I was raised the practicing Muslim and remained one for almost half my life.

I attended madrasas that is Islamic schools and memorized large parts of the Quran.

As a child, I lived in Mecca for a time and frequently visited the Grand Mosque.

As a teenager, I sympathized with the Muslim Brotherhood.

At 22, while my family was living in Kenya, my father arranged my marriage

to a member of our family clan, a man that I had never met.

I ran away, made my way to Holland, studied there, and eventually was elected a member of the Dutch Parliament.

Now I live in the United States.

In short, I have seen Islam from the inside and the outside.

I believe that a reform of Islam is necessary and possible,

and only Muslims can make that reform a reality.

But we in the West cannot remain on the sidelines

as though the outcome of this struggle has nothing to do with us.

If the jihadists win and the hope for a reformed Islam dies,

the rest of the world will pay a terrible price.

The terror attacks in New York, London, Madrid, Paris, and many other places

are only a preview for what's to come.

For this reason, I believe that it's foolish to insist as Western leaders habitually do

that the violent acts committed in the name of Islam can somehow be divorced from the religion itself.

For more than a decade, my message has been simple.

Islam is not a religion of peace.

When I accept this, I do not mean that Islamic belief makes all Muslims violent.

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