Understanding Ayaan Hirsi Ali’s Reformation

Steve Yim

For the Korean Church in the 21st century, Islam is one of the most difficult topics to understand. “What is Islam to us?” It is not easy to answer rightly, since Korean churches have little experience with the Muslim world. One of the ways to get a balanced picture of Islamic world is to listen to the voices of those who were insiders of Islamic societies with reformist perspectives. Ayaan Hirsi Ali was an active insider of Islamic Fundamentalism, but later became critical activist against Islam and the Islamic terrorism. Recently she suggested an Islamic reformation as a way of solving Islamic terrorism. In her book titled“Why Islam Needs a Reformation Now (2015),” Hirsi Ali insists Islam is responsible for the Islamic terrorism and therefore, Islam needs a reformation to remove grounds for committing terrorism from the Islamic teachings. If the reformation can be achieved, the Islamic civilization can coexist with other civilizations. In support of this view, there are many Muslim scholars and activists who insist on the Islamic reformation. Furthermore, for change to happen, non-Islamic civilizations need to cooperate with Muslim reformists to reform Islam and the Islamic society. Hirsi Ali’s view on Islam and the future of Islam will be helpful for the Korean church to build a balanced understanding on Islam and Islamic world.

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