Nobel Peace Prize Recipient Fights Islamic Fundamentalism with Knowledge

The most effective way to deal with terrorists is not by throwing bombs at them, but to instead “throw books at them.” That was the tone taken by Shirin Ebadi, the first Muslim woman and the first Iranian to receive the Nobel Peace Prize, who spoke before nearly 700 people in Coussoulis Arena at Cal State San Bernardino on Oct. 22. Living in self-imposed exile in London, Ebadi, who received the award in 2003 for her efforts to promote democracy and human rights, spoke on “Ways to Fight Islamic Fundamentalism.” Ebadi said terrorist groups such as ISIS, which she called a branch of the Taliban, were using misguided ideology of Islam. The way to defeat them was not with the military. “Experience has taught us that won’t get anywhere doing this,” Ebadi said. “After the tragic events of Sept. 11, the Taliban were attacked and the fight still continues.” She urged using knowledge and education to combat radicals, and for modern Muslims to speak out against them. “Instead of bombs, throw books at them,” Ebadi said. “Ideology has to be corrected. Give voice to moderate Muslims.” During a question and answer period she added, “… Strengthening Islamic studies centers at universities is another way of doing it. Publish and translate modern Muslim’s books. Invite modern Muslims to your universities and provide them with loudspeakers. The fundamentalist Islamic governments and terrorist Islamic groups do not like modern Muslims. They don’t let their voices be heard by the rest of the people in the world. “In my country, where the leader is a clergy and the government is Islamic, a number of the progressive clergy are in prison now,” Ebadi said. “Therefore, use your freedom and bring the voices of the modern Muslims to the world.” Ebadi’s talk was part of CSUSB’s year-long 50th anniversary celebration, said university President Tomás D. Morales. “We have invited some of the world’s most distinguished scholars and thinkers to join us for an extraordinary series of lectures,” Morales said. “But even among this year’s roster of brilliant and accomplished guest speakers, I feel we are especially privileged to be in the company of Dr. Ebadi.” The lecture was sponsored through the CSUSB’s Center for Islamic and Middle East Studies, which serves as a flagship for international dialogue and academic excellence for students and faculty as well as the local and international communities. The center supports research, lectureships, curriculum development and community outreach in order to advance the study of Islamic and Middle East cultures. When asked to define a modern Muslim, Ebadi responded, “A modern Muslim is someone who respects his or her own religion, but does not forget the time that he or she lives in. We don’t ride camels like we did 1,400 years ago to go from one place to another. We get on a plane and travel. The same thing is true about other conditions in our lives and how we view our lives. The modern Muslim is one who respects human rights.” Ebadi served as president of the city court of Tehran from 1975 to 1979 and was the first Iranian woman to achieve chief justice status. She, along with other women judges, was dismissed from the bench after the Islamic Revolution in February 1979. After she was demoted to serving as a clerk in the court where she had once presided, Ebadi petitioned for early retirement and obtained her lawyer’s license in 1992. In her private practice, Ebadi has taken on many controversial cases defending political dissidents and as a result has been arrested numerous times. She has also established many non-governmental organizations in Iran and has led successful human rights campaigns, including the Million Signatures Campaign to end legal discrimination against women in Iranian law. Ebadi has also taught as a university professor and has published more than 70 articles and 12 books, including “The Golden Cage: Three Brothers, Three Choices, One Destiny,” which are all dedicated to various aspects of human rights, some of which have been published by UNICEF. In 2004, she was named by Forbes Magazine as one of the 100 most powerful women in the world. In January 2006, along with sister Nobel Laureate Jody Williams, Ebadi took the lead in establishing the Nobel Women’s Initiative. According to a BBC profile, Ebadi's outspoken campaigns have frequently brought her into conflict with the Iranian government and the country's conservative clerics, particularly since the disputed presidential election in June 2009. Though she has not been arrested since becoming a Nobel laureate, many of her close associates have been targeted, and in 2008 authorities closed the Human Rights Defenders Centre in Tehran, a leading non-governmental organization she founded in 2001. In Nov. 2009, Ebadi said her Nobel medal had been confiscated on the orders of Tehran's Revolutionary Court. The court also froze her bank accounts, demanding $410,000 in taxes it said was owed on the $1.3 million prize money, she said. “Working on human rights in a non-democratic country like Iran is not an easy job,” Ebadi told the audience toward the end of her presentation. “Like other defenders of human rights in Iran, I have had my share of problems, too. For example, I have been in prison, all of my property in Iran has been confiscated, I am under prosecution. My husband and my sister have been put in prison because they were my relatives. Continuously, my life is threatened. But I’m not going to let go of my work,” Ebadi said. “It is my duty to be the voice of my colleagues who are in prison. And as a result of censorship, their voices can not get to you; let me be their voice to you. And that has happened to us has been justified under the name of Islam. But I know this claim is not correct. And it has not impacted my Islamic views at all. I am a Muslim. They are not Muslim.”