We, writers, journalists, intellectuals, call for resistance to religious totalitarianism and for the promotion of freedom, equal opportunity and secular values for all.

The recent events, which occurred after the publication of drawings of Muhammed in European newspapers, have revealed the necessity of the struggle for these universal values. This struggle will not be won by arms, but in the ideological field. It is not a clash of civilisations nor an antagonism of West and East that we are witnessing, but a global struggle that confronts democrats and theocrats.

Like all totalitarianisms, Islamism is nurtured by fears and frustrations. The hate preachers bet on these feelings in order to form battalions destined to impose a liberticidal and unegalitarian world. But we clearly and firmly state: nothing, not even despair, justifies the choice of obscurantism, totalitarianism and hatred. Islamism is a reactionary ideology which kills equality, freedom and secularism wherever it is present. Its success can only lead to a world of domination: man's domination of woman, the Islamists' domination of all the others. To counter this, we must assure universal rights to oppressed or discriminated people.

We reject "cultural relativism", which consists in accepting that men and women of Muslim culture should be deprived of the right to equality, freedom and secular values in the name of respect for cultures and traditions. We refuse to renounce our critical spirit out of fear of being accused of "Islamophobia", an unfortunate concept which confuses criticism of Islam as a religion with stigmatisation of its believers.

We plead for the universality of freedom of expression, so that a critical spirit may be exercised on all continents, against all abuses and all dogmas.

We appeal to democrats and free spirits of all countries that our century should be one of Enlightenment, not of obscurantism.

Signatories –

Ayaan Hirsi Ali
Chahla Chafiq
Caroline Fourest
Bernard-Henri Lévy
Irshad Manji
Mehdi Mozaffari
Maryam Namazie
Taslima Nasreen
Salman Rushdie
Antoine Sfeir
Philippe Val
Ibn Warraq

Biographical information:

Ayaan Hirsi Ali
Of Somalian origin, Hirsi Ali is a member of the Dutch parliament as a member of the Liberal Party VVD. Writer of the film "Submission" which caused the assassination of Theo Van Gogh by an islamist in November 2004. She now lives under police protection.

Chahla Chafiq
Chahla Chafiq, writer of Iranian origin, exiled in France. Works as a novelist and an essayist. She's the author of "Le nouvel homme islamiste , la prison politique en Iran " (2002). She also wrote novels such as "Chemins et brouillard" (2005).

Caroline Fourest
Essayist, editor in chief of 'Prochoix' (a review which defend liberties against dogmatic and monolithic ideologies). Author of several reference books on secularism and fanaticism - “Tirs Croisés : la laïcité à l'épreuve des intégrismes juif, chrétien et musulman (with Fiammetta Venner)”, “Frère Tariq : discours, stratégie et méthode de Tariq Ramadan”, and “Tentation obscurantiste” (Grasset, 2005). She received the National Prize of Secularism in 2005.

Bernard-Henri Lévy
French philosopher. Born in Algeria, argued against all the 20th Century "isms" (fascism, anti-Semitism, totalitarianism, terrorism). He is the author of "La Barbarie à visage humain", "L'Idéologie française", "La Pureté dangereuse", and more recently "American Vertigo".

Irshad Manji
Irshad Manji is a Fellow at Yale University and the internationally best-selling author of "The Trouble with Islam Today: A Muslim's Call for Reform in Her Faith" (en francais: "Musulmane Mais Libre"). She speaks out for free expression based on the Koran itself. Born in Uganda, of Indian Muslim origin, her family fled the country when she was aged four. She now lives in Canada where her broadcasts and publications have enjoyed great success.

Mehdi Mozaffari
Mehdi Mozaffari is a professor of Iranian origin who lives in exile in Denmark. He is the author of several articles and books on islam and islamism such as “Authority in Islam: From Muhammad to Khomeini”, “Fatwa: Violence and Discourtesy” and “Globalization and Civilizations”

Maryam Namazie
Writer, international TV producer; Director of International Relations for the Workers Communist Party of Iran; and 2005 winner of the National Secular Society's Secularist of the Year Award.

Taslima Nasreen
Born in Bangladesh where she worked as a Doctor, now lives in exile. Her work in defence of women and minorities brought her into conflict with the authorities. A public committee was established called "Destroy Taslima". She was also persecuted as an apostate. She published a booklet called “Lajja” (Shame) in 1993 which told the real story of the systematic genocide of Hindus in Bangladesh following the change from secular state to an Islamic state where minorities, mainly Hindu, were ruthlessly persecuted. The book was banned in Bangladesh and many other Muslim countries and resulted in a fatwa being issued. One court case taken against her for blasphemy (and still active) was filed by the Bangladeshi government itself. Her biographical books “My Girlhood” and “Wild Wind” have also been banned in Bangladesh.

Salman Rushdie
Author of nine novels, including "Midnight's Children", "The Satanic Verses" and, most recently, "Shalimar the Clown". He has received many literary awards, including the Booker Prize, the Whitbread Prize for Best Novel, Germany's Author of the Year Award, the European Union's Aristeion Prize, the Budapest Grand Prize for Literature, the Premio Mantova, and the Austrian State Prize for European Literature. He is a Commandeur of the Ordre des Arts et Lettres, an Honorary Professor in the Humanities at M.I.T., and the president of PEN American Center. His books have been translated into over 40 languages. The late Ayatollah Khomeini, the leader of Iran, issued the following fatwa, or religious edict, against Rushdie in February 1989 – “The author of The Satanic Verses, a text written, edited, and published against Islam, against the Prophet of Islam, and against the Koran, along with all the editors and publishers aware of its contents, are condemned to capital punishment. I call on all valiant Muslims wherever they may be in the world to execute this sentence without delay, so that no one henceforth will dare insult the sacred beliefs of the Muslims.”

Philippe Val
Publications Director for "Charlie Hebdo". This is the left-wing French newspaper which republished the cartoons of the prophet Muhammad "in solidarity with the Danish citizens targeted by islamists".

Ibn Warraq
Author notably of "Why I am Not a Muslim", "Leaving Islam : Apostates Speak Out", and "The Origins of the Koran". He is at present Research Fellow at the New York Institute conducting philological and historical research into the origins of Islam and its holy book.

Antoine Sfeir :
Born in Lebanon, Christian, Antoine Sfeir chose French nationality in order to live in an open and secular country. He is the director of "Les cahiers de l'Orient" and has published several reference books on islamism such as "Les réseaux d'Allah" (2001) and "Liberté, égalité, Islam : la République face au communautarisme" (2005).