My friend Magdi Allam, the deputy editor of the Italian newspaper il Corriere della Sera, has converted from Islam to Catholicism and was baptized the night before Easter in a service conducted by the pope in St. Peter’s in Rome. It’s a courageous act, but then Magdi Allam is a brave man. His outspoken criticism of Italian Muslim radicals–especially their support for the Muslim Brotherhood and for Hamas–had already produced threats to his life several years ago, and, ever since, the Italian Government has protected him, his home, and his Italian wife Valentina. The increasingly sloppy Andrew Sullivan calls on his readers to pray for Magdi, who Sullivan says is NOW at risk, when in fact he is accompanied by carabinieri whenever he moves around Rome, and his house is under constant surveillance. So far as I know, no attempt on his life has been made. But, like Salman Rushdie and Ayaan Hirsi Ali, he is precisely the sort of elegant, sophisticated and thoughtful person that sets the Islamic fundamentalists’ teeth on edge.
He has long spoken on behalf of moderate Muslims, and greatly admires Pope Benedict XVI for his courage in simultaneously criticizing the lack of Muslim toleration and openness to human reason. And he incurred the wrath of both leftists and Muslims when he wrote a best-seller entitled “Viva Israele!” whose contents you can easily imagine. He had been a non-practicing Sunni Muslim, but anyone familiar with his writing can see that he had a religious vocation, and it is no surprise that he has found comfort in the Church.
I rather suspect that Magdi had been mulling this action for quite a while, but it also seems likely that he chose this moment in order to stick his thumb in al Qaeda’s eye. Just a few days ago, an al Qaeda video with a voice claiming to be Osama bin Laden’s denounced the pope for supporting a new “crusade” against Islam, and warned Europeans that there would be retribution (I think it’s a pony, of course; I think bin Laden’s dead and buried).
Theoretically, anyone who performs apostasy, as Magdi has, is subject to the death penalty, and no doubt there will be imams and ayatollahs who issue fatwas to this effect, even though some authoritative Muslim leaders have said that punishment for such sins is in the hands of the Almighty, not other men. So Magdi’s very public conversion, and his baptism by Benedict, is an act of defiance against those who have already forced him to live the life of a recluse.
Both Rushdie and Hirsi Ali come to America with some frequency, even though the government of the United States does not provide them with security. Ayaan has been forced to raise private money for her protection; I do not know Rushdie’s arrangements. Ayaan in Washington cannot carry a gun, because of the city’s virtually total ban on private weapons (let’s hope the Supreme Court puts a stop to that, in a current case). But is it not intolerable that several of the West’s most distinguished intellectuals are forced to distort their lives because of threats from fanatics who seek to silence them by any and all means?
To put it a bit differently: the Constitution guarantees us all freedom of speech. But there is no such freedom if you’re going to face death threats for speaking your mind. Some will be brave enough to face the threats and continue their criticism of the fanatics. But you can be sure that many others will just shut up.
If we are serious about our Constitutional freedoms, we’re going to have to find a way to defeat those who are now challenging them so brutally.
UPDATE:
Those freedoms are most decidedly under fire in the Netherlands, a country once famous for its toleration and resistance to intimidation. Geert Wilders apparently can’t get his film on the Koran posted on line because his service provider is finding excuses not to.
I’m sure the powers-that-be at Pajamas Media would be pleased to give him some bandwidth, though…
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16 Comments
Harvey Levy:Courageous people like Magdi Allam and Bangladeshi journalist Sslah Uddin Shoaib Choudhury ( and others)are the light which show the world the monstrosity that is Islam. People who only focus on Jihadist as the true extremist fail to notice that actual Islamic governments which are not usually labeled as hard core Islamic - such as Bangladesh, Pakistan, Indonesia, Malaya - violate basic human rights as a matter of policy. The west has finally acknowledge that Islam is not a religion but a political philosophy very similar to that practiced by Nazis. God like adulation of Hitler was a prerequisite for being a good Nazi just as God like adulation for Muhammad is for the good Muslim.We can’t go after Muhammad as we did against Hitler but Muhammadan leaders who openly expouse violence and repression must be brought to justice.
ML:
Well I don’t “acknowledge” it. And I rather suspect that Indonesia–the biggest Muslim country in the world–is freer than China–the biggest (mostly) non-Muslim country.
That said, there are certainly many problems with some very popular versions of Islam, as with the Koran and the Hadiths.
Mar 23, 2008 - 9:30 am RHM:It will be interesting to see how the Muslim fanatics respond to this. And I doubt any of us will be surprised.
Mar 23, 2008 - 10:05 am Harvey Levy:Correction: The west has finally acknowledge that Islam is not a religion but a political philosophy very similar to that practiced by Nazis.
Sorry!
On the comparison between level of freedom in Indonesia and China I will agree with the caveat that if you’re a Muslim female then no.
ML:
Why not just say that the jihadis advocate and practice a form of Islam that is much like Nazi political philosophy?
I won’t quibble–much–about the maltreatment of women in China and Indonesia; my point is that women are badly treated in many cultures.
Mar 23, 2008 - 12:59 pm newton:Yet another argument for all Europeans to have the equivalent of the Second Amendment.
ML:
Indeed. It’s silly to leave all the guns in the hands of the Corleones.
Mar 23, 2008 - 3:07 pm convers:find them in youtube com to see many conversion of people who spreading hatred and war at first but love reading the truth lately
Mar 23, 2008 - 6:40 pm morton from vienna:so basically we forced some poor arabish soul to renounce his religon and “convert” to catholosism. we are supposed to take pride in this?? this is evillll. the truth is we have 2 learn how to live with these islamists, not force them to convert to our religion and piss them off even more! ! i’ll bet next you guys r going’t to force obama to “convert” also!!
ML:
Great sense of humor, me out there working for Benedict, haha.
Mar 24, 2008 - 12:56 am Samuel:Magdi Allam’s conversion to Christianity has impressed but not surprised me because an honest and pure man can’t live in well of hate as Islam. It sinks its roots in the dark depth of Evil as all the hateful ideologies that have devastated our miserable century. It seems that Oriana Fallaci’s soul has incarnated in Magdi Christian Allam. She said to be atheist, but I didn’t believe her because this courageous woman couldn’t coexist with the evil. To fight the evil for her was a religious imperative. For this reason Magdi Allam has become Christian cutting off the last tie that bound him to the malign force that, with an unheard-of ferocity, has destroyed his ancient country and has imposed an absolutely perverse religion contradicting all the fundamental principles of human existence and reason. No, Magdi Allam hasn’t converted. He has only returned to his Coptic and Christian origins which the Muslim domination wasn’t able to cancel.
ML:
Please try to stay on-topic. I’ve received several comments “taking sides” between Islam and Christianity, and deleted them. This thread is about freedom of religion and how hard it is to defend it nowadays.
Mar 24, 2008 - 4:04 am Paul:I was very interested in your opinion that bin Laden is dead and buried. The circumstantial evidence for this appears to me to be very strong (I mainly wonder this: how hard is it to snap a quick photo of him with a recent copy of the Waziristan Gazette in his hands?). Do many others share this opinion?
Mar 24, 2008 - 10:06 am Steve from Ohio:All of these comments are ignoring one of the most evil parts of Islam.
That is the practice of declaring a the child of a Muslim as a Muslim.
This man that was baptized was never a practicing Muslim and no sane person would say that he was a Muslim, but Islam has nothing to do with sanity.
This is what is so evil. People are never given the choice of what to believe.
The Christian God would rather see a church half empty with people that truly love him than a church filled to the brim with people marched in at the point of an AK-47.
Which is how many mosques are filled up around the globe.
In Iran, for instance, they take attendance by the government and if you work for the government you can lose your job for not going to mosque.
In Palestine you can be killed for not going to mosque.
If people were free to convert without the threat of death you would see thousands, dare I say millions, more leave the evil bonds of Islam.
And even with this threat millions have anyway.
ML:
I don’t really get this. A child of a Jewish mother is considered a Jew. A child of a Christian mother who is baptised at a very young age is considered a Christian. A child of Muslims is held to be Muslim.
You are quite right about the low level of enthusiasm in many of the leading mosques. An ayatollah of my acquaintance reported less than ten of the faithful at the main mosque in Shiraz on a recent Friday…
Nowadays Jews and Christians respect people’s freedom to choose their faith, but it wasn’t always so. The Muslims–some of them, anyway–are, shall we say, more intense about apostates. I totally agree that if Muslims were free to choose their religion, many would run away from Islam. I’ve often said that we’d then see a big Zoroastrian revival in Iran, for example…
Mar 24, 2008 - 11:30 am abu al-fin:Interesting fact that apostates are supposed to be killed, according to Islamic teaching. The death penalty falls on a wide range of offenses in Islam.
Reminds me of aulde Englynd where almost everything was a hanging offense.
Osama may be dead, but Obama is very much alive.
ML:
Indeed.
Mar 24, 2008 - 12:55 pm jan:amazing!! religion should be chosen and practiced freely yet muslims don’t see it that way unless its islam…hypocrites!!! religions throughout history have done some level of harm but the only one that continues on that path is islam, no wonder some choose to leave it at any cost.
ML:
Most leading Muslims are still in some sort of terrible time warp, unable to recognize the importance of toleration and unable to accept the wisdom of the “others.”
There’s a very interesting book by Amy Chua alled “Day of Empire,” that concludes that toleration is one of the key ingredients in the rise of great nations. Have a look.
Mar 24, 2008 - 2:18 pm Dennis:Morton from Vienna, you’re comment makes no sense. No one “forced” Magdi Allam to convert, he did so of his own free will. That is precisely the point - in the West we recognize freedom of conscience and religion, while it is almost a dead certainty that the reaction of Muslims to his conversion will wimply further prove that they have no understanding of those freedoms.
My only quibble with Mr. Ledeen is his saying that perhaps Allam’s timing was based on the recent “bin Laden” tape. Certainly his conversion process (”Catechesis” to use the terminology of the Church) and the plans for him to be included among those baptized by the Pope at this year’s Easter Vigil long preceeed the tape released last week.
Mar 24, 2008 - 6:29 pm morton from vienna:It would be outrageous if the muslims put one of those fatwa things on President Obama since he also “converted” because we forced him to because we racist americans will not vote for him as a muslim. I pray (even though I’m an atheist) that he is stil a muslim and will reveal his colors (black power and grEen crescent power) when his inevitable election is finalized.
ML:
Well he says he’s Christian, he didn’t convert from anything else.
Mar 24, 2008 - 7:17 pm winston:You’ll be amazed at the increasing number of CHURCH goers in Holland. My most LIBERAL Dutch friends now go to Churches more often. They know that their best line of defense against Islamofascism is their own dying religion.
ML:
Thanks. I hear this more and more. I wrote some years ago that we’re in the midst of a global religious revival, of which Islamic fundamentalism is just one piece.
Mar 24, 2008 - 11:53 pm Rabbi Sue Levy:Harvey Levy (no relation that I know of) writes here that Salah Uddin Shoaib Choudhury is one of those who show us “the monstrosity that is Islam.” Shoaib Choudhury is my dear friend and brother, and he would be appalled at this statement as well as the assertion that Islam is not a religion. He is a devout Muslim, albeit a moderate who fights againt the Islamists who distort his faith and use it for their own murderous ends. As with many faiths, it is not the religion that’s the problem, it’s the people who abuse it. Shoaib Choudhury is one of the most courageous people I have ever had the privilege of knowing. He publishes “The Weekly Blitz” in Bangladesh, the only newspaper in the Islamic world which supports Israel. He promotes interfaith understanding, fights against corruption in his country’s government and publishes the truth in a place where it is not welcome. He is presently on trial for treason, sedition and blasphemy, and is accused, among other charges, of spying for Israel.
If he is found guilty, he will most likely be sentenced to death by hanging. Shoaib Choudhury has been offered political asylum by several western nations. His response: “This is my country. Let the Islamists leave.” In January, 2007 the U.S. House of Representatives passed a bipartisan resolution stating that it is the will of Congress that the charges against Shoaib Choudhury be dropped and that he be protected from further harassment. Libertarian Republican Representative Ron Paul was the only dissenting vote. The Government of Bangladesh chooses to ignore this resolution, and Shoaib Chouhudry is now in grave danger.
ML:
Thanks. I, too, admire him and hope he prevails.
Not at all surprising that Ron Paul got it wrong; I don’t think he cares for people who support Israel.
Mar 25, 2008 - 12:33 am Morton Doodslag:Finally! A moderate Muslim! I’ve been waiting for a long time to see one!
ML:
There’s lots of them, and some even remain Muslims, hoHO…
Mar 26, 2008 - 6:10 pm