British Muslim Convert Speaks at Dwinelle

Yvonne Ridley, an award-winning British journalist, did not expect to convert to Islam after being captured by the Taliban in Afghanistan for 11 days in 2001.

Last night Ridley spoke on campus to an audience of about 300 students and community members who gathered at Dwinelle Hall to listen to Ridley speak about her time held as a hostage, and her eventual conversion to Islam.

While trying to illegally leave Afghanistan to get back to Britain, Ridley, who wrote for The Sunday Express, was caught by agents of the Taliban.

In the 11 days she was held captive she promised a cleric she would read the Quran after her release and two years later she converted to Islam.

“Everything that I already strived for was in the pages of the Quran,” Ridley said.

Ridley said she began reading the Quran as an academic exercise, but it eventually became a spiritual journey.

The event was cosponsored by the Muslim Student Association and the Afghan Student Association, who invited her after members heard of similar events at other universities.

“I think her experience is very paradoxical to what you would think,” Saman Khalid, a member of the Muslim Student Association.

As Ridley continued telling her story she went on to describe a surprising rendition of the Taliban.

“They were decent, they were honourable, they were kind to me. ... Thank God I was captured by the most evil brutal regime in the world and not the U.S. military,” Ridley said, explaining her response to the questions reporters had asked her following her release.

Some audience members came from out of town just to hear her speak.

“It was interesting especially to hear from a convert, it was very good to hear (about Islam) from a different perspective,” said Maryam Gubird, who came from Emeryville last night.

Throughout the night the focus remained on what Ridley said she found on women’s rights within the Quran.

Many members of the audience said they found Ridley’s story inspiring and refreshing.

“I was very inspired by the fact that ... she could tell every detail in a manner that didn’t just cater to media misconceptions,” Shereen Khan, a fourth-year integrative biology major and member of the Muslim Student Association.

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