rabah Posted 2008-05-31

I am not surprised at what was written by the author of those who stir up sedition and the mufti of immorality. The messenger of God, peace and prayer of God upon him, informed us that the Last Day won’t come until “Araoubada speaks”, and “What is Araoubada, messenger of God? He replied: the insignificant man talking about public issues”. But what is upsetting me is the dissemination of the ideas of the stupid and idiots at a time when the people of science are marginalized. The poet said in the past, when will the thirsty be satisfied, when the sea is irrigated from wells, and when the slavish be discouraged from a goal, while the elite are sitting in the corners, and the humble are elevated one day, over the dignified, the worst catastrophes is when the ignoble and noble are made equal, the love of death is becoming nice, oh people to God, His revenge is serious. Oh people respect the orders of God, the torture of hell is the worst…

Noures Posted 2008-05-31

It is quite spectacular to note all that she has done and accomplished. Wow! All that was left for her to do was this analysis of religion. I advise her to take her country’s politics into serious consideration and to find some remedies for what her compatriots are suffering because of them.

mohammed Posted 2008-06-02

To you who pretend freedom of jurisprudence in doctrinal or Qur’anic matters. Don’t you know that those who talk about and interpret religion have no knowledge? They don’t interpret this from their fancies as you want to say. Religious matters are based on the methodology of the Qur’an and the prophet (sunna), the companions of the Prophet, righteous followers then jurisprudence which concerns the learned scholars in the Islamic Shariaa and not anyone as you want because religion isn’t interpreted according to whims, it is interpreted on the basis of sciences (science of language + Hadith…the conditions surrounding the verse…). I think that you haven’t read the Qur’an in its entirety and you didn’t consider its meanings... you should study the Hadith (tradition of the prophet) and its sciences in order to attack religious scholars.

عبده الهادى Posted 2008-06-03

Praise be to God who instituted among us women scholars who are intervening at the highest level in religion. Our tight clinching without deep understanding and knowledge make us a frozen nation and the honourable messenger wants us to be a nation understanding of what he says. He wants us to act accordingly first so that we will be a good example for others. The messenger of God (peace and prayer upon him) was the example for his companions, God bless them all and for us after them so that we will be a good example for others in dealing in human relations in accepting the other with his thought, religion and conviction. If our channels are always open, then we will know how to support our Islam and our religion. Thanks to the people of Magharebia, may God grant you success for the good of the creatures.

zakaria Posted 2008-06-03

With all due respect, Olfa, I am obliged to tell you that you are making a manifest mix-up here with your thoughts. I am a lawyer by profession, thus I can, for example, allow myself to interpret an article on civil rights; but I cannot, on the other hand, explain a scientific article. In my opinion, you are mistaken when you say that the door to ijtihad is open to everyone!!! So, respect the true specialists in the Qur'an! On the other hand, when you speak about the right of a woman to ask for a divorce (khule’), I sense bad intentions on your part to deceive the potential readers of your book by distorting the precise and clear meaning of the Hadith of our Prophet, may piece and blessings be upon him. And, in the end, how do you qualify the situation of our brothers in Palestine, Iraq and Afghanistan? Are they jihadists or terrorists!!!??? Thank you

Katrine Posted 2008-06-04

I am greatly encouraged when I read the thoughts and insights of people such as Olfa Youssef. More and more Muslims seem to realize that Ijtihad is essential to any religion. Mohamed Talbi, also a Tunisian, has explained the importance of this in his writings. Several Moroccan scholars are also emphasizing that Islamic thought must be dynamic and responsive to contemporary situations, as it was in the early centuries. My hope is that the thoughts and opinions of these people can receive even greater attention and acceptance. That is critical for the survival of Islam as a respected religion.

مسعود Posted 2008-06-04

I don’t know why do they call those who are making Fatwas to us or stirring unnecessary strife and questions. They divorce an Islamic intellectual or Islamic researcher while they don’t apply Islam themselves. Take the example of Ms. Olfa Youssef. Wearing the veil should be according to her whims or only during prayer time. But if we understand the nation of our ancestors, our feelings and souls are the same as were preceding souls, they are affected by words, dresses, smells and hunger. Because the soul is one soul for whom the God of Heavens has imposed regulations and rules. We can either follow them, deny them, analyse them and pretend that they are like this. As regards the question of Ijtihad (jurisprudence) raised by the lady, before talking about Ijtihad, you should have mastered the regulations authorizing you to practice Ijtihad. I will tell you about a story which you might need. This was during the era of Omar, God bless him, or another Caliphate, I can’t remember whom it was exactly. This Caliphate learned of a man who was asking questions surpassing the power of the Muslim to answer them. Omar, God bless him, ordered that this man be brought to him, he ordered the executioner to whip him, then he asked the man what are these questions, he repeated them; and he ordered the executioner to whip him again; then he asked the man what are these questions you want to know; then the man asked them for the third them; he ordered him to be whipped. Then he asked him what are the questions but the man didn’t speak. Then the man went to his friends and they asked him what were the questions, he said, the Caliphate has disciplined me and I won’t repeat them. May be you should have addressed these questions to a scholar to answer them instead of rousing them to those who understand and those who don’t understand. (Don’t publish a book by which you will raise strife among people). But if you were honest about learning the rules of these questions, go to the scholars in Egypt or in Tunisia where there are those who fear God and want to explain some concepts to those who are ignorant about them. It seems that you are showing off and want to gain fame but from the path of slandering the Book and Sunna saying that they are incomplete and unjust, may God forbid that they be like this. May be some Muslims misunderstand the orders of the Qur’an but we don’t say that the flaw is in the Qur’an but rather in us and we don’t claim that scholars are politicizing things, there are rather limits to things. We don’t let anyone issue Fatwas and present evil and uninteresting ideas such as the analysis of homosexuality, marriage of pleasure and so on. There is no other God but God.

Hich Posted 2008-06-05

There is a problem with the vote button. Only the red appears, so i pressed to see if the green will come and it added one negative. Excellent article and courageous and lucid thinking. Will that voice counterbalance the fanatic and ignorant? Not sure

غير مســعود Posted 2008-06-05

I enjoyed the TV interview on the ANB channel in which you were great and in my humble opinion you have highly surpassed your interviewer. But I was wondering whether this dialog was previously prepared. I don’t see any harm in that but I just found a question which has to be asked: would you have achieved the same result if your interviewer a man who is learned in the science of interpretation, Fiqh and Sunna. I would be mistaken if I imagine that Dr Olfa Youssef who has a personality which loves challenge of any kind, of any type, at any time and in any place could open a place of challenge to someone who had adequate and necessary knowledge in the aforementioned matters. If only you could do that so that we can evaluate you and your ideas in the best way. If you are willing to do that, please inform me of the place and time so that I can listen to the conflict of wills. I hope that you will not disappoint me. It is high time for this tigress to debate those who think that they are equal to her.

فادي - سوريا Posted 2008-06-06

I am a designer architect from Syria…I just want to say…that the ideas of the Doctor about these ignorants who know nothing of God's creation and the sciences of the messenger Mohamed (peace upon him) claim and call themselves scholars…I repeat it…scholars?? In religion…In the past, those who discussed religion, before allowing themselves to talk about religion must be a scientist in astronomy, mathematics, medicine, engineering and physics, and ultimately they allow themselves to talk about religion and about the interpretation of the holy book Al Qur’an after knowing God's creation. People such as Ibn Rashid, Al Razi and others. More than that, and as the doctor says, they made of their interpretations a law and reality which cannot be discussed. I say to God Almighty “Do you say of God what you do not know”? God says the truth. How do you allow yourselves to say that your interpretations are what God Almighty wants to say to humanity? How? Every word from the book of God bears great and deep meanings which go beyond your shallow interpretation of them… I congratulate and bless people like Doctor Olfa Youssef… There are many, many intellectuals in Syria and Lebanon who support you… But unfortunately, if you surrender to these ignorants who put us in the abyss, you put the reputation of Islam in the abyss… Thank you.

قارىء Posted 2008-06-07

I will tell you about a story which you might need. This was during the era of Omar, God bless him, or another Caliphate, I can’t remember whom it was exactly. This Caliphate learned of a man who was asking questions surpassing the power of the Muslim to answer them. Omar, God bless him, ordered that this man be brought to him, he ordered the executioner to whip him, then he asked the man what are these questions, he repeated them; and he ordered the executioner to whip him again; then he asked the man what are these questions you want to know; then the man asked them for the third time; he ordered him to be whipped. Then he asked him what are the questions but the man didn’t speak. Then the man went to his friends and they asked him what were the questions, he said, the Caliphate has disciplined me and I won’t repeat them. (I have borrowed this text from a previous comment. The Caliphate of the prophet, if he were really in a rank qualifying him to be the Caliphate of the messenger of God- peace and prayer of God upon him- should have answered these questions to that man instead of whipping him again and again to the point that he only narrowly escaped death. But he insisted on asking the question again. Are these the prides of Omar Ibn Khattab, shame on him for doing this, God speaks the truth in His book as He says ‘He it is Who has revealed the Book to you; some of its verses are decisive, they are the basis of the Book, and others are allegorical; then as for those in whose hearts there is perversity they follow the part of it which is allegorical, seeking to mislead and seeking to give it (their own) interpretation. but none knows its interpretation except Allah, and those who are firmly rooted in knowledge say: We believe in it, it is all from our Lord; and none do mind except those having understanding’, verse 7. ‘But none knows its interpretation except Allah, and those who are firmly rooted in knowledge’. The messenger of God, peace and prayer upon him, said ‘I have left for you two weighty, they asked: what is it messenger of God, he said the book of God and my family, the folks of my house’. But Muslims have gone far from this, they left the book for the strongest horizons, fought, and killed the family of the prophet of God, the learned : I am the city of science and Ali Is its door, and the worst is where we take our Islamic nation. I don’t defend Olfa Youssef here but I mention the backwardness and deep abyss towards which we are driven by preachers whom we don’t know precisely. Curse you all, preachers of ignorance and backwardness. We should seek instead progress and prosperity of this nation which is the best of all nations.

أبو هلطم Posted 2008-06-09

Frankly, more and more in Tunisia we are seeing small leaders shouting out “extremism” or “jihad”. Even though Mr. Rachid Al-Ghanouchi was put in prison for ijtihad, his real crime was adapting Islam to our times in order to govern. He accepted democracy without any reservations, but the system saw a threat in him because the system itself has always encouraged charlatanism and belly dancing and all things harming the image of Islam as being compatible with our times so as to distance the government from it. So long as jihad threatens them, they will try ijtihad in order not to adapt Islam to our time and to condemn practices that have nothing to do with Islam. But, this is all done to remove the word ‘jihad’ from our vocabulary—they think they can manage this!—and replace it with ‘ijtihad’, which is just a way for the parasites educated in French schools and governed by the powers that be to deal Islam a death blow: if someone writes something against Islam, they call this criticism and ‘ijtihad’, but if someone writes something in favour of Islam, his writings will never be seen and, most likely, his close ones will be obliged to suck it up when he is put in a prison directed by an atheist, who will then inflict the worst forms of torture upon him. As for the head of the Ministry of Religious Affaris, is he not an atheist? And, are there any real Muslims in the University of Azzaitouna!?

سمير حسن Posted 2008-06-09

I hope that many women like you will emerge and that there will be enlightened minds which understand what you mean and what you want of the thought in the world. From all my heart, I hope for your success.

TheDefender Posted 2008-06-09

More and more, we are discovering deception. I too would like to write a book by the name of “Why beg for them to put up with us?”, but, because my book will not contain scenes of libertinism or anti-Islamic thoughts, it has very little chance of seeing the light of day! Thank you, Magharebia, for letting us express ourselves in complete freedom: this allows us to avoid blowing ourselves up only to later be accused of terrorism. As much as I am repressed in my expressions, if I go to a restaurant and blow myself up, then it is neither out of will nor a suicide bombing, it is just spontaneous and uncontrolled—a consequence of the these crap generals. We have had it up to here with these repressors!

عمار عيساد Posted 2008-06-10

This Tunisian woman is nice she is good for... ads of course.

عبد الله Posted 2008-06-11

By God, I have one word to say to that woman who pretends to be an intellectual. I tell her if the ignorant keeps quiet, difference will decline.

Ibn Sina Posted 2008-06-11

I think that this lady did her best to express her opinion and, as such, I would like it if we respected her right to be at ease and discussed her approach. (Not so long ago, she would have been sprayed with acid for even less.) Indeed, in the end I hope that her words will be able to be discussed and that her approach is sincere. It is true that Tunisia is an example neither of democracy, nor of theocracy. This is to say: it has nothing to do with either! However, Miss Youssef’s approach is even-handed. In effect, she has joined the intelligentsia and, in turn, El-Qaradawi (who, in this light, is perhaps in opposition), as this gentlemen is in the avant-garde in certain fields and, I would say, ever present in the very same forms of media that are denouncing Miss Youssef while also, being European, advocating this fair-weather, concessional and secular Islam, making reference to Islamic law. This is without a doubt in concern for better nearing a pure and long-lasting secular discourse. This approach is new because, after the failed experiments of the Arab-Muslim countries and after the governments stripped their populations of their identity, their dignity and their heritage so that they finally created this monster that is violent fundamentalism, the secularists are facing societies that are more and more practicing, believing and able to adapt their discourse to all cases. This trend is especially worrying because, sneakily, this author wrote “Bewilderment of a Muslim Woman”—a sort of title that is not provocative but, rather, far worse: it is manipulative. It is well known, thanks to one of Pavlov’s experiments—that I can repeat to myself that I am hungry to the point where my salivary glands activate. In this sense, she is creating bewilderment just by talking about it.

الصحبي الصحبي Posted 2008-06-11

It is nice to discuss all topics even those considered by some as postulates in the Qur’an. For example, there are many issues which occur in dialog. It has presented the infidel's thoughts and then debated them. Finally it left the freedom to believe or not up to the individual. But he must assume the consequences of his choice on the day of judgment. What I didn’t find clear and faithful for the woman, Olfa Youssef, is that she presents herself as a Muslim. Islam is not a heritage or something to which we can belong, it is a global faith. I can for example name myself Paul and present myself as a Christian. There is no doubt in the truthfulness of the faith of the Christians because they believe in the plurality of God and make a person, a human being borne by a woman and who eats food, into a God… Finally, what is said by this woman is considered idle jurisprudence and war against Islam, which shows the weakness of those who hate this pure religion. I call upon the authors of this idleness to believe in all the messages of Islam because they are messages to all humanity. At the same time, it is the message of Jesus and Moses, peace upon them all.

ابو سارا Posted 2008-06-12

With my respect for all the points of view presented on this forum, I don’t see anything wrong with what was said and expressed by the professor because all the books which have interpreted the Qur’an or tried to do so should be rewarded as an effort, as only God knows the interpretation of the Qur’an. The best evidence is what was said by God the Almighty: “When its interpretation comes…”. It is said that the Qur’an is valid for all times and places, so can the interpretations of the first centuries be adequate for the nature of the present era?? And can we confine ourselves under the roof of boycotting the Jews and Western countries under the pretext of respecting religion? Honestly, history shows that religion was never for a day a burden on the human mind. Throughout history it has been the ideal solution for all human problems since the beginning of creation. But what we have inherited today from religious scholars, including the rigidity and inflexibility in matters associated with doctrinal matters and Fatwas which are absent from modern society, are the causes of this religious stagnation. We must leave rigidity aside and try to understand the Qur’an from different angles so that this doesn’t contradict religious orders and doesn’t put pressure on Muslims to the point that he seeks an outlet from this religion, God forbid. We must use our minds to understand the Qur’an and I repeat it again, understanding the Qur’an and not interpreting it. God knows the intentions of the people.

achour Posted 2008-06-14

Leave the religion of Islam to the Muslim scholars to explain and interpret. Everything in its own time and every field to its own scholar. As for Miss Olfa, I tell her that if she is a true specialist of Islam, then she should first put on the hijab and then read the Qur'an with all her heart.

Anonymous Posted 2008-06-15

Our religion is frozen by the guardians of the temple. It is used by those who wield words and expressions for personal ends and interests, arguing in favour of obscurantist ideas. It is desirable that the thoughts and energies of people of Muslim confession—to use your example—be freed. In this way came the other glorious times. The discourse of these guards is outdated by the events they are waist high in. Few of them have a culture of being open to others like there was during the time of the prophet, PBUH. Good luck, madamme. Go!

وافق أصيل Posted 2008-06-16

The author has the right to expose her ideas however she wants. She is free in that and therefore is fully responsible for the things she dealt with in total freedom. No one has the right to establish himself wrongfully as a defender of the values and principles which she absolutely daren’t question the frankness or credibility, and he doesn’t of course respect her convictions or origins if he were to be alone in the place or time far from the eyes of the people. The announcements of Youssef aren’t invented approaches which should make us halt not in order to vomit on them corroded complexes and nails which date back to the era of tent and Harrim, but we should rather debate them with all seriousness deserved by the presented topic. She hasn’t criticized the religious text, and she can’t even if she has tried, because if she had done so, she would have violated its sanctity and would have therefore degraded its high rank to a rank which can never be reached. But since she is convinced about her belief in the sacred, she is presenting ideas that there different from the prevailing and domineering ideas whose owners think it is the ultimate thought. This is a very serious and offensive thing against the right granted to us by God the Almighty in the necessity to use the mind and consideration in everything surrounding us so that we can distinguish the reality from its creatures, praised be God, both the reasonable and the transferable since we have the tools granted to us by God the Almighty, they are the mind and its tools, science and its acquired components. They are undoubtedly bounties offered to us by God to achieve this sublime goal “Those who remember Allah standing and sitting and lying on their sides and reflect on the creation of the heavens and the earth: Our Lord! Thou hast not created this in vain! Glory be to Thee; save us then from the chastisement of the fire”, Holy Qur’an. In honouring humans, God the Almighty didn’t discriminate between the genders, He has rather fully honoured them together as they deserve it. So how can the honour granted to the development of the Muslim woman be transformed into a project of sexual desire, infested and deplored all through the centuries which followed the wise governance of Mohamed peace and prayer of God upon him and upon his companions. When she criticizes the archaic approaches cherished by those deeply rooted in mistiness and cheap thought and insist on governing people with it, she is therefore putting a landmark on the road not to go stray from avenue of the religion of God, but to study the matters of our religion in the light of new events in the life of people in the second millennium.

الوناس Posted 2008-06-17

The messenger of God, peace and prayer be upon him, said “That which is authorized is clear-cut and that which is forbidden is clear. So beware of confused matters." From this saying of the prophet, the title of Olfa's book isn’t adequate. A true Muslim doesn’t fall into confusion. Confusion was invented by Olfa.

تونسي قديم Posted 2008-06-18

If you chose other studies associated with your speciality, it would have been better for you than speculating with your friends and colleagues about the legal text and its approaches. It is a domain of research which has been deeply studied by others. Your contribution with ideas is very legitimate. But this contribution should be limited to ideas without developing to an intellectual project to which you dedicate books and volumes…I am wondering where you got that bewilderment from. Tou have never been a Muslim in the deep religious meaning of the word. But if it were an intellectual bewilderment, you haven’t reached it yet. So why do you and your women friends want to reach the ranks of great scholars and intellectuals such as Arkoune and others? Leave Islam, religious scholars and religious thinking alone and remember your picture at the university. You conservative "idiot”, you are justifying reality and incapable of leaving something worthwhile behind.

أبو عمر من قرطاج Posted 2008-06-19

God suffices us and He is the best protector. This is what we were missing, a woman intellectual who offends respectable Muslim scholars and emits the poisons of strife under the name of modernism and the right of difference. This pretext is no longer believed by anyone. As the messenger of God, peace and prayer of God be upon Him said “The authorised acts are clear and the unauthorized acts are clear”. So we don’t need the emergence of a preacher who denies the mandatory veil for woman and who declares that she has a new vision in the interpretation of the Qur’an besides defying our respectable scholars and criticizing their works. Truly, the messenger of God, peace and prayer of God be upon him, was right in saying: “If you are shameless, do whatever you want”.

mohammed145 Posted 2008-06-19

You have made me laugh for a while but you have caused me a lot of pain Olfa Youssef. You are a teacher of literature and language; you are saying words bigger than you? Our particular problem in Tunisia is “you learn two words” from the books of western literature critic “some linguistics”, a little from the philosophers of Enlightenment who called for a cutout with the religious authority represented in the Church, in addition to some stuffed words circulating about intellectual theorizing which we daily hear from lecturers in the university amphitheatres. Some even boast of having grasped and learnt by heart some sayings of Durkheim, Konte, Kant, Adib Ishaq, Taha Hussein or even Arkoune, Al Jabiri or others. They think that in this way they have become intellectuals and thus entitled to theorize and issue Fatwas. The first thing they think about and call for is reviewing the interpretation of the Qur’an and Al Sunna in the light of the developments of the era and even put according to the standards of every intellectual the conservative interpreters on equal rank with politicians and people with personal interests… I sum up to say to Olfa Youssef and others like her, modernists and those who attempt to change religion according to their literary, psychological or philosophical methods, you won’t thwart the determination of the abiders by the orders of God the Almighty because they say “and they say: We hear and obey, our Lord! Thy forgiveness, and to Thee is the eventual course”, “All praise is due to Allah Who guided us to this, and we would not have found the way had it not been that Allah had guided us”. In the book of God there are “some of its verses are decisive, they are the basis of the Book” their meanings are clear in a clear Arab language, “and others are allegorical” and they can be subject to interpretation, “then as for those in whose hearts there is perversity they follow the part of it which is allegorical, seeking to mislead and seeking to give it interpretation”. So, the orders of God which are clear, ho can be interpreted to their opposite like the order of the veil for example? There are many examples. It is better that we leave to those who were described by God the Almighty as “firmly rooted in knowledge” (not the knowledge of literature, history, philosophy, sociology or even Islamic civilization) and “those having understanding”. No Muslim has a doubt that God knows what will happen. If God wanted to change legislations for every time, He would have sent an Apostle so that God will exempt believers from controversy. I hope that you will show more attention to subjects of interest to the Arabic Islamic civilization instead of turning in a vicious circle, barren debates and repeat the same words (female, male…). We are in the era of freedoms, so if a woman wants to show her femininity or charms, let her do that, and if a woman wants to wear a cloak, let her do that. Olfa shouldn’t think that.

المغرب الكبير Posted 2008-06-21

Secularism is the solution to the decadence in which both Arabs and foreigners live. Islam has made us frustrated. Islam has alienated us from what we want and what we do. When will God deliver us from this aversion which He sent to us 1400 years ago? Islam was never a solution. Islam is the original problem. Get rid of the chains of the obscurantist ignorant thought. Study philosophy. Be liberated and open to human sciences. Use your mind because you have given it a vacation for 1400 years. By God I am sorry for your situation. I am disgusted by your acts Muslims, by robbers, traitors and captors. For how long are we going to remain like this? Throw down our regimes. Start with the girly king of Morocco, then the madman of Libya, the butcher of Tunisia and finally Mauritania. Stop this slavery, in the name of Islam.

مدى Posted 2008-06-21

I hope this dear site will provide me the email of the author, if possible and the best way to get in touch with her. Thank you very much.

لبيب Posted 2008-06-22

In the name of God the most gracious the most merciful. I don’t want to judge the statements of the author because honestly I haven’t read the content of the book. It may include valuable information and may be free of mistakes. As far as I know, we are a nation of Iqraa (reading). Young people today are in total bewilderment. Who can believe that, in the face of the abundance of Fatwas? For me, Islam is the religion of tolerance provided our dignity is preserved. I hope that all participants will have a spirit of constructive dialogue without offending… In a reply to an opinion. Our master Ali, God bless him, is one of the pupil of the messenger, peace and prayer of God be upon him. So if you slander him, you are shedding doubt about the Mohamedian school of thought. I want to ask one question: tell me the names of our master Ali, God bless him, one by one. We will find among them Omar and Abou Bakr… Fear God. A Sunni who is concerned about the Islamic awakening.

lajja Posted 2008-06-22

Why so much animosity and controversy? Is it because the person expressing herself is a woman!!!???

tounsia Posted 2008-06-22

We encourage you doctor "Olfa Youssef". You are very audacious. We Arabs need to take reasonable and rational thinking and leave aside dogma and prejudice which we address towards those we don’t know. Regarding what was said about religious interpretation, it isn't taboo. God the Almighty hasn’t banned it. Your research comes at the right time. Thank you Mrs Olfa.

medi Posted 2008-06-23

محمد التونسto The people that you consider respectable scholars who are according to you prominent jurisprudents are SEXUALLY-OBSESSED MANIACS whose brains do not work properly. This is explained by the fact that they were born and raised in the puritanical and backward backgrounds of Saudi Arabia or Egypt, not in MODERN TUNISIA. So wake up my friend and call a spade a spade.

Hakim Posted 2008-06-23

Not sure why she mentioned Dr Y.AlQardawi and A.Khaled. She mentioned them in a negative way too!!! AlQardawi dedicated his life for the study of Islam and here we have clever Olfa challenging him and all scholars. She accused some scholars of takfire etc. Give us one name of a scholar who uses takfire in their methods. I never heard of any scholar calling anyone Kafir. Islam has become an open field for every Tom, Dick and Harry. She's calling for "Kol man habba wa dabb" to have an opinion on Quraan and be a Mujtahid!!! She can shout as long as she wants. Quraan is protected by Allah who revealed it. Many arrogant creatures tried and failed. she will join them soon inshallah. Lahwala wala Qowata Illa billah. [There is no might nor power except with the will of God]

عبد الله Posted 2008-06-25

Mrs or Miss Olfa should know that interpreting the holy Qur’an cannot be just done by anyone. There are rules for that which should be present in all times. If Olfa Youssef considers these interpretations and differences between them she will find out that the differences are in the branches and not in the foundations. The difference of scholars is a mercy for the nation. In the Qur’an verses of the inheritance for example, we find that an interpreter has explained them differently than others, except if they have a hidden intention… The negligence of the nation of its religion is a policy of the colonizer left by the colonizer in Islamic countries and left its protectors for that. The negligence of the nation of its religion was predicted by the messenger of God, prayer and peace of God be upon him, in a Hadith, it is said that the religion will go foreign as it had begun. I ask God to forgive me and you. Salam alikum.

ليت شعري Posted 2008-06-26

I was astonished, why should I not be astonished? This is the age of astonishment. How can such a woman talk about religion? Shouldn’t she rather talk about “the art of prostitution” or say “the culture of prostitution”? Because I swear that she only knows of Islam its name and only knows of the Qur’an its scripts. There is no doubt that she is a Jewish or Crusade manufacture. We never heard about a bewildered Muslim. How can a Muslim be bewildered, when Islam liberated her from prostitution and nakedness? Doesn’t she read history? I am astonished because women are manlike but feminizing men is astonishing. If men weren’t feminized, this secularist wouldn’t have dared to talk about the religion of God. God is the assistant.

لطفي Posted 2008-06-27

Peace, mercy and blessings of God be upon you. The messenger of God, peace and prayer of God be upon him, said “the best people are my century, then those who follow them and those who follow them). These three centuries of company, followers and followers of followers are those who deserve to be followed. They had a good understanding of the Book of God and Sunna of His prophet unlike the debaucherers of today. I just want this woman astray to explain this saying of the messenger of God, peace and prayer of God be upon him: “There are two types of people of hell…women wearing clothes nakedly, swinging and dangling, they won’t find paradise and won’t smell its scent” the Hadith. If a veiled woman goes out putting perfume, she is like an adulteress as the messenger of God, peace and prayer of God be upon him, said. So the case of the unveiled is worse. May God guide us and you to the right path, the Book and Sunna with the understanding of the good ascendants (companions, followers, followers of the followers and prominent Imams). Praised be to God, I witness that there is no other God but You. I ask your forgiveness and I repent to you.

medi Posted 2008-06-27

To Amira "the covered man from his head to the tip of his feet"? What's this nonsense? there is only the covered WOMAN from head to toe because in your bright ideology, women are half ahuman being, they are a source of shame 'awra' that must be hidden and revealed only to her owner: what is called 'her husband' in human cultures. so you have to accept it you are only an object to be traded with between men.

medi Posted 2008-06-28

Peace, mercy and blessings of God be upon you. The messenger of God, peace and prayer of God be upon him, said :"all muslims are brainwashed and sexually-obsessed. they think in a very bizarre way. They don't have any respect to women and they think that a woman has to believe that she is worth half a man, she deserves half the inheritance that her brother takes, that she doesn't have the right to go out or travel without being accompanied by a male, that she is not trusted as witness, that her husband has the right to marry three other women, that she has to be covered because she is a source of shame, she must wear a veil or a niqab and be seen only by her male possessor: her husband. If she is not convinced of all this backwardness and stupidity, she is against God and she will go to hell. So please don't listen to them, they are not full human beings." narrated by Ibn Abi Medi alayhi assalam.

حنبعل التونسي Posted 2008-06-30

What has driven us as Muslims to this situation? Is it our religion or our rulers? When Muslims followed their religion they controlled humanity intellectually, socially, economically and militarily. When Christianity dominated the West, they were lost in the darkness of infidelity, ignorance and slavery. For this reason, secularist revolutions emerged in the West. They have therefore made progress while the ignorant criminal rulers dominated our Islamic countries and we have deteriorated. Those who call for secularism, followers of the west, are just ignorant, liars, agents and hypocrites because Islam is not Christianity. The Qur’an is from God and He is its preserver. The current Bible is from your kings and priests. So I say to all the callers for secularism, followers of the West, enjoy the money offered to you abundantly by your masters. Keep on extorting and teasing them. We know as you that “They desire to put out the light of Allah with their mouths, and Allah will not consent save to perfect His light, though the unbelievers are averse”. The war against Islam hasn’t and won’t end since Mohamed was sent with the truth and Islam will spread on Earth like dawn light.

Hamadi Posted 2008-07-01

A good attempt at being interesting, but there is a lot of naiveté on the part this person who is speaking with her heart. It suffices for her to read the good words of the Qur'an, especially the hadiths called “Sahih”, which this lady has doubtlessly not read in their entirety, in order to realise that equality, compassion and tolerance are indeed marginalised and submitted to the power of will, blame, terror and segregation both between men and women and between Muslims and non-Muslims. Study your Islam and you will realise that it is not so pretty to look at.

كريم عليمي Posted 2008-07-15

Salam alikum. I will reply to this deceiver with an aphorism: If you are too proud of your tongue, you will stumble. If you are too proud of your knowledge, you will go astray. If you are too pride of your mind, you will go mad. Our doctor, may God disfigure her, she is misguided and crazy. To sum up, are the clouds hurt by the barking dogs? You should first have covered yourself and reform it because you can’t give something you don’t have.

ali Posted 2008-07-19

Thank you. The Islamic umma is sick from the inside out, and it has always been wont for courageous people like Olfa. May God bless her.

karim Posted 18 days ago

I had the immense pleasure of reading Olfa Youssef’s book, “Bewilderment of a Muslim Woman”. I praise her courage, discipline and erudition. It is necessary to just remind those who restrict the right to interpreting the Qur'an to the legal scholars and theologians that Olfa Youssef is a specialist in linguistics and Arabic grammar and that she has shown great mastery of the subtleties of Arabic and its grammar. The first Muslim exegetes were grammarians and linguists ('Ilm al kalam). Quranic interpretation has long been enslaved to the thought patterns of a patriarchal and misogynistic society. It is time to wash ourselves of this hold and to discover the genuine text and the encompassing nature of the Qur'anic message. This necessitates a certain dismantling. I hope that this book will be able to be read by all young Muslims, as their view on religion will necessarily change. I am convinced of it.

Une musulmane éclairée Posted 3 days ago

Why do they shout “Scandal!” every time someone endowed with reason wishes to interpret and understand the Qur’anic verses? Why do some of you allow yourselves to insult Olfa Youssef? Is it because she is a woman? This is frankly demeaning on the part of those who pretend to defend Islam!!! God endowed us with reason for us to be able to serve him, for us to think and reason! Men do not have a monopoly on interpreting or reading the Qur’an! Faith is the only difference we have between one another, not sex. Why do you acknowledge and accept interpretations made by men without discussion, considering them as indisputable postulations simply because they are given by men? Olfa Youssef has proven herself; she obtained graduate degrees in her field and she is thus capable of giving her own interpretation and coming up with her own parallels. Some of you cite the example of Caliph Omar Ibn El-Khattab, forgetting that above all else he is a human being and thus not infallible. "He is human, and humans are fallible". So, watch yourself so as not to exalt human words, deeds and gestures to the point that they are transformed into a doctrine that is more holy than the Qur’an. As for wearing the veil, which some consider obligatory, do not forget that in the beginning God prescribed wearing them only for the wives of the Prophet in order to distinguish them from other women, since they were more holy and no man after the Prophet could marry them. Furthermore, making the wearing of the veil widespread was ordered by Caliph Omar, not by the Prophet, who himself had once ordered that slaves wearing one be whipped.