You are a Canadian, lesbian, feminist and Muslim at the same time. How is that happening?

Well, the Prophet himself was a Muslim and a feminist, so I do not think that is such an odd combination. As for my nationality, my mother's family comes from Egypt and my father's from India. I was born in Uganda. How did I wind up in Canada? Uganda's Idi Amin - a Muslim - expelled thousands of others Muslims from our native land. I take pride in being a refugee. Again, the Prophet himself experienced the joys and pain of migration. I am happy to have landed in a country where, as a Muslim woman, I can dream big dreams and realize most of my potential.

Now to the really controversial part: lesbian. I could have been dishonest and hidden that part of myself. But as a creature of Allah, I decided it is better to pay tribute to God's wisdom. I acknowledge that the Quran contains passages implying that homosexuality cannot be tolerated. It also contains passages implying that Allah knows what He is doing when he designs the world’s breathtaking diversity. In addition to the verse that says, “God makes excellent everything He creates,” there are other verses that say “God creates whom He will” and that nothing God creates is “in vain.” How do my critics reconcile those statements with their utter condemnation of homosexuals?

Notice I am not saying that I am right – I do not know that I am right. The question is: what makes my critics so sure they are right? And in claiming to be right, how do they know they are not usurping God’s jurisdiction as the supreme judge and jury?

There is something else worth pointing out. Those Muslims who insist that one perspective must take precedence over another, if only for the sake of social order, neglect another question: how do we know it is the anti-gay verses that take precedence over all else? Why don’t the pro-diversity verses get that honour?

It seems to me that no matter how you slice it, Muslims who wish to live “by the book” have no choice but to make choices about what to emphasize and what do downplay. Selectiveness is inevitable. I recognize my own selectiveness, but at least I am honest enough to admit it.

And so I select – I choose – to see the bigger point that the Quran makes about diversity: “If God had pleased, he would have made you all one people. But he has done otherwise, that he might try you in what he has given to you.” In my view, what a passage like this shows is not just the virtue of tolerating difference. It shows that pluralism is both divine and deliberate. If that is a far-fetched interpretation, then it is a mistake for which I shall pay on the Day of Judgment.

Meanwhile, I am NOT asking Muslims to accept my sexuality. I do not seek anybody’s approval except for that of my Creator. God made me and only God can unravel me. All I do ask Muslims to accept is that the there is room, even in the Quran, for debate about this and many more issues.

In The Trouble with Islam Today, you say that "we've got to end Islam's totalitarianism, particularly the gross human rights violations against women and religious minorities... If ever there was a moment for an Islamic reformation, it's now..." How could this reform come? Do you want it come by foreign hands?

I would prefer that change come from within the Ummah [worldwide Muslim nation]. The Quran tells us that "God changes not what is in a people until they change what is in themselves." We all know that Muslims must begin taking responsibility for the mistakes we have made. And the fact is, Muslims have made plenty of mistakes. In the last one hundred years alone, more Muslims have been tortured and murdered at the hands of other Muslims than at the hands of any foreign imperial power. That is not to deny Western imperialism. I am pointing out that imperialism comes in many skin colors. Look at what the Arab militias, backed by the government in Sudan, are doing to both Muslims and Christians in Darfur. When we Muslims take ownership of our problems, the people we are first and foremost helping are other Muslims. There is nothing anti-Islamic about that.

In Chapter 7 of my book, I outline a global campaign for positive change in Islam -- a change that will revive Islam's own tradition of critical thinking, or ijtihad. I call this NON-military campaign “Operation Ijtihad.” It consists of two main aspects: first, liberating the entrepreneurial talents of Muslim women through micro-enterprise loans. I speak regularly with people who work with poor Muslim women, and they consistently tell me that these women are ready, able and willing to accept such loans, as well as the social obligations that go with them – such as becoming literate, teaching their own children to read and write, and even starting their own schools.

That is actually happening in parts of Kabul today. Women are starting schools where you can read signs that say, “Educate a boy and you educate only that boy. Educate a girl and you educate her entire family.” The thirty-year track record of the micro-lending movement shows that when Muslim women have the resources to start small businesses, not only do they fill the gaps of goods and services in their communities, but they also lift the quality of life for entire neighborhoods and villages.

Why will this help make ijtihad popular? Because when women become literate, they can read the Quran for themselves and identify those verses that mullahs and imams usually do not tell them about. Like the verses that allow women to negotiate their own marriage contracts.

The second aspect of Operation Ijtihad focuses on Muslims in the West. It is in North America and Europe that Muslims are best positioned to restore ijtihad because it is there that Muslims already enjoy the precious freedoms to think, express, challenge and be challenged –- all without fear of state reprisal. Yes, Muslims in the West are often targeted for harassment, profiling and other forms of discrimination. Indeed, I, myself, had that experience during the first Gulf War, when I was unceremoniously marched out of a government building for no stated reason. Still, if we Muslims dare to engage in peaceful debate about the Quran, it is in the West that we need not fear being imprisoned, maimed, raped, tortured or murdered by the government for doing so. What in God’s name are Muslims in the West doing with these precious freedoms?

You narrate your story with Mr. Khaki, who told you "believe or get out." Do you want to say that Islam is so "believe or get out"?

Not at all! When Mr. Khaki said "believe or get out," what was he ordering me to believe? Lies. Lies about the supposed inferiority of women and about the inherent evil of Jews. These are lies and and they should not be perpetrated in the name of Islam. If the choice I was given was to believe in lies or leave the madressa, then there was no contest. For the sake of integrity, I had to leave the madressa.

But as I remind my wonderful mother, just because I left the madressa does not mean I left Allah. After Mr. Khaki expelled me, I had a crucial choice to make: I could have abandoned Islam, as many Muslims quietly do. Or I could have given Islam another chance AND asked Islam to give me another chance. Out of fairness to my faith, I took time over the next twenty years to study Islam on my own.

I am so glad I did, because that is when I learned that Khadija, the Prophet's beloved first wife, was a self-made merchant and most important advisor to the Prophet. She became a very positive role model for me. I also learned about Aisha, the Prophet's last wife, who made so many important decisions on the battlefield and behind the scenes that many Muslims silently consider her to be the "real" successor to Prophet Muhammad. Then I learned about Rabiya, the Sufi Muslim and ex-slave. According to Islamic tradition, Rabiya was given her choice of four suitors. After interviewing the smartest among them, she decided he would remain single -- just as the Quran gives her the choice to do!

Finally, and maybe most impressively, it was during this time of self-study that I learned that the first European feminist may very well have been a Muslim man. In 12th century Islamic Spain, the philosopher Ibn Rushd told the religious fanatics of his day -- mostly Christians -- that "women's ability is not known because they are relegated to the business pro-creation, child-rearing and breast-feeding." He went on to saythat "treating woman as if they are a burden to men is one of the reasons for poverty." Many Muslim countries could use that lesson today.

You see, I would not have learned any of this at my madressa. But I certainly did learn it at the public library. Thank God for freedom of information. The very freedom that Mr. Khaki thought would corrupt me has actually managed to save my faith in Islam! So, Islam is not a believe-or-get out religion. The fact that I remain the in the faith is evidence of that.

Some will say you wrote a book "in love with the Jews" when you selected the worst story from your teacher when he said "they worship moolah, not Allah." Why didn't you mention any good stories?

Mr. Khaki never told us any good stories about Jews. Not once. Yet I knew in my heart that it is not right to promote Jew-hatred in the name of Islam. That is why I questioned him. And that is why he kicked me out. I would humbly suggest it is not my objectivity that needs to be challenged; it is that of the madressa teachers who pump poison in the minds of their pupils.

By the way, I do love the Jews, Christians, even Sikhs. As the Quran says: those who believe in one God and the final day "have nothing to fear or regret." We Muslims cannot keep chanting that "Islam means peace" and remain silent when our so-called educators condition us to hate non-Muslims.

Could you explain your statement that "our problems didn't start with the dastardly Crusaders. Our problems started with us"?

I explain in my book how the spirit of ijtihad fostered a climate of curiosity, creativity and ingenuity that allowed Islamic civilization to lead the world in arts and sciences. Who closed the gates of ijtihad? Not the Jews. Not the Pope. Not the CIA or MTV. Muslims closed the gates of ijtihad.

Consider what happened to al-Andalus. It is true that during the Catholic "reconquista," soldiers burned Muslim manuscripts and sacked mosques. But the reconquista came AFTER something else happened. The downfall of Islamic Spain began with Muslim extremists from Morocco. They were invited by a Muslim governor, al-Mutamid, to come to al-Andalus and protect his fiefdom from Christian enemies. Like the mujahideen of the 1980s, the Muslim extremists came, took care of business and then took over. And in an eerie parallel with the Taliban, they detested women, despised Jews and Christians, repressed the Sufis and abhorred debate -- the very essence of ijtihad! They even burned the work of a conservative Muslim philosopher, al-Ghazali, simply because he wasn't conservative enough. These atrocities set the stage for the reconquista to become successful.

You know what all of this tells us? That long before European colonialism took off, and even longer before the state of Israel existed, Muslims have been bludgeoning each other's freedoms and imposing martial law. As I say in the book, "We Muslims have never needed the oppressive West to oppress our own." We all know this to be true. Very few us are willing to admit it. Should we also blame the Jews and the CIA for our hypocrisy?

"Why are we squandering the talents of women, fully half of God's creation?" You are a lesbian and you got your rights and what you want. But do you want to destroy pure Islamic society from within, as some have suggested?

If abusing basic human rights is the indicator of a "pure" Islamic society, then nothing I could do would be worse than what Muslims are already doing to each other. I know that many of my critics try to make me, Irshad Manji, the issue. But is it because of corrupt Irshad Manji that an average of three honor killings a day are happening in Pakistan alone - according to Amnesty International? Is it because I am a lesbian that in Mali and Mauritania, little boys are hustled into slavery by Muslims? Is it because I am morally decadent in the eyes of my critics that Christian humanitarian workers are shot in the face in places like Saudi Arabia? Is it because I live with another woman that there are no fewer than fifteen open and secret civil wars raging throughout the Muslim world? Do I really have all that power?

Remember this: the first dissidents in Islam emerged less than a hundred years after the faith was established. These dissidents were Arab, male, and heterosexual. Yet they were still accused of being decadent and in the pay of the Jews! My point is, when people don't want to confront the truth, they will use any "weapon of mass DISTRACTION". I am not fooled and neither are the many Muslims writing to me in support.

You explain how the hijab, or veil, has become a litmus test for a Muslim woman's faithfulness. Do you have an alternative? Do you have listeners in the Islamic world?

First, how come we Muslims only test the faithfulness of women? Why not test the faithfulness men too? And I do not just mean marital fidelity; I mean faithfulness to Islam itself.

For example, in public lectures, I remind Muslim men that if they are serious about emulating the Prophet Muhammad's life, they will not simply grow long beards. They will also be very open to working for their wives (just as the Prophet worked for Khadija).

I notice that many men sitting at the back of the room, where they cannot easily be seen, nod their heads in agreement when I say this. Afterwards, in private, I ask them: What were you agreeing with? And they say: We know that when the brothers oppose women earning their own living, it is NOT because they fear violating the Quran. It is because they fear losing personal privilege that comes from cultural customs.

Exactly! And religion is not the same as culture. So why should Muslims perpetuate the lie that the hijab - which is part of Arab culture - is obligatory under Islam? Why should we pretend that honor killings - a part of Arab culture - are justified by Islam? And why should honor itself - an Arab cultural custom - put a disproportionate burden on women in the name of Islam? If men are so concerned about the sanctity of women's bodies, why shouldn't they take the responsibility of controlling their desires toward women's bodies?

When I ask questions like these, the most positive responses come primarily from two groups – Muslim women and young Muslims. Which is not to discount Muslim men. In fact, men who express support are ALWAYS those who see themselves in relation to the women in their lives. For example, “As the father of three girls, I want to thank you for being a role model to them” or “as a son, I’m grateful that you’ve shown me how my life can improve when my mother’s improves.”

Back to Muslim women and youth. I am astounded by how many times I hear the phrase, “You have helped me find my voice.” They go on to tell me that I am saying publicly what they have only dared to think privately, and that my book is giving them the courage to speak up.

Sometimes, the “voice” that they are finding dissents with my own voice – a paradox that I love. At Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia, a young Muslim woman in hijab approached me to say, “I want to thank you for ruffling the feathers of the Ummah.” I thought she is thanking me because she agrees with my points. Not quite. She explained her gratitude this way: “I’m so angry about what you’ve written that you’ve inspired me to hit the books and prove you wrong!” It was a great reaction. If this book does nothing more than inspire one intelligent Muslim to write her own book about why I am mistaken, at the same time as reconciling faith with reason, then I consider my work to be accomplished.

Some websites mentioned that you were dismissed from your school at 14 when you asked for a "sexual culture" course. Do you think that one of Islamic society's problems is sex?

Wow. I have heard many conspiracy theories about me, but the "sexual culture" course is a new one! I wish I was that sophisticated when I was 14 years old. I do not think I even knew at age 14 what sexual culture was. I was too busy studying hard to get straight A's and become president of the student body at school.

Unlike Christianity and Judaism, Islam sees sex as a positive force -- one that can be enjoyed for pleasure and not just for pro-creation. I guess I would conclude that sex is not Islamic society's problem, but it might be Arab society's problem. And as I have already explained, Arab culture needs to be separated from Islam as a faith.

You said that you like your religion and the Quran. Where is the problem?

The trouble is the way in which the Quran and Islam are being exploited -- and I do not just mean by the terrorists. I also mean by moderate Muslims themselves. Some Muslims exploit Islam as a sword, and many of us agree that they are criminals for doing so. But even more Muslims exploit Islam as a shield. We use the sensitivity of religion to prevent honest introspection. We claim that questions are off-limits. We confuse dogma with faith.

Some will reply that this is a problem with Muslims, not with Islam. Perhaps. But I ask: What is a religion if not the collective behavior of those who practice it? By understanding religion as a living, breathing entity with consequences -- rather than an absract theory -- we come to realize that the power is ours to reclaim Islam's better angels, those who care about human rights.

You are doing things that Muslims hate: defending the invasion of Iraq. Sympathizing with Israel. You are a lesbian. How could you reform and make others listen to you, especially now that you are working for "ijtihad"?

Your question assumes that I consider myself a leader of Muslims. No. I am not "legitimate" enough to lead Muslims, and I have made peace with that fact. I know I will go to my grave being hated by many of the Muslims who I am standing up for. That is alright, because what drives me is results, not ego.

Let’s talk about results. Dissidents achieve at least two things. First, we break deadly silences. Second, in the course of shattering silences, we legitimize other reformers because, compared to us, they seem more reasonable. History is full of such examples. Do you think the African-American civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. would have been considered acceptable if Malcolm X, a radical dissident, did not exist? Malcolm X legitimized Martin Luther King Jr.

Here is the proof that people like me are helping to create a climate in which progressive Muslims can be heard: In the past year alone, young Muslim Americans have been organizing marches against Islamist terror. They are publishing reformist translations of the Quran. They are holding public prayers led by women. From time to time, these women are even sitting in the so-called "men's side" of the mosques, reminding their brothers that no wall segregated males and females during the Prophet's time, and that women have the Quranic right to equal worship. In other words, they are making the distinction between culture and religion. I am proud that they can be listened to because they are not the "radical, Jew-loving, lesbian feminist Irshad Manji." I am happy to be of service!

What do you feel concerning daily hate from Islamic society around you? For example, it has been said that you are "worse than Osama bin Laden."

Whenever you challenge religious conviction, you are bound to make people angry. After all, you are not just inviting believers to re-think an issue. You are doing something much more primal and visceral: challenging pride, self-esteem, and ultimately identity. So I understand why so many of my fellow Muslims become defensive.

But to anybody who is reading this interview with defensiveness in his or her heart, let me say: My own identity as a faithful Muslim has been challenged since the release of my book. And yet, I remain fully secure in my faith. I even take inspiration from sura 4, verse 135 in the Quran, which states: "Believers, conduct yourselves with justice and bear true witness before God -- even if it be against yourselves, your parents or your family." That includes my religious family.

I do not feel hurt by their hate because I serve only my Creator and the conscience that He gave me. Everything else is mere politics.

Are you afraid that your book will be received like Rushdie's Satanic Verses, and then you may face a fatwa, especially since you are getting threats?

It is true that I regularly receive death threats, and you can read some of them on my website. The police advised me to install bullet-proof windows and a state-of-the-art security system at home. These measures protect my partner, my guests and even my neighbors. I do it for them, not for me.

You see, I have never lived in fear. Not once. What Salman Rushdie told me when I began writing my book sticks with me as I reflect on my life since. I remember asking him why he would support a young Muslim woman writing something that might bring into her life the chaos and violence that has plagued his. Without any hesitation he replied, "Because a book is more important than a life." I laughed, thinking he would get to the serious answer in a moment.

Rushdie explained that this was the serious answer! He said, "Whenever a writer puts out a thought, it can be disagreed with -- vigorously, vehemently, even violently -- but it cannot be un-thought." That, he said, is "the great permanent gift that a writer gives to this world." I remember these words whenever a journalist in the Middle East emails me to say: Please be careful; there was a fatwa against you published in the local press today.

Despite the anger, hatred, and death threats, the good news is that I am hearing more of the opposite – support, affection, even love – from Muslims around the globe. In fact, a huge part of the motivation for having written my book came from young Muslims who told me that “we need more voices such as yours to help us open up this religion of ours.”

I hear this even from the Arab world. At the World Economic Forum this past January, a number of Arab journalists and political leaders quietly approached me to ask: Do you know how many of our youth are buzzing about your book? (They did not always say this with a smile.)

But I knew they were telling me the truth because soon after my book came out, my email inbox began to fill up with messages from Muslims in the Middle East, pleading with me to get the book translated into Arabic so that they can share these ideas with their friends. My standard response was: Name one courageous Arab publisher who would be willing to associate with my book. A lot of them wrote back with a question: Why be limited by the publishing establishment? Why don’t you get the book translated into Arabic yourself and then post the translation on your website? If you let us download the Arabic edition free-of-charge, we can read these ideas in privacy and safety –- which means we can share them with our friends.

I loved their logic! So I took their advice and so far, the Arabic translation has been downloaded, for free, more than 50,000 times so far.

Mohamed Elmasry, president of the Canadian Islamic Congress, said your book is simplistic, that you lack the academic credentials to write about Islam, and that you are a self-loathing Muslim who doesn't properly observe her religion. Elmasry called your book a "big yawn" that has had little impact on Muslims.

I thank him for expressing so much passion about a book that is irrelevant.

What can you tell me about Project Ijtihad?

This foundation aims to establish a leadership network for reform-minded Muslims. Project Ijtihad will educate young Muslims about Islam’s Golden Age, during which time Muslim civilization led the world in the arts and sciences precisely because critical thinking was embraced. By teaching about Islam’s towering intellectual figures -- something that very few madressas are doing -- such a network could empower young Muslims to transcend their fear of persecution, return to their communities and launch projects that reconcile Islam with freedom. There is much more information about Project Ijtihad on my website: http://www.muslim-refusenik.com/ijtihad.html

Is there any move, for example by PEN International, to protect you against any fatwa?

PEN has certainly spoken out for my freedom of expression. But as you know, a fatwa is not necessarily a death warrant. It is a legal opinion. Therefore, PEN cannot "protect" me or anybody else from a fatwa.

This does not mean I am actively inviting death warrants. Quite the opposite. Whenever I speak to Muslim media, I say to the audience that if anybody among you would like to be the one to kill me, just keep this in mind: you will only making me a martyr for the cause of Islamic reform. Do you really want to support this cause? Do you really want to help me sell more books? I hope that by thinking of the consequences, my would-be assassins realize that murdering me will be counter-productive for them.

On the other hand, as the police have told me, if somebody really wants you dead, they will find a way to make it happen -- whether or not you have a bodyguard. No matter how many precautions I take, my life is in Allah's hands. But as I said earlier, I do not fear meeting my Maker. For if He is as merciful and compassionate as almost every sura of the Quran says He is, then at the very least I will get a fair hearing from Him. That is all I can ask.

What is the difference between the situation of Muslim women in the Islamic world and outside of it?

For the most part, Muslim women outside the Islamic world -- especially in the West -- are more economically advantaged than women within the Islamic world. Which means that Muslim women in the West have the privilege to make certain choices that many of our sisters elsewhere do not. For example, we can interpret the Quran for ourselves without fear of state retaliation. My point is reaffirmed by the United Nations Arab Human Development Reports. These reports were researched and written by Arabs, and they consistently emphasize that the Muslim Middle East suffers from three key deficits: knowledge, freedom, and women's empowerment. I have argued that by addressing the deficit of women's empowerment, we can also help the cause of knowledge and freedom.

Interestingly, whenever I say this at a public university lecture in the West, a Muslim woman in the audience will stand up and insist that she is not oppressed. "Good for you," I reply. "But do you ever think about the millions of Muslim women who live in poor villages and because of illiteracy, they do not know all the verses in the Quran that give them the option for equality? Just because the problem does not affect you personally does not mean it ceases to exist." Sadly, this is another difference between Muslim women in the West versus those in the Islamic world: in the West, our good fortune can make us selfish. Not always, of course. But too often.

However, I must also say that there are times when I do not see much difference between Muslim women inside and outside the Islamic world. We in Canada, for example, are fighting for some of the same rights as women in Iraq -- the right to be governed by secular civil law instead of sharia law. Yes, it's true! In Ontario, which is Canada's major province, the government is considering introducing sharia law for Muslim families out of "sensitivity". Do you know who the most vocal opponents of that proposal are? Muslim women themselves! You might think we are living in Iraq or Northern Nigeria, but no.

Finally, this does not mean secularism is the answer for Muslim women. In Turkey, Muslim women are banned from wearing a headscarf in public institutions. I know a doctor who is not permitted to practice medicine in a public hospital because she cannot exercise her choice to wear the hijab there. So she has left medicine for now. How tragic that in Turkey, secularism has become an orthodox religion.

What I have noticed is that whether in established democracies such as Canada or emerging democracies such as Iraq, whether in secular or theocratic states, Muslim women continue to be used as the indicators or purity. In this sense, the situation of Muslim women inside and outside the Islamic world is not that different.

What are the main types of reform you would like to see?

I have already answered that question throughout our interview, especially in response to questions 2 and 14. Basically, though, reform means reviving and democratizing the spirit of ijtihad, so that people throughout the Islamic world, women in particular, know of their God-given right to think for themselves.

This is entirely in keeping with the rights and responsibilities that the Quran enjoins. There are three recurring messages in the Quran: 1) only God knows fully the truth of anything. 2) Only God can punish unbelievers, which makes sense given that only God knows what true belief is. 3) Our resulting humility sets us free to ponder God's will -- without any obligation to follow a dictated interpretation. This message exists throughout the Quran. "Let there be no compulsion in religion," states Chapter 2. "Unto me your religion, unto me my religion" states Chapter 109. I could quote more, but you get my point!

My reading of the Quran explains why I cannot stay silent about Islam's imperialists, whether they are extreme like Usama bin Laden or mainstream like my madressa teacher, Mr. Khaki. After reaching their own conclusions "without compulsion," they turn around and prevent others from doing the same, We Muslims should not only enjoy the freedom to explore; we have to ensure that this freedom exists for EVERYONE. Anything less undermines God's jurisdiction as the Supreme Judge and Jury.

If you suggest that women in Christianity have more liberty, let me ask you: Why have Christians not selected a woman Pope?

Because no woman has been insecure enough to want that job! Ok, I'm joking. In my book, I have acknowledged that every religion - including Catholicism - has its share of dogma and doctrine. But you cannot deny that there are many dissenters in the Catholic religion, and they do not need to worry about losing their lives over their criticisms. Muslims today cannot claim the same.

By writing "The Trouble with Islam Today," I am not saying that Christianity and Judaism are free of problems. But the reality is, libraries are full of books about the trouble with Christianity. There are no shortage of books about the trouble with Judaism. We Muslims have a lot of catching up to do when it comes to dissenting with authoritarianism. Whose permission are we waiting for?

How would you describe your life as a lesbian?

Haven't you read that I am an agent of the Israeli secret service? As a top-secret official of the Zionist conspiracy, I cannot talk about my personal life. I do find it interesting that you keep raising my sexual orientation. Why? This is part of my honesty, but it is not my identity.

"Thinker" is first and foremost my identity. Being a thinker means that you avoid fundamentalisms of your own. Once something becomes an orthodoxy, you’ve stopped thinking. I cannot believe that Allah, being Almighty, is threatened by the thinking of His creatures. Rather, it is Muslims who are threatened by our own thoughts. Let us take responsibility for what we are doing to ourselves.