Just released: the video of the talk I gave at TEDxRainier on November 10, 2012.
[youtube=http://youtu.be/9aC7bUTBKv0]
I can’t judge how effective the talk is (a few of the slides were dropped in the video-editing process, including a shot of Newsweek‘s infamous ‘Muslim Rage’ cover). But as with my previous talk on reading the Quran, I do think I’m getting at something that needs to be said in today’s politically manipulated climate of suspicion and distrust.
If you agree, it’d be great if you’d help by forwarding this to all who will be, might be, or simply should be interested. You can use the buttons below to email, tweet, or post to Facebook. Or just copy and paste this page’s url or the YouTube one: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9aC7bUTBKv0. Thank you!
And again, most definitely, I’d love to hear your comments, every which way they trend!
Talia Alvi 
Stab Greenberg
Thank you. My real gratitude will just be too long.
This makes sense. Very wisely said. Really appreciate the work you’re doing. But I wonder how one can really comprehend the man without comprehending his essence i.e. his faith in the Creator?
But maybe that’s the whole point. One who doesn’t understand the inner can yet respect the outer self.
I think you have a good ‘handle’ on the situation, and speaking as a Christian I am with you. More power to your elbow!
Love that voice and delivery. Well done, Lesley, I find your work truly inspiring.
Thank-you Ms. Hazleton, your presentation is wonderfully reasoned and timely. I am not a Muslim, but in the greater scheme of thing I am one who heartens to the beautiful story and exemplary, magnificent life of Muhammad. Where a billion and a half people place their faith, we must all strive to reach understanding. Thank-you so much for your reasoned appeal for cross-cultural understanding.
fabulous talk. Every word hitting the mark. Thank you so much
Well spoken you’ve come a long way since your time in Jerusalem. One of the things bothering me here in Jerusalem is the extremism which one sees in East Jerusalem and the occupied areas when politics are combined with religion compared to Israel itself where things are much quieter. I, as an anthropologist lived with the Arabs for yrs in a suburb of Jerusalem, today it would be impossible for a non-Arab to live there as things once run by the elders/headmen are now run by the ‘Shabab’ the man in the street. The avg age of the man in the street is at times a teenager, and it can become violent.
The last one minute of your speech gave me Goosebumps. Good faith indeed. Just got my hands on “The First Muslim”. I am going to read it as soon as I finish this Carl Sagan book.
Just wanted to ask, what now? What are you working on next?
You got your hands on ‘The First Muslim’? I haven’t even seen a hard copy of it yet! What’s next? I’ll know by the summer…
An autobiography perhaps? I would surly buy that. Would love to know how you got to the place where you are right now, making sense out of blurry history, turning religious superheroes (and villains) into mere humans without making them look bad or offending anyone. And most of all how did you get to be such an eloquent speaker.
Well, not an autobiography, but I am thinking about going back to the first person singular…
Sorry, false alarm about “The First Muslim”. Guess I’ll be waiting for the 24th Jan.
So important to get this viewpoint out there. “How can so many of us know so little about him?” You are changing that.
May your TED talks reach FAR and WIDE! T’m
congratulations, Lesley, seems you gave a great speech.
but for some reason i can;t get into the video, but will keep trying
Maybe try directly on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9aC7bUTBKv0
thanks, Lesley, found you on YouTube..
you are surely a defender of what is right, whichever faith it might be
One of my favourite stories of Muhammad is when the woman used to throw dirt over him everymorning and then on the morning she didn;t, he went to enquire after her….wonderful
excellent speech from a fellow human to another, putting aside religion.
Thanks Ms. Hazleton, I liked your speech. I became your fan since I heard your Ted lecture on Quran. Then I searched youtube for all of your talks. Just now I placed the order for the ‘First Muslim’ from Book Depository in UK. I was waiting for this book to be published because you mentioned about it in one of your lectures.
But one thing, as per Islamic belief, Muhammad was not the “first muslim”, but Adam, the first human, was. According to prophetic saying, every human is born as a muslim, because he/she is born as a pure soul (with Fitrat Al Allah), it is his/her mum/dad or his/her society who make him/her otherwise.