Human rights declaration

Millions of people have seen American psychiatrist Dr. Wafa Sultan's debate with a Muslim cleric, which was first shown on al-Jazeera television. In 2006, TIME magazine nominated Dr. Sultan as one of the world's most influential people. Sultan has appeared on many radio and TV shows in English, and regularly writes articles in Arabic that are read throughout the Muslim world. Her main purpose in life is to further the understanding of Islam and its effect on both the Muslim and non-Muslim world.

Born and raised a Muslim in Syria, Dr. Sultan is one of the co-founders of a group of American activists called Former Muslims United. As the name suggests, the members of FMU are apostates from Islam. Although all of them have left Islam, some remain religious or spiritual, while others do not. The one thing they have in common is that they are afraid that their apostasy will get them killed. They have formed their group in order to ensure that they are protected under the United States Constitution, which guarantees both freedom of and freedom from religion. The laws of America also make it illegal to murder someone because he or she has left his or her religion. Former Muslims United wants to make sure that these laws - and these basic human rights - are respected and that they need not live in the fear felt by millions of Muslims outside of the United States as concerns apostasy.

In this regard, it was my honor to interview Dr. Wafa Sultan about her experiences and her life's mission. Over the years, she has demonstrated herself to be a fierce warrior for truth, taking on a fanatical ideology that is known to be harsh, brutal and cruel, especially as concerns women. I asked Dr. Sultan about her life as woman in the U.S. as compared to that in her native land, which is predominantly Muslim. Concerning Islamic or sharia law, she replied, "Under Islamic sharia, a woman is not considered a free being. She is mentally unfit to decide her own life."

Wafa does not describe herself as an atheist; nor is she against religion or spirituality. As she also says, "My simple philosophy is, you have the right to worship a stone, so long as you don't hit me with it."

I also asked Dr. Sultan what her message to the American people might be, and she replied with a fourfold answer that included addressing the government, the media, academia and persons involved in interfaith dialogue. She strongly believes that everyone needs to become much better educated as to the nature of Islamic fundamentalism and its restrictions of freedoms that we Americans take for granted. While her instructions to the government require many policy changes, her message to the media is simple: "The media needs to avoid being politically correct, and be forthright in discussing brutal Islamic related news stories."

As she battles against entrenched "religious" discrimination and brutality, Dr. Wafa Sultan is a true freedom fighter and a champion for the human rights of people worldwide.