01 July 2015

To Medina and Back

.... It is understandable, then, that up until a few years ago, Hirsi Ali thought Islam was unreformable. And something of an intellectual industry has sprouted up in the West for making that case. Somewhat surprisingly, however, she claims that the Arab Spring—botched as it was—proved her wrong.

While it facilitated the rise of some Islamist and jihadist movements, it also gave millions of Muslims an opportunity to renounce them. Islamists came to power in Tunisia and Egypt, for example, but were quickly removed in spasms of buyer’s remorse.

Hirsi Ali cites a 2014 Pew Research Center poll surveying 14,000 Muslims worldwide showing that huge majorities, almost everywhere, fear the Medina Muslims—92 percent of Lebanese, 80 percent of Tunisians, and even 75 percent of Egyptians.

It remains to be seen whether or not those majorities become the catalysts of a reformation. [Commentary] Read more