Video: Author Reza Aslan points out that female genital mutilation is not an Islamic problem

I just came across this video (see below) on my Twitter stream today, even though it was broadcast on CNN last September.

In a short interview, historian and religious scholar Reza Aslan—who's familiar to those who attended last year's Indian Summer Festival in Vancouver—demolishes some myths about Islam.

Aslan, author of the 2013 bestseller Zealot: The Life and Times of Jesus of Nazareth, points out that female genital mutilation is not an Islamic problem—as suggested by comedian Bill Maher—but is rather a Central African problem.

He also points out in the interview that seven women have been elected to lead Muslim-majority countries. No woman has been elected president of the United States.

"I like Bill Maher," Aslan says in the video. "I've been on his show a bunch of times. He's a comedian, but you know, frankly when it comes to the topic of religion, he's not very sophisticated in the way that he thinks."

Aslan was born in Iran and is a professor of creative writing at the University of California, Riverside.