A God Who Hates

That's the title of an ex-Muslim dissident from Syria, Wafa Sultan, a psychiatrist who came to America with her husband who is also educated, and, respected her, the author says.

The courageous woman who inflamed the Muslim world speaks out against the evils of Islam, is the subtitle of this book of 13 chapters and 244 pages that kept me glued to its finish.

Sultan brings light to how women are treated and why the Islamic faith was founded.

Sultan says, Islam is "the ogre" as she traces the roots and psychology of a nomadic people who invented this religion in ordr to assuage thier own fears and feelings of desperation.

Story after story tells of the brutal murder of women for alleged violations of Sharia law.

Harsh life in the Arab desert, and the fear of dying of hunger and thirst, fostered a violent and anxious people who wanted to survive at any price.

The author writes:

"Arabs who lived in the environment that gave birth to Islam were powerless in the face of the challenges presented by this environment, which threatened their lives and welfare. Because they felt so helpless they felt a need for forcefulness and created a god who would fulfill this need. When the Arab male lost his power, he felt the need for a forceful god. And so he created a forceful god in the image of his need - but this god was not powerful."

Furthermore, Sultan describes the prophet Muhammad as a pedophile and perveyor of violent ways.

In a most daunting interview on February 21, 2006, Sultan gave one of the most provocative interviews on Al Jazeera network. She told her male Muslim interviewer to "shut up" when it was her turn to speak.

Named one of Time magazine's list of the 100 most influential people in the world, Sultan was described as a transformative individual.

This may be one person's experience, but it is critical, when the human dignity of women suffers so much.

It kept me engged from page to page. When many of my own quetions about Muslims remain ambiguous in the interfaith work I do, Sultan cuts to the chase.

She opened my eyes to the streak of violence that seems to thread through the Muslim world's faith.

Sultan loves America, and stood when others sit, and, speak truth to power.