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I mean all respect to you, but I must say that your comments show a total lack of understanding of the Islamic relgion. You watch too much TV.

"- if she's such a devout Muslim why does she need to drive? Her husband or brother should be chauffeuring her around.... "

Only in SOME countries is this the case, and this has nothing at all to do with Islam. If you would read the Qu'ran you would see that a woman is granted the same rights and priveleges as her husband. 1400 years ago, Islam was the first type of institution to allow women the right to vote, the right to own property, the right to accept or reject a suitor by her own freewill, the right to a divorce, the right to work, among other things. Just because some modern "Muslim" countries go against the original teachings doesn't mean that they are the standard to judge all Muslims against. Must we all be judged by the worst of us? Of so, then I guess Christians are in trouble...aren't the KKK Christian? And what about Germans...hey, they had the Nazis, you know. While we're at it, why don't we blame all white American men for Timothy McVey?

- what insanity comes over an American woman to cause her to convert to Islam?

I'm American, and I am Muslim. Trust me, I am totally sane. I chose this religion because it made sense to me. First of all, it embraces the teachings of the Jews and the Christians...all of the prophets from Adam to Moses, Abraham to Jesus, are all in the Qur'an. The virgin Mary? Same story in the Qur'an. The only difference is that you add the Prophet Mohammed. I look at it like this. First you have the Jewish teachings...the Torah, the Old Testament. God sent Moses the 10 Commandments and all was good. Then people started to stray a bit. So God sent Jesus, and lo and behold you have the teachings of the Bible...the New Testament, the Gospels of Christ. And all was well. Then people started to forget again. SO God sent the message AGAIN to the prophet Mohammed...not to disprove what Jesus and Moses and everyone already said, but to bring it to a new audience and repeat it, just in case they weren't listening the first few times! Plus, I like the fact that in Islam, you don't have a priest or a pastor telling you what to do. It's all up to you and all based on how you choose to live, but the media doesn't want you to know that. They want you to think Islam=Oppression, but that is just not true at all.

- why doesn't she move to Saudi Arabia / Iran / Pakistan or any other sharia-practicing country where she would feel more at home?

Just like many Jews I know long to live in Israel to live a more "purely Jewish life", I know many Muslims would LOVE to live in Saudi for the same reason...except for 2 main things. ONE) the Saudi government has corrupted the ideals of Islam and are not true to the teachings of it in all aspects (like the women driving thing and the forced hijab, which should be a woman's choice), and TWO) the Saudi government has closed borders and will not allow immigrants without a pretty darn good reason (like, you're married to a Saudi, or you're working there). It's not that easy. And as for Iran or Pakistan, I wouldn't call them shariah-practicing. If you ask me, the US is more in line with Islamic ideals than any country...because, like the US, Islam at the true core pushes freedom of choice and personal rights, such as innocent until proven guilty, that sort of thing. How ironic, then, that so many people see Islam as the US's enemy, when really our goals are the same?