Wafa Sultan

Known to millions as “That Muslim Woman on Al-Jazeera,” Dr. Wafa Sultan, Syrian-born American psychiatrist, is singularly distinguished by her audacity to speak her mind in a culture that would seek to subjugate her every thought, opinion and emotion. Following her explosive 2006 interview, she was hailed by Time magazine as “one of the world’s most influential people,” and was looked upon as a defiant, passionate force against the misogyny she argues is inherent within Muslim culture itself.

Her latest book, “A God Who Hates,” inspired KIRKUS reviewers to write: “Forged in justifiable anger, this flamethrower of a book will hold the reader’s attention with its heat…”

While we had a field day booking Wafa for interviews, every step of success was shrouded in fear of the fatwa, or death sentence, placed on her head by religious extremists. Reminiscent of Salman Rushdie’s fate, Wafa and her family have been forced to live in secrecy for years.

She has paid a heavy price for courageously exercising her first amendment right on behalf of women everywhere, and criticizing the lethal intolerance and hatred that continues to grow around the globe. In her own words: “Most Muslims, if not all of them, will condemn me to death when they read this book.”