The Koran was revealed at a time of great change in the Arab world, the seventh-century shift from a matriarchal nomadic culture to an urban patriarchal system.

Perhaps the story you finish is never the one you begin.

The West sees Iran as an important force in the gulf.

What is freedom of expression? Without the freedom to offend, it ceases to exist.

The enemy for the fanatic is pleasure, which makes it extremely important to continue to indulge in pleasure. Dance madly. That is how you get rid of terrorism.

In early Islam, it was an absolute tenet that the prophet was not to be worshipped. The prophet was a messenger. And one of the things that's happened in Islam is this cult of the prophet, which to my view is counter to the original tradition.

I'd wanted to create a storm so that I could become more famous and richer.