Support for the decision of Brandeis University not to award Ayaan Hirsi Ali an honorary degree, after previously announcing it would do so, has coalesced around the notion that while Islamic radicalism can be criticized, even condemned, one cannot criticize Islam itself. By condemning both, and by implying strongly that Radical Islam and Islam are indistinguishable, Ms. Ali—so the argument goes—not only does not deserve an honorary degree; she is, in fact, a bigot.

Ms. Ali’s critics are wrong. At the very least, radical Islam is just as valid a version of Islam as any other, and may even be more valid because it takes the commands of Sharia law literally, which is to say in a way that is consistent with the ordinary meaning of words.  Moreover, Sharia is based on the Koran, which is considered the word of God, and thus something with which no Muslim can disagree and to which no Muslim can object.