbain when you know about Fatima Zahra (may peace be with her) and lady zaineb(may peace be with her) ????

ali, london, uk

"By their fruits shall ye know them."
This saying of Jesus might be applied as a measuring stick of authentic righteousness for everyone.
Individual behaviour as well corporate behaviour of whatever persuasion or stripe, whether political or religious, stand, falter or fall when appraised from this point of view.

Starting with oneself of course, let this saying be applied and see if there is much room left for one's own hypocrisies much less for the tendency to judge others by our ideals but not our performance.

Rev. Denis Charles-Gray, Niagara Falls, Ontario Canada

"By their fruits shall ye know them."
This saying of Jesus might be applied as a measuring stick of authentic righteousness for everyone.
Individual behaviour as well corporate behaviour of whatever persuasion or stripe, whether political or religious, stand, falter or fall when appraised from this point of view.

Starting with oneself of course, let this saying be applied and see if there is much room left for one's own hypocrisies much less for the tendency to judge others by our ideals but not our performance.

Rev. Denis Charles-Gray, Niagara Falls, Ontario Canada

Manji needs to reform Western ideals first, because Europe and the West is in moral decay, we have seen the moral decline in values and ethics, suicide is the highest in the world, pornography, gambling, alcoholism, divorce, sexually transmitted diseases, Aids,old peoples homes - The West has the worst of all these problems, not t forget the rapidly declining population due to low birth rates! Manji, has, unfortunately, NO ANSWERS for any of these very pertinent and serious issues. The West is dying! Will, according to some research, become extinct! Manji, will have done nothing but to have propagated and advocated this life-style, to the muslim world which has none of these self-inflicted threats to its very own survival. Western Syphilisation is being destroyed from within, its a matter of time before the Muslims take it from 'without'. Remember...ONLY THE STRONG SURVIVE! Manji is only a publicity seeking, egotistic, lame duck, with NO solutions to the problems the WEST is facing today - only issues against a nation that is doing far better in all the above mentioned categories. The Muslims have problems, they are in the doldrums, beleive me...they will return as strong as they were when the Europeans were living in the DARK AGES! [See MUSLIM HERITAGE.COM]

T Winter, U-K,

Irshad Manji, a famous writer, reminds me of a dog,in her case the feminine of it, that barks on its owners or those who had fed it all life, when it crosses the street and is given a better piece of meat by strangers. West has blessed this fustrated women turned lesbian so she has to spit out what is injected in her. If only she could copy the personalities around her, her so called modern statutes, such as Queen Elizabeth or Mrs. Bush, she would know how to maintain dignity in her woanhood and not repent it. Her knowledge is evident when she refers to "him" as her" like I did for Sydney Sheldon when I was in my high school.

Zeit Geist, London, England

God Bless Irshad. By the way Ms Adams "He," being the aurthor which you mentioned in your comments is actually a "Her." Irshad as a young, openly lesbian muslim women speaks with authority, honesty and integrity.

Jamie Caton, Glasgow, Scotland

I thank the author for his your courage and honesty. I have for some time been trying to understand what common ground a female atheist such as myself can have with Muslims; sadly my enquiries to the Muslim Council of Britain on matters such as whether Muslims really believe that women should not be afforded the same rights as men, and whether people should be free to practise all religions or none, have gone unanswered.

Freedom of speech, while it may offend some, is our best defence against oppression. I shall use my freedom of speech to defend both the well-deserved knighthood of Salman Rushdie, and the freedom of Muslims to practice their religion in this country, insofar as it does not restrict the freedoms of others.

Alice Adams, London,

To Petr Beaumont, I beg to differ when you make such a sweeping statement like,"Religion poisons everything." With all due respect, it is not religion per se that poisons everything, rather it is flawed, corrupt human beings who abuse religion for their own selfish ends, that poison everything. Essentially, all the true, major religions of the world - from Buddhism, to Islam to Christianity - teach mutual respect and love for our fellow human beings. So, how can you say that "religion poisons everything"? If anything, if anyone puts into practice the true teachings of his/her religion/belief system faithfully, the world would become a much better place for it. Some examples of how some devout followers of their own respective faiths have made or are making this world a better place include the current Dalai Lama of Tibet, Mother Teresa, and Muhammad Yunus.
To rephrase Irshad Manji: It is not religion that is the problem. It is those who choose to abuse religion that are the problem.

Ivan Thomasz, Singapore,

Professor Abdus Salaam was a member of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community; one of 200 million peace loving adherents worldwide. As an Ahmadi Muslim I agree largely with what you have said regarding the influence of the Mullahs in Pakistan and you may want to search back into history, particularly 1974 when Zulfiqar-Ali-Bhutto the then premier of Pakistan first forged alliances with the Clerics and instituted moves to declare Ahmadis as non-Muslim. During the ensuing closed door debates 72 sects of Islam unanimously declared Ahmadis to be outside the pale of Islam. Ever since this tragic episode in Pakistan's history, Mullahs have tightened their grip on the country and the politicians have been rendered powerless. Regarding the honouring of Rushdie; notwithstanding the fact that the outrage expressed by majority Muslims were not in tune with the honour and sophistication exemplified by the noble Holy Prophet, I must say that as a Muslim I was indeed hurt that the Queen honoured him !

SR Zakria, Burton-Upon-Trent, UK

Thank you for this article.

Just to even up the score, it has been noted that objectionable fundamentalist Christian doctrines have been held up far too much recently as if they were anything more than a couple of zealots trying to impose their theocracy on the rest of us.

And don't think Jews are getting off lightly; they are only excused because their radical groups tend to fight so bitterly between each other that they never get round to annoying the rest of us.

There is far, far too much religious fundamentalism trying to impose itself on wider society, thereby abusing the tolerance which secularism tries to afford to all beliefs.

While we are on the subject, it would help if Dawkins would put a sock in it too.

V Samuel, Cambridge,

All these people,including Ejazul Haq,son of the dictator who started all these things in Pakistan,themselves will not go with a suicide jacket.They are all for offering young teen agers for this job.We Muslims have tremendous serious problems in our countries and we make no effort to solve them.We find it easy to criticise and complain,as it requires no effort or sacrfice.In the time of disasters,non muslims come and help,while we call ourselves Ummah.Where are they in the times of need.It is sad that we Muslims have desceneded to these depths and feel we are protecting our Islam or Prophet.They need no protection but we M uslims need protection from such crazy Muslims,as shown daily on TV from Iraq,Pakistan,Afghanistan and other Muslim countries.

F.Q.Zaman, Hamden, CT USA

In comments Umar Adnan says "It is a shame she is given so much coverage when ordinary Muslims could easily answer her questions".
Well Umar, feel free, hit the 'Have your say' and lets hear you answer at least one of the questions she poses.

William Garrett, Harrow,

There has been so much anti-Rushdie filth in the British press the last week, it is a refreshing change to read something like this.

Irshad Manji is a brave and brilliant woman. I wish her book (and Ayaan Hirshi Ali's books) were read more widely.

Instead of outspoken moderate reformist Muslims, all we seem to hear from are reactionary bigots from the MCB or MAB. These self-appointed demagogues give Muslims a bad name.

When the beautiful Shia Golden Dome Mosque in Samarra is blown up by Al-Qaeda or Muslims are being thrown of rooftops in Gaza or Afghan teachers and pupils are being decapitated by Taliban fascists - then I think Muslims should be outraged and protest that, not a novel or a knighthood.

But then again, that is Muslim on Muslim violence and can't be blamed on the 'infidel Zionist imperialist West '.

N Murdoch, Coatbridge, Scotland

The answer to your question is all too simple, They are too scared to speak up because of reprisals !!!!!!!

Maggie Millington, Brittany, France

Read The Islamist : Why I joined radical Islam in Britain,what I saw inside and why i left, by Ed Husain,penguin.
and The Great Theft ; wrestling Islam from the extremists,Khaled Abou El Fadl,Professor of Islamic Law.
Harper san Fransisco.
They agree with the stated problem.

rbbwild, THIRSK, Yorks

I can only applaud anyone of any religion or none who will think and speak critically about their faith or beliefs. This is the only way to counter religious extremism. Religious dogma of all types brings strife and discord. Any religion which does not allow free discussion and open speech is not to be trusted and is essential anti-democracy, because it preaches everyone must believe as they do. In my view it is time we ended the 'respect' for religion that says it should not be open to criticism. It is the main source of conflict in the world today. Also, Muslims will tell you there is no separation in their religion between religion, culture and politics. Therefore it must be open to the same critical treatment as any other political creed. It is time we stopped any and all state sponsorship and subsidy of religion in any form. We are a tolerant people - but we must learn to not put up with intollerant views.

Mike George, Peterborough, UK

"An extraordinary brave woman with the intellect to match" and "a shame we don't hear more such opinions". But that's the whole point about all three Abrahamic religions (and probably several of the others) - they are essentially all about keeping women like this author under control. Islam is simply the last of the three (not that far behind the others!) to realise that women are not evil or second class or dirty. Religion poisons everything: but the whole world will emerge from the darkness of blind faith in the end - it's only a matter of time.

Petr Beaumont, Yorkshire,

This woman isn't representative of the Muslim community and most Muslims ignore her.

She is continually brought out by the press and refuses to engage mainstream Muslims but instead lectures down to them.

It is a shame she is given so much coverage when ordinary Muslims could easily answer her questions.

Umar Adnan, Ealing, UK

Great article- but Queen Elizabeth is also Queen of Scotland Wales and Northern Ireland not just exclusively of England.

Mike, Runcorn, United Kingdom

The Tooth Fairy
Santa Clause
Allah
God
Jahwah
The Bogeyman

Six man-made imaginary beings.

Nigel Meek, Braintree, England

It's very welcome to read a piece like this. Shame it's not the norm, rather than the exception. Perhaps the inherent problem about being a moderate is exactly that - we are too moderate to want to protest in its favour, letting extremists get all the air time and attention. And there are extremists on both 'sides'. I was genuinely shocked to see a (purportedly!) Christian in the USA call the Koran 'trash' on TV last night. And veiled Muslim women are not helped by the triumphalism of western raunch culture either.

Jane, London, UK

If only we had more articles like this and more discussion inside Islam. The muslim world needs to consider what are religeous requirements s opposed to social customs and move to eradicate archane customs which oppress women. If these societies wish to preserve customs that is for them, but do not wrap it up in religeon

anne, ny, usa

Very interesting article We need more voices like this

Henrietta Forbes Hamilton, London, uk

What an extraordinarily brave woman, with an extraordinary intellect to match.

Jean, Limousin, France

Irshad,
Thank you for restoring my belief that somewhere there had to be some moderate Moslems who were not afraid to speak out!
Now let hear from the rest of them.

Mike Asacret, Cambridge, England

Irshad, you present a right picture of radicalized Pakistani society, but even they form a relatively smaller part of global Muslims..Why do you think that "Muslims" are the problem because your Madrasa in Vancouver taught that Jews worship money? The Muslims in Vancouver - how much do they make up as a total percentage of Muslims in the world? You would be surprised to see ,how many Jews have bigoted and supremacist views and considering that there are just 6 million Jews, these bigots like D. Pipes make a relatively bigger % of Jewish population. Or is it ok that if supremacist thoughts come from christian evangelist groups in USA and Zionist outfits in USA /Israel, they are OK? As a Muslim, I am annoyed that instead of ignoring Rushdie, they have made him a real hero in Western world.And British writers and politicians think that Pakistanis dont have a right to "interfere" in their internal affair, Britain can interfere militarily in other countries, destroying the life of civilians

zen, munich,

Well said and about time some common sense was printed.

CA, Manchester, UK

The same can be said for all faith's... for those with little knowledge can be easily made afraid or uncomfortable by the many radical interpretations of any religion. Yet with a little digging it is obvious that all religions in moderation share many concepts of how to lead a 'Good' life. If we made the effort to learn more about those faiths outside of our own, to share our own view of our faith would we not realise how much we share with each other? Prehaps it would help to show that these radicals seek not to promote good or even holyness; but their own position within the hierachy of their religion

T Amstrong, haywards heath,