Your country needs religious leaders and religious politicians

We have to reconcile ourselves with philosophical questions in every field. Every field should be open to inquiry and knowledge.

We should not fool ourselves. When the Quran says wa la qad karamna Bani Adam ["we have honored the Children of Adam"] so yes we should all be free but this should not mean that we must act against the dignity of human beings.

Don’t nurture a sense of guilt; rather, nurture a sense of responsibility married with a sense of humility.

The West hasn't been naïve, it has been patronizing the South by imposing its own views on what should be done - ironically after having been so close and so supportive of dictators who were not respecting the people.

It's okay to feel the need for protection if there is a real external threat. But to feel protective from the inside, it's a kind of jail: you get so protective that you cannot get out of the box.

If you know how to live, even death is good news