Ole Nydahl - Political Views

Political Views

Nydahl is a strong proponent of human rights, and of women's rights in particular. He also has a critical view of Islam. He has called Allah a "terrible god", and has characterized Muslim beliefs as antithetical to freedom of speech and women's rights:

I seriously hope, you know, that we're not losing the freedom of expression right now, that we're not losing the ability to say what we think even if we step on the toes of some gentlemen from the Near East … who like to beat their wives or stone them or whatever else they do, right?

Nydahl says that he does not make political comments in his capacity as a lama, but as a "responsible, thinking human being", and that no one can make such statements from a Buddhist perspective because Buddha Shakyamuni did not comment on religious ideas founded centuries after his death. He also distinguishes the "mainstream Muslims" that he disapproves of from Sufis and Bahá'ís.

An online interview with Nydahl also featured the following statement: "Judaism and Christianity are fine. Islam, I warn against. I know the Koran, I know the life story of Mohammad and I think we cannot use that in our society today."