Welcome everyone to another debate from Intelligent Squared U.S. I'm John Donovan of ABC News and once again it is my honor to act as moderator as the four debaters you see sharing this stage with me here at the Skurball Center for the Performing Arts at New York University four debaters two against two will be debating this motion Islam is a religion of peace now this is a debate there will be winners and losers and you our audience will be acting as the judges by the time

the time this debate has ended you will have been asked to vote twice once before and once again after the debate on where you stand on this motion and the team that has changed the most minds will be declared our winner

so round one is opening statements by each side and I would like to begin by introducing our first speaker for the motion Islam is a religion of peace I'd like to introduce Zabakhan

the only American on our panel and quite possibly the youngest debater ever to take part in an Intelligent Squared U.S. debate welcome Zeba I know that I first became aware of you when the Washington Post was running a reality game show to name America's next pundit they had 1400 entrance and what place did you come in they had 4,800 entrance actually

100 and you came in second second well look where you are now ladies and gentlemen Zabakhan thank you I want to express my deepest gratitude to the Intelligent Squared Forum for allowing me to speak tonight alongside such well known and far more distinguished co-panelists this is particularly an honor for me because let's be honest

I haven't written a book I'm not a regular on national TV or radio what I have is my story I am a Muslim American woman born and raised in Toledo Ohio by two very loving Indian Muslim parents

my sister brother and I were raised in middle class American home we went to mosque on Sundays attended Sunday school classes and prayed the community prayer with our community of Pakistanis Lebanese and Syrian Muslims

when I was in high school our mosque president was a woman who did not wear a head scarf and it may come as a surprise to some of you but for the entirety of my life

men and women have prayed side by side at our mosque and both can enter the prayer hall using the same door my parents are both very religious people but they express their faith in different ways

my father emphasizes the devotional whereas my mother emphasizes a more constructive approach she uses community service and volunteering to express hers

but what they both share is fundamental Islamic principles first and foremost seek knowledge they urge their children all three of us to question and to doubt

they lived out the Quranic commandment that there is no compulsion in religion and also that God said in the Quran I made you into many tribes so that you might know one another

my story is just one of 1.5 billion stories in some 57 countries the Muslim population is one of the most diverse and eclectic in the world

like Christians and Jews Muslims can be observant non-observant reformist humanist extremist mainstream and there are even some Muslims who consider themselves culturally Muslim but are actually atheist

now the motion for you tonight is asking you to determine whether Islam is a religion of peace and at first blush that might seem a bit tricky to decide after all the Quran and the Hadith have verses in them that point to peace and justice

but there are other verses that are violence so how then do we reconcile these seemingly contradictory verses

the only way to answer that question is to take a honest look at the people who practice the faith and how they interpret it

according to Gallup's groundbreaking study on what a billion Muslims think 93% of Muslims around the world are peaceful mainstream Muslims

7% are what Gallup turns as politically radicalized

as Gallup concluded what distinguishes the politically radicalized Muslims from the mainstream Muslims is their politics not their piety

let me be clear there are some horrifically violent criminals out there who twist our faith to justify their hate and their violence

but I'm here to tell you they don't speak for Islam if you vote against the motion I would argue you're voting against the moderate voices of mainstream Islam

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