Arab and Persian intellectuals living in the United States are also making their mark. The brilliant Fouad Ajami, professor of Middle Eastern studies at the School of Advanced International Studies at Johns Hopkins University, is one of the most eloquent voices in American journalism. Born in Lebanon, Ajami’s books, The Dream Palace of the Arabs, The Arab Predicament and The Vanished Imam, provide insight into an Arab culture seldom understood by most Americans. His articles for Foreign Affairs and the Wall Street Journal are a both essential and pleasurable reading.
Another professor originally from Lebanon, Walid Phares, a Christian, is now a terrorism analyst and Middle East expert for various mainstream media outlets in the U.S. His articles appear regularly at Frontpage.com and he is a senior fellow for the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies. He is represented by Benador Associates, a public relations firm that features many of today’s brightest political stars. The writings of fellow Benador expert, Iranian Amir Taheri, provide an indispensable source of knowledge on Iran and the Muslim world.
Unsurprisingly, Muslim women have been some of the most powerful voices of moderation among their peers.
Canadian Irshad Manji has become well known for her groundbreaking book, The Trouble with Islam: A Muslim’s Call for Reform in Her Faith, which provides an honest examination of the religion and its drawbacks. As a gay woman, Manji is intimately familiar with the prejudices her own culture elicits. Asra Q. Nomani, an accomplished reporter originally from India, caused a stir last year in her Morgantown, West Virginia, mosque when she refused to abide by the usual gender-segregated seating. She continues to speak out for women’s rights in the American Muslim community and to oppose what she calls the attempted “takeover of many U.S. mosques by conservative and traditionalist Muslims.”
In the Netherlands, Somali-born Dutch MP Ayann Hirsi Ali has been a strong proponent of Muslim women’s rights. An ex-Muslim who left Somalia to escape an arranged marriage, Ali has paid a high price for her outspokenness. She’s accompanied by a security guard at all times and has had to go into hiding on several occasions, most recently in the wake of Theo Van Gogh’s murder by an Islamist with ties to terrorism. Ali and Van Gogh had collaborated on Submission, a controversial film that criticizes the treatment of women under Islam. Ali was threatened directly in a note attached to Van Gogh’s body, titled “An Open Letter to Hirsi Ali” and has since gone underground. She may yet be rewarded for her bravery by the growing outcry in the Netherlands against Islamic extremism.
http://www.freemuslims.org/news/article.php?article=234 
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