Ali Sina (activist)
Ali Sina is a strong critic of Islam, which he left, and the founder of Faith Freedom International, which he describes as a grassroots movement of ex-Muslims.[1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9]
Ali Sina asserts that thousands of Muslims have left Islam after reading his articles and books.[10]
The Jerusalem Post writes, "Sina, who runs Faith Freedom International – an Internet forum dedicated to debunking Islam – considers himself 'probably the biggest anti-Islam person alive.' His latest book is titled, Understanding Muhammad: A Psychobiography of Allah's Prophet In it, Sina suggests that the prophet suffered from a series of mental disorders, including narcissistic personality disorder, temporal lobe epilepsy and obsessive compulsive disorder. "These disorders," he says, "can explain the phenomenon known as Islam... which is nothing but one man's insanity."[11]
Through the Faithfreedom.org Web site, Sina lists references to Muhammad's actions and offers $50,000 to anyone who can disprove his charge that the prophet was "a narcissist, a misogynist, a rapist, a pedophile, a lecher, a torturer, a mass murderer, a cult leader, an assassin, a terrorist, a madman and a looter".
"With violent conquest and contempt for non-believers central to the tenets of the faith," Sina argues, "attempts to forge a moderate form of Islam are doomed... The only way to reform Islam is to throw away the Koran; 90 percent of it should be thrown away. You also have to throw away the history of Islam, and you have to completely disregard the Sira" – the Arabic term used for the various biographies of Muhammad, from which historical information about his life and the early period of Islam is derived.[11]
In his October 2010 speech during the inauguration of the Freedom Party in Germany, Geert Wilders, leader of the third largest party in Netherlands said, “Ali Sina, an Iranian Islamic apostate who lives in Canada, points out that there is one golden rule that lies at the heart of every religion – that we do unto others as we would have them do unto us. In Islam, this rule only applies to fellow believers, but not to Infidels. Ali Sina says ‘The reason I am against Islam is not because it is a religion, but because it is a political ideology of imperialism and domination in the guise of religion. Because Islam does not follow the Golden Rule, it attracts violent people.’”[12][13]
On reforming Islam
For this reason, Sina says that extremism in all religions can be eradicated if certain people are quieted, or if the followers are encouraged to embrace the universalist elements of their faith – but without addressing the extremism inherent in the religion's texts. "People ask whether Islam can undergo a reformation like the one that Christianity underwent. That's a poor parallel," he says. "In Christianity, it wasn't the religion that needed to be reformed, but the church; what Jesus preached was good." On the other hand, Sina continues, "In Islam, it's the religion that is not good."
Arguing that Islam cannot be eradicated, Sina says, "This is the way to fight evil. I do not want to kill the enemy. I want to win them as friends and allies. That is the real victory. In this way, we win because we eliminate our enemy, and our enemy wins by eliminating his ignorance and hate. That is why I believe in my cause. That is why I think I am an instrument of peace."[11]
Criticism
While disagreeing with Ali Sina for saying Islam is not a religion but a political ideology, Robert Spengler writing in the Asia Times compares that claim to Immanuel Kant’s who said Judaism is not a religion but a set of laws and rejects both. Robert Spengler continues “Ali Sina and other Muslim secularizers are just as wrong. I shall argue that Islam is both a religion and a political ideology. Religion is what makes Islamic political ideology so dangerous.” He adds, “Ali Sina is wrong: Islamic expansionism arises from religious motives, that is, a holy rage against the encroachment of death upon traditional society. In the form of Islam, the West confronts a challenge quite different from communism.”[14]
Debates
Ali Sina has conducted debates with Muslims, several of them prominent scholars, like Edip Yuksel.[15] and Yamin Zakaria of the ICSSA.[16][17]
Sina’s contention is that Islam promotes hate and disunity and as such it is an impediment to peace. According to his website, he has issued a challenge that should anyone prove him wrong he will publicly acknowledge his error and withdraw his charges against Islam, and will pay $50,000 to that person.[18]
Stop Islamization of Nations
Sina is a board member of Stop Islamization of Nations (SION), an organization founded by Pamela Geller, Robert Spencer and Anders Gravers of Stop Islamisation of Europe (SIOE), and listed by the SPLC and ADL as a hate group. Other board members are Wafa Sultan, Ex Muslim activist and author; Stefan Herre, a German activist of Politically Incorrect; Mordechai Kedar, the Israeli author; Babu Suseelan, a Hindu activist; Oskar Freysinger a Swiss politician, Cliff Kincaid, editor of the Accuracy in Media (AIM) Report, and Ashraf Rameleh the President of Voice of the Copts. Pamela Geller and Robert Spencer are President and Vice President of SION.[19]
A Biopic about Muhammad
On September 25, 2012, LA Times announced Ali Sina is working on a biopic of the Prophet Muhammad. The movie will cost a total of 10 million dollars and he hopes to start filming in 2013. “Sina began contemplating a biopic about Muhammad a decade ago,” writes LA Times “but stepped up his effort in the last two years as technological advances made it feasible to circumvent government censors and wary exhibitors. “We can bypass theaters completely and sell the movie online with a profit to a large number of people, especially Muslims," Sina said. "They can download it and watch it even if they are living in Karachi or Mecca or Medina."[20]
References
- ^ "About Us". FaithFreedom.org. Retrieved October 16, 2011.
- ^ Egon Friedler (August 23, 2010). "Peor que una ingenuidad". LaRed21. LR21.com.uy. Retrieved February 3, 2012.
- ^ Susan Crimp, Joel Richardson (2008). Why We Left Islam: Former Muslims Speak Out. ISBN 0979267102. Retrieved February 3, 2012.
- ^ Diana West (2008). The Death of the Grown-Up: How America's Arrested Development Is Bringing Down Western Civilization. Macmillan. ISBN 0-312-34049-4. Retrieved February 3, 2012.
- ^ Paul E. Sperry (2005). Infiltration: how Muslim spies and subversives have penetrated Washington. ISBN 1-59555-003-8. Retrieved February 3, 2012.
- ^ Kim Ezra Shienbaum, Jamal Hasan (2006). Beyond jihad: critical voices from inside Islam. Academica Press, LLC. ISBN 1-933146-19-2. Retrieved February 3, 2012.
- ^ Christian Wolff (2008). Muslime und Araber in den USA- Die Gefahr der Stereotypisierung. GRIN Verlag. ISBN 3-638-93763-1. Retrieved February 3, 2012.
- ^ Ophelia Benson (Winter 2007). "Leaving Islam: Apostates Speak Out, by Ibn Warraq, Prometheus Books, 2003, 471 pp" (PDF). Dissent Magazine. Retrieved February 3, 2012.
- ^ Mohammad Hassan Khalil (2004). "Leaving Islam: A Preliminary Study of Conversion out of Islam" (PDF). Retrieved February 3, 2012.
- ^ Sam Ser, "Muslim Mindset: 'The hatred is in Muhammad himself'", The Jerusalem Post, June 19, 2008, Retrieved February 5, 2012
- ^ a b c Ali Sina (2008). Understanding Muhammad. ISBN 0-9809948-0-2. Retrieved February 3, 2012.
- ^ Geert Wilders (October 3, 2010). "Speech Geert Wilders in Berlin". Geertwilders.nl. Retrieved October 16, 2011.
- ^ "Wilders Wants Debate on 'Real Nature' of Mohammed". NIS News Bulletin. April 1, 2011. Retrieved February 3, 2012.
- ^ Islam: Religion or political ideology?, Asia Times, August 10, 2004, Retrieved February 5, 2012
- ^ Peacemaker's Guide to Warmongers: Exposing Robert Spencer, David Horowitz, and other Enemies of Peace by Edip Yuksel, 2010, Published by Brainbow Press, ISBN 978-0-9796715-3-1; p. 145-267
- ^ ICSSA, Exposing Blindness of "Freethinkers" about Islam; A Debate between YAMIN ZAKARIA and ALI SINA; Published: February 27, 2005 ]
- ^ "Debates". FaithFreedom.org. Retrieved October 16, 2011.
- ^ Sina's Challenge, FaithFreedom.org
- ^ Reuters.com; Press Release, "Stop Islamization of Nations (SION) Calls on UN to Protect Christians of Syria", January 20, 2012, Retrieved February 5, 2012
- ^ [1], LA Times