jewelisms

jewel October 26th, 2007

Though I’m not sure she would agree, Ayaan Hirsi Ali is an amazing woman. Raised to be a good Muslim, she tried very hard to do right by Allah. But when her father arranged for her to marry someone she had never met – and refused her plea to not go through with it – she ran. It wasn’t easy for her; just the opposite. But she knew there had to be more to life than being a submissive wife and mother. She did not want to end up like her mother.

Infidel is the story of her life so far. Her story is moving and at times very tragic. This is a very powerful book, full of imagery that shocked my Western mind.

She describes her childhood, being taught to recite her lineage, listening to her grandmother’s frightening stories, being circumcised without anesthetic. During her teen years she embraced Islam, voluntarily wearing a hijab. She wanted to be a good Muslim. She also wanted to understand her religion. However, questioning is wrong in Islam and she was more than discouraged.

When her father arranged for her to marry a man she had never met, she ran. She sought refugee status in Holland, and, unfortunately she had to lie to get it. However, unlike so many of the other refugees, Ayaan did not want to live off the system. She wanted to give something back to the country that took her in. So, she worked as a translator and went to college to get a degree in Political Science and even got Dutch citizenship and became a member of Parliament. She let no one discourage her.

She also saw so many Muslim women in Holland with no more freedom than in Muslim countries. She saw women abused or even killed because they were not obedient enough. Through her office in Parliament, she campaigned for more awareness of the violence done to Muslim women because of religion.

However, even though she had been experiencing cognitive dissonance in regards to her religion for some time, it was not until after 9/11 that she really began to see her religion with a great amount of clarity. She looked up the passages that were used to justify the attacks and was horrified.

Ayaan Hirsi Ali is not afraid to speak out against Islam and doing so has brought her many threats on her life. Still she proceeds. She feels (and she is right) that everything should be open to discussion and criticism – even religion; especially religion. She see’s the oppression of women and she wants them to know that even though they may not realize it, they do have a choice. They can break free from submission.

I would love to do justice to her book with my review of it, but, honestly, nothing I could say would convey just how good this book is or how important. I also had the good fortune to get to hear her speak at the AAI conference a few weeks ago. She has a powerful presence and much courage.

• autobiography , books , politics , religion
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