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The Spectator's Notes

Charles Moore

Wednesday, 28th November 2007

Charles Moore's thoughts on the events of the week

Last week, I went to a debate between Ed Husain, author of The Islamist, and Ayaan Hirsi Ali, the apostate whom Islamists are always trying to kill. Both are unequivocal supporters of freedom of thought, but Ayaan Hirsi Ali believes that Islam cannot be reconciled with life in a free, modern society, and should therefore be abandoned. Husain argues that there are long, robust traditions of moderation, tolerance and adaptation in Islamic history. These have been suppressed in modern times by Wahabism etc., and by more recent extremist political movements like Hizb-ut-Tahrir, of which he was once a member. Both were impressive, and it struck me that this was just the sort of debate which Muslims in the West need. But it hardly ever happens. There are very few Muslim leaders who would debate with an apostate; some would not debate with a woman. Most of the main Muslim organisations wish to marginalise Husain and do far worse to Ayaan Hirsi Ali. It is depressing to note that Sayeeda Warsi, a Conservative front-bench spokesman on these matters, recently made a speech in the House of Lords in which she criticised the government for speaking to Husain. She quoted, with approval, the hard-left Guardian writer Seumas Milne, who says that people like Husain are ‘off the map of Muslim opinion’. Perhaps Milne is right: all the more reason to try to change that map.

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