Islam Fosters Tolerance, Peace: Ex-Taliban Hostage

Islam Fosters Tolerance, Peace: Ex-Taliban Hostage


"The whole experience had taught me a very valuable lesson, and
that is not to believe propaganda that powerful people in powerful
places want us to believe," said Ridleyf


CAIRO, December 5 (IslamOnline.net) - Yvonne Ridley, the British
journalist who made international headlines three years ago after her
dramatic capture and release by the ousted Taliban regime in Afghanistan,
believes her life completely changed to the better, thanks to Islam.

What started out as a purely research about Islam following her release
turned into a soul-searching trip that culminated with the firm
conviction that Islam is not about oppression or violence, but rather peace,
tolerance and understanding, she recently told Malaysia's
English-language The Star newspaper.

Embracing Islam in August 2003, the Sunday Express journalist admitted
that she used to "work hard and play hard" and was a "prolific
drinker", but found herself now healthier, happier, and more content.

"And my girlfriends can see this, and they ask: 'What is this that has
changed your life so much?' And I say it's Islam. And they say: 'No,
really, what is it?'"

Ridley was in Malaysia last week to raise funds for the UK-based
Islamic social service organization Al-Khaaem.

"The whole experience had taught me a very valuable lesson, and that is
not to believe propaganda that powerful people in powerful places want
us to believe."

On Sept 28, 2001, Ridley, then 43, was trying to cross illegally into
Afghanistan from Pakistan.

She was held captive by the Taliban. She was eventually released in
October and went on to write about her unique experiences in a book
entitled "In The Hands of the Taliban."

In the book, she spoke about how she was treated with great respect and
courtesy by Taliban members, who used to call her "guest" and "sister."

Thank God It Was Taliban

Ridley told the Star that she really thanked God that here captors were
the Taliban and not the Americans.

"When I look back at my experience now, and I see the shocking images
of Guantanamo Bay , and the horrendous images and stories emerging from
the Abu Ghraib prison , I thank Allah I was captured by the most evil
and brutal regime in the world and not by the Americans."

Ridley, as an anti-war activist at the time, recalled how the US
intelligence sent a dossier to Taliban alleging that she was a spy to silence
her anti-war movement.

"Had I been shot or executed, this would have helped justify the
bombing of Afghanistan. It would have further demonized the Taliban. I was
told by one intelligence officer: 'Don't take this personally. It wasn't
against you,'" she said laughingly.

In an interview with IslamOnline.net before accepting Islam, Ridley
said that the wonderful thing about Islam was that "you have a direct
link with God. You don't need a conduit or a middle person. Peace and love
to all."

Ridley has become a fervent anti-war campaigner since her release.

She has supported the Stop the War Coalition and traveled around the
world addressing anti-war gatherings.

She is a founding member of Women in Journalism and the patron of
British organisation Stop Political Terror, which looks into the welfare of
Muslims in Britain, especially those being held in the notorious
Belmarsh and Woodhill prisons.

Ridley still writes for the Sunday Express and also for Muslims Weekly
in New York.

She is currently involved with the Islam Channel, a satellite broadcast
that started about a year ago in Britain.

Hijab in Parliament

An active member of the nascent Respect political party in Britain,
Ridley hopes to be the first female Muslim politician wearing a hijab in
the parliament.

"I stood as a candidate in the European elections and we got a quarter
of a million votes nationally," she told the paper.

She continued: "It didn't translate into a seat but we are going to be
fielding candidates in the general elections which may be held in May
next year.

"What is particularly significant is if I am successful, I would become
the first female Muslim politician to sit in Westminster and probably
the first woman wearing a hijab to sit in the houses of parliament."

But Ridley knows that there is still a long way to go, though
encouraged by the support of many Britons, who believe that Prime Minister Tony
Blair has let them down.

"There is a ground swell of support from people who feel as though they
no longer have a voice in the party headed by a British prime minister
who appears to prefer to take his orders from Washington rather than
from the people who elected him."