A God Who Hates

A God Who Hates: The Courageous Woman Who Inflamed the Muslim World Speaks Out Against the Evils of Islam by Wafa Sultan, St. Martin's Griffin, 2009. 

Alawites

The Baath Party of Syria was formed by educated Christians, (Shia) Alawites and other non-Sunni minorities, to protect themselves from Sunni persecution. The Sunni Muslim Brotherhood has been strong in Hama and Aleppo, and has fought against the Alawite regime in Damascus. 

Syrian-American psychiatrist Wafa Sultan was born into an Alawite Muslim family in Baniyas, which is a cosmopolitan and liberal city on the Mediterranean coast. Sultan graduated from Aleppo University medical school in 1981.

Misogyny

Under Islam in Syria, females, not just girls, but even adult, educated, self-supporting women, are not allowed to make any decisions regarding their own lives. Male relatives decide everything: where women live, who they marry, whether they are allowed to go to school or work outside the home, what they are allowed to give as a gift to others. Even minor events, such as walking from the home to the market, require male approval. Status-wise, even the most educated Muslim woman is lower than any man, even one who is an illiterate drunk. Many writers have described how Islam supposedly protects its women by not allowing them to leave the home without a male escort. But keeping women housebound does not protect them from being taken advantage of by men, because Muslim women are often sexually abused inside the home by their male relatives. 

Fatalism

Islam is a fear-based religion, because of its Bedouin roots, where death was always nearby. Muslim fatalism, the belief that their future is controlled by Allah and not their own choices. The inability of Muslims to give a simple Yes or No answer, instead replying with “if Allah wills it”. The inability of Muslims to engage in a calm, rational discussion. The inability of Muslims to form relationships based on mutual respect, instead of on power relationships. A culture where children are regarded as property, not as a responsibility.

Ignorance

A culture that teaches its members to avoid learning anything about the outside world, which makes them even more paranoid, because they know nothing about other cultures. 

Arabic

Sultan explains that Arab Muslims are held more strongly within the prison of Islam, because they can read the Quran, and so understand its fundamentalist message. Muslims who do not speak Arabic chant the verses of the Quran in ignorance of their meaning. 

Freedom of the Press

Some years after moving to Los Angeles with her family, Wafa Sultan began writing columns for Arabic-language newspapers in the Los Angeles area. Some of her columns were critical of Islam. In 2001, she received a phone call from Hussam Ayloush of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), warning her that she had come close to overstepping the line.

Deceit

There are many Muslim Americans who pretend to love America when they are with non-Muslims, but express their hatred of America when they are with fellow believers.

Teaching Men Manners

Wafa Sultan became famous on February 21, 2006, when, on the Al Jazeera television network, she debated Ibrahim Al-Khouly, a professor at Al-Azhar University in Cairo. Wafa got tired of being interrupted by Al-Khouly, so she told him in Arabic, “Be quiet. It is my turn!”