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In the West, you have always associated the Islamic faith 100 percent with Arab culture. This in itself is a fundamentalist attitude and it is mistaken.

A lot of people in Islamic countries are taking it as a personal offense when people are talking about the violence against women in their culture.

Today, fear of bloodshed is forcing us into recognizing new taboos: those of Muslims.

For most inhabitants of the Arab world, the prevailing cultural attitude toward women - fed and encouraged by Wahhabi doctrine, which is based on Bedouin social norms rather than Islamic jurisprudence - often trumps the rights accorded to women by Islam.

One thing that I feel very, very strongly is that we talk about Islamic countries, Islamic people, Islamic leaders, as either moderates or extremists. It's almost like there are only two categories of Muslims. And actually, that doesn't show respect. It shows lack of understanding of the diversity of Muslim thought.

Islam has been badly used by a certain ideology.

Muslims have a very bad attitude to homosexuality, they're very intolerant.

Traditional Islam is a mixture of all obedience to Allah, and if that requires militancy, so be it.

I'm amazed by the misconceptions about Muslim women and the Arab world that I hear, and that really does hurt me.

There is tension between the values of modern society and the principles of Islam.